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 ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Designed for synchronized multi-stream playback, low-latency delivery, and real-time analytics, MATCH introduces a unified viewing experience for sports broadca...
07/04/2026
Berklee Students to Honor George Martin with Performance of Original Scores The orchestra, led by associate professor Xander Rovang, will perform several work...
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Like the immortal lives of vampires, some stories never really end. That's t...
06/04/2026
As podcasting continues to evolve, growth increasingly means building beyond aud...
06/04/2026
Multiband dynamics plug-in enhanced
California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processo...
06/04/2026
Share official & user-created full-rig presets
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX update makes it possible for users of the popular amp and effects modelling ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
06/04/2026
Wayne, N.J., April 6th, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the release of PCC 4...
06/04/2026
April 6th, 2026
TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...
06/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...
05/04/2026
Tackles all reported bugs!
SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboratio...
04/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
04/04/2026
1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...
04/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
04/04/2026
Faster, cleaner and more intuitive than ever
The control software for Flock Audio's digitally controlled patchbay systems has just been treated to an up...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...
04/04/2026
Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...
04/04/2026
Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
MLB Postseason 2021: MLB Network Excited to Be Back on Site for ALDS By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
