PBA Tour Rolls Back Into Action With New Strike Derby' Format on Fox Tournament targets mainstream-sports fans as well as bowling buffs By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, June 12, 2020 - 2:25 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Live bowling returned to television last Saturday with the first-ever PBA Strike Derby on Fox. Designed to satisfy the appetite of content-hungry sports fans, the home-run-derby-style tournament not only marked the return of PBA Tour action, which was halted on March 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but also was the debut of a tournament format targeting the bowling fan and mainstream-sports fan alike.
There's nothing more nerve-wracking than it being your first show back from your postponement and also launching a brand-new format you've never done before live - and doing it all on broadcast TV with a bigger audience [than cable], says PBA CEO Colie Edison. But we were really happy with the results. Producing live sports is a challenge to begin with, so doing it during a pandemic is beyond challenging. But our entire team really stepped up.
The event at Bowlero Jupiter in Florida was the first in a series of PBA Tour events that are scheduled for the next two months and will be produced without fans in attendance and plenty of added safety protocols to ensure the health of the players, officials, and TV-production crew.
Inside the Truck: Safety Remains Paramount
The PBA on Fox show was produced out of Lyon Video's Lyon 8 mobile unit, which rolled in a day earlier than usual for setup and was outfitted with plexiglass panels separating several positions. All Lyon mobile units have new CDC-recommended MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) 14 air filters for improved air quality. Crew members, who were all temperature-tested and filled out a waiver on arrival, were reorganized to ensure social distancing and required to wear masks and other PPE inside the truck at all times.
From left: Dave Ryan, Kimberly Pressler, and Randy Pederson maintained social distancing throughout the broadcast.
It worked out well, notes PBA on Fox producer David Bruner, and it did not feel crowded at all. Everyone took it seriously and wore their masks, so we all felt really good about it. Everybody was just excited to be back. It was the first event back for the entire crew since we left the air in March.
Strike Derby Format: New Kind of Production for New Kind of Bowling
In the PBA Strike Derby format, eight players are given two minutes apiece to record as many strikes as they could using three parallel lanes. Players were then placed into an elimination bracket, with Kris Prather defeating Anthony Simonsen in the finals to take the crown. The high-energy format was not only a viable alternative to traditional PBA Tour title events, which aren't logistically possible at this time, but also as an effort to appeal to more-mainstream viewers.
The PBA Strike Derby allowed players to throw as many strikes as they could across three lanes.
One of the main things we wanted to do was to reach a wider audience than we've ever reached before, especially since we were on Fox [broadcast network], says Edison. We knew we were speaking to a non-bowling fan more than we typically are, so it was important that we put something forward that can bring more people into the sport. The Strike Derby format enabled us to do that. Plus, we wanted to have a small footprint to abide by social-distancing guidelines. This format lent itself to that.
Reporter Kimberly Pressler (right) socially distanced during her interviews, including this one with PBA Tour's Colie Edison.
Inside Bowlero Jupiter, the production team rolled out its standard camera complement: four hard cams (one super-slo-mo), two handhelds (one super slo-mo), two POVs to cover pin decks, two POVs (low come-and-go shot on lanes), one POV (high overhead), and one POV (foul line)
When we went three lanes for the Strike Derby, we decided to make the handhelds a lot more active in the cut, Bruner explains. Our director [David Newman] was working very hard to make that happen, so it would really pop.
Several players also were miked and were able to speak directly to PBA Tour on Fox announcers, who were socially distanced inside the venue. Player interviews were conducted from a distance.
With the new derby format in place, the graphic displayed a tracking line for every single shot, creating a visual similar to the spray chart for a home-run derby.
As a result of the derby format, changes had to be made to the Kegel Specto StrikeTrack ball-tracking analysis technology used for PBA Tour on Fox telecasts. Typically, the StrikeTrack graphic displays the ideal strike lane for a player and compares it with the live shot. However, with the new derby format, the graphic displayed a tracking line for every single shot, creating a visual similar to the spray chart for a home-run derby.
A regular show is much slower, and there's more time taken to make a shot, says PBA Tour Commissioner Tom Clark. We will determine the ideal strike line for a player and then compare the live shot to it. The players on the PBA tour are so precise that you can see the line just completely cover the ideal line.
Several money line graphics were integrated into the telecast to help promote the PBA's new partnership with Fox Bet.
But for this event, he continues, when they're going so fast and they don't have as much time to be as precise, we decided to leave every single shot in the [the graphic], which still showed the incredible consistency of the player.
The Strike Derby also marked the PBA Tour's first integration with Fox Bet. The online sportsbook enables residents of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Colorado to legally bet on the event. Several money-line gra
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
28/10/2025
ESPN Announces Monsters Funday Football', Its Latest Real-Time Animated Bro...
28/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Catherine Chalfant, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe Ole Miss alum is an operational force behind ESPN's extensive college-football catalo...
28/10/2025
Elevating the experience: AI and data take Ryder Cup to the next level By Joe OHalloran
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 10:25
Print This Story
NBC produced th...
28/10/2025
Conquering the Air (waves): Taking a close up look at the IBC Accelerator Priva...
28/10/2025
World Series 2025: Spectrum SportsNet LA Brings Dodgers Fans Closer to the Actio...
28/10/2025
Dylan Southern and Benedict Cumberbatch at the premiere of The Thing with Feathers (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
28/10/2025
For three weeks in Lagos, Spotify's Greasy Tunes Caf pop-up brought the cit...
28/10/2025
Once a niche subculture, German rap has evolved into an influential cultural movement. Now, Spotify is giving the genre a new home with OFFCULT, a playlist dedi...
28/10/2025
Shane Delia's Malta serves up the Mediterranean this summer
28 October, 2025
Media releases
Feast on 9,000 years of culinary history Mondays from 24 No...
28/10/2025
SBS's global sporting festival continues with the FIVB Beach Volleyball Worl...
28/10/2025
Bilbao, October 28, 2025 - AgileTV, a leading technology solutions company for t...
28/10/2025
Disney, NBCUniversal, FOX, Paramount Each Achieve Double-Digit Monthly Growth
...
28/10/2025
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has announced an agreement to sell WRTV, its local ABC-affiliated station in Indianapolis, to Circle City Broadcasting for $...
28/10/2025
Berklee College of Music and Berklee Valencia Named to Billboards 2025 Top Music...
28/10/2025
NEW YORK As AI usage continues to spike, a new study from IAB delves into an important aspect of how AI is transforming the advertising business with new data s...
28/10/2025
Charlie Jablonski, a broadcast tech pioneer who helped shape the modern era of Olympics television coverage, died Oct. 25 at his home in Lake George N.Y., the N...
28/10/2025
VIENNA, Austria Bitmovin has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insights into video playback. The so...
28/10/2025
LOS ANGELES LucidLink, the file streaming platform, has announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities at Adobe Max....
28/10/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced that it has joined the Ama...
28/10/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in connectivity and signal management solutions, has announced a major update to its Taurus
platform, which now delivers flawless...
28/10/2025
Following a successful mid-September International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Hiltron Communications will promote its full range of satellite communi...
28/10/2025
Open Broadcast Systems has chosen MC&S (Media Consulting & Services) as a reseller to help strengthen its presence in France.
With over twenty years of experi...
28/10/2025
Bitmovin, leading provider of video streaming solutions, has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insi...
28/10/2025
Ease Live, the leader in interactive TV technology, today announced the successful launch of interactive graphical overlays for UEFA Champions League matches fo...
28/10/2025
LucidLink, the file streaming platform, today at Adobe MAX announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities, streamlining collaboration and hel...
28/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has promoted Nick Hasenecz to general manager of WNDU, its NBC affiliate in the South Bend-Elkhart, Ind., market....
28/10/2025
Applications Open for Berklee Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant Boston nonprofits can apply by December 12 for funding to support community projects that ...
28/10/2025
28 Oct 2025
VEON's JazzCash Wins Silver Award for Innovation in Lending at ...
28/10/2025
Guests include Wayne Rooney, Maya Jama, Dame Laura Kenny, Chloe Kelly, Chris McC...
28/10/2025
The two-hour special, recorded live from the iconic Dolby Theatre in LA, will ai...
28/10/2025
Eutelsat upgrades teleports with Rohde & Schwarz satellite uplink amplifiers High efficiency and resilient Ku-band amplifiers for excellent RF performance
...
28/10/2025
These appointments come at a pivotal time for ABC, as the organisation continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of a digital-first media ecosystem. The ne...
28/10/2025
Scripps Research awarded $4 million to advance platform for neurodevelopmental disorders The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grant support...
27/10/2025
You can touch this: Haptics becoming central to the virtual live experience By Adrian Pennington
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 09:12
Print This Story
The vid...
27/10/2025
A tale of two trailers: France's Stop & Go doubles up with its new hybrid tr...
27/10/2025
Pro Padel League Stages City's Cup Finals Inside NYC's Hammerstein Ballr...
27/10/2025
World Series 2025: Sportsnet Delivers Made-in-Canada' Moment for a Nation U...
27/10/2025
ESPN Extends Partnership With Sony's Beyond Sports To Expand Animated Altern...
27/10/2025
Reid Davenport attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Life After at The Ray Theatre on January 27, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Robin Marsha...
27/10/2025
As the days grow shorter and the nights get darker, there's nothing like getting swept up in a story that sends shivers down your spine. In honor of spooky ...
27/10/2025
UPDATE: Both parties have reached a new carriage agreement....
27/10/2025
LONDON As Hollywood jumps into the production of mini-dramas, a new study from Ampere Analysis finds that more than one in 10 internet users have watched drama ...
27/10/2025
LONDON Yealink, a provider of unified communication and collaboration solutions, has joined the NDI ecosystem with the availability of its SmartVision 80 premiu...
27/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has named Chris Conroy as general manager of its stations in Cleveland, leading WOIO, a CBS affiliate, The CW station WUAB and Telemundo outl...
27/10/2025
ESPOO, Finland European connectivity leaders Nokia and Ericsson, have partnered with Berlin's Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI), to shape and drive ...
27/10/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast has expanded NOW TV Latino, its Spanish-language live TV and streaming offering, adding five more channels from Univision, ViX Premium with...
27/10/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, will present its latest products and solutions at InterBEE 2025 (Hall 5, Booth 5218) Makuhari Messe in Chiba, ...
27/10/2025
Back to All News
City of Shadows, the New Netflix Thriller Arrives on December 12
Entertainment
27 October 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Downl...
PBA Tour Rolls Back Into Action With New Strike Derby' Format on Fox Tournament targets mainstream-sports fans as well as bowling buffs By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
