NBC Stamford Spotlight, Part 3: Inside the Off-Tube Factory' Remote Commentary Workflow The setup consists of 28 announce booths By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Thursday, August 5, 2021 - 11:09 am
Print This Story
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the U.S., sports networks audibled and kept on-air talent away from the venue. This is customary for an international event like the Olympics, but the decision also satisfied safety concerns and streamlined operations. In Stamford, NBC Sports developed the largest iteration of its Off-Tube Factory to add remote commentary to the XXXII Olympiad.
The main Off-Tube Factory in Stamford.
[The Off-Tube Factory] at one point was one person, but now we have two shifts of two people [who run this] 24 hours a day, says Tim Canary, VP, engineering, NBC Sports Group. This is all coordinated with [CVT Supervisor/Director] Kaare Numme, Gino Tanasescu, and the EVS team, so they'll make sure that the feeds are routed and go through the testing process ahead of the event.
More NBC Spotlight:
Part 1: Stateside Olympics Effort Deploys Army of Studios, Control Rooms, Trucks, Family & Friends' Unit
Part 2: Extra Year of Prep Boosts NBC Olympics' At-Home Operation.
To handle the profusion of shows and analysis, the studio-operations team works closely with Senior Manager, Production Engineering, Gary Bartunek and his crew during each day's events. The broadcaster transformed Studio 4 into the epicenter of the effort with a mini BOC (Broadcast Operations Center) manned 24 hours a day by two staffers.
The Stamford facility is housing 26 of the 28 announce booths.
All video signals are routed into 28 booths controlled in Stamford. Twenty-five announce booths (11 in Studio 4,
nine in Studio 5, four in PCR1, one in PCR8) and a producer-only booth, which communicates with the commentators onsite in Tokyo, are in Stamford. Two announce booths are located at Telemundo's facility in Miami.
Each commentary pod in Stamford comprises a play-by-play announcer, a color commentator, and a dedicated producer. Because of the ongoing pandemic, a wall separates the announcers, who are located next to each other;
the producer works on the opposite side of another wall. To troubleshoot audio issues, the Off-Tube
Play-by-play and color commentators work next to each.
Factory uses four roaming A2s, who monitor each feed and announcer levels and also help the announcers with headsets/boxes and the producer with comms.
On the announcers' end, each talent receives a world feed from OBS, a video feed from the corresponding Stamford-based control room, a mixed-zone feed for specific sports, and a CIS (Connectivity Information System) computer for real-time data. The producers' section of the booth provides communication with the talent, the production-control room, statistician, and the individual working in the central tape area.
Given the simultaneous nature of the Olympics, the announcers come from different networks to provide their expertise. Some of the 50 Olympics events are being called by high-profile industry names: for example, Jason Benetti and Eduardo Perez on baseball, Fran Fraschilla and Monica McNutt on basketball, Kenny Albert on beach/indoor volleyball, Noah Eagle on 3 3 basketball, and Beth Mowins on softball. The audio side has been
A producer-only booth is connecting personnel to talent in Tokyo.
worked out from every angle, including a workflow that streamlines commentary for both HDR and SDR productions.
We're using some of the processing paths for what we call virtual' booths, says Canary. If we're calling something in 1080i, we can also route the video through a Lawo [V_pro8 video processor] so it can be done in 1080p HDR at the same time, with audio copied to both versions via MADI.
Since the Stamford facility is massive, the operations team is finding ways to utilize empty spaces and unused rooms. Studio 4 is one example, but PCR5 is also being used as an extension of the Off-Tube Factory.
NBC has increased this workflow from 10 booths in 2008 for Beijing and 18 booths in 2016 for Rio.
Statisticians are assigned to a booth for the duration of the sport's broadcast. At their desk, all statisticians have an output monitor of the booth, communications with talent and producer, a CIS computer for stats, and space for an
additional computer. In response to health and safety protocols, the Hawk-Eye system is being used to feed research and data from the statisticians to an iPad in the announce booth.
Statisticians are working in a separate room and are using Hawk-Eye to send info to talent.
Delivering the Tokyo Games to the masses is an impressive feat, but NBC Sports developed this plan as well for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics just six months away and for the upcoming season of Sunday Night Football. The infrastructure has come a long way since its first iteration in 2008, and it will continue to be the foundation of the network's Olympics coverage moving forward.
We started with 10 booths in 2008 for Beijing and then 18 booths in 2016 for Rio, and now we're at 28 booths [for Tokyo], says Canary. We also left our SNF setup with a couple of Chyrons, because, in a week or so [after the Games], we'll be doing a bootcamp with our graphics producers.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
NBC Stamford Spotlight, Part 3: Inside the Off-Tube Factory' Remote Commentary Workflow The setup consists of 28 announce booths By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
