
MLB Postseason 2021: MLB Network Excited to Be Back on Site for ALDS By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, October 7, 2021 - 1:02 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
It's playoff time for Major League Baseball and for MLB Network it's a chance to build great studio content around all of the action, hit the road for the World Series, and this week broadcast two games: the Chicago White Sox vs the Houston Astros in Houston on Friday night and the Tampa Bay Rays against vs the Boston Red Sox in Boston on Sunday afternoon.
MLB Tonight is already into full post-season mode and this weekend the network will broadcast two ALDS games.
These two games are our Super Bowl, says Chris Pfeiffer, MLB Network, senior coordinating producer, Live Events. They're a little bit different than a regular season game in June as every pitch means something and it's a different level. And it's more about what's happening on the field and making sure you document everything. That's what's most important and we take a lot of pride in that.
Jason Hedgcock, MLB Network, senior director, remote technical operations, says that the same production facility levels will be deployed in both Houston and Boston. Game Creek Video's Webby and Edit 3 trucks will be at Minute Maid Park in Houston while NEP's EN2 will be at Fenway Park.
We have different mobile unit vendors, but we are still partnering with Fox, so our camera complements are the same, says Hedgcock. In terms of specialty stuff, we're going to have two Phantom cameras in the low camera wells, and we will have a Megaladon to get great shots.
Adds Pfeiffer: Everything will be on site with the exception of our graphics operations like Viz and the score bug which will be done out of Secaucus.
MLB Network will have to compromise a bit on camera positions as fans are fully back in the stands. But Pfeiffer says there will be plenty of other bells and whistles.
There were a lot of really interesting things from a broadcast perspective that we were able to do last year without the fans in the stands, says Pfeiffer. And particularly in the first round of the Division Series we had camera angles that we don't have now interesting technology. So, there's a little bit of a walk back in terms of technology, but then there's also increased dependence on additional Statcast resources like 3D pitch and studio-based graphical elements which we're trying to fully integrate with our roadshows. Thankfully in August we were back on the road and able to come up with good workflows for the postseason.
Tom Guidice, MLB Network, VP, Remote Operations, says that there won't be an on-site studio show for the two Division Series games but that will change once the World Series starts at the end of the month.
We'll be on site with our large presence, on-the-field set and wall-to-wall coverage throughout the day from the field, he says. For the other games we will be on site with reporters for hits throughout the day with Ballpark Cam.
The lack of fans last year allowed all sports to experiment with new camera angles and now, as fans come back, the technology providers behind innovations like the Speed Cam that was a camera dolly on top of the dugout that could hit speeds of 25 mph are trying to figure out how to decrease the footprint so it can be part of the broadcast even with fans in the stands.
We are looking at how do we make that camera smaller, says Pfeiffer. Maybe in the future that camera is on the front lip of the dugout. It was just a cool angle that we always wanted to try, and we were able to do it last year.
The playoffs this year cap off another year that required maximum flexibility as world feed productions ruled early on and the MLB Network team was not back on site until the All-Star Game.
It makes a difference to be on site and we're all heading off to Houston and Boston, so we're excited about it, says Guidice.
The excitement also includes an original show open for the playoff games, something that has become a tradition over the years.
Normally we try to do some kind of nice open for our playoff games and get pretty creative with it, says Pfeiffer. And this year we were talking about comparing, the post-season, our biggest stage, biggest stage, to Broadway. So, we have some Broadway performers and even one of the music directors from Hamilton involved. It will be a cool comparison of the big stage and something you will see on Friday.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
Sony Electronics has announced the SEL814G, the company's first fisheye zoom G Lens for full-frame Alpha E-mount cameras. The lens will be available in Octo...
09/09/2026
Telestream has announced an expansion of its Practical AI capabilities across th...
09/09/2026
Haivision and Chyron have announced a technology partnership integrating Haivisi...
09/09/2026
Omaha Productions has released ManningCast: Heist, a short film featuring Peyton and Eli Manning attempting to break into NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's o...
09/09/2026
Imagine Communications will demonstrate the next evolution of XVR at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14).
XVR is Imagine's channel-in-a-b...
09/09/2026
swXtch.io has announced abbe, an AI-based orchestration layer for live media workflows, making its world premiere at IBC2026 (Meeting Room 5.MR13, Hall 5, Septe...
09/09/2026
NFL Films has announced the second season of Inside the NFL on X as an X Original, premiering Wednesday, September 9. The series marks Inside the NFL's 50th...
09/09/2026
LiveU has announced an expanded partnership with The Associated Press, deploying the largest fleet of LU900Q intelligent production units in the industry as par...
09/09/2026
Diversified has announced plans to consolidate its four existing New Jersey locations into a new facility in Newark, expected to be fully operational by the end...
09/09/2026
Wisycom will exhibit new RF products at IBC2026 (Stand 8.D60, September 11-14), including the MATF Wideband Antenna Matrix, PFL Portable RF over Fiber Box, and ...
09/09/2026
Guntermann & Drunck (G&D) and VuWall, both Panoptec companies, will introduce vsNEO at IBC2026 (Stand 8.B63, September 11, RAI Amsterdam). Pre-orders open in ea...
09/09/2026
Mo-Sys has completed a business restructuring and relocated to a new facility in Canada Water, London. As part of the reorganization, Selin Kemal has been promo...
09/09/2026
Aicox has integrated TAG Video Systems' Core monitoring platform into Telef nica's TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure....
09/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has released DaVinci Resolve 21.1, a free update available now through the Blackmagic Design website. The release adds new AI tools, workflow ...
09/09/2026
ESPN and Apple Music have announced a collaboration on music curation for Monday...
09/09/2026
Sacramento Production Services has completed a wireless audio overhaul at Sutter Health Park, home of the Athletics during their three-year residency in Sacrame...
09/09/2026
NDI and NVIDIA have announced a collaboration to develop AI-powered workflows enabling broadcasters to create and distribute multilingual content from a single ...
09/09/2026
Christopher Chip Adams, Troy Aikman, Jim Dove, Jim Eady, Bucky Gunts, Robert A. Iger, Charlie Jablonski, Robert Kraft, Tom Rinaldi, and Dick Stockton to be ho...
09/09/2026
ND2 returns as the primary unit, While FNIA gets SSQC and new flexible Rover...
09/09/2026
New parts aimed at hip-hop and pop productions
The latest update to Celemony's innovative virtual session musician expands the collection of built-in in...
09/09/2026
Save up to 40% until 21 September 2026
Sonarworks are currently running their Autumn Sale, with discounts of up to 40% currently available across their rang...
09/09/2026
Upcoming title officially launches in September 2026
Bjooks' celebrations for this year's 909 Day will be welcome news amongst drum machine lovers, ...
09/09/2026
NITV to bring First Nations netball to audiences nationwide
9 September, 2026
Media releases
Every match of the 2026 First Nations Tournament will be live ...
09/09/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites eligible Tier 1 and 2 South African production companies to submit proposals to serve as the Facilitating ...
09/09/2026
Italy launch follows UK and Germany as Nielsen expands product across EMEA
Milan, Italy, September 9, 2026 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, ...
09/09/2026
Planned solutions tackle accuracy, cost and latency barriers to deploying AI at ...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, introduces its new Model 791 Control Console at IBC 2026 (N...
09/09/2026
Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects and visualization, is headin...
09/09/2026
NUGEN Audio unveils DialogCheck v1.2, the latest evolution of its intelligent dialog intelligibility and compliance tool, at IBC 2026 (Pod P27). With a sharpene...
09/09/2026
Trusted Partner Network Launches Fix It or Risk It to Help the Entertainment Industry Tackle Everyday Security Risks
Industry-Wide Campaign Launches at IBC2...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
AI has moved firmly beyond experimentation in UK advertising, with more than eight in ten marketers (83%) now actively using or piloting AI in production, accor...
09/09/2026
IBC2026 - Stand 7.D22
At IBC2026, Pixitmedia by DataCore will showcase its latest capabilities designed to simplify distributed production, accelerate workflow...
09/09/2026
Stockholm, Sweden September 9th, 2026 At IBC2026, on booth 1.B47, Net Insight will showcase Open Live Media, its architecture for delivering resilient live ...
09/09/2026
Net Insight today announced that DMC Production Norway is continuing the use of its Open Live Media technology for premium European football, deploying Nimbra 5...
09/09/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, will showcase four new AI-native capabilities at IBC2026, Hall 5, S...
09/09/2026
Limecraft today announces version 2026.6 of its AI-powered production platform, extending capabilities for connected media operations. An AI-assisted approach t...
09/09/2026
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced the next evolution of its Practical AI strategy, evolving its comprehensive portfoli...
09/09/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the appointment of Brian Doheny as Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
09/09/2026
LiveU is now a Clarus Integrated Reseller, bringing Starlink's fast, reliable broadband directly into LiveU's cellular bonding EcoSystem through a singl...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...