Behind the Scenes of ESPN's Studio Operations in the Age of Coronavirus REMI, Live-From-Home models keep live productions on the air By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor Wednesday, October 7, 2020 - 3:04 pm
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Since the pandemic first shellacked the sports business in mid March, no sports-media entity has produced more live studio programming than ESPN. From the early days of Zoom-enabled talk shows to the return of large-scale in-studio production and the relaunch of live sports productions, ESPN's studio- and network-operations team never waved the white flag and has continued producing live content through it all - both in the control room and remotely.
ESPN built production pods in every possible open space including unused studios
Having produced thousands of hours of studio programming over the past seven months, ESPN control rooms are now serving as the home of hundreds of REMI (remote integration) productions of live game broadcasts. And ESPN has done it all while putting the health and safety of its crew above all else.
The number-one priority from the onset of the pandemic to today has been to keep our people safe, says ESPN SVP, Production Operations, Stacey Fitch. Our amazing team pivoted very quickly and implemented innovative workflows and technologies that have not only helped us deliver the highest level of production but also keep our employees safe, both on campus and at home.
The Early Days: Staying On-Air and Ramping Up Remote Editing ESPN on-air specialist Anthony Lorusso operates a Vizrt graphics system remotely from his home (credit: Anthony Lorusso/ESPN)
When the sports world ground to a halt beginning with the NBA on March 12, ESPN stayed on-air throughout the chaos to continue reporting on the potential impact of each event postponement and cancellation. Although ESPN subsequently suspended production on a handful of its studio shows, it continued with its studio operations, producing live programming throughout the day despite a dearth of actual competition.
While many networks were forced to nix live programming almost entirely during the early days of the pandemic, ESPN's operations and technology teams were able to adapt quickly to keep SportsCenter, Get Up, First Take, and NFL Live on the air (as either live or quick-turnaround productions). Much of this studio content was produced remotely, with 75+ on-air talent working from their respective homes across the country and relying on IP-based camera systems controlled remotely from Bristol. In addition, several ESPN Radio shows - including Golic and Wingo and The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz - were broadcast in audio-only format on ESPN networks, thanks to remote audio kits implemented in the hosts' homes.
ESPN's REMI communications control room
The great thing about my team is, we all work together so well, says Fitch. At the onset of the pandemic, my senior staff met daily to talk about shows that were coming back, safety protocols, and guidelines that were literally changing by the minute. And Bristol, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Washington, and all of the facilities were on those calls. I couldn't be more grateful and appreciative of this team. They have always had a very get it done' mentality: no matter the challenge, they are going to figure it out.
ESPN's REMI graphics operation for its NBA coverage
In addition to studio operations, within two weeks of the initial lockdown, ESPN was able to provide 90% of editors the ability to work remotely by accessing workstations on campus via IP. This included editing teams that work on studio shows, marketing campaigns, features, and long-form specials; many team members are located across the country.
We use a variety of tools to get that editing done remotely, and they have proved to be extremely valuable, says Fitch. From an edit-operations perspective, it was key to get that going again just two weeks after the lockdown, because it helped drive all the other [content] we were doing.
Live From Home: Talent and Crew Contribute Remotely ESPN's productions pods in Bristol.
By early April, ESPN's Live From Home production model was in full swing, allowing both on-air talent and crew to produce live studio shows from the safety of their respective homes. The Live From Home remote-production workflow was developed by a committee comprising more than 30 ESPN staffers from the company's Creative and Studio Direction, Production, Production Operations, Remote Production Operations, and Technology departments. Their efforts resulted in the launch of dozens of at-home studios and remote-commentary kits for talent, along with a full REMI production workflow that allowed studio-show crews to access automated control rooms from their homes.
All ESPN employees are required to wear masks in production facilities
ESPN's Live From Home kits quickly became the backbone of the network's studio operations with reduced staffing measures in place at ESPN's Bristol, CT, campus. Although several shows were still being hosted out of the Bristol studios, nearly all analysts and reporters were outfitted with robust studio facilities at their homes to enable them to contribute to ESPN programs.
We spent a number of the [early] weeks keeping SportsCenter on the air from campus at key times of the day, while also keeping employees safe, Fitch notes. But, at the same time, we were implementing all kinds of new at-home workflows.
In addition to the at-home studios and commentary kits, ESPN began using Simply Live ViBox multicamera production systems and other automated-production resources at its Bristol, Charlotte, and Manhattan (Seaport) facilities to create a fully REMI (remote-integration) production workflow. Shows like The Jump used the ViBox sys
