Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

MLB Opening Day 2021: MLB Network Boosts YouTube Game Productions, Adds Studio for New Bettor's Eye MLB.com Show

01/04/2021

MLB Opening Day 2021: MLB Network Boosts YouTube Game Productions, Adds Studio for New Bettor's Eye MLB.com Show More than 20 camera feeds will be produced for YouTube's Game of the Week Live By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Thursday, April 1, 2021 - 2:27 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Last year, the team at MLB Network found itself serving a multitude of roles after Major League Baseball opened its season during the pandemic: it not only produced its own studio programming, MLB Network Showcase games, and NHL Network's studio programming but also supplied dozens of RSNs with the foundation for MLB's enhanced-world-feed model used for broadcasts. This year, there's no rest for the weary, and MLB Network's Secaucus, NJ, facility is as bustling as ever.

The network will once again produce its 26-game MLB Network Showcase package remotely, using Game Creek Video Riverhawk mobile unit, which is parked outside the Secaucus broadcast center. In addition, MLB Network will use Riverhawk for 21 productions of YouTube's Game of the Week Live, MLB's largest exclusive streaming package to date.

We're really excited to be able to have our own show and control all the cameras and have everything in our arsenal this year since the YouTube games are exclusive, says Susan Stone, SVP, engineering and operations, MLB Network. With the YouTube games, we're also looking to appeal to a different kind of audience and add a different kind of feel.

MLBN Showcase, YouTube Game Productions Call Secaucus Home After producing 13 games for YouTube in 2019 and four September games during last season's shortened campaign, MLB Network will handle production for YouTube's entire exclusive 21-game package this year. For Showcase and YouTube games, an average of 12 cameras will be sent to Riverhawk, where the production crew will create the shows.

According to MLB Network Senior Director, Remote Technical Operations, Jason Hedgcock, last year's YouTube productions involved eight-10 feeds from the park, but this year's will have more than 20 feeds backhauled to Secaucus, including cameras, Statcast and PitchCast data, and multiview/all-nine feeds for the announcers to call games off monitors from Studio K.

Leading up to Opening Day, MLB Network relied on its Ballpark Cam system and remote-production capabilities to produce its annual 30 Clubs in 30 Days Spring Training coverage, which featured Greg Amsinger (left) and Dan Plesac.

Last year was a triage: we just wanted to make sure we could get everything on-air, says Hedgcock. It ended up being very clean, good programming. Now we've had a few months to digest what worked and what didn't and get feedback from our talented and creative production team here. And we've had time on the engineering and operations side to make some adjustments and improvements. I think, this year, we're going to push the digital and REMI models that we've created to see just how much we can innovate with them, and that's really exciting.

Having debuted the Speed Cam system last year, MLB Network will continue to explore new camera positions and technologies. With the majority of ballparks still limiting audience size, broadcasters will continue to have additional flexibility when it comes to camera positions.

We certainly hope to see [Speed Cam] again this season, says Hedgcock. We thought it was a great enhancement, and we want to take advantage - like we were able to last year - of having more flexibility [with fewer fans in the stands].

The great news, he continues, is that every ballpark is going to have at least some fans this year. We certainly are hoping that we'll have the opportunity to try Speed Cam and some other enhancements between YouTube and Showcase as the season goes on.

YouTube Game of the Week: Miked Players, Multiple Announce Teams, and More To differentiate its coverage from traditional MLB broadcasts, MLB Network will roll out several features for YouTube's Game of the Week Live: regularly miking players on the field, incorporating multiple announce teams from across the country to represent both teams playing, and creating original content to take the place of commercial breaks.

Game Creek Video Riverhawk is parked outside MLB Network's Secaucus broadcast center to house the MLBN Showcase and YouTube Game of the Week productions this year.

Last year, MLB Network worked closely with Quantum5X to integrate a wearable miniature microphone/transmitter system into its broadcasts. In a prime example, MLBN worked with the New York Mets to sew a pouch into star first baseman Pete Alonso's Under Armour shirt for a transmitter the size of a credit card and run the microphone wire behind his back.

[Alonso] couldn't even feel it, says Marc Caiafa, SVP, production, MLB Network, adding, We're seeing the technology really improve, and that has made a different in getting buy-in [from the players]. We've always tried to push the wired mics, but, since the technology has gotten better, we are pushing them even more because it really makes the broadcasts better. We've got some lead time now with the clubs, and we've approached them already. It ultimately comes down to the communication with the player and the team, but we've definitely made strides.

The team-specific announcers will include a mix of on-air talent from MLB Network's in-house roster, the teams' RSNs, and various legends/former players from each team.

Our goal is to have representation from both sides, says Caiafa, whether it's a legend or local broadcaster or one of our in-house analysts. It will definitely be a challenge from a logistical standpoint, but I'm fully confident that we'll get it done. We've had good lead time, an
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/04/01/mlb-opening-day-2021-mlb-networ...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

26/04/2025

Samsung Ads Launches New Interactive Ad Format

NEW YORK Samsung Ads has debuted a new interactive advertising format, Creative Canvas, that helps automate and deliver interactive ads....

26/04/2025

Sinclair Names Vincent J. Sollecito VP/GM of WPEC

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Sinclair has appointed Vincent J. Sollecito vice president and general manager of WPEC, serving the West Palm Beach, Florida market....

26/04/2025

Comcast Technology Solutions, AD-ID Join Forces to Advance Ad Standards

NEW YORK and DENVER AD-ID and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced that they are working together to promote the adoption of industry standards in ...

26/04/2025

Cobalt Scores a Trifecta of Awards at NAB 2025

Cobalt Scores a Trifecta of Awards at NAB 2025 Brie Clayton April 25, 2025 0 Comments Company adds another Best of Show and two Product of the Year tr...

26/04/2025

FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2025 entries

FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2025 entries Brie Clayton April 25, 2025 0 Comments Entries open from 1 May 31 July to colourists on any grading pl...

26/04/2025

Blackmagic's Latest Products - Larry Jordan Guest Spots with Dan May at NAB Las Vegas 2025

Blackmagic's Latest Products - Larry Jordan Guest Spots with Dan May at NAB ...

25/04/2025

The Legend of Ochi Takes Families on an Adventure

Emily Watson, Isaiah Saxon, Helena Zengel, and Finn Wolfhard at The Legend of Ochi premiere (photo by Soul Brother/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...

25/04/2025

Interoperability and Networked Electronic Warfare: Critical for the Modern Warfighter

Using its CORVUS portfolio, L3Harris created a highly adaptable battle network t...

25/04/2025

Agile Content and Tiscali team up to launch the tv service Linkem My TI-VI in Italy Agile TV

Agile Content joins forces with Tiscali to introduce a new platform in Italy, of...

25/04/2025

Agile Content is Now AgileTV Agile TV

The company positions Agile TV as the commercial brand focused on delivering TVaaS solutions for operators and media. The chosen tagline TVaaS your way enca...

25/04/2025

Agile TV, United Teleports, and BNS Launch a More Profitable, Hassle-Free TV Service Agile TV

A Fully Managed Solution That Maximizes Revenue for North American Operators Whi...

25/04/2025

Former Morgan Murphy Media CEO Elizabeth Murphy Burns Has Died

Morgan Murphy Media has issued the following obituary for its former CEO:...

25/04/2025

FEMA Lifts Its Hold on Warning System Grants

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has lifted its hold on grant money for some public broadcast stations to upgrade their infrastructure....

25/04/2025

Enhance Videos 80% Faster & Fix Format Issues with VideoProc - Major Update

Enhance Videos 80% Faster & Fix Format Issues with VideoProc - Major Update Brie Clayton April 25, 2025 0 Comments VideoProc Converter AI just got a m...

25/04/2025

Listen to Kim Perlak and Francisco Mela's New Album, Recorded in a Single Afternoon

Listen to Kim Perlak and Francisco Mela's New Album, Recorded in a Single Af...

25/04/2025

YouTube Turns 20, Celebrates 20 Trillion Uploaded Videos

YouTube is celebrating its 20th birthday with stats showing how popular the platform has become and by announcing some new features, including the ability for u...

25/04/2025

Sinclair's Dave Schwartz, Corporate SVP/Station Operations, to Retire

BALTIMORE Sinclair, Inc. has announced the retirement of Dave Schwartz, its corporate senior vice president/station operations, effective June 30....

25/04/2025

SBE Releases Updated CertPreview Practice Exams

The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) has released its popular CertPreview practice exams in a new, online format. SBE CertPreview allows people preparing to...

25/04/2025

Dallas Wings Expand OTA Reach with Tegna, Gray and Corridor Deals

ARLINGTON, Texas Two months after naming Tegna station KFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth its exclusive local broadcast partner for WNBA games, the Dallas Wings are expa...

25/04/2025

AMG's Local Now Launches on Vizio's WatchFree+

LOS ANGELES, Calif. Allen Media Group has announced that all 223 U.S. Markets covered by its Local Now FAST Channel are now available on the Vizio WatchFree+ st...

25/04/2025

Working with Shutterstock's AI Editor to Create Unique Images

Working with Shutterstock's AI Editor to Create Unique Images Brie Clayton April 25, 2025 0 Comments What's better than a stock image source? ...

25/04/2025

VEON Files its 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F

25 Apr 2025 VEON Files its 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F Dubai, April 25, 2025: VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator ( VEON' or the Compa...

25/04/2025

Super Bowl Streaming Success: A Conversation with Tubi's Chief Product & Technology Officer Mike Bidgoli

Super Bowl Streaming Success: A Conversation with Tubi's Chief Product & Tec...

25/04/2025

Tariff Turmoil: Trump's Trade Policy Sparks Uncertainty at NAB and Increases Focus on Software Adoption

Tariff Turmoil: Trump's Trade Policy Sparks Uncertainty at NAB and Increases...

25/04/2025

High Kicks and High Stakes: Sky Arts announces new series, The Battle of the Irish Dancers

Friday 25 April 2025 Hot on the heels of the Irish Dancing World Championships ...

25/04/2025

Netflix Announces Release Date and First Look of 'The Thursday Murder Club'

Back to All News Netflix Announces Release Date and First Look of The Thursday ...

25/04/2025

FOR-A Showcases Next-Generation Broadcast Solutions at CABSAT 2025

Connecting the present, building the future FOR-A IMPULSE HVS-Q12 FOR-A MixBoard...

25/04/2025

dB at MPTS 2025

Following last year's successful event, we're back at the Media Production and Technology Show (MPTS) in London this year. As before, we're looking ...

25/04/2025

Thales and Deloitte form Strategic Alliance to Help Enhance Data Protection and Governance Services

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Enhancing Data Protection and Governance Service...

24/04/2025

Film Festival Watch: Catch These 13 Sundance Institute-Supported Films at the 2025 Hot Docs Festival

We're huge fans of shining a spotlight on the documentaries that empower, en...

24/04/2025

Spotify Expands AI Playlist in Beta to Premium Listeners in 40+ New Markets

Playlists have always been at the heart of the Spotify experience. Since AI Playlist in beta launched last year, Premium users have used it to create millions o...

24/04/2025

How Latin Artists Are Thriving Both at Music Festivals and on Spotify

From the California desert and Chicago's Grant Park to New York City's Flushing Meadows Corona Park and beyond, music festivals this spring and summer w...

24/04/2025

82 Artists, 10 Countries, Limitless Sounds: Meet the RADAR Asia Class of 2025

The sounds of Asia are as diverse and vibrant as the continent itself. From the lively beats of Indonesian pop to the gritty rhymes of Pinoy hip-hop, the region...

24/04/2025

L3Harris Technologies Reports First Quarter 2025 Results, Updates 2025 Guidance

Highlights* Revenue of $5.1 billion Operating margin of 10.2%; Adjusted segment operating margin of 15.6% Diluted EPS of $2.04; Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $2.4...

24/04/2025

L3Harris Harnesses Commercial Model to Deliver Capability to Warfighters with Speed and Agility

For more than 50 years, the company's commercial approach to delivering resi...

24/04/2025

Ateliere Acquires Agile Live Software

Century City, Calif. and Bilbao, Spain (July 8, 2024) - Ateliere Creative Technologies, a leading GenAI media software solutions company, and Agile Content, a l...

24/04/2025

AgileTV Showcases TVaaS at IBC 2024

Agile Content to Showcase Industry-Leading TV-as-a-Service Platform at IBC 2024 Bilbao, September 4th - Agile Content, a leading provider of Internet televisio...

24/04/2025

AgileTV & Netorium Boost TVaaS in DACH

Boosting TVaaS in the German-speaking countries with expert integration and 24/7 local support Bilbao/Wiesbaden, September 5th 2024 Agile Content and netorium...

24/04/2025

AgileTV & GlobalDots Revolutionize CDN

New partnership between Agile Content and GlobalDots promises to introduce automated multi-CDN solutions, optimizing content delivery and easing provider manage...

24/04/2025

AgileTV & Agama Boost Streaming at Telenor

Empowering operators with real-time content delivery optimization, improved video quality, and reliable end-to-end service visibility Amsterdam, Netherlands, S...

24/04/2025

Agile Content and Convergenze partner to launch Convergenze TV in Italy Agile TV

Agile Content joins forces with Convergenze to introduce a new platform in Italy, offering a wide range of premium content for all audiences. Bilbao, September...

24/04/2025

AgileTV Earns Bronze EcoVadis Rating

Bilbao, October 10th 2024 - Agile Content, a global provider of PayTV end-to-end solutions, has received the Bronze EcoVadis Sustainability Rating. This ranking...

24/04/2025

MASORANGE & AgileTV Renew Deal

Through this agreement, MASORANGE will incorporate new AGILE CONTENT technologies into its television service, enhancing customer experience with optimum servic...

24/04/2025

AgileTV Reports Q3 Growth

The company reports positive results in the third quarter, despite ending the first half of 2024 with an 8.8% decline in revenue and an 18.3% drop in EBITDA com...

24/04/2025

AgileTV & Tiscali Launch Linkem My TI-VI

Agile Content joins forces with Tiscali to introduce a new platform in Italy, offering a wide range of premium content for all audiences. Bilbao, November 26,...

24/04/2025

Agile Content Rebrands to AgileTV

The company positions Agile TV as the commercial brand focused on delivering TVaaS solutions for operators and media. The chosen tagline TVaaS your way enca...

24/04/2025

AgileTV, BNS & Teleports Launch TV Service

A Fully Managed Solution That Maximizes Revenue for North American Operators While Combining Traditional Cable TV and OTT Apps in one Single Interface. Bilbao,...

24/04/2025

AgileTV & CANAL+ Launch Entertainment Hub

The Entertainment Hub is a fully integrated TV solution that represents a significant step in redefining the white-label TV business model for operators across ...

24/04/2025

AgileTV Picks Evolution Digital for STBs

Feature-Rich, Widely Deployed Android TV Devices Enable Seamless Transition to Fully Managed Pay-TV Services for Network Operators NAB Show 2025, Las Vegas, A...