Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Live From NBA All-Star: New Game Format Gives New Energy to Turner Sports Efforts

16/02/2020

Live From NBA All-Star: New Game Format Gives New Energy to Turner Sports Efforts Fourth quarter will be a tribute to Kobe Bryant By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Sunday, February 16, 2020 - 9:43 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

The NBA All-Star Weekend at United Center in Chicago concludes tonight with the main event: the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. And it will be a game unlike any other basketball game ever because the final quarter will be a race to a target score that is 24 points higher than the leading score after the third quarter. It's all part of a tribute to NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who died three weeks ago in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles.

The new format absolutely has an impact on the production, and the devil in in the details, says Chris Brown, VP, operations and technology, Turner Sports. It puts a whole new spin on scoring, the stats feed, and how we manage the scorebug. Everything had to be redesigned because we will not be displaying a clock for the last quarter.

Chris Brown and the rest of the Turner Sports team are looking forward to a new format tonight that will honor NBA legend Kobe Bryant.

Besides the absence of a game clock counting down the seconds until the end of the game (a shot clock will be in use), there will also be no commercials.

The hope is that, by eliminating the game clock, there is a chance for a team that is down by 20 points as they don't have to race the clock, says Brown. They can slow the game down and execute to make shots. The coverage philosophy stays the same, but it will be a more interesting story to tell as there are a lot of unknowns.

A traditional scorebug will have the current score and shot clock, but, during the fourth quarter, a scorebug in the upper right will show the race to the target score, so viewers know how close the teams are to hitting it.

Tech Showcase

The NBA All-Star Game is a great place to showcase things that have gone through an extensive vetting process, Brown says. We hope to bring things in here, and then, by next season or the playoffs, everyone is comfortable with it, so we can put it to use during a real game. It's really the last step in the vetting process for players and coaches; the Summer League is the first step in real-world testing.

New production elements for the weekend include NBA on TNT studio analyst Shaquille O'Neal sitting courtside with a 5G camera phone.

We've been working with LiveU and AT&T to provide those phones so that Shaq can do commentary courtside that is sent through the 5G network, says Brown. We did a lot of playing with it to optimize the picture quality.

The virtual shot clock, provided by Vizrt, makes its All-Star game debut tonight, its biggest stage to date. The virtual clock debuted earlier this year during the regular season and makes the clock appear to be built into the surface of the court.

The compound at 2020 NBA All-Star Game Weekend at The United Center in Chicago

The feedback has been positive, and people want to see it out there, says Brown. We hope it becomes a staple of our coverage and something people expect to see.

The Turner team will also work with CP Communications on Bluetooth IFB units to enable the announce team to talk to talent seated on the bench. Look for it to be used tonight during warmups.

We're looking forward to seeing how those work for us, says Brown.

Team Effort

On hand for the weekend's festivities is 300+-member Turner Sports crew, along with teams from numerous technology and production partners. NEP EN1 A, B, C, and E units will be at the center of tonight's coverage, having produced Friday's Celebrity Game and Rising Stars Game; Supershooter 24 A, B, and C units handled NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

We like having Supershooter 24 here for Saturday night as we needed more edit space this year, says Brown. THUMBWAR this year is providing those nine edit suites as well as four Adobe After Effects systems and a 5.1-surround-sound ProTools audio-editing system.

The entertainment portion of NBA All-Star Game is another important element of both the pregame and halftime shows, and NEP Supershooter 16 will be used for that show.

The Image-Cam courtside jib is an NBA All-Star Weekend staple.

The NBA All-Star Game was last in Chicago in 1988, when hometown hero and NBA legend Michael Jordan won the slam-dunk contest and was MVP of the game. That game was played at Chicago Stadium, which was torn down in 1994. The Bulls and Blackhawks subsequently moved to a new home: the United Center, which is where this year's events are taking place.

It is an older building, Brown points out. In an environment like this, there is a lack of fiber in the building, and we needed to bring in Bexel to run the fiber and headends. It's historic, but those buildings bring their own challenges. We've been working with NBA Entertainment and the rigging folks to make this work in a very confined space.

Bexel handled fiber and cabling at Wintrust Arena, where the NBA All-Star practice and media event took place, as well as camera sheds and Ross Xpression systems at both locations. It also provided player mics for tonight's game, super slo-mo cameras with EVS units, and an IPTV system at the United Center.

A Fletcher robotic in the main camera gantry at NBA All-Star.

Other key partners for the event include Program Productions for crewing; Lyon Video for NBA TV; and AVS for RF Steadicam, RF handheld, and RF POV for the game, Skills, and House of Blues. Fletcher is also on hand with three Sony P1 robotic cameras and Sony P50 super-slo-mo cameras located above the rims. Image-Cam, meanwhile, provides a key jib camera used for the entertainment show and game coverage.

Expanded Studio Shows, Digital Presence

Turner Sports expanded its studio-
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/02/16/live-from-nba-all-star-new-game...
See more stories from svg

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 ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

28/09/2026

NHL Names Adobe as an Official Creative, Marketing and AI Partner

The NHL has announced Adobe as an Official Creative, Marketing and AI Partner beginning with the 2026-27 season. The partnership will provide the league and its...

28/09/2026

MultiDyne to Showcase Expanded Portfolio Including MRMC Robotics at CABSAT 2026

MultiDyne will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (October 5-7, Dubai Exhibition Centre), showcasing an expanded technology portfolio following its June 2026 acquisition of...

28/09/2026

ARRI and HONOR Launch Co-Branded HONOR Magic9 Pro Max

ARRI and HONOR have announced the HONOR Magic9 Pro Max, a flagship smartphone carrying ARRI branding on the device and packaging as the first product-level expr...

28/09/2026

Net Insight Adds Nimbra 1020G to Pan-Asian Live Media Trial Network

Net Insight has added the Nimbra 1020G to its pan-Asian live media trial network, giving customers and partners in the region a way to evaluate ST 2110 and JPEG...

28/09/2026

Vindral Named Recipient of 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy Award

Vindral has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category of We...

28/09/2026

Interra Systems to Demonstrate QC and Monitoring Portfolio at CABSAT 2026

Interra Systems will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (Stand B2-37, Dubai Exhibition Centre, October 5-7), demonstrating its BATON QC platform, ORION monitoring solutions...

28/09/2026

PGA TOUR's Michael Raimondo on Agentic Production, ShotLink Automation, and the Evolution of PGA TOUR Studios

Two years into its new production facility, the TOUR is expanding centralized wo...

28/09/2026

Game Creek Videos Epic Building Run Continues With ESPNs Countdown Unit, Upgrades to Four Others

In addition to rolling out a new mobile unit for ESPN's Monday Night Countd...

28/09/2026

Bleacher Report and WWE Reach Multi-Year Global Content Partnership

Bleacher Report and WWE have announced a multi-year content partnership giving Bleacher Report global highlight rights across WWE's programming slate, inclu...

28/09/2026

Behind The Mic: NBC Sports Shares MLB Wild Card Series Announcing Booth; ESPN Reveals NHL 26-27 Season Talent

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...

28/09/2026

Fubo Adds Four NHL Regional Sports Networks for 2026-27 Season

FuboTV has announced a multi-year distribution agreement with the NHL to carry four regional sports networks covering the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jac...

28/09/2026

Program Productions Names Alan Ostfield President and CEO

Program Productions (PPI) has announced the appointment of Alan Ostfield as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective September 28, 2026. Ostfield succee...

28/09/2026

Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty! Encourages Us to Keep Dancing

Director Josef Kubota Wladyka attends the premiere of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! with the film's cast and crew at Eccles Theatre on January 22, 2026, in P...

28/09/2026

Scaler Music introduce Scaler EQ Pro

EQ plug-in can now be played via MIDI Scaler Music have recently released a new and improved version of their patented musical EQ plug-in, kitting it out wi...

28/09/2026

The Asura from Animal Factory Amps

New synth developed in collaboration with philterSoup Boutique effects pedal and Eurorack manufacturer Animal Factory Amps have announced that the new compa...

28/09/2026

Rohde & Schwarz adds an integrated multi-channel pulse analysis option to its FSWX signal and spectrum analyzer

Rohde & Schwarz adds an integrated multi-channel pulse analysis option to its FS...

28/09/2026

SBE Announces 2026 Ennes Scholarship Recipients

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/09/2026

Spectrum to Demo AI Computing at the Network's Edge at SCTE TechExpo 26

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/09/2026

Autoscript launches new Voice Controller prompting soluti...

Autoscript, the leading global provider of professional teleprompting solutions, today announced Voice Controller for WinPlus-IP, a new voice-controlled prompti...

28/09/2026

IBC 2026 Technical Conference Highlights

IBC 2026 Technical Conference Highlights David Kirk September 28, 2026 0 Comments Hero image courtesy Deposit Photos David Kirk reports from the 11-1...

28/09/2026

First Baptist Nashville Taps Clear-Com for Production Coms

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/09/2026

IEEE Announces Award for Leadership in Developing HEVC/H.265

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/09/2026

Nakadi Introduces Live to Theater Service Powered by Pate...

Nakadi, a global streaming technology innovator dedicated to engineering a new era of digital media delivery, today announced its Live to Theater service based ...

28/09/2026

Sky launches Full Fibre 1.6 Gbps for millions of homes

Monday 28 September 2026 Sky launches Full Fibre 1.6 Gbps for millions of homes Sky has launched a new Full Fibre 1.6 Gbps product, rolling out from today, gi...

28/09/2026

Arvato Systems Highlights Its Role for Automakers and Suppliers

Arvato Systems Highlights It's Role for Automotive Manufacturers and Suppliers TISAX Arvato Systems has successfully completed the TISAX Level 3 assess...

28/09/2026

Crimecall returns for a brand-new series

Crimecall, presented by Carla O'Brien, returns tonight for a brand new series at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player. In tonight's episode, alongside appe...

28/09/2026

RT SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2026 - SHORTLISTED STORIES ANNOUNCED

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS AT THE HEART OF NEW IRISH WRITING LIVE FROM POETRY IRELAND, DUBLIN AND ON RT RADIO 1 FROM 7PM DETAILS: www.rte.ie/writing | FOLLOW: #r...

27/09/2026

Boss launch the EX-4 Effects Expander

New compact pedal packs in 120 effects The latest multi-effects pedal from Boss is a compact unit that promises to give any pedalboard a massive boost in s...

26/09/2026

ESPN Operations, Production Teams Plan for Every Scenario as WNBA Playoffs Tip Off

With short turnaround between game selections, ESPN's operations team is pla...

26/09/2026

Prime Video Scales Up for First WNBA Postseason, Adding Cameras, Analysts, Coach Mics, and NBA Mobile Units

Prime Video will use GCV's Bird and Magic mobile units for its inaugural WNB...

26/09/2026

NBC Sports Tips Off First WNBA Postseason in 20+ Years Using Sunday Night Basketball as a Production Baseline

Studio show moves on-site as network models playoff coverage on its NBA flagship...

26/09/2026

Ratings Roundup: Cowboys-Commanders Leads NFL Week 2 With 27.2 Million, College GameDay Posts Best Week 3 Ever

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...

26/09/2026

From Sketch to Strut, Unzipped Returns to the Sundance Film Festival at 30

Douglas Keeve attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival screening of Unzipped at the Egyptian Theatre. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock for Sundance Film...

26/09/2026

Native Instruments update Maschine

Launched alongside three new expansion packs In celebration of their 30th anniversary, Native Instruments have released a major update for their Maschine 3 ...

26/09/2026

YouTube Embraces Microdramas with Features for Episodic Shorts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/09/2026

Civil Rights Groups Urge Sen. Cruz to Delay Thumann Severs FCC Confirmation

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/09/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 32: National Hockey Leagues John Bochiaro - Leading the Leagues In-Venue Efforts

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

25/09/2026

HBS Taps Ronald den Hollander as CEO

Infront has named Ronald den Hollander as CEO of its Host Broadcast Services (HBS) subsidiary, effective 1 October 2026. The appointment follows the previously ...

25/09/2026

NABA to Host Cyber University 2.0 Cybersecurity Summit in New York

The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) will hold Cyber University 2.0, a full-day cybersecurity summit for the broadcast and media industries, on Tu...

25/09/2026

Alpha Networks and Ateme Deliver Low-Latency Video Platform for International Sporting Event

Alpha Networks and Ateme have delivered a joint video platform for the digital d...

25/09/2026

Viaplay Migrates Free-to-Air Channels to Encompass Altitude Scheduling

Encompass Digital Media has announced the migration of multiple Viaplay free-to-air channels - TV3, TV6, TV8, and TV10 - to its Altitude Scheduling platform. Al...

25/09/2026

NAB Show New York 2026 Set for October 21-22 at Javits Center

NAB Show New York 2026 will take place October 21-22 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Registration is open at nabshow.com/newyork. Th...

25/09/2026

NHL Network to Air NHL Tonight, NHL Now, NHL Tonight: First Shift, and On The Fly During 2026-27 Season

NHL Network has announced its studio programming lineup for the 2026-27 regular ...

25/09/2026

First Baptist Nashville Installs Clear-Com Arcadia Central Station

Clear-Com has announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom system as part of a sanctuary technolo...

25/09/2026

Broadcast Management Group Upgrades to EVS XT-VIA Platform at Cloud Control Center

Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has deployed EVS XT-VIA live video production s...

25/09/2026

BBright Adds dotCentral as U.S. Sales and Support Partner

BBright, a Hexaglobe Group company, has announced that dotCentral has joined as a sales and support partner in the United States. BBright's portfolio cover...

25/09/2026

MeyerPro Deploys ROE Visual Graphite GP 2.6 for Acumatica Summit 2026

MeyerPro delivered audio, video, broadcast, and LED production for the Acumatica Summit 2026 at the Seattle Convention Center's Summit Building, January 25-...