Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

SVG Sit-Down: Fox Sports' Brad Zager on NFL Production Innovation, Fox Sports Vault,' Virtual-Fan Tech

19/09/2020

SVG Sit-Down: Fox Sports' Brad Zager on NFL Production Innovation, Fox Sports Vault,' Virtual-Fan Tech NFL and college football, even MLB make a busy season after COVID lockdown By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Friday, September 18, 2020 - 2:45 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Last weekend was a busy one for Fox Sports: the 2020 NFL season kicked off, college football was under way, and there was MLB action to boot. It was also a weekend of innovation, new safety protocols, and, most important, busy production crews creating TV across the country. Brad Zager, executive producer/executive VP/head of production and operations, Fox Sports, took some time out of his schedule to discuss the efforts with SVG Editorial Director Ken Kerschbaumer.

Fox Sports' Brad Zager: We know [with virtual-fan technology] works; it's just a matter of figuring out how we can we execute it across more games.

What was your reaction to the week?

I was really just so proud of the entire team. In addition to NFL, it was also the first week of college football, and we also had baseball going. Ot takes so many people to get through a weekend like that. And everybody was embracing and understanding how different this world we're all walking back into [for the NFL] is from when we finished the Super Bowl in Miami.

I literally just got off the phone with our Lead NFL Game Director Richard Russo, and we were walking through the weekend. Everyone knew that the most important thing was giving viewers football when they expect it on Sunday afternoons and Saturdays.

Also, there's no playbook right now. We are all in this together, and we're all figuring it out. We knew going into Week 1 that we were going to learn things and that it may be a little bit different going into Week 2.

What was the feedback from the crews?

When people got onsite, you would hear how things were going pretty well. And then we started to settle in, and, when we started to see all the games go off on Saturday, we saw we were going to achieve our goal and the viewers wouldn't know everything that was going on behind the scenes to make the productions happen. The viewers don't care about our testing and protocols or what the announcers have to go through. They just want to watch their favorite teams. That was our goal, and I think we accomplished it.

You mentioned the Super Bowl earlier. During that game, you tried out some new things as a trial run for use this season.

Yes. A lot of them we were really happy with. There was the new Fox Box, and we also got to break that in during the few weeks of the XFL we had before the pandemic.

We went into creating that trying to use the same footprint but showing more pertinent information. And that started with the quarterbacks, who are the stars of this league. They are the players everyone is talking about all week long, and they are the ones that everyone is focused on on Sunday. So we decided to show the quarterback's stats up there the entire game in a way that is not intrusive.

As for new toys, what else is on your list?

We used virtual fans on the Bears-Lions game in Detroit, and it worked out really well. Now that we've got one game down, we're talking internally about what our next steps are. We know it works; it's just a matter of figuring out how we can we execute it across more games. We have a good proof of concept on an NFL game. Unfortunately, the virtual fans were as disappointed as I was, being a Lions fan, so I should have prepared the virtual fans for how the game was going to end.

We've been focusing on high-speed cameras the past few years and making sure all of the crews are equipped to be able to show the emotion of the game and use it for storytelling. We're really proud that, no matter what game you watch, you are going to see high-speed cameras across the board.

We also had PylonCam on the Bucs-Saints game, and that has become more standardized for our A broadcast. Switching to college, we had a new truck from Game Creek Video, Gridiron, that brings our college-football truck to a new level.

You also have empty stadiums, which opens up new ways to use the SkyCam with your talent, who are located in the first six rows of the stands.

Yes, they call it the moat. There's no playbook for the use of the SkyCam, so each of the crews did things differently. And every stadium brings its own challenges. So that will be one of the things the crews will spend some time talking about on Friday and Saturday to make sure that, when they get to Sunday, they know how they're going to shoot it and where the sideline reporter can go. I thought it was nice that no two shows look exactly alike.

What did you think of the audio effects?

Based on our MLB and MLS coverage and all the other sports leading up to the NFL, we know that it does help make the game feel more normal and gives the viewers a better experience. I do think we've proved that enhanced audio is the way to go during this time.

I also give NFL Films all the credit in the world for the [fan-audio] system they've created and had ready to use on Week 1. These are things that don't have finish lines so we will continue to learn together with NFL Films and work together collaboratively to figure out the best way to move forward.

Let's talk a bit about college football. How is Fox approaching the college side?

I thought the crew did a great job, and people are just happy to be able to turn on the TV on Saturdays and see college football. We have some really big games, like OU-Texas next month, that will be focal points for the entire season.

We feel we have a great group and most-relevant crew on Big Noon Kickoff when it comes to how close they have been to the game and how recently they played or coached than any
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/09/18/svg-sit-down-fox-sports-brad-za...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

04/08/2024

Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....

03/06/2024

Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...

28/04/2024

Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2

Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...

25/04/2024

Qurate Launches The Big Dish on The Roku Channel

WEST CHESTER, Pa. Video commerce provider Qurate Retail Group has launched The Big Dish, a new culinary-themed FAST channel on The Roku Channel....

25/04/2024

HPA Opens Submissions for 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards

LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association has announced that submissions for the 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards are now being accepted. This re...

25/04/2024

DV Earns MRC Accreditation for CTV Viewability

NEW YORK The digital media measurement and analytics firm DoubleVerify has announced that it has received Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for Video Vie...

25/04/2024

DAZN FAST Channels to Launch on Tubi

SAN FRANCISCO Fox Corp.'s ad-supported streaming service Tubi has announced a licensing agreement with the sports platform DAZN that will see DAZN Ringside ...

25/04/2024

IAB Makes Three Appointments to Its Leadership Team

NEW YORK In the runup to the 2024 IAB NewFronts, the IAB has announced three key appointments to its leadership team....

25/04/2024

Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 5.4 with new Motion Design Mode, Unreal VCam for Android, and more

Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 5.4 with new Motion Design Mode, Unreal VCam f...

25/04/2024

Content Creation, Production, Distribution Is In a State of Flux

Content Creation, Production, Distribution Is In a State of Flux Andy Marken April 24, 2024 0 Comments My empathy is creeping towards what I would de...

25/04/2024

Capitol Broadcasting Company to Air Carolina Panthers Games on Triangle's Strongest Broadcast Signal

The Carolina Panthers and Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC) announced they have...

25/04/2024

Berklee Student Riko Sasaski Named 2024 Yamaha Young Performing Artist

Berklee Student Riko Sasaski Named 2024 Yamaha Young Performing Artist The accomplished saxophonist secured a spot among the elite winners of this year's ...

25/04/2024

Local News Close-Up: St. Louis Born and Bred

Stations everywhere take pride in having a main anchor who comes from the market they represent. That applies in St. Louis, too, but it also pertains to general...

25/04/2024

Edward Moody Joins WBTW Myrtle Beach Anchor Team

Edward Moody is joining the WBTW Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, anchor crew, and will anchor the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts alongside Trish Williford. He comes f...

25/04/2024

MTV Moving VMAs To New UBS Arena in New York

MTV said the 2024 Video Music Awards will return to New York and take place at the new UBS Arena....

25/04/2024

Offbeat Comedy The Outlaws' Returns to Prime Video Next Month

Season three of comedy The Outlaws premieres on Prime Video May 31. Stephen Merchant co-created the show, and stars. There are five episodes....

25/04/2024

Bidders Interested in Buying Bounce, Says Scripps CEO Adam Symson

The E.W. Scripps Co. is evaluating offers for Bounce, its multicast channel for African-American viewers, according to a report from CNBC....

25/04/2024

Paramount Plus Renews Dora'

Paramount Plus has ordered a second season for Dora, the animated preschool show based on Dora the Explorer. The show, featuring Dora on a rainforest adventure ...

25/04/2024

AI-assisted optronics: an unprecedented European project to increase combat perception capabilities

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn The European Commission signed the Grant Agreeme...

24/04/2024

UKTV's pay TV channel Alibi joins forces with S4C and All3Media International for new legal crime drama series Mudtown

Cast set to star include Erin Richards and Tom Cullen Wednesday 24 April 2024 ...

24/04/2024

K-Hip-Hop's Biggest Names Take Center Stage on KrOWN X HAN 2024'

This month marked the return of Spotify's HAN, our collaborative program that brings the unique sounds and culture of Korean hip-hop to the world through ex...

24/04/2024

RADAR Italy Returns With 6 Artists Transforming the Country's Music Landscape

As Spotify's program to spotlight rising talent from around the world, RADAR...

24/04/2024

Spotify Partners With Les Flammes Music Awards To Celebrate French Rap

Spotify is once again teaming up with Les Flammes, the only music awards dedicated to rap, R&B, Afrobeats, and popular culture in France. Spotify helped create...

24/04/2024

Taylor Swift's THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT' Becomes Spotify's Most-Streamed Album in One Week

Records smashed. History made. It's been just five days since Taylor Swift u...

24/04/2024

SBS marks Earth Day as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw becomes first Australian show to have its carbon footprint validated through SSA

SBS marks Earth Day as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw becomes first Australian show ...

24/04/2024

Save money every day with SBS's Ricardo Gonalves and Peggy Giakoumelos on new Cost of Living Secrets podcast

Save money every day with SBS's Ricardo Gon alves and Peggy Giakoumelos on n...

24/04/2024

Authentic Perspectives

The first feature film from writer-director Shaun Seneviratne, Ben and Suzanne: A Reunion in 4 Parts depicts the struggle between love and duty as Ben (Sathya S...

24/04/2024

Melanie Georgieva Joins Panalux as Long Form Sales Director

LONDON, England (24 April 2024) Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision'...

24/04/2024

Deutsche Telekom Powers New MagentaTV Service With Broadpeak's Cloud DVR Solution

April 24, 2024 -- Deutsche Telekom Powers New MagentaTV Service With Broadpea...

24/04/2024

Mundo Hispano Digital Launches MundoNow Connect

ATLANTA Mundo Hispano Digital has launched a new advertising product, MundoNow Connect, that is designed to help advertisers reach Hispanic audiences on connect...

24/04/2024

Epic Games Releases Unreal Engine 5.4

Epic Games has released a major new version of Unreal Engine, which has become a mainstay in virtual production, that includes new features and improvements to ...

24/04/2024

NAB Show Welcomes Creators to Las Vegas

The National Association of Broadcasters welcomed the industry to its annual extravaganza last month in Las Vegas. The sights and sounds were similar to previou...

24/04/2024

Chptr, Gray Television Launch on Video Obituary Platform

NEW YORK Chptr and Gray Television have announced that they are introducing a new video solution for funeral homes and communities that will allow funeral direc...

24/04/2024

Adobe Charts the Future of Creativity and AI at MAX London

Adobe Charts the Future of Creativity and AI at MAX London Brie Clayton April 24, 2024 0 Comments Adobe is taking MAX, the world's largest creativ...

24/04/2024

Curtis LeGeyt, NAB President and CEO, Extends Contract

National Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has agreed to a contract extension that keeps him at the trade association's helm throu...

24/04/2024

Jo Ann Ross Steps Down as Ad Sales Chairman at Paramount

Jo Ann Ross, the long-running queen of television advertising sales, is stepping down from her role as chairman of Paramount Advertising at the end of the month...

24/04/2024

Scripps Names James Galindo as Station Manager in Bakersfield

E.W. Scripps said it named James Galindo as station manager for KERO, the ABC affiliate in Bakersfield, California....

24/04/2024

Amazon Prime Video's Fallout' Tops TVision Power Score Rankings

Amazon Prime Video's Fallout topped TVision's Power Score rankings of shows on connected TV for the week of April 15....

24/04/2024

DoubleVerify Gets MRC Stamp for CTV Viewability Metrics

DoubleVerify said that it received accreditation from the Media Rating Council for its measurement of video viewable impressions and related metrics for connect...

24/04/2024

PlayBox Neo Highlights Latest Advances in Smart Media Pla...

PlayBox Neo reports a successful and well attended 2024 NAB Show, held in mid April at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Now in its 101st year, the event attract...

24/04/2024

MPEG-5 LCEVC Showcase at NAB 2024 demonstrates ecosystem...

MPEG-5 LCEVC ecosystem support continues to grow and includes TVs and set-top boxes, gearing up for the deployment of TV3.0 in Brazil New, never-before-seen ...

24/04/2024

Black Box and NOVO at Integrate Middle East 2024 Featurin...

At Integrate Middle East 2024 in Booth AR-F45, where the company is exhibiting along with its partner NOVO, Black Box will feature IP-based KVM and AV solution...

24/04/2024

NEP Belgium Taps manifold CLOUD in Virtual OB Setup for Live Sports

FRANKFURT, Germany Software solutions provider manifold technologies has announced that its manifold CLOUD was selected by NEP Belgium to provide a signal proce...

24/04/2024

Integral Ad Science Achieves MRC Accreditation

NEW YORK Integral Ad Science has announced that it has earned Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for its sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) filtration f...

24/04/2024

Plex Launches NFL Channel

LOS GATOS, Calif. Streaming media company Plex has announced a partnership with the National Football League that will add the NFL Channel, the NFLs 24/7 free l...

24/04/2024

NAB Extends Contract for President & CEO Curtis LeGeyt

WASHINGTON, D.C. NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at the helm of NAB through 2029, according to NAB Joi...

24/04/2024

GlobalM, scoopa Form Strategic Partnership To Enable Speedy Content Distribution

GENEVA, Switzerland Software-defined video network (SDVN) platform specialist GlobalM and broadcast-quality content distribution expert scoopa have formed a str...

24/04/2024

Screen Australia celebrates Australian projects bound for Cannes Film Festival 2024

24 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia celebrates Australian projects bound...

24/04/2024

Berklee Online to Hold 2024 Berklee Onsite Music Conference May 31-June 1

Berklee Online to Hold 2024 Berklee Onsite Music Conference May 31-June 1 The in-person conference is open to Berklee Online students and the music community ...

24/04/2024

Kargo Gives Buyers More Detail on CTV Campaigns

Kargo said it has launched a new product that gives advertisers more details about the connected TV campaigns they are buying....