On the Hardwood: Houston Rockets Work With League, RSNs To Produce Away Radio Broadcasts in Toyota Center The radio crew will be in action for all 72 regular-season games By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Wednesday, February 3, 2021 - 10:00 am
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The doldrums of 2020 may be in the past, but 2021 is still presenting challenges to in-venue production teams. Now out of the Orlando bubble, NBA organizations are hosting games in their home arenas and navigating the continuing difficulties of the pandemic. Like SVG's At the Ballpark and On the Gridiron series, On the Hardwood will take a look the hardships, creative ideas, and teamwork of NBA franchises.
NBA production teams have continued to push the technological envelope this season. Some have reconfigured their digital app while others have rejiggered the physical structure of their control room. The Houston Rockets crew is in full throttle, facilitating away radio broadcasts while the team is traveling on the road.
It's different this year since our regional sports network and radio crew is not traveling with the team, says Matthew Tape, director, broadcast and video production, Houston Rockets. We're utilizing every bit of the NBA's new high-speed area network.
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On the Road: Toyota Center Becomes Hub for Remote Radio Broadcasts Like the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, the Houston Rockets are giving fans something to listen to when they're away from Space City. The franchise is accustomed to producing the radio broadcasts, but, in a year when traveling has been limited, the staff is getting creative with workflow. The television broadcast airs on the team's dedicated regional sports network, AT&T Sports Southwest, but, for the radio call, Tape and his team are working with the league and RSNs around the country.
Radio broadcasts during away games are produced from the Rockets control room.
There are basically eight feeds that we get in real time from the league, which we're able to change out as we see fit, he says. Normally, it's a clean-cut feed from the home RSN: both under-the-basket handhelds, a slash, dunk cams, and an RSN-controlled camera that they can control. In some cases, some RSNs will ask for two or maybe even three [other] camera feeds.
During road games, the radio team is positioned in its customary perch inside the Toyota Center. For connection with the away arena, it has a direct line of communication to operators in the other city. The talent call the games off the venue's massive videoboard, which displays the camera feeds sent by the league's network.
We have a lot of fiber connections running from the league's network in Secaucus, NJ, to our area in Houston, Tape explains. With our talent calling the game off the videoboard, the NBA sends over statistics, and we throw it up to our scorebug and put that up on the screen as well. It's also pretty cool that we're able to get the clock within tenths of a second from all the video feeds.
Fans allowed in the stands at Toyota Center are treated to player-centric vignettes on the videoboard.
The production crew is getting accustomed to producing away broadcasts. During a normal year, it would most likely be prepping for the next home game but wouldn't necessarily be officially on the clock since the team is traveling. These days, with the need to accommodate fans whenever possible, the crew is finding its footing and developing solutions for both production and non-production challenges.
Due to building protocols, Tape notes, we're the only ones in the building. We're turning on all of the lights, letting staff members in, and getting their food from the fridge. Sometimes, the parking-garage door is closed or something that you don't think is an issue becomes an issue on some of these away games.
Welcome Back: LiveU Technology Handles Fan Activations on the Concourse Toyota Center is one of the few league venues allowing selected fans through the turnstiles. With around 3,100 fans in the seats, the videoboard is being populated by the routine player features and other video elements. Fans are expected to be responsible when they're at the game, and, without much access to the court, the production team is developing new ways for them to get involved without getting near the players. LiveU's cellular bonding and wireless connectivity is shifting fan activations from courtside to the concourse.
Popular hip-hop artist Travis Scott is one of the local celebrities featured in the in-venue show during Rocket games.
For contests where a contestant has to shoot on the net, Tape explains, we're now doing that on the concourse. We've been shooting [these elements] with LiveU, and we'll eventually have a partial activation in a suite in the lower bowl. The latency has been challenging, especially if you have something like a shooting challenge where we start a clock in the control room and have to
offset the 1- to 3-second delay.
Access to the court is also an issue for the pr
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On the Hardwood: Houston Rockets Work With League, RSNs To Produce Away Radio Broadcasts in Toyota Center The radio crew will be in action for all 72 regular-season games By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
