Game Creek Video Expands Its IP Fleet With Bravo and Columbia Each 53-ft. expando achieves full IP workflow in the footprint of a single unit By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, October 18, 2019 - 2:55 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The march to all-IP live sports production continues. Last month, one of the industry's leading production-truck providers, Game Creek Video, added two IP-friendly trucks to its fleet. Bravo and Columbia are the company's fourth and fifth units on the road today.
Game Creek Video recently rolled out Bravo, an IP-capable mobile production unit. It and nearly identical Columbia debuted on NFL in September for Fox Sports and CBS Sports, respectively.
Each is a 53-ft. expando that makes a significant achievement in fitting an entire remote IP facility into a single truck, eliminating the need for a secondary B unit for support onsite.
There's a move towards IP in the industry, explains Jason Taubman, SVP, technology, Game Creek Video. We want to make sure the trucks that we put on the road today stay relevant for as long as they possibly can.
How is Game Creek able to fit all of the tech needed for an IP workflow in a single unit? Bravo and Columbia were each built to allow a full SMPTE 2110 infrastructure. Taubman and his engineering team needed to get beyond 576 576 in a router. There was all of this old infrastructure you needed, like Ethernet switches and gateways and multiviewers that really overran the available rack space, he says. We got to a point early in the design of Bravo [and Columbia] where we realized we could probably pull it off and make it IP.
Perhaps most important is a new partnership with Lawo and Arista Networks. Game Creek worked with the duo for the first time to install an Arista 7508 enterprise switch as the truck's core fabric switch. That pushes gateway, multiviewer, and in-network processing and orchestrating into the Lawo network powering the truck.
For the first time, Game Creek was able to achieve an all-IP workflow into a single 53-ft. expando, eliminating the need for a supporting B unit.
One of the things that led us in that direction was the size and shape of it, says Taubman. We were pressed to fit everything in a regular box, and one of the things that let us do that was the density that we got out of the Arista switch in particular. It [occupies] about a third of the rack space of our previous IP installations.
Another driver in these trucks was accommodating the IP-compatible edge devices - switchers, cameras, replay devices, audio devices - that are starting to emerge in the market. Taubman notes that the switcher deployed, a Grass Valley K-Frame-X, is particularly exciting because Grass Valley will be expanding its capabilities to allow native 4K in a 192 96 switcher.
The audio side also has an IP hook. Atop the Calrec Artemis console is an AoIP box, which is a SMPTE 2110 or AES67 audio interface. It takes audio directly to and from the Arista network, a first for a Game Creek mobile unit.
Both trucks are working their first NFL seasons in the Sunday-afternoon broadcast window: Bravo with Fox, Columbia with CBS.
Bravo (pictured) and Columbia each have a Calrec Artemis console with an AoIP box attached. That box is a SMPTE 2110 or AES67 audio interface and takes audio directly to and from the internal IP network designed by Arista.
Bravo is one in a family of IP trucks that break the mold in a lot of ways, says Michael Davies, SVP, technical and field operations, Fox Sports, the network for which Game Creek built its first truck in 2006. The design will keep this truck and those like it relevant, adaptable, and cutting-edge for a very long time. We trust Jason Taubman, [VP, Engineering] Paul Bonar, and their exceptional team of OB designers to come up with the forward-thinking ideas while minding the pitfalls down the thorny path of mobile broadcast engineering.
It should be noted that the trucks aren't exclusively IP. Bravo hit the road first with a few test events this summer with its switcher in IP but a network of EVS replay servers and CCUs in SDI. Every position is built with both legacy SDI and IP (SMPTE 2110) capability, however, and is ready to make the switch to full IP when either Fox or CBS calls for it.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
12/11/2026
Disney, ESPN and the NBA will present Dunk the Halls, the third real-time animated NBA game using Sony's Beyond Sports data visualization technology, on Chr...
12/11/2026
Van Wagner has launched Van Wagner RELAY, a digital platform for official athlet...
12/11/2026
Deal brings together two of the industry's most established graphics brands and significantly expands Vizrt's footprint in U.S. sports and regional broa...
12/11/2026
Euro TV Production GmbH of Austria has upgraded its outside broadcast vehicle with Lawo technology. The mc 36 Classic console in service since 2019 was replaced...
12/11/2026
Tagboard has launched Spark Resize, an AI-assisted tool now in beta that takes an existing graphic and produces a new version for a different aspect ratio or sc...
Game Creek Video Expands Its IP Fleet With Bravo and Columbia Each 53-ft. expando achieves full IP workflow in the footprint of a single unit By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
