MLB Returns: ESPN Preps Normal Sunday Night Baseball Graphics Package for Enhanced World Feed' At the mercy of local RSNs, the network will produce games via a clean feed By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Thursday, July 23, 2020 - 10:40 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
It's going to be great, but, man, there have been a lot of Zoom calls and a lot of hours of work.
In 22 words, Phil Orlins, senior coordinating producer, ESPN, summarizes the current era in live event production. After a fair amount of preparation in a time of much uncertainty, the broadcaster is fielding a full-fledged plan that features one of the largest REMI efforts out of its Bristol, CT, facility, complete with K-Zone and Statcast graphics and other technologies to improve a clean feed supplied by local regional sports networks.
Under One Roof: Production, Ops Teams Share Space in Bristol Throughout the shortened, 60-game regular season, ESPN's headquarters facility will be littered with personnel on both sides of the broadcast. On the operations side, a full crew usually seen in a mobile production unit in the compound will be housed in multiple control rooms. Even at the Bristol campus, broadcast teams will need to adhere to stringent health and safety guidelines to curb the spread of COVID-19. For example, one room may house only a TD, Producer Jeff Dufine, and Director Jeff Evers.
Working from their respective homes for ESPN's coverage of KBO and MLB Summer Camp, Jon Sciambi (left) and Chipper Jones (center) interview Chicago Cubs star Anthony Rizzo.
On the production side, the main personalities typically seen in the booth will be located in Bristol. Play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian and analyst Alex Rodriguez will be using real-time monitors to call the action. Analyst Buster Olney will be in a very different environment if the stadium is relatively close to his home. When appropriate and in close proximity, he will drive to the stadium and find a safe location to report on the proceedings; if it's not in driving distance, he will join the profusion of talent working remotely from home. For the non-exclusive games during the week, Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech and play-by-play announcer Jon Sciambi will be on the call from Bristol.
If talent onsite or in the studio is not enough, other analysts will join from their homes, including Tim Kurkjian in Baltimore, Chipper Jones in Atlanta, Jessica Mendoza in Oregon, Rick Sutcliffe in San Diego, and Eduardo Perez in Miami. At-home commentators will be brought to the live broadcast via a TVU camera that is sent to Bristol on a one-second delay.
We've had Major League Baseball on ESPN for a long time, and we are really excited to get going, says Mark Gross, SVP, production and live events, ESPN. We feel confident about the system and plan that we have in place.
One Way Street: ESPN To Rely on Local RSNs for World Feed The COVID-19 pandemic has forced baseball stadiums across the nation to shut their doors and permit only extremely essential personnel inside, including a limited number of onsite production folks. With local RSNs getting the green light from the league, other national broadcasters are left on the outside looking in and relying on a clean video feed. This world feed will come with a complement of 12 cameras, including four with super-slow-motion capability, but, for what will most likely be the first time that MLB games are done via an enhanced world feed, the real ingenuity is in how the offsite team will see all aspects of the field through multiviewers created by Jason Hedgcock, director, remote technical operations, MLB Network.
[Using a world feed] is not new to the broadcast industry, says Orlins, but it has crossed my mind that there could be some logic to having a primary broadcast for each game, relying on one set of coverage, and enhancing it from there. What's new is trying to do it with 30 different RSNs.
The process of getting on the same page with the participating networks was an entirely other challenge. For a team normally concerned with figuring out how logistically to showcase a game from different venues, ESPN will be working in conjunction with a new crew for every single telecast.
It has taken an awful lot to build out, plan, and organize in what amounted to two weeks' time, Orlins explains. We've conducted separate Zoom calls, once or twice every week, with Eastern, Central, and Western teams, and we've also done separate technical-only calls that have had anywhere from 250 to 300 participants.
Nationwide Attention: Opening Day To Get Extra Treatment A regular since the 2015 regular season, K-Zone 3D will return to display the location and trajectory of every pitch.
Without an onsite crew, Orlins, Gross, and the team are bullish on the Sunday Night Baseball plan. Notable enhancements to the clean feed include three-dimensional K-Zone and Statcast AI technology powered by AWS. To further enhance the national telecasts, extra EVS servers will be on hand for additional replays. Other graphics efforts, such as specific placement of virtual advertising, are moving forward in standard fashion.
There are plans to have some virtual advertising, but not necessarily in the seats, notes Gross. It's comparable to what we've done regularly on a Sunday Night game.
ESPN's MLB coverage has become well-known for pushing the technological envelope every season. For this particular season, the biggest tech highlight is the installation of two cameras that will be controlled exclusively by ESPN on all non-exclusive weekday games.
We can cut back and forth from [our two cameras] to whoever - manager, hitter, or pitcher - is being talked about, says Orlins. Then, we would essentially go back to the world feed to watch the game bei
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
MLB Returns: ESPN Preps Normal Sunday Night Baseball Graphics Package for Enhanced World Feed' At the mercy of local RSNs, the network will produce games via a clean feed By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
