This year's NFL Draft production compound was as big as ever at Chicago's Grant Park - totaling 11 mobile units combined for NFL Media and ESPN (plus RF trucks from AVS and BSI, respectively). This year's new compound provided much more space and a closer proximity to both networks' Selection Square studio sets but also meant that trucks were more than 6,000 ft. away (and across Michigan Ave.) from the Auditorium Theatre, where the first two nights of the Draft took place.
NFL Media once again relied on its trusty Game Creek Video Pride and Glory mobile units, along with an HFI (Husney Farrell Inc.) support unit for QC and transmission. Meanwhile, ESPN rolled out NEP's EN-1 unit (five trucks in all), which serves as home to Monday Night Football throughout the NFL season. Below is a deeper look at the two companies' efforts in the 2016 NFL Draft production compound.
Game Creek Returns for the NFL Draft
Game Creek Video once again provided production facilities for NFL Media with its Pride and Glory units (both with A and B units). Glory served as home to NFL Network's primary Draft telecast, while Pride handled the shoulder-programming productions originating out of NFL Network's Selection Square studio. Game Creek also borrowed a 1M/E panel on Pride's switcher and a Calrec Artemis Light audio console in Pride to produce NFL Network's Red Carpet Show prior to the Draft on Thursday night.
Game Creek Video EIC George Bailey (right) and his team provided NFL Network with Glory and Pride trucks.
At first, I think we were definitely nervous about being as far away from the theater as we are; 6,000 ft. of fiber can be a little daunting when you start lining it all up and hoping it's going to go well, but we're actually batting 1000 on that, which is kind of incredible, said Game Creek Video Project Manager George Bailey. But moving the compound out here gave us a lot more room to work with. Last year, it was definitely a logistical challenge. So, in that sense, I think we're in much better shape this year.
For Game Creek, the biggest change from the 2015 Draft was communications, which are very complex to manage across the various trucks and shows in Chicago and back to NFL Media's broadcast center in Culver City, CA. This year, instead of trunking, Bailey and company opted to tri-bus two RTS ADAM frames and two ADAM-M frames between Glory and Pride to create one large 768-port system that was also integrated with Riedel IPX-8 IP intercoms tied to the Culver IP network.
The NFL Media truck compound shown here is 6,000 feet away from the Auditorium Theatre, requiring extremely long fiber runs.
Trying to anticipate the amount of point-to-point communication between sites and the various shows poses an incredible challenge in a scenario where needs change along with the Draft picks, Bailey explained. With the various trucks, shows, and sites and Culver City, a trunked system would need to be actively managed throughout the event to avoid [overloading] the system. Trunking has a much smaller ceiling due to physical slot limitations in this configuration. Tearing apart a frame to accommodate enough trunked ports means we would be taking away from internal infrastructure.
Now that we are tri-bus, the need for managing trunks, killing talk keys, and so on, goes away, he continued. It also frees up all of the internal ADAM MADI cards to be used for router-fed booth kits, listen ports, etc., which are heavily used as well for this show. Now any port can talk to any other as easily as you can in a standalone, single-unit situation.
NEP Illustrates Versatility, Power of EN1
For the third consecutive year, NEP provided its formidable EN-1 mobile unit as the home for ESPN's NFL Draft production. The quartet of Monday Night Football trucks (plus an E-truck support unit) served as the hub for both ESPN's primary Draft show and onsite shoulder programing produced from its studio set in Selection Square.
ESPN's compound at Grant Park (which includes all five NEP EN1 mobile units) is 6,000 feet away from the Auditorium Theatre
The Draft has evolved into a massive production, necessitating the full power of EN1's four trucks. Although the unit had been working NBA Playoffs on ABC in a two-truck (A and B) configuration, EN1's versatility allowed the NEP engineering team to park the trucks in Chicago on Friday and have them up and running in four-truck mode shortly after. After the Draft, EN1 shifted back to two-truck mode for this week's NBA Conference Semifinals and will go back to four trucks for the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals.
The great thing about EN1 is the flexibility and the workstations that are designed in the trucks, said Michael Pean, senior account manager, NEP Broadcasting. It's very flexible to one day have graphics in one spot and then an EVS operator in that same spot the next day. [For example], we had EVS [replay operators] in the B unit a week ago, and now all the operators are in the C unit for the Draft, just like we do for Monday Night Football and other large shows. It's great to have that flexibility and be able to do a variety of shows big and small.
NEP EN1's A-unit control room is serving as home to ESPN's NFL Draft telecast
EN1's A unit served as the control room for ESPN's primary Draft show inside the Auditorium Theatre on Days 1 and 2, while the D unit served the Grant Park studio shows outside. On Day 3, as the coverage transitioned entirely to the outside set at Selection Square, the A unit took over as the main control room for ESPN's telecast.
That's the beauty of the whole EN1 idea: all the signals are available everywhere, so it's not a big process to move everything to the A control room on Saturday, said Bruce Hogen
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
05/05/2024
A special evening performance by multiplatinum singer Becky G will provide a memorable conclusion to TeievisaUnivision's Casa Cultura upfront event on May 1...
05/05/2024
Giant media buyer Publicis is telling network sales executives that it does not think Nielsen's new panel-plus-big-data currency is ready for this upfront....
05/05/2024
WASHINGTON Glenn Kirschner, legal analyst at NBC News, blasted the media for referring to the New York trial of former President Donald Trump as a hush-money ...
05/05/2024
Catchy Comedy's weekend marathon sees The Beverly Hillbillies on the weekend of May 4-5. The event kicks off Saturday, May 4 at 11 a.m. ET, and runs through...
05/05/2024
NBC Sports has the 150th Kentucky Derby Saturday, May 4. The coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock and the feature race at Churchill Downs in Louis...
04/05/2024
NEW YORK As the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month kicks off in May, Nielsen has released an extensive new report diving into their media habits with data sh...
04/05/2024
PHILADELPHIA As National Military Appreciation Month gets underway, Comcast has announced several new initiatives to help veterans, service members, and their f...
04/05/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced a tentative agenda for the May Open Commission Meeting scheduled...
04/05/2024
The Broadband Forum has announced major enhancements to key 5G convergence standards that the group said will help advance next-generation applications, improve...
04/05/2024
Spotify Wrapped Campaign Spot Graded With DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 3, 2024
0 Comments
Blackmagic Design today announced that Colorist M...
04/05/2024
Three Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alums Nominated for Tony Awards An additional eight alums and two current students performed in nominated productions.
...
03/05/2024
An innovative learning tool to help media and civil society better understand ho...
03/05/2024
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 21: (L-R) Actors K stutis Cic nas and Greta Grinevi i t , Director Marija Kavtaradze and Producer Marija Razgute attend the 2023 Sunda...
03/05/2024
If you aren't familiar with Danny Ocean's music, it's only a matter ...
03/05/2024
Spotify has an unwavering commitment to supporting emerging artists across all genres, to helping them launch and thrive in their careers, and to connecting the...
03/05/2024
Como uno de los sonidos de mayor expansi n en el mundo, la M sica Mexicana va m ...
03/05/2024
As one of the fastest-growing sounds worldwide, M sica Mexicana is more than jus...
03/05/2024
NEW YORK FuboTV reported that it lost 110,000 subs in Q1 2024 but it exceeded its guidance for the quarter with double digit year-over-year increases across key...
03/05/2024
Only 3 Weeks Left To Enter The Creative Industries Most Award
Brie Clayton May 3, 2024
0 Comments
Creativepool is giving a last call to the creative i...
03/05/2024
WePlay Studios Transforms the Future of Live Event Storytelling with AJA Gear
Brie Clayton May 3, 2024
0 Comments
By 2032, the esports market is expec...
03/05/2024
WASHINGTON Shannon Bream, Fox News Sunday anchor and chief legal correspondent, sat for a keynote chat at The Business of TV News, with Tom Umstead, senior co...
03/05/2024
WASHINGTON Asked how important is local news, Martha Raddatz, who has covered foreign conflicts for decades and moderated presidential debates for ABC News, s...
03/05/2024
Sony Pictures and Apollo Global Management have made a $26 billion cash offer fo...
03/05/2024
CBS announced its 2024-2025 primetime schedule, which features the new dramas NCIS: Origins, Matlock and Watson, and new comedies Poppa's House and Georgie ...
03/05/2024
Sports-focused streaming service Fubo said it reduced its red ink in the first quarter, despite losing 110,000 subscribers since the end of the year....
03/05/2024
Walmart is reportedly about to release a new 4K streaming box/smart speaker hybrid device for Google TV that could retail for as low as $50, according to a repo...
03/05/2024
Enhancements to its Delivery Workspace solution provide increased content delivery robustness and security
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: May 3, 2024
Enha...
03/05/2024
According to reports, if the bid is successful, Sony would be the significant majority shareholder of the new private company
By Jenny Priestley
Published: M...
03/05/2024
Located in Manchesters Spinningfields district, the course aims to equip students with the skills, knowledge and industry insight for a career in the creative s...
03/05/2024
Lightbridge has created a new Cine Reflect Lighting System kit, dedicated to enabling artistic lighting with consideration of today's productivity practical...
03/05/2024
Broadcast media systems integrator BeckTV and Lawo worked together on a large-scale AES67 build of radio control rooms at KPBS, San Diego's NPR and PBS memb...
03/05/2024
Raleigh, NC, April 12, 2024 SmallHD announces PageOS 6, a powerful software update free for owners of SmallHD monitors, featuring increased functionality, exp...
03/05/2024
SmallHD announces the Quantum 32 a new 31.5 OLED monitor designed to provide reference HDR/SDR images for post-production final color grading, as well as cri...
03/05/2024
By 2032, the esports market is expected to grow to $9.29 billion, bolstered by a global player count and fan following that both continue to climb. The 2023 Lea...
03/05/2024
Amagi, the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV (CTV), today announced that the 11th edition of the Amagi Global FAST Rep...
03/05/2024
Riedel Communications today announced that Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) is relying on a media and intercom network based on Riedel technology for the renewal of...
03/05/2024
Broadpeak , a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for content providers and pay-TV operators worldwide, announced t...
03/05/2024
Media technology innovator Limecraft will exhibit the latest updates to its online platform on stand G79 at the 15-16 May 2024 Media Production & Technology Sho...
03/05/2024
Audio interface specialist Prism Sound is partnering with console manufacturer Solid State Logic, professional monitor manufacturer PMC and acoustic panel and d...
03/05/2024
Intinor, Sweden's leading developer of products and solutions for high-quality video over the internet, is set to join forces with its UK partner Zest Techn...
03/05/2024
NAKIVO Inc., a fast-growing software company dedicated to protecting physical, virtual, cloud, and SaaS environments, announced its Q1 2024 financial results to...
03/05/2024
Hiltron Communications announces an addition to its range of satellite communication products and systems: a field-upgradable motorisation kit specifically desi...
03/05/2024
Visit LiveU at Stand D30
With this year an exceptional one for major sporting events alongside multiple, key elections, the power and flexibility of LiveU'...
03/05/2024
Agile Content, the leader in the development of technology and solutions for the provision of television services over the Internet, announces Koldo Unanue as i...
03/05/2024
Eight co-signers representing streaming services, pay TV operators and public interest groups have sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging their Committee...
03/05/2024
BOSTON Brightcove has announced that it has implemented Amazon Q Business, a new generative AI assistant on Amazon Web Services (AWS)....
03/05/2024
NEW YORK CBS has declared that it will finish the 2023-24 season as Americas Most-Watched Network in primetime for the 16th consecutive season....
This year's NFL Draft production compound was as big as ever at Chicago's Grant Park - totaling 11 mobile units combined for NFL Media and ESPN (plus RF trucks from AVS and BSI, respectively). This year's new compound provided much more space and a closer proximity to both networks' Selection Square studio sets but also meant that trucks were more than 6,000 ft. away (and across Michigan Ave.) from the Auditorium Theatre, where the first two nights of the Draft took place.
