MLB Local Media Hits Its Stride in Year 2 With Diamondbacks, Padres, Rockies Broadcasts Tech highlights include WireCam, Ump Cam, RF gimbal system, and STATS Insights graphics By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Tuesday, April 2, 2024 - 3:13 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
After taking over San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks broadcasts on the fly in the middle of last season, MLB will also be producing and distributing Colorado Rockies games this season. With last season under its belt, the league's Local Media team is looking to level-up broadcasts for all three teams with a full arsenal of production tools and technological innovations.
The key to the 2024 season has been the ability to plan, says Doug Johnson, SVP/executive producer, local media, MLB. Last year was more about getting our feet under us and ensuring these games were on the air and at a high production level. Now, with a full offseason to prepare, we were able to add things and make changes to the productions where appropriate. [We're] also continuing to build great relationships with the clubs as a partner in all of these broadcasts.
At Colorado Rockies front bench in Arizona for opening series: Producer Alison Vigil (left) and Director Erica Ferrero
Tech Touches: WireCam, Ump Cam, RF Gimbal System DEFY Wire Cam at Chase Field
MLB Local Media has partnered with DEFY Products to add a WireCam system to Petco Park in San Diego, Chase Field in Phoenix, and Coors Field in Denver. At Chase Field and Coors Field, the system runs up and down the third-base line; at Petco, it starts on the first-base line.
We experimented with the WireCam last year and quickly realized what a game-changer it was for our shows, says Johnson. With its versatility, it was like adding five cameras to the show.
MLB Local Media is also working closely with MLB SVP, Broadcasting, Ryan Zander and the broadcasting department to implement Ump Cam in some broadcasts. The Ump Cam made its local-broadcast debut last year with the Diamondbacks, and Johnson hopes to increase its deployment across all three teams' games this year.
It was a huge success, and fans loved it, he says. We are always striving to show the speed and movement of these amazing pitchers, and this look shows you both. The other thing I like is, it replicates the view most kids are used to when they play MLB videogames.
Closeup of WireCam at Chase Field
For home games, all three teams' productions will deploy an enhanced version of the wireless RF DJI Ronin gimbal camera system that debuted last season on Diamondbacks and Padres broadcasts.
We believe this package gives us the same great on-air look as last season with a more intuitive and flexible operating system, says Kendall Burgess, VP, operations, MLB Local Media. Based on the lessons we learned last year and with the engineering guidance of MTVG, we have upgraded several of our camera systems this season.
Working with facilities provider Mobile TV Group and NEP's Fletcher Sports division, Burgess and her team have also upgraded several home-park robotic and PTZ cameras for this season.
All About Access: In-Game Interviews Bring Fans Closer to the Action Like many national and regional broadcasters these days, MLB Local Media is making a concerted effort to work with all three clubs to enhance player access during the game broadcast.
Down-the-wire look of DEFY WireCam at Chase Field
MLB Local Media is working with MTVG to deploy a customized player-mic and IFB package this season. The highlight of the gear is a Q5X PlayerMic that debuted during Spring Training games and will be incorporated throughout the season for all three teams.
Fans crave these kinds of production elements, says Johnson. With increased access, you give more exposure to these great athletes through the biggest megaphone, which is the game broadcast.
For example, Johnson and company are working with the clubs to arrange in-game interviews with the starting pitcher after a good start. It just makes way more sense, he says, to celebrate that start with the pitcher during the highly rated game broadcast versus making fans wait for a postgame show to hear from him. All three of our clubs have been great to work with, and I am looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish this year.
Going Deeper With Data: STAT Insights' and Hot Corner' Graphics; Plus Umps in the Booth Besides its stats provider Sportradar, MLB has partnered with Stats Perform on its STATS Insights platform. All three clubs will have a dedicated Stats Perform statistician on a Slack channel providing deeper statistical insights to the announce booth and the truck. Instead of depending on stats provided before the game, says Johnson, we are able to expound on in-game storylines as they happen in real time.
All three teams' broadcasts also feature new specialty graphics leveraging the STATS Insights platform dubbed the Hot Corner. The graphic, which runs directly off the overall Vizrt graphics systems, slides onto the screen with a chime sound and displays deep statistics and information during the live broadcast. The direction for the Hot Corner is, it is only high-end stats and interesting information when it goes in, says Johnson. When viewers hear that chime, there is a real payoff.
To further provide deeper insights to viewers, Padres broadcasts will offer a new twist with the addition of former MLB Umpire Mike Winters as a rules expert in the booth on selected games. With all the new and exciting changes to the game, says Johnson, it will be great to get an umpire's perspective/analysis live on the air. Based on how this goes, we will look to implement this in all our regions.
New Year, New Look: MLB Network, Local Production Teams Pitch In The overall on-air l
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...
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...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
MLB Local Media Hits Its Stride in Year 2 With Diamondbacks, Padres, Rockies Broadcasts Tech highlights include WireCam, Ump Cam, RF gimbal system, and STATS Insights graphics By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
