NBA Draft 2020: ESPN Keeps an Eye on Prospects, Works With League's Content Team for Bristol-Based Production Operations will use workflows, lessons from the virtual NFL Draft By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 - 12:27 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Since the pandemic's beginning in March, ESPN's team has become accustomed to producing virtual Drafts. As the nation's top college-basketball recruits wait to hear their name called, the broadcaster will have virtual access to up to 30 draftees, a full onsite effort inside two separate control rooms, on-air talent in different studios, and more for this year's NBA Draft in Bristol, CT.
The NBA will be directly involved with producing and providing content for our giant LED-monitor wall in the studio, says Erin Williams, director, production operations, ESPN. This production will be very similar to what we did for the NFL Draft.
Check out more of SVG's coverage of the 2020 NBA Draft:
ESPN Creative Services Introduces Sleek Graphics Package for Virtual Production
Atlanta Hawks Invite Fans to Virtual Draft Party With Local Personalities, Team Personnel
The Homes of Basketball's Best: Viewers Will See Simultaneous Reactions of 30 Prospects The 2020 NBA Draft will be the first one sent live from ESPN studios in Bristol, CT. Photo: Shane Norton/ESPN
Unable to replicate an in-venue experience like last year's event in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, ESPN is throwing a massive house party inside its Bristol headquarters. Unable to have newly minted NBA professionals walk across a physical stage, the broadcaster worked with the NBA to develop a complex infrastructure that peeks into the homes of the most promising of Draft picks.
The broadcaster has leveraged the resources of Van Wagner as a third-party vendor to ship production kits to the prospects. The kits comprise two Apple iPhones, lighting gear, and other accessories to properly highlight the player at home. To send and receive feeds in Bristol, ESPN will use a sturdy foundation of 15 satellite trucks outside the facility.
At any given time, we'll have 12 feeds from Van Wagner as well as five feeds coming from [the NBA facility in] Secaucus, [NJ], says Tony Lacaprucia, operations specialist, ESPN. There will also be a variety of feeds from Facetime, Skype, and TVU. We're looking at about 80 feeds coming into Bristol.
As the main focal point in Studio E, all 30 potential picks will be able to be seen simultaneously on an expansive 3,436- x 1,080-pixel LED screen. Along with these incoming feeds, the NBA's production team will be responsible for creating additional content and graphics, which will be shown on the same screen.
Two control rooms and a full onsite staff will be deployed for tonight's NBA Draft broadcast. Photo: Shane Norton/ESPN)
Although this sneak peek into draftees' living spaces was seen during the NFL Draft in June, the operations team had ample time to readjust its execution and make any improvements deemed necessary.
In March, we were able to react and found ways to get things done, adds Lacaprucia. We can now do a show with lower latency and much better quality. [For example], we were able only to show video returns of the players' houses, but now we're able to include audio.
Full House: Two Control Rooms Allow Socially Distant, Higher-Quality Production In accordance with stringent safety protocols, the production and operations teams will be housed inside two separate control rooms. For this large-scale event with a lot of moving parts, a majority of staffers will be completing their duties from either of these control rooms. As another lesson learned from previous virtual Drafts, the two-pronged approach will not only allow ample social distancing but also provide a more efficient workflow.
Up to 80 feeds will be coming into ESPN's Bristol facility. Photo: Shane Norton/ESPN
The NFL Draft was the first time that we used a second control room to subswitch and feed the main control room, says Williams. As a company, we've implemented a lot of safety measures to keep our staff safe with masks and full layout grids with socially distant positions that are marked off.
With only certain staffers allowed to enter the studio, Williams and the operations team installed pieces of technology that will act as a workaround to look into restricted areas. We want to utilize this current model moving forward to support all of the inbound feeds and keep everything organized and clean, she explains. There's going to be a Panasonic PTZ camera that's going to allow our team in the control room to see what's happening inside of the studio.
In addition to providing much-needed support to the main control room, the secondary control room will facilitate virtual interviews conducted in the secondary studio by host Rachel Nichols.
Live in Bristol: Studios To Host Commissioner Adam Silver's Reading of Picks, On-Air Analysis A 3,436- x 1,080-pixel LED screen will simultaneously project up to 30 Draft prospects. Photo: Kelly Backus/ESPN Images
The broadcaster is deploying the numerous studios in Bristol to host various on-air personalities. The most notable guests will be Commissioner Adam Silver and Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum, who will be announcing Draft picks in real time in front of the LED display in Studio E.
The main set will also include host Rece Davis, analysts Jay Bilas and Jay Williams, and NBA Draft analyst Mike Schmitz. Situated in other areas of the facility will be NBA reporter Malika Andrews, Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, and NBA Draft analyst Bobby Marks. Before the Draft gets under way, Hoop Streams, the network's digital-only NBA show, will be produced from Bristol as well. Cass
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
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, 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 U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
27/04/2024
Two environmentally-focused groups are partnering to engage the unscripted TV world in finding better ways to address climate change. Reality of Change is an ec...
27/04/2024
Sarah Garcia has been promoted to weekend anchor at KTLM McAllen, Texas, known as Telemundo 40. Starting April 27, she will anchor Noticias Telemundo 40 weekend...
27/04/2024
CBS Sports said it launched a new 24-hour free, ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to the UEFA Champions League....
27/04/2024
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts received $35.4 million in compensation in 2023, up 11% from the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed by th...
27/04/2024
Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, which sees the actor study dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz with students in Los Angeles, debuts on PBS ...
27/04/2024
Remember Leave It to Beaver? Bewitched? Dragnet? When cable ratings were rising?...
27/04/2024
Next up for the weekend binge at Catchy Comedy is Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Every weekend, Catchy Comedy features The Catchy Binge, a marathon of a classic sitcom....
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
26/04/2024
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
Orders1 of $5.5 billion; book-to-bill of 1.06x
Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 17%,...
26/04/2024
Five Considerations For Communications Modernization In The 21st Century
In the digital-enabled battlespace, the Joint Force needs to shoot, move and communica...
26/04/2024
CBS Sports has launched Champions League as a new, 24-hour streaming channel that will serve as the year-round destination for nonstop highlights of the UEFA ...
26/04/2024
Despite tough competition in the streaming space, Roku reported solid results in Q1 2024, beating revenue expectations, with total net revenue up 19% YoY to $88...
26/04/2024
LONDON AND TORONTO Pinewood Toronto Studios has appointed Sarah Farrell as general manager of the Studios in downtown Toronto....
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
26/04/2024
Heading into the upfronts, Warner Bros. Discovery said it launched Olli, a first-party data platform advertiser can use for converged, targeted advertising camp...
26/04/2024
CBS has renewed the drama The Equalizer, which will see season five on in 2024-2025. Queen Latifah stars....
26/04/2024
The CW has entered into an exclusive multiyear broadcast partnership for the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The 73rd Miss USA Pageant will air ...
26/04/2024
Fuse Media isn't mincing words in a campaign urging its young viewers to register and participate in the 2024 elections....
26/04/2024
Dead Boy Detectives, a series from Neil Gaiman about a detective agency staffed by ghosts, debuts on Netflix April 25. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri are in t...
26/04/2024
The Story Collective has gradually repurposed the former Mortlake Brewery to include production offices, workshops and sound stages
By Matthew Corrigan
Publi...
26/04/2024
Perkett joins the company following a 25 year career in product management, product marketing, engineering and user experience (UX) across multiple industries
...
26/04/2024
Teradek, the industry leader in wireless video transmitters and receivers, announced today the launch of new Bolt 6 LT 750 and Bolt 6 Monitor Module 750 RX with...
26/04/2024
NEW YORK Amagi has appointed Richard Perkett chief product officer (CPO)....
26/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2024 NAB Radio and Television Board of Directors elections. The...
26/04/2024
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & NEW YORK Mattel has announced a deal to launch its first three 24/7 free ad supported streaming (FAST) channels on Samsung TV Plus, Samsung...
26/04/2024
PORTLAND, Maine Viewers here can now receive the NextGen TV signals of five local stations with the launch of ATSC 3.0 service from host station WPFO, which is ...
NBA Draft 2020: ESPN Keeps an Eye on Prospects, Works With League's Content Team for Bristol-Based Production Operations will use workflows, lessons from the virtual NFL Draft By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
