
The NBA All-Star Game returned to New Orleans last month, its third visit to the Big Easy in the past decade. Although the venue itself has remained the same - all three editions were contested in the Smoothie King Center, home of the Pelicans - the video facilities within that venue have changed dramatically.
Prior to the 2015-16 season, major upgrades at both Smoothie King Center and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome were unveiled by the Pelicans, the Saints, Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District (LSED), and SMG: a new Panasonic HD center-hung video display and ribbon boards in the Smoothie King Center and a renovated video-control room within the Superdome serving both buildings.
Smoothie King Center's production team worked with the NBA's in-venue team on the in-game shows.
LSED contracted systems integrator CTG to upgrade the WJHW-designed video-control room. The room now houses a Grass Valley Kayenne switcher, Evertz EQX router, and three DreamCatcher replay servers, Yamaha audio console, two ChyronHego Lyric graphics systems, and a variety of new and legacy gear from Panasonic, Click Effects, and Daktronics for video playout. The Pelicans and Saints also have five Grass Valley LDX 80 cameras and two LDX 86 high-frame-rate cameras at their disposal, all with Fujinon lenses.
Although the Pelicans and Saints have their own game-presentation teams that are responsible for creating in-game shows (the Superdome received two new LED video displays prior to the 2016 NFL season), the NBA All-Star Game was a little different. Josh Richardson, executive director of live programming and broadcasting for both the Pelicans and the Saints, worked alongside NBA Entertainment throughout All-Star Weekend to execute the league's in-venue production.
The league has a game-presentation committee that works on the different show elements for Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday night, he explains. In addition, we work with NBAE on different elements that they want to execute: promotion, community, social responsibility, sponsored elements, as well as game entertainment. The goal for us is to basically put on the best show possible for all three nights and just try to take care of all the different elements that the NBA requests, as well as add the local flair.
CTG, which has worked with SMG to support the facility since its upgrade, was also on hand throughout NBA All-Star Weekend, helping streamline the in-venue show and television broadcast. To capture the talent on the court for the television broadcast, CTG replaced the camera within the center-hung display with one from Turner Sports, feeding that camera to Turner's fleet of NEP mobile units via the venue's fiber infrastructure. However, because of the necessary frame syncing, CTG found that the video of the talent on the court playing out on the videoboard was not lining up with the audio coming out of the in-venue PA system.
To solve the problem, CTG opted to lock the video-control room to the truck compound and send the truck program feed directly to the videoboard, thus reducing latency.
We got together with NEP and the NBA, says Steve McCormick, EVP/principal, CTG, and we all decided that what we should do is just genlock everybody together, drop all our frame syncs out of line, and then take the Turner Sports program feed [directly] into our production switcher. It dropped the latency because it eliminated frame sync on their side and our side, and all of their cameras now came to us without latency or at least [very little latency]. We made that all go away by getting rid of that, and then suddenly we were in an acceptable amount of latency to where you could look at the board and not [think that everything] is out of sync. So that became the solution that made the magic happen.
New Orleans' third NBA All-Star Game since 2008 was certainly a charm, not only for the NBA and Turner Sports but for the behind-scenes teams ensuring that fans in the Smoothie King Center had the best fan experience possible.
This was our smoothest one yet, says Richardson. The league was very happy, as well as the corporate partners and the city of New Orleans. So I think, overall, it went over really well.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
08/01/2026
An evidence-based analysis on disinformation and information manipulation in Sudan's ongoing conflict is published today. (January 8th 2026).
Thomson Found...
08/01/2026
At CFP Semifinals, ESPN Again Flexes Its Operational Muscle With 20+ MegaCast Vi...
08/01/2026
SVG Students To Watch: Sophie Fowler, University of OregonThe Portland product has honed her skills as a producer, director, and TD at Quack VideoBy Brandon Cos...
08/01/2026
Follow the Money, Episode 3: Inside the Sports-Media Biz With Sam McCleery and K...
08/01/2026
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Qualstar's Jeff Sengpiehl on the Enduring Power a...
08/01/2026
Legendary February: Production Leaders at NBC Sports Pull Back the Curtain on Ol...
08/01/2026
In 2025 we launched the Spotify Partner Program to give creators more ways to tu...
08/01/2026
On Wednesday in Los Angeles, Spotify welcomed creators and press to a brunch cel...
08/01/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today announced several updates to its Board of Directors. As part of HPA's annual governance cycle, new leader...
08/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
08/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
08/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
08/01/2026
Spain's national public broadcaster, RTVE, has upgraded one of its main television production facilities in Madrid with the installation of two Alfalite NEO...
08/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
08/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
08/01/2026
Maxon's new release of Cinebench features performance enhancements and adds support for the latest Nvidia and AMD GPUs as well as Apple Silicon.
Maxon is t...
08/01/2026
Zixi, the industry leader in IP-based video transport and orchestration, today announced the appointment of Heather Mellish as Vice President, Global Sales.
In...
08/01/2026
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, has provided a complete update of its installation at Canal Sur in Spain. ...
08/01/2026
iWedia, a global leader in software solutions for connected TV devices, proudly announces the success of its collaboration with Panasonic on the Z95B OLED TV, o...
08/01/2026
Secuoya Chile, a leading provider of television content creation and supporting services, has invested in Ikegami UHK-X600 and UHL-X40 broadcast cameras as the ...
08/01/2026
Kiloview, a global leader in AV-over-IP solutions, will showcase its latest innovations at ISE 2026, highlighting the continued evolution of its complete, light...
08/01/2026
iWedia, a global leader in software solutions for connected TV devices, and Realtek, a leading global SoC design house, today announced the next phase of their ...
08/01/2026
CJP Broadcast has completed a new pitch-side media installation for Cinderford RFC, creating a flexible production setup that supports match coverage, coaching ...
08/01/2026
PlayBox Neo further drives momentum in Playout, Streaming, Media Management and Delivery
"With a brand new year at PlayBox Neo already off to a flying start, I...
08/01/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Presents Second Annual Commercial Dance BFA Conce...
08/01/2026
TSA awards Rohde & Schwarz contract for advanced airport screening ahead of Socc...
08/01/2026
Back to All News
New Korean Series Beauty in the Beast' (WT) in Production...
08/01/2026
The review looks back at DPA's miniature microphone development over the years. It compares the evolving technologies from the original mics through CORE an...
08/01/2026
Comscore Launches Audio Targeting and Measurement Capabilities with The Trade De...
08/01/2026
Tonight, on RT Prime Time at 9:35pm on RT One and RT Player
Tonight, Prime T...
08/01/2026
The Late Late Show celebrates the very best of traditional Irish music with its first-ever full special dedicated entirely to the tradition
Lisa Canny | Kevin...
08/01/2026
The next universal technology since the smartphone is on the horizon - and it ma...
08/01/2026
In the rolling hills of Berkeley, California, an AI agent is supporting high-stakes physics experiments at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) particle accelerator....
08/01/2026
It will be murder on the dancefloor when Dancing with the Stars returns this S...
08/01/2026
NVIDIA is wrapping up a big week at the CES trade show with a set of GeForce NOW...
07/01/2026
SVG Summit 2025: All General Sessions Now Available To Watch on SVG PLAYThe SVG Summit celebrated its 20th edition with a loaded agendaBy Brandon Costa, Directo...
07/01/2026
NBCU's Brings Rinkside Live' and Courtside Live' Features to Peaco...
07/01/2026
Spotify is launching a week-long celebration spotlighting creators at the center...
07/01/2026
We know people use Spotify not just to listen, but to share the songs, podcasts, and audiobooks they love with their friends and family. When we launched Messag...
07/01/2026
This week, all eyes are on the podcast industry as the Golden Globes recognizes ...
07/01/2026
Podcasts are stepping onto a new stage this week as the Golden Globes recognize the medium for the first time. To mark this milestone moment, we're hosting ...
07/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in collaboration with a distributor, is commissioning new micro-budget fiction feature films and invites eligible...
07/01/2026
NASA's Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at ...
07/01/2026
For the first time ever, new C' variants allow international users to interoperate with U.S. personnel via NSA-certified cryptography....
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
07/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...