MLB Returns: As RSNs Handle World Feeds, Sinclair's Fox Sports RSNs Shoulder Production Load At the start, the focus is on the fundamentals By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor Friday, July 24, 2020 - 1:20 pm
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In an effort to reduce production crew and facilities onsite for safety this MLB season, regional sports networks have been tasked with producing a neutral world feed for all MLB teams home games to be distributed to the away-team RSNs and national broadcasters. SVG is delving into how each RSN group is handling this new production model as part of its MLB Returns series to open the 2020 season.
No broadcaster will play a greater role in creating the live baseball that fans see this season than Sinclair's Fox Sports Regional Networks. As the regional broadcaster for roughly half of Major League Baseball's 30 franchises, Sinclair's RSNs will be responsible for creating the world feed delivered to away-team RSNs and national broadcasters around the country. It's a lot of pressure - especially in the era of COVID-19, which has transformed the way live sports productions are carried out. The Fox RSNs are starting out this season by focusing on the fundamentals.
Our philosophy is to keep it pretty simple to start and then build from there, says Mike Connelly, EVP, Sinclair/Fox Sports Regional Sports Networks. We believe that we have to get good at this first before we start adding a bunch of technical [elements] or special content. We're working really hard with the other networks to make sure that we get a good, unbiased production because, ideally, we want to be able to rely on that world feed for the most part. Of course, we'll look at new technology and elements as the season goes on, but, right now, we just want to make sure that we get the basics.
Behind the Scenes: Mobile TV Group Dual-Feed Trucks Provide Social Distancing To limit the number of people and facilities onsite, the league has opted to have the home-team RSN in each market produce the neutral/clean world feed of each game. This 50-50 unbiased feed is delivered to the away RSN, which adds its own graphics, commentary, studio/shoulder content, and commercials. In addition to this clean feed, the away RSN is provided with one dedicated iso camera allowing the away director to weave in team-specific shots to help customize the telecast.
Fox Sports Arizona talent in booth at Chase Field calls a Diamondbacks Summer Camp at Dodger Stadium.
For the most part, Fox RSNs are deploying their usual Mobile TV Group dual-feed two-truck mobile units at the ballpark to produce these world feeds. Although the away RSN's production team is not onsite, the VMU (visitor mobile unit) is in the compound in most cases to enable the home RSN to socially distance its crews.
We've been working closely with MTVG on how to distance everyone, says Steve Grigely, VP, technical operations, Sinclair/Fox Sports Regional Sports Networks. We'll have a divider in production because we want to keep the producer and director in the normal spots, but we can move graphics, scorebug, and other [operators] into VMU where it's available. Even when a VMU is not available, we still think we have a very solid plan to keep people separate and limit it to one or two people at each bench.
Behind the Mic: Announcers Learning To Call Games Off-Monitor Inside the Fox Sports Arizona truck with (from left) Diamondbacks producer Jeff Gowen, director Brian Maas, and TD Joel Blosser.
Announcers will be at the ballpark split between separate booths to call home games. Some will also be in the booth onsite to call away games off-monitor remotely; others will shift to the RSN's studio to call these games. When calling games off-tube from home, away announcers are provided four feeds on large monitors: the program feed, an all-9 angle of the entire field, dedicated iso camera feed, and a quad multiviewer feed (provided by MLB Network) showing various ballpark POV cams of the bullpens, scoreboard, dugouts, and so on. They also have a routable feed with which producers can feed talent replays or other packaged content.
I think the biggest challenge is making sure talent are comfortable, because they're used to seeing things a certain way from a booth onsite above home plate, says Grigely. And now we've got to make sure that they can see all nine players on the field at all times, as well as be connected to the production truck or the control room. Providing them with a setup to make them comfortable - especially based on the limitations we have - has been a challenge, but we've gotten good feedback so far.
On the Field: More Robos Down Low and Mics on Players A Fox Sports Florida robo operator is located in the stands at Tropicana Field for a Tampa Bay Rays Summer Camp game.
Although camera complements have remained largely the same overall, the bulk of the low positions have been moved farther from the field, quarantined to separate them from the players, or converted to unmanned robos. The empty stands will provide broadcasters with more leeway to experiment with new camera positions, Grigley says but notes that Fox RSNs will stick to traditional positions to begin the season.
We don't want to be putting cameras in random spots until we know these [broadcasts] are being well-executed and the team is okay with how everything works, he explains. The league has been really good about working with us on [camera positions], but it's just a much stricter credential now to be closer to the players now. We want to start with a solid show with our normal cam positions, and we'll have our robos down low, and then we can learn and expand off from there.
Fox is also looking to mike up players on the field when possible and potentially outfi
