NBC Sports Deploys Robust Hybrid At-Home Workflow To Add Championship-Level Resources to Notre Dame-Clemson Matchup NBC Sports producer Pierre Moossa: far and away the biggest production weve ever done in the history of our Notre Dame coverage By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, November 6, 2020 - 4:04 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Between the Breeders' Cup Classic, the finale of the NASCAR Cup Series, a full slate of Premier League soccer (highlighted by a meeting of the last two champs Liverpool and Manchester City), and the biggest game of the NFL weekend on Sunday Night Football (Saints at Buccaneers), its a big time weekend for NBC Sports.
Yet, despite all those marquee events, the biggest, most notable event from a production and operations perspective may very well be NBC's broadcast of the juiciest college football showdown of the weekend: No. 1 Clemson visiting No. 4 Notre Dame. A Championship Game level of resources has been deployed both on-site in South Bend and at NBC Sports' home facility in Stamford, CT in a robust on-site and remote hybrid workflow in what NBC Sports producer Pierre Moossa called far and away the biggest production we've ever done in the history of our Notre Dame coverage.
That's quite the statement for a sports television property that's been in place for 30 seasons.
Intricate Transmission Plan Bolsters Support from Stamford It's been a unique season of producing Notre Dame football games and this week is no exception. NBC Sports has been utilizing a hybrid workflow that has announcers, camera operators, and other key technicians on site in South Bend while the primary production truck (NEP Broadcasting's ND6) running the show is stationed in a parking lot outside the network's Stamford facility where positions like replay operators, graphics, and research are working inside.
There are even some crew members working from their actual homes, including the operator of the Pylon Cams, which are appearing on an NBC Notre Dame broadcast for the first time this season.
In order to support this vast network of contributors to the live show, NBC's technical and operations teams are relying on the years worth of learnings that have come as a result of broadcasting in a COVID world and combined it with its many years of Olympics experience which leverages workflows of a similar nature.
In South Bend, NEP's NCP 11 is parked at Notre Dame Stadium but is largely serving as a transmission hub to send a wealth of direct feeds back to Stamford. According to Jenny Powelson, Remote Tech Manager for NBC Sports Group (who is on site in South Bend), there are forty transmission paths flowing from South Bend to Stamford with 30 of them being 1080p HDR paths like camera feeds and replay sources. There are also ten 1080i SDR paths carrying feeds from POVs, resources shared by Notre Dame's Fighting Irish Digital Media division, and a router paths for the show's TD to be able to call up multiple sources.
Additionally, nine feeds transmit out of Stanford, eight which, come to Notre Dame and two of which go out to broadcast hubs. There's an added HDR transmission path to support the high-dynamic range version of the game (which is being overseen in a separate truck in Stamford by Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer and NBC Sports' Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer Dave Mazza). Seven of the feeds also that come here to South Bend, but And monitor feeds for talent.
We're basically at the end of the highway when it comes to bandwidth, laughs Powelson. We're using it all.
The complex operation has the NBC Sports team ready to pull off a pretty unique production headed up by industry vets like Senior Vice President, Remote and Studio Operations Ken Goss, Vice President, Remote Technical Operations and Engineering Craig Bernstein, and Director of Production, Engineering and Technology Michael Drazin.
[This is] one of the most ambitious and complicated production technical plans that I have ever taken part in [at NBC], says Moossa. Obviously, the success of it is really a tribute to our entire technical team.
Expanding the Camera Coverage for Replay While NBC Sports has been utilizing that hybrid production model all season for its Notre Dame Football coverage, this week's game is getting an extra level of TLC that includes a widely expanded camera deployment that Moossaa says resembles more of an NFL playoff game than a regular season college football game. Saturday's broadcast will feature seven 6X-super-motion cameras and a set of 4K cameras on each of the goal lines and down each of the sidelines. Most of these added resources, Moossa says, are in place to bolster the production team's replay capabilities.
We have a responsibility to document the game in addition to providing the best possible coverage for viewers, says Moossa. Ultimately the replay for the referees are based on the replays we show. So, if there is a defining play, whether it's crossing the goal line or foot inbounds, or whether it was a fumble or a knee down, all those things, how we document the game could determine the outcome of whether the referee sees a defining look.
Moossa was also clear that the front bench will remain true to their commitment to storytelling and utilizing these added tools and angles only when necessary.
We just don't know what's going to happen, he says. The game will dictate whether the 4K sideline cameras are used. The game will dictate whether you see a pylon camera being used. The game will dictate which replay angle is being used. But the coverage plan is in depth. Every major star player isolated. We can take advantage of Tony [Dungy] and Mike [Tirico] s commentary to analyze and give the best possible coverage
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....
NBC Sports Deploys Robust Hybrid At-Home Workflow To Add Championship-Level Resources to Notre Dame-Clemson Matchup NBC Sports producer Pierre Moossa: far and away the biggest production weve ever done in the history of our Notre Dame coverage By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
