
NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships: ESPN Deploys On-Screen Data Markers, Extra Robos to Deliver Deeper Coverage Event will make first-ever live appearance on broadcast TV when Championship Final airs on ABC on Saturday afternoon By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, April 16, 2021 - 11:58 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
It's a big weekend in the gymnastics world as the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships makes its first ever live appearance on broadcast television.
An ESPN crew of more than 50 people is on-site at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX to deliver live coverage of the event which begins Friday with Semifinal I at 1 p.m. ET and Semifinal II at 6 p.m. ET (ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN App). However, it's the Championship Final which will be live on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC that has the teams visiting the North Texas region buzzing.
At the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships, a jib is one of the tools being used to deliver access to the viewers at a time where social-distancing guidelines make it tough to get up close to the athletes for the ESPN production crew. (Photo Courtesy Maria Soares, ESPN)
It's so exciting, says senior coordinating producer Maria Soares, a 29-year veteran of ESPN who is overseeing her first NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship. And not only is the production team really excited about it, but every coach and gymnast, everyone that we talked to, it really is such a highlight for them. I think for them, it just represents the level of where the sport is, and really just how much the sport has grown. It's probably the second thing, if not the first thing, that everyone mentions as we walk around Fort Worth. So, yeah, it's a really big deal for everyone.
While COVID protocols are still very much in place, the ESPN operations team is overcoming various restrictions and access limitations with acquisition gear positioned to get the viewer closer to the action. That means more strategically placed robotic cameras and POVs, as well as a jib that will do its best to reposition itself throughout the competition.
There are approximately 17 cameras in the building with POVs locked off on each individual apparatus, as well as six cameras run by human operators, seven Marshall POVs, and the jib. Those unmanned units are mostly placed in backstage areas to capture athletes, surrounding events, and, ultimately, the trophy presentation on Saturday.
Director Dan McVan (left) and producer Cara Lagana rehearse the trophy presentation earlier this week. The Championship Final will air on ABC beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. (Photo Courtesy Maria Soares, ESPN)
By nature of the sport itself, Soares says, we like to tell the story by being up close to the gymnasts that are on the floor. Given a lot of the protocols that we're working with this year, we had to just find new ways of telling those stories. We just had to be a little bit creative in how we get as close to the story and the gymnasts.
The producer-director team of Cara Lagana and Dan McVan will anchor the front bench in the production truck. This is Lagana's first NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship in the producer's chair after spending the last two regular seasons overseeing the network's coverage of the sport. She was slated to produce last year's championship before it was canceled by the NCAA following the COVID-19 outbreak. Soares, meanwhile, gave McVan kudos for playing a key role in shaping of the network's coverage in face of the on-site restrictions.
[Dan] has so much to do with how we're going to visually depict the sport, Soares says. He really has had to reimagine it with where we're going to have the different cameras.
The production team will also been implementing some fresh graphical elements to help tell the story of the tremendous athleticism of the student athletes. Included are height and distance markers on the vault, protractors for body angle and a height grid on the bars, and a split-o-meter on the balance beam. These aren't new elements for ESPN's college gymnastics coverage as it was utilized in the 2019 SEC season, but it's the first time the network has been able to utilize them this year due to the nature in which events needed to be produced. Naturally, Soares is excited to have them back.
Added graphical elements use unique measurements to display the athleticism of the competitors. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN PR; example from 2019)
It's cool for us to get to bring them back, she says, We've got our own truck on site and we're back with our ESPN production folks on site. We're really able to and enhance the sport the way we love to do it.
Anyone who has worked on a gymnastics event will tell you how challenging it can be to tell a live linear story for the audience at home. With so many things happening simultaneously, building to a dramatic championship moment doesn't come as easy as working to the end of a timed game might. Additionally, there's a higher likelihood for casual viewers with the Championship Final on broadcast on Saturday. These are all factors that the front bench is prioritizing in their storytelling heading into the weekend.
When you have four apparatuses going at the same time, your brain functions differently. Your producer functionality is different. I think that's what's unique, says Soares, who has experience working Olympics and Pan-Am Games in her years working at ESPN International. Basically, [the challenge is] how you manage the flow and how you prioritize between all these different things going on.
Senior coordinating producer Maria Soares (left) in the primary of two mobile production units on site with assistant director Robin Segreti (center) and producer Cara Lagana (right).
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
30/09/2026
Drawn to the many moving pieces of a live broadcast, this Los Angeles native is building a path in production management and technical operations...
30/09/2026
TNT Sports goes big for its season opener in Philadelphia, and REMI workflows at Techwood will again anchor much of regular-season production...
30/09/2026
Qvest has appointed Katlyn Alexander as CEO of Qvest in North America, effective August 16, 2026. Alexander, who previously served as COO of Qvest US, succeeds ...
30/09/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has wrapped its 2026 season, with leaguewide attendance surpassing 1.4 million for the fifth consecutiv...
30/09/2026
Veritone has announced a multi-year content licensing agreement with ATP Media, the broadcast production and distribution arm of the ATP Tour, making ATP's ...
30/09/2026
Netflix has announced it will become the exclusive home for WWE programming in Japan beginning October 1, 2026. The lineup includes Raw, SmackDown, NXT, Premium...
30/09/2026
SES and Sky have announced a new multi-year agreement for direct-to-home satellite services across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, running into the ...
30/09/2026
Big Blue Marble has announced the addition of live multiview channels to its Clo...
30/09/2026
The NHRA has announced multi-year media rights agreements with FOX Sports, The C...
30/09/2026
FOX 5 Atlanta (WAGA-TV) will carry Nashville Predators games during the 2026-27 season as part of Scripps Sports' regional broadcast network for the team. G...
30/09/2026
AI was a big buzz on the IBC show floor but there weren't a ton of companies...
30/09/2026
The PGA TOUR has announced the appointment ofRyan Holcomb as Senior Vice President and Head of Original Content, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Holcomb wi...
30/09/2026
The sound will be more immersive, with improved design and more mikes on the ice and the players
The National Hockey League's season opener on Tuesday nigh...
30/09/2026
TNT Sports is dropping the puck on the 2026-27 NHL season in a big way in Philad...
30/09/2026
The International Swimming League ( ISL ) today announced the appointment of Gravity Media, global leader in live production and content and media services and ...
30/09/2026
By Ramona Flume
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festiva...
30/09/2026
Add an envelope generator to any plug-in
Sync Audio's latest creation is a handy utility plug-in that can be used to combine and modulate other effects ...
30/09/2026
All-analogue tape-style drive joins Series A
Strymon's reputation was built on their digital knowhow, so many were surprised (and intrigued) when they a...
30/09/2026
Two new expansion packs released
Sonuscore have just introduced two new expansion packs for The Pulse, its production engine instrument for modern cinematic...
30/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
The An Evening with Emerson, Lake and Palmer tour brings one of rock's most iconic bands back to the stage. These performances seamlessly blend live foota...
30/09/2026
Schibsted Media, one of Norways largest and most influential digital media publishers and content producers, has invested in mixers and digital signal processor...
30/09/2026
Big Blue Marble announces the addition of live multiview channels to Cloud Video Kit, its broadcast-grade video processing platform. The feature is powered by A...
30/09/2026
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Telekom Slovenije, Slovenia's largest provider of telecommunications and TV services, is open...
30/09/2026
PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Conference featuring 24 sessions over two days ...
30/09/2026
IBC2026 Show Report
David Kirk September 29, 2026
0 Comments
The International Broadcasting Convention has long been Europe's equivalent of the US...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Mavis has launched Mavis Camera 8.2, the latest release of its professional camera app for the iPhone and iPad. This update brings support for iPhone 18 Pro and...
30/09/2026
September 30th, 2026
TRIBECA FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2027 DATES AND CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS
Following a Record Box Office Year, the 26th Edition, Presented by OKX,...
30/09/2026
New Solution Expands Harmonic's Network Intelligence Portfolio and Brings Comcast-Developed Fiber Monitoring Technology to Broadband Operators, Providing Re...
30/09/2026
Thank you to Film-TV Video for the original article - you can view it here
It was early 1983. I had just turned 21 when I joined Hitachi Denshi's European...
30/09/2026
How to Shop Well Now starts Monday at 9.35pm
on RT One and RT Player
On the...
30/09/2026
Building on nearly a decade of co-engineering, CoreWeave has built NVIDIA compute, networking and software into a cloud purpose-built for AI that's still re...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...