NAB Amplify
As MLB returns to action, the sport’s broadcasters are
continuing with a remote integration model (REMI) with plans to get back to the
ballpark as the season progresses.
In this case, “Home Run” (in-house) productions of lead
sportscasters Fox Sports and ESPN will continue largely as they were for the
COVID-truncated 2020 season but with adjustments and enhancements that will see
them become even more of a made-for-TV event.
Indeed, many of the core technical solutions introduced last
July to resume games with skeleton on-site crew will likely remain in place
beyond 2021.
“During COVID-19, broadcasters have had the opportunity to
use technology in different ways and try new solutions,” Susan Stone, SVP of
operations and engineering at MLB Network told TV Technology.
“Before, we would have dipped our toes into cloud-based
technologies when we consider our content and programming. Today, however, we
have many systems to engage fans.”
With restrictions on attending live events still in place,
both ESPN and Fox Sports are keeping the Home Run workflow for early matches. A
quarter of ESPN’s normal 100 crew, for example, will be travelling to venues.
Instead of producing at the stadia, they will take the host feed from the
regional network back to production hubs in Connecticut and LA respectively.
The regional feed is stripped of normal local team
graphics/angles to become neutral and is augmented with a number of robotic PTZ
cams (which require limited local crewing) and slo-motion cameras which do
require a camera-op.
PTZs are one of the technologies that have proved their
value during the pandemic. Robotic cameras have been able to simplify the
creation of high-quality content with smaller crews and reduced production
hardware requirements. As the world adopts a more virtual approach to
production, PTZs enable activities which would normally take place in person to
proceed virtually. Another plus is that they can be mounted on walls,
ceilings, poles and many other crazy places. Since cabling can extend up to 100
meters quite easily, the sky is the limit.
MLB Network has 20 centerfield BallPark Cams at most stadia
including in dugouts and another dozen in press rooms. It also connecting
analysts and pundits working at home to the broadcast via PTZ cams using
BitFire to adjust the feed to fluctuating internet bandwidth.
“It’s like a souped-up Zoom,” Stone said. “Plus, many of our
talent have in-home technology, like PTZ cameras, that capture
broadcast-quality video.”
This use of PTZs even extends to athletes, sometimes from a
player’s car. “The result is obtaining additional content by presenting players
in a different fashion,” Stone said. “And everyone is fair game if they have
strong internet.”
A closer relationship between fans and teams/players is part
of a wider development in sports termed “gamification.” These techniques are
often plucked from the world of eSports on Amazon Twitch, designed to create
deeper fan engagement which is becoming critical for broadcasters and
franchises in the absence of game-day spectators.
Other innovations include SpeedCam, which was used last year
on two MLB Network Showcase telecasts. An RF-connected Sony P1 attached to a
Jib Tek tracking dolly with a G1 Shotover gimbal was mounted on the first base
dugout to measure the time the batter took to reach first base. Ironically, the
dearth of fans last year allowed for its unobtrusive introduction, TV Tech
observes.
According to Stone, MLB Network is also toying with adding
more virtual reality, with which it dabbled in during batting practice at the
2020 World Series.
Fox is promising to unleash the Megalodon which it trialled
in a few NFL games last year. This is a hand-held DSLR Sony a7R IV with a Canon
lens which wowed some fans with its “cinematic” view of the end zone. It could
make an appearance at the All Star game which is now scheduled for July along
with HDR in Fox Sports’ coverage.
As for last season’s artificial crowd noise, the initial 10–20% capacity crowds allowed back into stadia might suffice for ESPN to can the canned sounds. “The extra noise [from crowds] might become a sweetening thing this season,” Paul Horrell, remote operations manager for ESPN told TV Tech.
By the All-Star Game, the broadcast approach may change to
permit more on-site workflow. A month later it may change up again for the
Little League World Series.
“It’s interesting to me that it took a pandemic to show us
what we could do, given the circumstances,” Horrell adds. “Through fiber and
equipment—and pure will—we were able to keep sports fans engaged and keep
sports content on the air.”
One highlight of the regular-season schedule will be
the Field of Dreams game, which will be played in an Iowa cornfield
on Aug. 12. That game, between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees, was
originally slated for last season.
“We’re very excited and think that is going to have
something special for everyone,” Fox Sports VP, Field Operations and Engineering,
Brad Cheney, tells SVG. “We’re pulling out the plans and dusting them off
and will look at them with some fresh eyes. We’ve got a lot of great ideas.”
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