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...

01/05/2025

Fired CPB Board Members Sue Trump Administration

WASHINGTON The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from firing three of its board members, claiming the pre...

01/05/2025

Riedel Opens Hong Kong Office

HONG KONG Riedel Communications today said it has opened a new office in Hong Kong, enhancing its presence in the Asia-Pacific region....

01/05/2025

NextGen TV: Sinclair Applauds New ATSC 3.0 D2M Phones

MUMBAI, India & BALTIMORE In a development that could advance efforts to bring NextGen TV to cellphones, FreeStream Technologies, Lava International and HMD hav...

01/05/2025

Screen Australia empowers 100+ distinctive Australian narratives

01 05 2025 - Media release Screen Australia empowers 100 distinctive Australian narratives All The Boys Are Here writer/director Goran Stolevski and It s All...

01/05/2025

How PFX Delivered 750 VFX Shots in Just Four Months For Anthony Hopkins Thriller Locked

How PFX Delivered 750 VFX Shots in Just Four Months For Anthony Hopkins Thriller...

01/05/2025

Careline's New Wave Makeup Commercial Shot With URSA Cine 12K LF

Careline's New Wave Makeup Commercial Shot With URSA Cine 12K LF Brie Clayton May 1, 2025 0 Comments CAD Studios relies on large format, full fram...

30/04/2025

Inside the Archives: Preserving and Saving At-Risk Films Takes a Village

Film elements held at the Deluxe warehouse in March of 2015. Photo by Luis Silva...

30/04/2025

Spotify and EA SPORTS Team Up To Pilot a New Kind of Audio Experience

EA SPORTS FC 25 fans in Australia and Saudi Arabia, get ready to immerse yourselves in the beautiful game like never before. Spotify is excited to announce a n...

30/04/2025

Tucker Wetmore Celebrates His Debut Album Release With an Intimate Performance for Fans

The past year has been nothing short of a whirlwind for Tucker Wetmore. After th...

30/04/2025

Spotify Celebrates Mexico's Booming Podcast Scene With First-Ever Podcast Awards

Mexico's love for podcasts is no longer a trend-it's a lifestyle. With m...

30/04/2025

Slam poet Huda the Goddess wins 2025 Les Murray Award

Slam poet Huda the Goddess wins 2025 Les Murray Award 30 April, 2025 Media releases Australia for UNHCR and SBS are proud to announce that Huda Fadlelmawla...

30/04/2025

SBS, NITV and NIDA partner to empower the next generation of screen creatives

SBS, NITV and NIDA partner to empower the next generation of screen creatives 30 April, 2025 Media releases SBS, National Indigenous Television (NITV) and ...

30/04/2025

Why Now is the Perfect Time to Join HPA

By Joyce JC Cataldo The media and entertainment industry is evolving faster than ever. Technology is shifting the way we create, distribute, and experience c...

30/04/2025

On-Demand Imagery: Enhancing Monitoring and Analysis with Advanced Streaming Platforms

An image of Valencia, Spain, in the OneAtlas Living Library...

30/04/2025

WPSD-TV Taps Bitcentral To Modernize Playout

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. WPSD-TV, the NBC affiliate in Paducah, Ky., has selected Bitcentral's Central Control playout system to upgrade the station's mast...

30/04/2025

Baris Zavaroglu Appointed CEO of Zero Density

AMSTERDAM Zero Density, a global provider of virtual studio productions and on-air graphics, has appointed Baris Zavaroglu as its new CEO. Zavaroglu succeeds Of...

30/04/2025

The Avit Group Elevates Audio-visual Experiences with Mar...

The Avit Group, a forward-thinking audio-visual technology company, is bringing over 50 years of combined experience in delivering audio-visual design and insta...

30/04/2025

NXTGENbps brings portable, sustainable battery solutions...

NXTGENbps will be showcasing its latest sustainable battery power solutions at this year's Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), appearing alongside pa...

30/04/2025

Van Dyke Scores Hit with Hockey Comedy Shoresy Shot on Ze...

Van Dyke skates and operates on Shoresy | photo by Dave Ferguson Toronto-based Cinematographer Brett Van Dyke (Heartland, Jann, Carter) stepped into the rink...

30/04/2025

PlayBox Neo presents Next-Generation Smart Media Solution...

Leading provider of media playout solutions PlayBox Neo will exhibit a vast array of significant upgrades to its range of smart media innovations at CABSAT from...

30/04/2025

QuickLink StudioEdge Transforms Remote Contributions for...

ITV Studios is renowned for its award-winning productions, including the reality TV phenomenon I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! Produced by Lifted Ente...

30/04/2025

UK Pavilion exhibitors continue to impact at CABSAT and S...

The UK's presence at this year's CABSAT brings together 20 innovative companies under the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland banner. From advanced infra...

30/04/2025

Lightware Reinforces ESG Commitment with Participation in...

Lightware continues to strengthen its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives by fostering diversity, inclusion, and community engagement within...

30/04/2025

LiveU to Demonstrate LiveU IQ in UK For The First Time at...

LiveU is demonstrating for the first time in the UK, its revolutionary technological breakthrough in IP-video transport, LiveU IQ (LIQ ) and bringing its expand...

30/04/2025

Calrec MPTS 2025 Preview

Stand: A40 Calrec has been putting sound in the picture for more than six decades and is still pushing the boundaries of audio broadcasting with a full range o...

30/04/2025

Buckinghamshire New University opens advanced virtual pro...

Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) has opened its new virtual production studio, designed and integrated by CJP Broadcast. The installation equips students wi...

30/04/2025

Collective Newsroom chooses nxtedition for seamless workf...

Independent news producer in India focuses on delivering stories nxtedition has supplied a complete newsroom system to Collective Newsroom, based in New Delhi,...

30/04/2025

FOR-A Showcases Next-Generation Broadcast Solutions at CA...

Connecting the present, building the future FOR-A, a cutting-edge video broadcast technology company backed by more than 50 years experience, will showcase it...

30/04/2025

DAD by NTP Technology Highlights Upcoming Expansion Optio...

DAD by NTP Technology reports a successful NAB Show in Las Vegas where the company focused on upcoming expansion options in development for its Thunder | Core a...

30/04/2025

CVP and Canon unveil 2025 Canon Stories in Motion Young F...

CVP and Canon UK & Ireland are proud to announce the winning projects from the third annual Stories in Motion Young Filmmakers Awards, which took place on the e...

30/04/2025

beIN scores world first with new beIN STREAM using Syname...

Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that beIN MEDIA GROUP ( beIN'), one of the foremost global sports and entertainment broadcasters...

30/04/2025

The Canadian Premier League launches new digital experien...

The Canadian Premier League (CPL) today launched a new-look website and app, offering supporters of Canada's men's domestic professional soccer league a...

30/04/2025

FCC's Carr Says Regulator Wants to Empower Local Broadcasters'

WASHINGTON In a wide-ranging press conference, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr had both good and bad news for broadcasters, stressing that ...

30/04/2025

Filipino Sports Streamer Leverages Quickplay Shorts for Video Prep

TORONTO Cignal TV is relying on Quickplay's Shorts tool for its recently launched Pilipinas Live Shorts service, available to millions of users of Pilipinas...

30/04/2025

TVB President and CEO Steve Lanzano to Retire

NEW YORK Steve Lanzano will retire as president and CEO of the Television Bureau of Advertising at year-end, the group said....

30/04/2025

Collective Newsroom Deploys Nxteditions Newsroom System

The news production tech provider nxtedition is reporting that it supplied a complete newsroom system to Collective Newsroom, an independent news producer based...

30/04/2025

IAB Double-Clicks on AI Efforts

NEW YORK As part of a major push to advance the role that artificial intelligence (AI) plays in the advertising industry, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has...

30/04/2025

SES Open Orbits Selected by Two National Carriers to Equip their Fleets with Truly Seamless Connectivity Services

Uzbekistan Airways is the latest airline to choose SES's network, while Thai...

30/04/2025

Loaded Uses Blackmagic Design for shroud Subathon Live Streams

Loaded Uses Blackmagic Design for shroud Subathon Live Streams Brie Clayton April 29, 2025 0 Comments Blackmagic Studio Cameras and Micro Studio Camer...

30/04/2025

Help shape the future of video creator tools with MIDiA

Help shape the future of video creator tools with MIDiA Brie Clayton April 29, 2025 0 Comments After a successful debut in 2024, MIDiA is calling once...

30/04/2025

Tania Len and Kelli O'Hara to be Honored at Boston Conservatory at Berklee's Commencement Ceremony

Tania Le n and Kelli O'Hara to be Honored at Boston Conservatory at Berklee&...

30/04/2025

Andr 3000 and Sara Bareilles to Receive Honorary Doctorates at Berklee College of Music 2025 Commencement

Andr 3000 and Sara Bareilles to Receive Honorary Doctorates at Berklee College ...

30/04/2025

Re-imagined series of Bergerac set to return to U and U&DRAMA in 2026

Damien Molony will head back to Jersey for a second series of Bergerac, written by Toby Whithouse alongside Ashley Sanders, Emilie Robson and Faebian Averies D...

30/04/2025

Advancing multi-domain EW operations: Rohde & Schwarz unveils latest innovations at AOC Europe

Advancing multi-domain EW operations: Rohde & Schwarz unveils latest innovations...

30/04/2025

Rohde & Schwarz pioneers the future of automotive Ethernet using Analog Devices' 10BASE-T1S solutions

Rohde & Schwarz pioneers the future of automotive Ethernet using Analog Devices&...

30/04/2025

Riedel Communications Expands Asia-Pacific Presence with New Office in Hong Kong

Wuppertal April 30, 2025 Riedel Communications Expands Asia-Pacific Presence with New Office in Hong KongRiedel Communications, a global leader in real-time v...

30/04/2025

Mad Unicorn' Trailer Reveals a Riveting Rags-to-Riches Saga Inspired by Thailand's First Unicorn Startup

Back to All News Mad Unicorn' Trailer Reveals a Riveting Rags-to-Riches Sa...

30/04/2025

Get Ready to Get Wild: Netflix Announces 'Mating Season', a New Adult Animated Rom-Com from the Horny Minds of 'Big Mouth'

Back to All News Get Ready to Get Wild: Netflix Announces Mating Season, a New ...

30/04/2025

Flamingo TV Bonaire B.V. Takes a Bold Step Forward in Network Transformation with Harmonic

SAN JOSE, Calif. - April 30, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that...