
NBA Playoffs 2025: ESPN's Postseason Run Highlighted by New Cameras, Player Mics, Flagship Mobile Unit After remote/shared operations, Western Conference and league Finals will be onsite production By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, April 17, 2025 - 3:15 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
With a particularly dramatic edition of the NBA Play-In Tournament wrapping up tomorrow night, the 2025 NBA Playoffs officially tip off this weekend with ESPN's triple-header of Round 1 coverage on Saturday followed by a blockbuster doubleheader on ABC on Sunday. For ESPN's veteran remote-operations team, the ultra-busy weekend is just the start of a two-month odyssey culminating in the NBA Finals in June.
ESPN plans to have more than 40 camera sources, like this Sony camera with a Canon lens, for its NBA Finals coverage in June.
We have the best and most experienced operations and technical teams returning for this playoffs run, says Eddie Okuno, senior remote operations specialist, ESPN. The same goes for the best crews in our industry that support our NBA games year in and year out.
After relying largely on REMI and REMCO production models for the Play-In Tournament, ESPN will share the load with RSNs in the early rounds of the playoffs before deploying massive onsite operations for the Western Conference Finals and league Finals. In addition to a full arsenal of cutting-edge cameras, audio tools, and AR graphics, ESPN's tech complement will include the new Flagship mobile unit from Game Creek Video, which debuted this month.
Play-In Games Get the REMI PLUS, REMCO Treatment Wednesday's Play-In games exclusively deployed ESPN's REMI PLUS workflow: the broadcaster supplied all cameras/operators for manned and robo positions, as well as for onsite announcers/reporter, and transmitted the feeds to Bristol, CT, for integration at one of ESPN's REMI production-control rooms.
After relying largely on REMI and REMCO production models for the Play-In Tournament, ESPN will share the load with RSNs in the early rounds of the playoffs before transitioning to full onsite production.
Friday's final Play-In game will use ESPN's REMCO workflow with producer/director and on-air talent onsite. The graphics AP, graphics operator, clock and score operator, and up to four EVS replay operators will operate from either Bristol or Charlotte, NC.
REMI Operations is also staffing a Viz Libero operator in Bristol on all matchups for on-screen telestration. The operator works with a producer located at their home.
We at REMI Operations are extremely proud of our teams across Bristol and Charlotte that have been on this project, says Scott Chamberland, supervisor, REMI Operations, ESPN. We documented some amazing stories this season: Luka's return to Dallas, Hubie Brown's last called game, and many more. The technical skills of our operators and the relationships built with our production team puts us in the best position as we head into the playoffs.
ESPN Shares First-Round Load With RSNs, Has Big Plans for Finals All of ESPN's first-round games will be non-exclusive broadcasts with ESPN sharing compound space and camera positions with their home and visitor RSN partners.
ESPN's new Flagship mobile unit features a Calrec Argo Q audio console.
We have had an incredibly cooperative and successful NBA season sharing feeds with our RSN partners and will continue onto the first round of playoff games, says Okuno. All productions benefit from the shared resources as the storytelling resources for game coverage increases.
All first-round games will be produced in 1080p SDR using six hard cameras, four handheld cameras, two above-the-rim robos, and two basket POV cameras. For the second round, ESPN will add more high-frame-rate super-slo-mo cameras and EVS replay channels.
Many playoff games will deploy the newer and smaller Q5X Digital PlayerMic X.
Many playoff games will also have enhanced audio quality highlighted by deployment of the newer and smaller Q5X Digital Player Mic X.
In preparation for the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals, Okuno adds, ESPN will be testing multiple technology offerings that debuted at NAB 2025.
Once the NBA Finals arrive, ESPN will once again roll out one of its biggest production complements of the year, with more than 40 camera sources planned. The shows will also feature double-digit HFS super-slo-mo cameras, cinema-style high-frame-rate-camera capture and replay, and SkyCam (with AR/VR), and a drone (with AR/VR).
After debuting this month, ESPN's new Flagship mobile unit (A, B, and C units) will be front and center throughout the NBA Playoffs. The once-in-a-generation truck will serve ESPN's A-game for the first and second rounds before working the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals. Besides Flagship, ESPN will deploy NEP EN1 (A, B, C, D, and E units) in the other city for the Conference Finals and Finals.
ESPN's coast-to-coast NBA operations over the coming months will be led by Chamberland, Shane Smith, Luis Manuel Lopez, Kim Conrad, Kelley Nagi, Christine Rouskas, Kristianna Bryant, Johnathan Williams, Erick Guyton, CJ Chalverus, Heidi Walker, Jason Dorsey, Meredith Fenwick, Kevin Pedersen, Lacey Gandee (Charlotte), and Joe King (Charlotte).
The technical team is led by Okuno, Alan McDonald, Paul Kucharski, Justin McIntosh, Ben Neiger, Ben Ellison, Zaque Meyers, Mike Krivens, Nolan Lynch, Chris Baylis, and Neang Ne.
Crewing and resources are managed by Candice Manning, Stephanie Cannon, Max Morales, Jocelyn Thomas, and Laurie Niziolek.
It's a privilege to carry the responsibility of capturing NBA history and being part of its legacy, says Okuno. We are extremely excited, honored, and proud to start coverage of the 23rd NBA Playoffs run for E
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
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
18/06/2026
AJA Video Systems unveiled Io Xpand, a high-performance Thunderbolt 5-enabled PCIe expansion chassis for AJA KONA and Corvid video and audio I/O cards. As dema...
18/06/2026
New NVRT-driven workflow enables on-demand traffic mirroring and guided troubleshooting for AV teams, integrators, and support organizations ahead of InfoComm 2...
18/06/2026
At InfoComm 2026, Mavis announced a major update to Mavis Studio, its live production app for the iPad, with new features designed to make professional AV produ...
18/06/2026
Transaction Positions Harmonic as a Pure-Play Broadband Company
Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in virtualized broadband solutions, today a...
18/06/2026
ACT Entertainment and NETGEAR have announced a strategic partnership that establishes verified interoperability between NETGEAR Switches and key technologies fr...
18/06/2026
IBC2026 is set to bring the global media, entertainment and technology community together at the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September, enabling industry players f...
18/06/2026
Pliant Technologies is proud to introduce CrewCom Flex , the world's first frameless matrix intercom system and the only complete matrix IP-based intercom s...
18/06/2026
The XR Sports Alliance (XRSA) has announced that a new cohort of members has joined the strategic initiative: ActionStreamer, Antigravity, Creative Artists Agen...
18/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/06/2026
Linda May Han Oh Receives Guggenheim Fellowship The Berklee professor, bassist, and composer will use the fellowship to debut Dreams of Knowing, an interdisci...
18/06/2026
Play favorite titles from popular game libraries, keep progress synced and jump ...
18/06/2026
The digital era gave the advertising and marketing industry speed; the AI era is giving it autonomous operations.
For companies building next-generation techn...
17/06/2026
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 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, 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
DAZN's Team Whistle and Snap Inc. have announced a creator program centered ...
17/06/2026
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
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, 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
This recent graduate from Houston found inspiration in technical directing and now eyes a future career in sports production...
17/06/2026
Audio-Technica (booth C7959) arrives at InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas with a slate ...
17/06/2026
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 has announced Providius Direct, a workflow for investigating network i...
17/06/2026
NEP Group has announced the commercial availability of NEP Platform, a software ...
17/06/2026
A new white paper examining Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) and Reliable Interne...
17/06/2026
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 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
Harmonic has completed the sale of its Video Business to MediaKind for $145 mill...
17/06/2026
Omaha Productions will produce the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vega...
17/06/2026
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
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
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
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&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...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
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
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 Pro...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...