ESPN Takes All-Access' to the Next Level at WNBA All-Star Game With Wearable Camera, 15 Player/Coach/Ref Mics The weekend's festivities will be produced and distributed in 1080p By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, July 14, 2023 - 2:19 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The WNBA has long been one of the most progressive leagues when it comes to in-game access to players and coaches. This weekend, the league and ESPN will look to set a new high-water mark in those efforts, deploying a wearable camera system on players' friends and family (and possibly players on the bench and refs during the game) and a whopping 15 mics on players, coaches, and refs for miked-up segments and in-game interviews.
Access is such an important part of our coverage these days, says ESPN Coordinating Producer Sara Gaiero. It has proved to be what fans connect with most, and they're always wanting more. The All-Star Game is the type of event that provides us the opportunity to lean in to that access even more than we would be able to in a traditional game. This league has always been collaborative and progressive in trying to push the envelope. That has never been more apparent than at All-Star.
The WNBA All-Star festivities kick off today at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas with the Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest on ESPN. The main event will be broadcast on ABC tomorrow beginning 8:30 p.m. ET and will be preceded by an onsite edition of WNBA Countdown. Play-by-play caller Ryan Ruocco, analyst Rebecca Lobo, and reporter Holly Rowe will call the action on both days.
An All-Access Perspective of the Action' Both Friday's and Saturday's telecasts will feature unique player-access elements, including miked-up participants and in-game interviews. ESPN will deploy an extensive complement of 27 cameras, similar to levels for WNBA Finals. A MoviCom wearable camera device powered by AT&T 5G will be worn by family/friends of players during the game.
The concept is that it gives you not only an all-access perspective of the action but also a different vantage point than what we are able to get with traditional camera angles, says Gaiero. We're also hoping to capitalize on the fun aspect of it. For example, we're looking to put that camera on a player's mom while [her daughter] is in the game. We can cut to that camera to get a sense of what it feels like to be the mom and what she's experiencing. [The viewer] can cheer right along with her and see the game through her lens.
ESPN is also working with the league to potentially have refs or players sitting on the bench wear the system, but these have not yet been confirmed.
This camera has become an interesting tool for us to bring out to shows, says Michael Sullivan, operations specialist, ESPN. We've utilized it now a couple times, and the extremely unique looks this camera provides is unmatched. We're going to get aggressive in testing different use cases of this camera this weekend.
In-Game Interviews Take Center Stage at All-Star In continuing with the theme of in-game access, ESPN will deploy close to 15 player/coach/ref mics to provide unprecedented access to the participants in All-Star Weekend. Most of the mics will be used for taped Mic'ed Up segments, but ESPN has requested that four total players - two on each team - wear the mic for live in-game interviews. ESPN also hopes to have four players miked for today's Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest.
We've seen success with [in-game player interviews] with MLB and how they've successfully navigated that path, says Gaiero. We're trying to replicate that success for WNBA, and the league is working hard to accommodate this.
This weekend marks just the latest chapter in ESPN's efforts on in-game interviews. In years past, ESPN would record interviews with players at the end of the first and third quarters. This season, ESPN reporters are conducting the interviews live before the commercial break. In addition, at the start of the second and fourth quarters, a coach puts on an IFB mic and is interviewed by ESPN's announce booth.
We've progressed a lot this season in terms of access during the games, and what we'd like to do in the All-Star game is take it one step further, says Gaiero. We are hoping to have a player join us at the start of the second and fourth quarter and interview them via the IFB as they come off the bench and check into the game. Then, hopefully, we can continue that conversation while they're playing in the game.
Sullivan adds, The timing of these interviews and access elements is going to be unique. The setup of All-Star allows us to bring the viewers unique perspectives and experiences in places in the game that traditionally would be impossible.
Plenty of Camera Firepower To Spare ESPN's camera arsenal also includes two RF cameras, one a shallow-depth-of-field Steadicam that will have access to the floor during free throws and other game stoppages. Although the WNBA All-Star Game format eliminates free throws except during the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and any overtime, Gaiero says her team will seek as many opportunities as possible to send the Steadicam on the floor.
If and when we do have free throws in those closing minutes, she says, we have the green light from the league to come onto the floor and get behind the player at the line with that RF camera. We will also try to find other ways to get on the floor whenever possible.
Three robos - two above-the-rim (ATR) systems, one under the centerhung videoboard - and two super-slo-mo camera systems will also be deployed. One of the super-slo-mos is a Sony HDC-4800 camera with a Fujinon HZK PL-mount cinematic lens that will be placed at a Low Boy low slash positi
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
ESPN Takes All-Access' to the Next Level at WNBA All-Star Game With Wearable Camera, 15 Player/Coach/Ref Mics The weekend's festivities will be produced and distributed in 1080p By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
