Will computerized, automated logging systems and technologies ever be smart enough to match human operators when it comes to handling the more mundane aspects of metadata logging and tagging? That was the debate during a session at the SVG Sports Asset Management & Storage Forum at New York's Hilton hotel on July 29.
From left: CBS Sports Network's Walter Raps, NerVve Technologies' Thomas Slowe, and ARRIS's Venu Vasudevan
In professional sports, it is easy to get data, but what you can't get from stats is the human aspect, said CBS Sports Network CTO Walter Raps. If a player is limping, for example, that aspect can be part of the story around the game. And, no matter how good the taxonomy, it is not going to identify things like that.
That was the general consensus. However, some opportunities were identified. Dextro co-founder David Luan opined that artificial intelligence has been oversold and is being used to identify things like logos on a uniform to do some of the work in terms of creating categories of content.
And then the logger can annotate what the segment is about and work on problems that are much more challenging, he said.
Venu Vasudevan, senior director, multiscreen media and systems, ARRIS, agreed, adding that the goal is to find solutions that can get to about 90% of logging with no errors.
NerVve Technologies CEO/co-founder Thomas Slowe noted that automated systems are ideal for doing things like brand management within a broadcast (NerVve recently inked a deal with Wasserman Media for exactly that function). For example, the system can detect whether a Nike logo is shown on TV.
The challenge is that, in the real world, promising technologies, often fall short of theoretical claims.
Raps cited using closed-captioning data. It's supposed to be 90% accurate, but we find it is only 50% accurate, he explained. And visualization recognition is fine when players are standing, but, when play starts, it can't discern the number 81 from 19. There is nothing in the real world that can do the job as well as a logger. And, even if it could detect subjective things like a coach talking to a player, it can't react as fast as a human being.
According to Levels Beyond COO Christy King, her company's Reach Engine platform enables a lot of really interesting automated metadata-input methods that lessen the need for a human touch. Our platform, she said, is about bringing in multiple sources of metadata and layering [them] into the process.
From left: Source Digital's Hank Erecon, Levels Beyond COO Christy King, and Dextro's David Luan
And, she added, these systems are about more than simply making content more searchable for production. When the UFC was on PPV in bars and restaurants, data gathered via an infrared light on the set-top box could tell the UFC how many people were in a room and also what kind of events within a fight they found most exciting.
Also, King said, if there is something that happens that has a lot of blood, that might dictate rights issues and what people could do or not do with the content. Metadata can also help with distribution of rights and signal how long content is available, and, when rights expire, an alert can be sent to the sales team to renew them.
There are tons of automated processes that can be layered in so people can know when they can do something with footage, she added.
Source Digital CEO Hank Erecon noted that understanding an audience via things like social-media trending is another form of metadata that can affect a production.
Technology advances like the move to 4K and higher-resolution images may, at first blush, seem a way to better identify players and events, but Slowe pointed out that higher-resolution files create a big problem: processing the larger images takes longer, and that, ultimately, slows down the logging process.
The reality facing the industry is that data is, increasingly, flooding the gates in the form of social media, more in-depth stats, greater analysis of stats, and more. For now, people hold the upper hand in connecting data dots and reshaping productions and rights. But it is fairly clear that machines will eventually play an important part in driving efficiencies that can make those rights and productions more valuable.
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
28/10/2025
ESPN Announces Monsters Funday Football', Its Latest Real-Time Animated Bro...
28/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Catherine Chalfant, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe Ole Miss alum is an operational force behind ESPN's extensive college-football catalo...
28/10/2025
Elevating the experience: AI and data take Ryder Cup to the next level By Joe OHalloran
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 10:25
Print This Story
NBC produced th...
28/10/2025
Conquering the Air (waves): Taking a close up look at the IBC Accelerator Priva...
28/10/2025
World Series 2025: Spectrum SportsNet LA Brings Dodgers Fans Closer to the Actio...
28/10/2025
Dylan Southern and Benedict Cumberbatch at the premiere of The Thing with Feathers (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
28/10/2025
For three weeks in Lagos, Spotify's Greasy Tunes Caf pop-up brought the cit...
28/10/2025
Once a niche subculture, German rap has evolved into an influential cultural movement. Now, Spotify is giving the genre a new home with OFFCULT, a playlist dedi...
28/10/2025
Shane Delia's Malta serves up the Mediterranean this summer
28 October, 2025
Media releases
Feast on 9,000 years of culinary history Mondays from 24 No...
28/10/2025
SBS's global sporting festival continues with the FIVB Beach Volleyball Worl...
28/10/2025
Bilbao, October 28, 2025 - AgileTV, a leading technology solutions company for t...
28/10/2025
Disney, NBCUniversal, FOX, Paramount Each Achieve Double-Digit Monthly Growth
...
28/10/2025
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has announced an agreement to sell WRTV, its local ABC-affiliated station in Indianapolis, to Circle City Broadcasting for $...
28/10/2025
Berklee College of Music and Berklee Valencia Named to Billboards 2025 Top Music...
28/10/2025
NEW YORK As AI usage continues to spike, a new study from IAB delves into an important aspect of how AI is transforming the advertising business with new data s...
28/10/2025
Charlie Jablonski, a broadcast tech pioneer who helped shape the modern era of Olympics television coverage, died Oct. 25 at his home in Lake George N.Y., the N...
28/10/2025
VIENNA, Austria Bitmovin has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insights into video playback. The so...
28/10/2025
LOS ANGELES LucidLink, the file streaming platform, has announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities at Adobe Max....
28/10/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced that it has joined the Ama...
28/10/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in connectivity and signal management solutions, has announced a major update to its Taurus
platform, which now delivers flawless...
28/10/2025
Following a successful mid-September International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Hiltron Communications will promote its full range of satellite communi...
28/10/2025
Open Broadcast Systems has chosen MC&S (Media Consulting & Services) as a reseller to help strengthen its presence in France.
With over twenty years of experi...
28/10/2025
Bitmovin, leading provider of video streaming solutions, has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insi...
28/10/2025
Ease Live, the leader in interactive TV technology, today announced the successful launch of interactive graphical overlays for UEFA Champions League matches fo...
28/10/2025
LucidLink, the file streaming platform, today at Adobe MAX announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities, streamlining collaboration and hel...
28/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has promoted Nick Hasenecz to general manager of WNDU, its NBC affiliate in the South Bend-Elkhart, Ind., market....
28/10/2025
Applications Open for Berklee Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant Boston nonprofits can apply by December 12 for funding to support community projects that ...
28/10/2025
28 Oct 2025
VEON's JazzCash Wins Silver Award for Innovation in Lending at ...
28/10/2025
Guests include Wayne Rooney, Maya Jama, Dame Laura Kenny, Chloe Kelly, Chris McC...
28/10/2025
The two-hour special, recorded live from the iconic Dolby Theatre in LA, will ai...
28/10/2025
Eutelsat upgrades teleports with Rohde & Schwarz satellite uplink amplifiers High efficiency and resilient Ku-band amplifiers for excellent RF performance
...
28/10/2025
These appointments come at a pivotal time for ABC, as the organisation continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of a digital-first media ecosystem. The ne...
28/10/2025
Scripps Research awarded $4 million to advance platform for neurodevelopmental disorders The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grant support...
27/10/2025
You can touch this: Haptics becoming central to the virtual live experience By Adrian Pennington
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 09:12
Print This Story
The vid...
27/10/2025
A tale of two trailers: France's Stop & Go doubles up with its new hybrid tr...
27/10/2025
Pro Padel League Stages City's Cup Finals Inside NYC's Hammerstein Ballr...
27/10/2025
World Series 2025: Sportsnet Delivers Made-in-Canada' Moment for a Nation U...
27/10/2025
ESPN Extends Partnership With Sony's Beyond Sports To Expand Animated Altern...
27/10/2025
Reid Davenport attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Life After at The Ray Theatre on January 27, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Robin Marsha...
27/10/2025
As the days grow shorter and the nights get darker, there's nothing like getting swept up in a story that sends shivers down your spine. In honor of spooky ...
27/10/2025
UPDATE: Both parties have reached a new carriage agreement....
27/10/2025
LONDON As Hollywood jumps into the production of mini-dramas, a new study from Ampere Analysis finds that more than one in 10 internet users have watched drama ...
27/10/2025
LONDON Yealink, a provider of unified communication and collaboration solutions, has joined the NDI ecosystem with the availability of its SmartVision 80 premiu...
27/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has named Chris Conroy as general manager of its stations in Cleveland, leading WOIO, a CBS affiliate, The CW station WUAB and Telemundo outl...
27/10/2025
ESPOO, Finland European connectivity leaders Nokia and Ericsson, have partnered with Berlin's Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI), to shape and drive ...
27/10/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast has expanded NOW TV Latino, its Spanish-language live TV and streaming offering, adding five more channels from Univision, ViX Premium with...
27/10/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, will present its latest products and solutions at InterBEE 2025 (Hall 5, Booth 5218) Makuhari Messe in Chiba, ...
27/10/2025
Back to All News
City of Shadows, the New Netflix Thriller Arrives on December 12
Entertainment
27 October 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Downl...
Will computerized, automated logging systems and technologies ever be smart enough to match human operators when it comes to handling the more mundane aspects of metadata logging and tagging? That was the debate during a session at the SVG Sports Asset Management & Storage Forum at New York's Hilton hotel on July 29.
