
Remembering Jack Walsh: Mobile-Sports-Production Pioneer and Co-Founder of Trio Video Died at 67 The Chicago sports veteran started as a camera operator on White Sox, Cubs, and Blackhawks games By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Thursday, September 16, 2021 - 1:16 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Jack Walsh, a mobile-sports-production entrepreneur, sports- television-technology industry leader, and founder of facilities company Trio Video, died on Aug. 11.
Trio Video was a staple of the Chicago sports scene, providing mobile production facilities for broadcasts of its major sports teams. The company also supported other live events in the area, including parades, marathons, and concerts.
Anyone who watched Chicago sporting events and live city events for over 25 years had Jack to thank, because Trio Video's production trucks and crews were the source of those telecasts, WGN-TV Chicago Director, Production, Bob Vorwald said to the Chicago Tribune.
Walsh was awarded Chicago television's highest honor, the Silver Circle Award, by the Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2008. Trio Video was a mainstay of the industry until 2011 when it was acquired by NEP Broadcasting. Walsh stayed on to oversee Trio Video operations until his retirement in 2018.
When Trio Video became part of NEP more than a decade ago, we were thrilled that so many talented individuals became part of our family, says Mike Werteen, Global President, NEP Broadcast Services, NEP Group. They all cared about delivering for clients and working together as one, every day. That care and focus was driven by Jack Walsh. Jack knew the importance of properly supporting his team and fought passionately for them. Jack was a legend in the broadcasting business and a legend in the hearts of those who knew him. We all will miss a true broadcasting icon.
Jack was a great man to work with and for, says Matt Keske, production manager, Chicago region, PRG, and a veteran of NEP and CSP Mobile Productions. Even if you were working for him, you were really working with him. He was always willing to listen to your viewpoint. However, he didn't waste time if a decision needed to be made quickly. He was a decider and wasn't afraid to go with his instincts.
Founded in 1982, mobile-sports-production provider Trio Video served TV productions of all major Chicago sports teams. The company was sold to NEP in 2011.
Walsh was born in Fairbanks, AK, and received a degree in radio, television, and film from Temple University in 1975. He got his start at TV stations in the Carolinas and West Virginia before finally settling in in Chicago, where he was a camera operator on White Sox, Cubs, and Blackhawks games, as well as for the famed Phil Donahue Show.
He formed his own freelance-TV-crewing business, Location Crew Services, in 1979 before collaborating with fellow camera operator Gary Meagher and engineer Dick Shapiro to start Trio Video in January 1982.
According the Chicago Tribune:
Walsh had this idea of forming an on location' video production company that included TV trucks. Owning the trucks would guarantee that we could hire ourselves to do the work, Meagher recalled in an email. And the timing was excellent. Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn were forming SportsVision for the White Sox and Bulls. ESPN was really starting to roll. The business was changing dramatically, from sports and special events being produced by local TV stations, to a kind of free-for-all.
Walsh is remembered fondly by many in the mobile sports production industry, including those from other mobile facilities proivders across the continent.
I met Jack at my first Hughes Baseball Meeting, recalls Mary Ellen Carlyle, SVP and General Manager at Dome Productions. I was the kid that was trying to explain to the group that the Toronto Blue Jays decided not to allow mobiles in the stadium. The visiting team broadcasts could utilize Dome Productions in stadium control rooms along side the Cappuccino Bar. Jack was one of the first to give me his Chicago dates. Since that day, Jack and Trio Video were always there for Dome when we needed [facilities] whether in Canada or the U.S. As I always respected Jack and his staff at Trio Video, I really appreciated it when he referred to Dome Productions' culture as part of his Trio family. Long after Jack moved on from the industry I was fortunate enough to keep in touch. I am thankful for all [he] has done for me and the Dome family. [He] will not be forgotten.
We shared a passion for the excitement of live TV, said Peter Kimball, Senior Account Manager Entertainment at NEP Group, who worked with Walsh as a fellow camera operate on Chicago sports broadcasts as well as freelancers on Big 10, ESPN, and NBC broadcasts across the midwest. He also helped helm Trio Video's Musical Festival team. At the end of this month, our festival team will be on site at Austin City Limits Music Festival our 15th year of covering just about every major music festival/artist in North America.Jack was a straight shooter, had a mind of his own, and was truly a good person.
Even as Jack was helming everything as a managing owner of Trio Video, he would still occasionally be crew chief on-site or work camera during telecasts, SOS Global Express Manager of Onsite Operations & Client Services Keith O'Brien said to the Chicago Tribune. O'Brien joined Trio Video as director of production in the 1990s after overseeing remote operations for Turner Sports. [Jack had] an amazing ability to look you in the eye and make you instinctively believe that he had your back. You could also find him crawling around on his back assisting with the wiring of any of our production trucks being built in the shop. On more than one occas
More from Sports Video Group
01/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...
01/07/2025
The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...
01/07/2025
Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...
01/07/2025
NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...
01/07/2025
TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...
27/06/2025
How smarter compression is creating a sustainable future By Michael Burns
Monday, June 23, 2025 - 14:13
Print This Story
Live sport is especially vulnerab...
27/06/2025
Behind the Mic: FOX Sports Ratchets Up UEFA Women's EURO 2025 With Top-Class...
27/06/2025
RTL Group To Acquire Sky Deutschland By George Bevir, Editorial Director, SVG Europe
Friday, June 27, 2025 - 8:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
27/06/2025
Frictionless, At Scale: The Current State of Live Video Streaming Techology Leaders from Bitmovin, Comcast Technology Solutions, Harmonic, IMAX, and Phenix brea...
27/06/2025
Marquee Sports Network's Nick Steger on Meeting the Moment of the Contending...
27/06/2025
NHL Draft 2025: The League Is Primed for First Decentralized Draft in Non-Pandem...
26/06/2025
10th-Annual SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Presents Useful Roadmap for th...
26/06/2025
The Big Cloud Debate: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid Tech leaders from CineSys, Diversified, and Net Insight breaks down all flavors of cloud By Jason Dachman, ...
26/06/2025
Program Productions' Jess Kowatch on Training the Next and Current Gener...
25/06/2025
SVG College Summit 2025: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY Tackling the latest in college sports video: NIL, live production, virtual productio...
25/06/2025
ESPN Is Set To Bring AR Graphics to Wimbledon, Revamps Bunker and Studio 18 VO B...
24/06/2025
2025 NBA Draft: ABC/ESPN Prepares for Two-Day Draft at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By M...
24/06/2025
Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: Google Cloud's Jane Day on the Impact of AI on ...
24/06/2025
Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: AWS's Dana LaGattuta on Data-Driven Innovation ...
24/06/2025
Lions live: Dublin opener sees Sky Sports take remote route By Fergal Ringrose ...
24/06/2025
Pumas maul Lions as S4C and TG4 deliver first-ever joint host in Dublin By Ferg...
24/06/2025
ABC/ESPN Prepares for 2025 NBA Draft, the First at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By Mark ...
23/06/2025
Adventures in Live Cloud Production: Stories From the Trenches with MLB, NHL, NB...
23/06/2025
Finding the edge: How Badger & Combes produces live-streamed coverage of county ...
23/06/2025
Masters of Madness: New football format shakes up the rules of sportainment By Adrian Pennington
Monday, June 16, 2025 - 11:38
Print This Story
The ball i...
23/06/2025
New State-of-the-Art Mountain Media Center Launches in Former Starz Encore Build...
23/06/2025
ESPN Says Goodbye to Seaport Studios, Hello to New State-of-the-Art Production F...
20/06/2025
Feeling Unlimited, Part 1: Athletes Unlimited Softball League Deploys Remote Pro...
20/06/2025
A True Test? Cricket's Growth on the Global Stage and the Role Broadcast Can...
20/06/2025
Sky Sports goes large for the British & Irish Lions Tour with AR graphics, UHD a...
20/06/2025
ESPN's Men's College World Series Finals Coverage Combines Innovation, L...
19/06/2025
SVG Rewind: PGA Tour Introduces Drone AR Smart Tracing, Reflects on Winning Geor...
18/06/2025
Technology focus: Fan expectations drive advances in the in-stadium experience By Jo Ruddock
Tuesday, June 3, 2025 - 08:36
Print This Story
For years, att...
18/06/2025
Making connections: How stadiums are meeting the ever-growing demand for data an...
18/06/2025
SVG Venues & Teams Summit Keynote: RWS Global Powers the Stadium Environment at ...
18/06/2025
SVG Rewind: Behind the Scenes of Producing Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League...
17/06/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mercury Intermedia's Tom Richardson, Mike Ligon o...
17/06/2025
Total Sports Performance from Relo Metrics, VideoAmp, Offers Next-Level Media, B...
17/06/2025
From Stage to Stream: Producing Live Esports Events in 2025 Leaders from ESL FACEIT Group, Riot Games, and more break down the latest trends By Jason Dachman, ...
17/06/2025
Inside FIFA 2025 Club World Cup Operations With FIFA's Oscar Sanchez, HBS...
17/06/2025
Production ambitions: Over Exposed on making the National League Promotion Final...
17/06/2025
DAZN Brings Global Ambition to U.S. Soil With Production of 2025 FIFA Club World...
17/06/2025
Diversified's Christine Williamson on How UT's New State-of-the-Art Prod...
16/06/2025
Grass Valley 4K Cameras Head to Greece for View Master Events' New Productio...
16/06/2025
Behind The Broadcast Booth, Ep. 3: Golf. My Future. My Game. Founder and CEO Cra...
16/06/2025
The REMI Revolution Is Here: How Remote Production Technology in Esports Pioneer...
16/06/2025
From Super Bowl to Indy 500, New Orleans Artist Frenchy' Captures Energy of...
16/06/2025
NFL Films Enhances Post Studio With Dolby Atmos Audio Forty-three channels of audio enable the facility to migrate to immersive By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Mo...
16/06/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Storj's David Colantuoni on Expanding Cloud-Based...