With 180 Games in 12 Days, Champ Week Tests ESPN's Production, Operational Versatility An array of production styles will be deployed to meet programming plans By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Thursday, March 14, 2019 - 3:23 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Few points on the ESPN calendar get busier - and more thrilling - than Championship Week, the pre-March Madness series of conference tournaments.
Covering both men's and women's college basketball, the ESPN family will broadcast 180 games spanning 32 tournaments (including 24 conference title games) during the span of just 12 days.
How in the world do they do it? As with anything that happens in sports-video production on a grand scale: with a lot of planning and collaboration.
Champ Week truly tests the range of capabilities of the network's basketball coverage featuring everything from the biggest productions featuring all the high-end toys, such as in-arena Spidercams at professional venues, to at-home (REMI) productions out of small mid-major gyms. According to Erin Orr, remote operations manager, ESPN, 15 tournaments will be full-fledged onsite ESPN productions, seven will be covered via at-home production workflows, and 10 will be handled by third-party packagers.
When it comes to deploying specialty production tools, the Power 6 conferences will receive the most love. The SEC men's and women's tournaments will have onsite studio coverage, aerial cameras (Spidercam at men's, Supracam at women's), and added behind-the-scenes, all-access shoots. There will also be onsite studios at the ACC and Big 12 men's tournaments, with ACC getting a Spidercam.
The Power 6 coverage will also feature what ESPN calls REMNAS (Remote Near Access Storage) for file transfer. It allows postgame press conferences and melts to be sent to both Charlotte, NC, and Bristol, CT, facilities in a quick, file-based fashion.
Orr says REMNAS is helping aid the edit process not just onsite but back in Bristol and Charlotte. Every night, feeds are archived directly to Bristol, and using this system and essentially linking Charlotte, Bristol, and all the sites enables information to be passed around quickly. It proves tremendously helpful for personnel working onsite, and they no longer need to stay late following a broadcast day to send melts to the mothership. That work can now be uploaded to staff back home.
The graphics of ESPN's college-basketball property are also receiving a refresh this week. Additional flare for the current package will be weaved in to enhance the magnitude and gravity of the games. ESPN makes it a point to use this variation of its college-hoops graphics package only during Champ Week to add to its special and rare feel. In addition, ESPN's ART and Stats systems will be on many sites, adding enhanced statistical information to feed those graphics.
When it comes to logistics, mid-major conferences present some of the greatest challenges, according to Orr. Top seeds serve as the host in many instances. In fact, tournaments like the America East (men's and women's), Atlantic Sun (men), Big South (men), and NEC (men's and women's) can have a turnaround time of just 48-72 hours between determining the site and opening tip.
Communication with crewing, travel, mobile units, production, and operations personnel is key to the overall success of Champ Week, she says, noting that at least 35 mobile units are deployed to produce tournaments across the country.
Another critical part of the overall process of Champ Week is collaborating with other broadcast partners and rightsholders on truck takeovers and/or interconnects. A truck takeover refers to when one broadcaster produces early-round games of a tournament, and ESPN comes in to produce the semis and/or final using the same mobile production facilities onsite. This year, ESPN has participated in truck takeovers with CBS Sports (Atlanta 10 women's), Pac-12 Networks (Pac-12 women's), Raycom Sports (ACC women's).
ESPN will also work side by side with Raycom for the ACC Network at the ACC men's tournament and Pac-12 Networks for the Pac-12 men's tournament. Trucks will be parked together and interconnected to share various resources.
As mentioned, at-home production will also play a key role in seven of the tournaments featured in Champ Week. On-air talent (and a small collection of below-the-line personnel will be onsite, with a majority of the production handled at REMI-capable control rooms on ESPN campuses in Bristol, Charlotte, and Orlando (Wide World of Sports).
ESPN's studio-operations teams will be plenty busy as well, supporting the live coverage coming in from all across the country while also providing high-profile coverage around the NCAA Tournament when that official bracket is announced on Sunday evening.
In the eyes of Nanci Hyburg, director, production operations, ESPN, it doesn't get bigger for the studio-operations side of the business than on Selection Sunday. The network's Bracketology show (which airs 7 9 p.m. ET, immediately following the unveiling of the NCAA Tournament field) is one of the biggest - and most-watched -studio shows that ESPN produces all year. That show will be produced out of one of Bristol's most-advanced studio spaces, Studio Y, which features some of the newest virtual technology at the company and pushes the limits in terms of in-studio augmented-reality graphics.
ESPN's Studio E in Bristol will also play a key role, having been reconfigured with a new look that launched during this Champ Week. It's bigger than the previous set used for wrap shows and is largely built around a 1080p infrastructure. Its cameras are 1080p as is the new Evertz studio support router. The studio has three fully-robotic Vinten pedestals and
North America Stories
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
21/07/2026
In a time of disarray in regional sports broadcasting, the league will provide c...
21/07/2026
When NEP designed one of its largest recurring mobile production unit fleets for PGA TOUR
coverage, the leading media services provider faced a familiar challe...
21/07/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery's unbroken lead is interrupted as sports and live mus...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Across the TV and streaming ecosystem, industry players face mounting pressure to do more with less. They must simplify operations, protect premium content and ...
21/07/2026
Tuxera, a leading prover of quality-assured file systems and networking technologies, is bringing its latest advances in connectivity performance to the media w...
21/07/2026
COW Jobs: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP Rigged Graphics Package
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
HIRING: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP ...
21/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will use its presence at IBC2026 (stand 7.A01, Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September) to...
21/07/2026
Calrec will be located in Hall 8, on Stand C47
Beyond bigger
For years, broadcast facilities were built around one assumption: provision for the biggest pro...
21/07/2026
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, will discuss its future-facing developments for the new generation of medi...
21/07/2026
nxtedition returns to IBC2026 with its consolidated production platform, showing how scripting, editing, graphics, AI-assisted tools and automation can work wit...
21/07/2026
C2PA content signing helps broadcasters, public institutions, and publishers give audiences a verifiable record of where their video content came from and how i...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
With 180 Games in 12 Days, Champ Week Tests ESPN's Production, Operational Versatility An array of production styles will be deployed to meet programming plans By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
