Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Chad Robertson Talks College Sports [Mixing]

12/12/2019

Chad Robertson Talks College Sports [Mixing] posted: 12/12/2019

Q: What's your current role and what does it involve?

A: I'm a freelance audio engineer and mixer, mainly working as an A1 on college sports for ESPN, though I've worked for many of the networks as well as other clients over my career. The majority of what I do is football, basketball, baseball and studio productions. I've also done the occasional high-profile non-sports event, including important political broadcasts. For instance, one highlight was my role as Head of Broadcast Audio for the 2013 George W. Bush Presidential Center Dedication Ceremony; with every living US President in attendance, it was a memorable event. I also do some work as location production sound mixing.

Q: How did you get into broadcast sound?

A: It all started at my church, when I was 14 years old. I was interested in the AV side and the head of the church AV (who was also a remote truck A2 at the time) added me to the volunteer crew. As it turned out, I had a knack for broadcast production. So, I got involved in everything from cameras to sound. I steered myself towards sound as I found it to be the most interesting.

After that, I secured some corporate work outside of the church. In college, I worked as an A2 on various events. After college, I started to get hired more and eventually moved into A1 roles. The A1 side really took off when ESPNU came online in 2005. The truck A1 role accounts for about 85-percent of my income now. ESPN has been a great client over the years, providing many opportunities to learn and grow.

Q: What was one of your most prominent experiences with Calrec?

The first time I worked on a Calrec Apollo was during the 2012 NATO Summit. In typical Calrec fashion, the console quickly revealed its flexibility and usefulness and showcased that they had significant resources and processing power. We had a multitude of paths coming in and out for a minimum of four languages, simultaneously. The flexibility of the platform, such as splitting the console, cloning faders and assigning VCAs, along with other features, made the project very easy to manage.

Q: How has the general approach to sports broadcast changed over your time at the console?

A: The amount of programming for college sports has grown tremendously. The delivery platforms have multiplied, too, with mobile phones and other digital devices added to the more traditional cable services. But, as delivery increases, the number of on-location production people continues to decrease. There's still always an audio person, but you won't always have the production or graphics teams.

On the production side, we're consistently being asked to manage more in less time. We're doing a lot more in terms of routing multiple audio paths, in addition to adapting the way intercoms are used between the remote location and the production control rooms. Every event and location is different, so every production must be set up and torn down. Luckily, I am typically on a Calrec, so I'm not concerned about set up time at the console. Calrec consoles are never part of my traffic-jam that's not where my time gets eaten up. There are many parts of the production that must be set up in addition to the console, including transmission and intercoms. Most of the time, Calrec is actually the solution to a problem. I know it's going to do what it's meant to do; it's going to work.

Chad Robertson Talks Sports Mixing

Q: And channel count has got bigger too, hasn't it?

A: Definitely; it's not unusual to be handling hundreds of paths at once now. For instance, in July, I was on a Calrec Artemis and we had three shows on three different networks ESPN, ESPN2 and SECN. All three shows were passing through that one board, simultaneously.

The mix of sources is constantly changing, too. We'll get multiple formats of signals coming in: analog, AES, MADI, Dante, etc. and those all vary in width. Some are mono or stereo, while others are surround sound or newer formats, such as Dolby Atmos. I know that Calrec can handle all of those.

Calrec's previous digital line, the Alpha series, was great, and those consoles (Alpha, Sigma, Omega, etc.) are still working solid on many events. When the Apollo and the Artemis first came out, I remember staring in wonder at the massive amount of power and flexibility especially the number of channels and paths they could handle. I was skeptical that we'd ever need that kind of power, but here we are. Honestly, now, when I'm not on a console with that sort of power and flexibility, I feel like my hands are tied together.

Q: How do you approach a standard' sports broadcast?

A: I'm normally on a different truck every day, so there's no default set-up on the console for me. Some trucks have a generic default, but I prefer to start from a completely blank desk. So, when it's my first time sitting down to a console that I haven't previously been on, erasing its surface is my first step.

Thankfully, Calrec consoles are very easy and efficient to set up; it's very straightforward and fast to rebuild it to my liking. As the project grows, it is easy to add or reallocate resources and rearrange the surface as needed which is a huge advantage since every project is different and unique.

Q: How much automation to use?

A: I use the built-in auto mixers for announcers, which is a really useful form of production automation, but live sports shows are all unscripted. Nobody knows if there's going to be an interception or an injury or touchdown, so I don't use the automation in the traditional sense. I might go to a commercial break in 30 seconds or in 10 minutes, depending on the play of the game so, besides using a few tallies to open auto-faders, live spor
LINK: https://www.live-production.tv/news/sports/chad-robertson-talks-colleg...
See more stories from liveproduction

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

17/06/2026

EVS Achieves EcoVadis Gold Medal, Ranking in Top 5% of Companies Globally

EVS has announced it has received the EcoVadis Gold Medal for sustainability performance, ranking among the top 5% of companies globally in the Technology/Mid-S...

17/06/2026

Chyron Releases Weather 2.4 with Updated DataFlow Module

Chyron has released Weather 2.4, an update to its weather suite for broadcasters and meteorologists. The release focuses on enhancements to the DataFlow module,...

17/06/2026

VSiN Launches Best Bets TV, a 24/7 FAST Channel

VSiN, The Sports Betting Network, has announced the launch of Best Bets TV, a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel. The 24/7 channel is currently avail...

17/06/2026

Snapchat and Team Whistle Launch World Cup Creator Program Across Miami, New York, and Los Angeles

DAZN's Team Whistle and Snap Inc. have announced a creator program centered ...

17/06/2026

LiveU Supporting Broadcast and Public Safety Operations for Summer of Soccer

LiveU is providing video transmission technology for broadcasters, production companies, and public safety agencies across North America's busy Summer of So...

17/06/2026

NATAS Announces Two New Board Members and COO Promotion

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) has announced that Laurens Grant and Jacob Ullman have joined its Board of Directors. Chief of Staf...

17/06/2026

Akta Brings AI-First Cloud Video Workflows to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Akta, the AI-First SaaS video platform for modern broadcast and streaming operations, today announced that its video platform is now generally available on Orac...

17/06/2026

SVG Students to Watch: Nicholas Stafford, Texas Southern University

This recent graduate from Houston found inspiration in technical directing and now eyes a future career in sports production...

17/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: Audio-Technica Brings New Wireless, Networked Audio, and Certified Conferencing Solutions

Audio-Technica (booth C7959) arrives at InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas with a slate ...

17/06/2026

SNS Positions AI Suite as On-Premise Answer to Video Indexing and Search Demands

SNS has published a guide addressing growing demand for AI-powered video indexing, transcription, facial recognition, and searchable metadata across media libra...

17/06/2026

Providius Announces Providius Direct for Network Troubleshooting on NETGEAR Pro AV Switches

Providius has announced Providius Direct, a workflow for investigating network i...

17/06/2026

NEP Launches NEP Platform Software Orchestration System, Selects Bridge Technologies VB440

NEP Group has announced the commercial availability of NEP Platform, a software ...

17/06/2026

BBright White Paper: SRT vs. RIST for Professional Video Contribution and Distribution

A new white paper examining Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) and Reliable Interne...

17/06/2026

Bango Research: 51% of Gen Z Say Highlights Are Replacing Live Games

New research from subscription bundling platform Bango finds that younger sports fans are increasingly consuming sport through highlights, clips, and social med...

17/06/2026

SMPTE Opens Entire Standards Library to Public at No Cost

SMPTE has announced that its complete Standards catalog is now freely available to the global media technology community, including all published SMPTE Standard...

17/06/2026

MediaKind Completes Merger with Harmonic's Video Business, Creating Independent Video Infrastructure Heavyweight

Harmonic has completed the sale of its Video Business to MediaKind for $145 mill...

17/06/2026

Omaha Productions to Produce 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event Coverage for ESPN

Omaha Productions will produce the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vega...

17/06/2026

SoundBridge 3.1.0 now available

New features, changes & bug fixes SoundBridge have just released another update for their remote collaboration-focused DAW - reviewed here in SOS March 2026...

17/06/2026

Fryette launch the Valvulator Mini

Valve-based front end for digital & modelling rigs The latest addition to Fryette's product range delivers a packed-down, pedalboard-friendly version of...

17/06/2026

The Biggest UK Pro Audio Show In 20 Years!

GearExpo UK - 27 June 2026 Sound On Sound are proud to announce GearExpo UK, a major new recording and music technology exhibition in London! This is the bi...

17/06/2026

Genelec introduce the 9402A System Management Device

SAM monitoring line-up gains Dante and AES67 support The latest expansion of Genelec's UNIO monitoring ecosystem introduces a new device that provides D...

17/06/2026

The R&SPR300 portable receiver from Rohde & Schwarz sets new standards in spectrum monitoring

The R&S PR300 portable receiver from Rohde & Schwarz sets new standards in spect...

17/06/2026

Elt Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial opportunities in electronic warfare and defense

Elt Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...

17/06/2026

NABLF Graduates Its 2026 Broadcasting Leadership Training Class

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

ABC and ESPN Score Most-Watched NBA Finals Since 1998

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

Smartly, Roku Bring Social Performance Tools to CTV

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

Pliant Technologies Debuts Crewcom Flex at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

The Immersive Supervisor Emerges as Hollywood's Next Production Role

The Immersive Supervisor Emerges as Hollywood's Next Production Role Brie Clayton June 17, 2026 0 Comments Above image: On set live immersive revi...

17/06/2026

Vertical Musical Playback Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K

Vertical Musical Playback Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Brie Clayton June 17, 2026 0 Comments Large format sensor and DaVinci Resolve workflow used fo...

17/06/2026

DAZ 3D Launches New Game-Ready Character Assets Built for Modern Engines and Production Workflows

DAZ 3D Launches New Game-Ready Character Assets Built for Modern Engines and Pro...

17/06/2026

Spectrum Awards $1.1 Million in Digital Education Grants

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

XR Sports Alliance Adds New Members

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

AIMS Launches Free Online IPMX Training Series

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

Kiloview Partners with SFM to Expand AV-over-IP Solutions...

Montr al, Quebec, June 11, 2026 Kiloview, a leading provider of AV-over-IP and NDI -based video transmission solutions, today announced a distribution partner...

17/06/2026

Kiloview Launches U4 IP Video Dock Bringing Professional...

Changsha, China, June 15, 2026 Kiloview officially announced the launch of U4 IP Video Dock, a compact IP video decoder and output dock designed to bring prof...

17/06/2026

Half Year, Half Off! Ivory II Summer Sale is Here

Save 50% on All Ivory II Pianos and Collections Were halfway through the year, and we're cutting prices in half for the Ivory II Summer Sale! For a limite...

17/06/2026

Two in three fans will connect to venue WiFi this World Cup, Sky Business research reveals

Wednesday 17 June 2026 Two in three fans will connect to venue WiFi this World ...

17/06/2026

Visibility builds credibility - the tools you use every day...

Visibility builds credibility - the tools you use every day, now visible on your LinkedIn profile Published on Jun 17, 2026 Categories: Company News, Product ...

17/06/2026

Harmonic Completes Divestiture of Video Business to MediaKind

Transaction Positions Harmonic as a Pure-Play Broadband Company SAN JOSE, Calif. - June 17, 2026 - Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in virtual...

17/06/2026

FOX Advertising To Launch Industry's First End-to-End Agentic Advertising Platform, Powered by FOX AdStudio

FOX Advertising To Launch Industry's First End-to-End Agentic Advertising Pl...

17/06/2026

Building resilience in an era of compounding threats

How SGN is future-proofing critical national infrastructure with Arqiva Managed Connectivity. When disruption becomes the norm As Storm Eunice tore across the ...

17/06/2026

Good Vibrations hit Dublin and Limerick as RT Concert Orchestra plays the music of the Beach Boys

The RT Concert Orchestra will bring the timeless music of The Beach Boys to aud...

17/06/2026

June 16, 2026

Calibr-Skaggs awarded $5.1M by NIH to develop long-acting hepatitis B virus therapy A new program aims to replace a daily HBV drug with once-monthly or even qua...

16/06/2026

Thomson launches new learning App

Thomson's highly regarded expert-led online learning courses are now easier to access on the go via our new App. Available now on Google Play Store, the J...

16/06/2026

Neumann MT 48 Receives Major Firmware 2.0 Update

Neumann.Berlin has released firmware version 2.0 for the MT 48 audio interface, adding plugin compatibility, expanded Dante networking options, broadcast encode...

16/06/2026

TVNewsCheck Opens Nominations for 2027 Women in Technology Awards

TVNewsCheck has announced that nominations are now open for its 2027 Women in Technology Awards, to be presented at NAB Show 2027 on Tuesday, April 6 in the Med...