ESPN's Big Apple Home Opens on April 1 South Street Seaport Studio launches this weekend, providing new content-creation hub By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, March 30, 2018 - 11:45 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
It's no joke: on April 1, ESPN will officially take the wraps off ESPN South Street Seaport Studios in Manhattan, a new facility that will add two studios with a combined 6,100 sq. ft. to ESPN's arsenal. It will be the new home of NBA Countdown as of April 1, and then, the next morning, a new program, Get Up! will begin airing weekdays at 7-10 a.m. ET.
ESPN has never had a hub in New York City, notes ESPN VP, Remote Operations, Chris Calcinari. Our goal is to make this a content factory for the company.
Calcinari and Michael Foss, supervising director, remote operations, spent about five months scouting locations before settling on the Seaport. Located at the base of Manhattan, it is one of the few spots that afford views of such landmarks as the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the Freedom Tower, and even the Empire State Building and City Hall.
ESPN's new set for Get Up! provides a dramatic backdrop of the East River and Brooklyn Bridge.
We looked at everything from large apartments to Times Square, adds Calcinari, but we realized that, whenever a movie or TV show portrays New York City, there is a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge.
The East River itself provides a backdrop of near-constant activity with ferries and barges, and robotic cameras positioned on the roof can also grab shots of the harbor.
Those cameras can shoot up and down the river, and there is a ton of traffic, says Calcinari. On a great day, it is an amazing scene that will provide some great scenics.
The great backdrop is only one benefit of the location. The team will have a much easier time booking athletes and celebrities to appear on an ESPN show, because they won't need to travel to Bristol, CT.
Located at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, the larger studio measures 3,900 sq. ft. and will be the home of Get Up!, NBA Countdown, and a new show featuring Bomani Jones and Pablo Torre that will begin airing later this year. A window behind the main set looks out to the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River, and, in the event of glare, a custom-built track system with five stacked LED boards can create a 30- x 8-ft. LED wall in front of the window.
From left: Michael Foss, Chris Calcinari, and Chris Strong inside ESPN's new New York City-based studio
We have a lot of places to do TV in the studio, Calcinari points out. There is the main set, an LED wall for standups, a touchscreen for a different look to standups, a bullpen area, and another set with more of a living-room feel.
We want to be able to use the whole space, adds Calcinari. Alteros RF mics and beltpacks will help in that process, and a massive lighting infrastructure can make every corner usable as a shooting location.
Alteros provides 24 channels of audio, and we will have 12 RF packs between the studios, says Chris Strong, senior operations specialist. But the novelty of the system is, if there is an influx of talent or guests in one studio, we can move them over to the other studio.
The smaller studio measures 2,300 sq. ft. and is expected to be completed in August, with programming details to be announced later. The two main studios will be complemented by a smaller radio/podcast studio (outfitted with a Simplylive Vibox touchscreen production system) and an insert studio in the newsroom that can be fired up at the push of a button.
ESPN's Jalen Rose tests out the new Bureaucam at ESPN's Seaport studio in Manhattan.
It has an 85-in. touchscreen for analysis or a green screen, says Calcinari. What I love about it is, if there is breaking news, someone can press a button, and the lights, mics, camera, and IFB fire up. It's a single-person operation rather than firing up an entire studio.
One major feature of the facility is what is not there: studio-control rooms. ESPN continues to embrace the REMI model, and the Seaport studios will make use of two 40-Gbps diverse transmission paths from AT&T (with RCN providing last-mile fiber support) to allow personnel in control rooms in Bristol, Washington, and Los Angeles to ultimately cut the shows. NBA Countdown will still be produced out of Los Angeles, and Get Up! will be produced out of Bristol. The new show with Jones and Torre will be cut out of Washington. The producers, camera operators, an A2, engineering, and video shaders will be located in New York, along with talent bookers, researchers, and writers. The technical director, A1, and core integration team will be located remotely.
We have a lot of facilities and control rooms around the country, notes Calcinari. It made a lot of sense to build the studios here, where we can get guests, and then use the facilities in other places to control the shows.
Even without control rooms, there is still plenty of technology onsite. The facility is operating in 1080p, a first for studio operations at ESPN. An Evertz EQX router (112 176 with 48 48 embedding/de embedding and expandable to 256 256), a Wheatstone radio-control-room system with an LX-24 digital audio-control surface, a Lawo Power Core 128 128 audio-processing unit, an RTS Adam Matrix 320 320 intercom, and a DNF tally system are all in use. The camera complement includes 10 Sony HDC-2500 cameras, five Panasonic HE-130 PTZ cameras, two Panasonic HE-140 robotic cameras on the roof capturing scenics, and an Azzuro Bureau camera in the newsroom. Seven of those cameras are located in the main studio.
There are also onsite editing capabilities via a Q edit system that ties into the Quantel system in Bristol and also onsite Adobe Premier editing capabilities. Signiant is in use to allow files to be
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
06/05/2026
Polands Miecznik-class frigates are part of the largest contract in Polish shipbuilding history. (Image Credit: PGZ Stocznia Wojenna)...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Riedel Communications today announced the expansion of its leadership structure as part of a strategic initiative to strengthen both its operational management ...
06/05/2026
For nearly three decades, Veteran Production Sound Mixer and Five-time Emmy Award Winner Dirk Sciarrotta has helped define the sonic identity of the long-runnin...
06/05/2026
ZEISS CinCraft LensCore: Cinema Lens Looks for Compositing
Brie Clayton May 6, 2026
0 Comments
ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a nove...
06/05/2026
Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live Action for Gravity Med...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Narrative Entertainment has partnered with Encompass to deliver high-quality subtitling of its Great! network content using the Altitude Intelligence AI assiste...
06/05/2026
SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, is proud to launch a dramatic new approach to AI content creati...
06/05/2026
When the broadband and media industry gathers at ANGA COM in Cologne from May 19 to 21, Big Blue Marble will be at the forefront. The international broadcast an...
06/05/2026
Cinegy GmbH, a leading developer of software-defined television technology, is proud to exhibit at MPTS for the first time. Visitors to the stand will discover ...
06/05/2026
Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award Jeanty, a composer, percussionist, and turntablist, is the fourth Berklee recipient of the prestigious award ...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/05/2026
When live cycling races and international marathons stretch for miles across cities and countryside, there is no margin for RF failure in live broadcast. As Chi...
06/05/2026
Oberkochen/Germany, May 5, 2026
ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a novel solution for creating physically based cinematic lens looks for visual...
06/05/2026
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 6, 2026 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced its latest broadband innovations for ANGA COM 2026, highlighting its vision for a new e...
06/05/2026
Statement from Rupert Murdoch, Chairman Emeritus, Fox Corporation on Ted Turner&...
06/05/2026
Friday 8 May on RT One and RT Player
Meet the NSPCA team caring for and protecting animals in need in this six-part series
Fly on the wall, six-part series...
06/05/2026
The race to build the world's most powerful AI factories demands networking ...
06/05/2026
How changes to proteins can alter drug interactions for new precision therapies Scripps Research team maps how chemical modifications to proteins affect drug bi...
05/05/2026
Experts from the world of academia, tech, business, politics and media convened for a Thomson Talks at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit in April. It's th...
05/05/2026
Three phones were hardwired for power and transmission to the truck; camera feat...
05/05/2026
The creative studio behind campaigns for the NBA, Fanatics Sportsbook & Casino, ...
05/05/2026
Nielsen has announced results from a co-viewing pilot program covering February&...
05/05/2026
viztrick AiDi, an on-device AI solution developed by Nippon TV, delivered global...
05/05/2026
ARRI has announced Omnibar, a battery-powered, IP65-rated multi-color LED linear...
05/05/2026
Imagine Communications has announced that France T l visions is the first broadc...
05/05/2026
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Bell Media today announced a multiyear agreement to broadcast and stream WNBA games in Canada beginni...
05/05/2026
SVG is proud to announce Warner Bros. Discovery's Techwood Studios in Atlant...
05/05/2026
With no operator required, AutoMic workflow automates talent identification on U...
05/05/2026
A crash in 2015 set the industry back, but this winter proved that drones are he...
05/05/2026
Another year, and more proof that Asia continues to shape some of the world's most exciting new sounds. This year's RADAR artists draw from deep local r...
05/05/2026
The Austin City Limits Music Fest 2026 lineup just dropped, and this year, Spoti...
05/05/2026
New drum machine book campaign incoming
Bjooks have announced that during Superbooth 2026, they will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund the product...
05/05/2026
Flagship all-in-one production bundle updated
The latest version of Native Instruments' flagship virtual instrument and plug-in bundle has just been ann...
05/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to host RF Testing Innovations Forum 2026, helping design engine...
05/05/2026
L3Harris provides communications, electronic warfare, sensors and mission systems that enable Virginia-class submarine crews to operate with confidence in conte...
05/05/2026
The company grew by 7.6% in net revenue and 16.3% in EBITDA, achieving a 33% inc...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
ESPN's Big Apple Home Opens on April 1 South Street Seaport Studio launches this weekend, providing new content-creation hub By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
