The State of Live Production: IP Is Here, HDR and REMI Are on the Rise, Personalization Is Key Panelists from ARRI, Amazon Prime Video, MTVG, and NEP expect a major technological shift over the next decade By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Wednesday, March 4, 2020 - 2:16 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Over the past decade, live production has seen gradual change in the technologies and workflow used to deliver sports, concerts, and other big events to viewers. Today, with the maturation of IP-based production tools, the rise of 4K and HDR, the increasing popularity of the at-home/REMI centralized production model, and the explosion in direct-to-consumer OTT services, the industry may see a seismic shift in the coming decade.
At the HPA Tech Retreat last month, executives from ARRI, Amazon Prime Video, Mobile TV Group (MTVG), and NEP took the stage to discuss the latest trends in live production and where they see this rapidly changing sector headed.
NEP and MTVG Commit to IP-Based Trucks
NEP has fully committed to an IP future based on the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of video-over-IP standards. The facilities provider now has 12 IP trucks worldwide, six IP-based control rooms, and several IP-based flypacks. Although NEP is blazing the IP trail for live production, the end-to-end IP ecosystem has not yet arrived, and the industry remains in a transition period.
NEP's Scott Rothenberg: Retaining talent has been a continued challenge.
We're still accounting for a lot of SDI and SDI distribution, said Scott Rothenberg, SVP, technology and asset management, NEP. That has been a challenge for us [in terms of] fitting everything inside the truck and meeting all the needs [of our customers] and all the different formats that we need to [deliver]. The scale and flexibility of IP have helped us build toward the future; however, there [is more] complexity [in terms of] interoperability. Some of the things that we just assumed would work because they are part of our everyday [SDI] workflows didn't work out-of-the-box with IP.
However, he also noted that the move to IP and more IT-centric workflows has made it difficult for NEP to find and retain quality engineers.
Training of the engineers, finding engineers, and keeping engineers has been a challenge, he said. Now we find ourselves sharing talent not only with other mobile providers but also with all of the high-tech companies. We find more software developers being needed in our business, and retaining talent has been a continued challenge.
MTVG Nick Garvin on REMI production: Technologically, we're there. You can have anything anywhere.
Mobile TV Group also has made a firm commitment to IP and is completing its third end-to-end native-IP mobile unit based on ST 2110. 47Flex will serve the new Marquee Sports Network's Chicago Cubs game productions this season, and the company's 48th truck - another IP version - is already in development.
Yes, said MTVG COO Nick Garvin, there might be some SDI [equipment in the truck], of course, but all of the major systems within those mobile units are connected [via] native IP.
Live 4K HDR Production on the Rise
In addition to IP-based efforts, MTVG is making the move to 4K HDR production.
4K HDR in the live environment is totally routine for us; we do it on a regular basis now, said Garvin. This past fall, Altitude Sports decided that all of their Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche home games were going to be 4K HDR. We needed only a little bit of time to convert the mobile unit to accommodate that.
Evolution of At-Home Production Continues
Rothenberg also spoke about the growth of the at-home/REMI production and how NEP sees it evolving in the coming years.
It's largely not a technical problem; it's actually a commercial and cost problem, he pointed out. Connectivity is not the same cost everywhere. In Australia, where we do thousands of events in a REMI style, it works for geographical reasons and cost of connectivity. In the U.S., it's going to be a little more complicated. Will it happen? Absolutely. Are we going to be sitting here next year talking about how there are no more TV trucks running around? Absolutely not. I think some events will [move to REMI] and other events won't.
Garvin seconded that sentiment, noting that, although centralized productions will continue to proliferate, different live events require different production workflows.
Technologically, we're there, he explained. On the production side, you can have anything anywhere. We've been able to test that and accommodate those requests. But, when we think about production innovation, we don't think just about technology; we're also focusing on workflow innovation.
When we first started down the road of cloud production, he continued, we thought everyone was going to be doing their production out of their basement. And that is possible. When internet became a [standard] household item, everyone thought they were just going to be able to work from their basement. But it turns out that there are non-technology-related benefits of being in an office together. That's something that we're still discovering and working on. We think the answer is that, like all things, it's a balance. There are different tools for different jobs.
Personalization Will Play a Major Role
Although virtual graphics, such as the 1st-and-Ten line, have been staples of live sports coverage for more than two decades, the use - and sophistication - of these augmented-reality elements has grown exponentially over the past few years. Felicia Yue, senior manager, product management, Amazon Prime Video, sees these virtual-production tools as a valuable way to create a more personalized viewing experience for fans.
Increased personalizatio
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
The State of Live Production: IP Is Here, HDR and REMI Are on the Rise, Personalization Is Key Panelists from ARRI, Amazon Prime Video, MTVG, and NEP expect a major technological shift over the next decade By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
