​When the coronavirus pandemic brought the sports world to an abrupt halt two months ago, ESPN quickly formed a “Live From Home” committee to evaluate options that would allow on-air talent and crew to produce live studio shows from the safety of their own homes. In the months since, efforts by the committee — led by the Remote Operations department and comprising 30+ staffers from several ESPN departments — have resulted in the launch of more than 60 at-home studios for talent, five remote-commentary kits for live KBO League (Korean Baseball Association) telecasts, and a full REMI production workflow for several ESPN studio shows.

​“Obviously, we all continue to plan for live sports to return,” says Chris Calcinari, SVP, remote operations, ESPN. “We’re on calls every day with our production partners and our league partners trying to work through scenarios and plans to come back once it’s safe to hold sporting events. But, in the meantime, we’ve been keeping busy coming up with homegrown, innovative solutions that allow our production teams to work from home. And we believe these innovations will prove to be extremely valuable once live sports return.”

‘Live From Home’ Studios: Keeping Commentators Active

ESPN’s Live From Home studios have become the backbone of the network’s studio operations since reduced staffing measures were put in place at ESPN’s Bristol, CT, campus. Although several shows are still being hosted out of the Bristol studios, nearly all analysts and reporters have been outfitted with robust studio facilities at their homes to enable them to contribute to ESPN programs.

​“We had a pretty strong network of home studios even before the pandemic happened,” says Shea Byram, senior remote operations manager, ESPN, “but we’ve taken it to the next level now. Thankfully, we had a good system in place, which allowed us to get things done as quickly as possible and get the [studio kits] out to our talent.

When the sports world suddenly shut down on March 12, Byram and her team anticipated an increased need for at-home studios and ordered gear for an additional 30 studio kits.

​A three-person team composed of Byram, Senior Remote Operations Coordinator Ryan Bastek, and Remote Ops Coordinator Leah Morgenstern constructed the kits and deployed them to talent throughout the country. In addition, Byram relied on the entire ESPN remote-operations team to perform the installations at commentators’ homes, walking them through the process via Facetime.

​“That has been a lifesaver,” says Byram. “Normally, we are out on the road every week installing home studios at different locations. But, as soon as we got our travel ban, we had to enlist the help of everyone else in remote operations. At this point, we have a nice network of installers that are able to help us. We’re still [installing at-home studios] in the Tri-State area ourselves, but we are getting as much help as we can around the country from the rest of the team.”

The sophistication of the kits varies from a simple system comprising an iPads, lighting lights, and a transmission app to higher-end systems that are equipped with an IP-based PTZ camera and a more advanced transmission device for hosts who are on-air for several hours at a time. The 60+ systems installed over the past two months are in addition to ESPN’s pre-existing installations, and the team will continue to deploy more in the coming weeks.

​“When we first started this review to create Live From Home workflows,” says Calcinari, “the main goal was to give our production teams the tools that they’re used to having. We evaluated a lot of cloud-based solutions and found a lot of limitations in terms of large volumes of video and graphics, as well as limitations in quality due to compression and processing. That’s why we turned to more of a hardware-based solution. With this solution, we can pull from all of the ESPN servers, and our production teams have everything they could possibly want at their fingertips without limitations — just like they would have in a normal production-control room.”

The crucial factor in enabling ESPN’s current REMI workflow was the recent release of SimplyLive’s UI Gateway, which significantly reduces the bandwidth requirements for remote operation, allowing at-home production using standard internet connections. Strong says that, with the UI Gateway, a ViBox operator requires an internet connection of only 5-50 Mbps, rather than the 100-150 Mbps previously required.

“It’s a real hardware solution that allows us to extend multiple remote-user interfaces without having a large bandwidth need,” says Strong.

ESPN’s studio shows are using Unity Intercom for all real-time comms between crew and talent and audio/video signals from commentator’s home are sent over the internet using TVU to the Seaport Studios for integration into the ViBox. The ViBox at Seaport Studios is controlled from the operators at their respective homes — Los Angeles in the case of The Jump and Washington for Around the Horn. ESPN graphics operators are also able to remotely access Vizrt graphics systems at Seaport to create and play out graphics from their homes. Editors and producers can access ESPN’s content library via high-speed file transfer to produce packages and bumps for the studio shows. The lone staffer onsite at Seaport Studios is an EIC to manage the equipment.
“We are truly able to let almost everybody work from home — graphics operators, editors, TDs, and directors — and support all of them with just one EIC at Seaport who actually touches any of the hardware,” says Strong. “Using Unity and the at-home studio kits, we bring in talent at a high quality in near real time. Now an entire production crew — which can be 15-20 people per show — can sit at home doing a linear taped show. I think you can see in the quality and the timing that it works really well and looks really good. And we’re still working to improve.”

​Remote-Commentary Kits: ESPN Brings Back Live Baseball

Last week, ESPN began live English-language broadcasts of the KBO League, one of the first professional sports leagues to return to play since the pandemic hit. The deal came together quickly, which meant that ESPN’s operations team had to come up with a remote-commentary solution for its announcers in less than a week.

“The main goal when we started to develop this was to make talent feel as comfortable with equipment as if they were right there at the ballpark,” says Henry Rousseau, associate director, remote operations. “We based this system on systems that we have used for international events like World Cup and EUROs, where you have a commentator system in the stadium and each talent is responsible for creating their own individual mixes. The only difference is, now they’re at their homes.”

Rousseau worked with Strong and Remote Operations Manager Ryan Zainc to develop the remote-commentary kits and obtain the necessary equipment to complete them — not an easy task with a slowed global supply chain.

The Live From Home remote-commentary kit is a Unity-based system featuring a Dante-based Glensound Inferno commentary box connected to a MacBook Pro via a Dante Virtual Sound (DVS) card. Using the Unity Connect app, the system has seven bidirectional channels plus comms for the two on-air talent to have real-time comms with each other, with the producer/director in the control room in Bristol and members of the ESPN Research team at their homes. ESPN is also using Zoom teleconferencing on the MacBook to connect the two talent so that they can see each other and the production team during the live broadcast.

“We’ve timed our audio to match [the live feed] so that the talent is able to communicate almost in real time,” says Rousseau. “On a lot of shows, there is a delay, and they end up stepping on each other. But we’re able to circumvent those issues with the Unity Connect app by having almost instantaneous communication between the two talent and the team back in Bristol.”

Kits have been deployed to ESPN commentators Karl Ravech, Jon Sciambi, Eduardo Perez, Jessica Mendoza, and Kyle Peterson.

“We were a little apprehensive at first,” says Rousseau, “when we sent out the equipment not knowing how talent was going to react to the new technology and new workflow. But they have really embraced it and even asked us to make some modifications so they can control more of their mix. Knock on wood,” he adds, “it has been pretty flawless, and I’m extremely happy with both the quality and the simplicity of the system. This can all fit into one simple little carrying case. and I see it as something that we can definitely use for future at-home broadcasts.”

Looking Ahead: How the New Tools Could Factor Into Future Productions
With live sports slowly returning in the coming weeks and months (albeit likely without fans in the stands), Calcinari says, ESPN is evaluating how all these newly developed Live From Home tools could be used in the future.

​In regard to the commentary system, he says, “As sports come back and we evaluate whether people can travel safely, we’ll determine whether we expand this remote-commentary model further.”

He also says ESPN is working with one of its mobile-facilities providers to evaluate whether a small REMI mobile unit outfitted with a ViBox could be controlled remotely from an operator’s home for live game coverage.

“All of that is being evaluated right now in terms of how we can apply this to remote events; we’re not ruling anything out,” says Calcinari. “We’re still working through the specific workflows, but that process is absolutely happening. We are definitely trying to leverage the learning and innovation that has come out of our efforts during the pandemic to make us better when we come out of this. There’s no question about that.”

Simplylive has announced it will not be attending IBC this September.

"This was a very difficult decision for us as we always look forward to this very important industry event.  However, in light of the current uncertainty surrounding Covid-19, we felt that we must prioritize the health and well-being of our team, partners, and customers" said Luc Doneux, Managing Director of Simplylive.

"Instead, we have invested in our studio capabilities at our offices in the US and Belgium, allowing us to do live remote demonstrations of our complete ViBox production and replay solutions for customers anywhere around the world.  We are confident that the demo experience we can now deliver online is in many ways superior to what we can offer at a trade show."

​To schedule an online demo visit www.simplylive.tv.

The Simplylive Vibox platform is the world’s most intuitive and flexible multi-camera production system. With it’s easy to use touch-screen user interface, small footprint, and scalable workflow configurations, every Vibox system is natively remote production capable. By design, the ViBox I/O hardware, the cameras and the switcher or replay operator UIs can be located in entirely different locations provided they are connected to the same network. 

About Simplylive 
With offices in US, EU and Asia, Simplylive was founded by live production veterans who have made systems that have helped produce televised events like the World Cup, Super Bowl and the Olympics. Simplylive’s ViBox platform takes a different approach from traditional hardware and software products. Instead, system designers focus on the way live programs are actually produced, the next generation of users needed to make those programs, and an approach based on system simplicity, flexibility, reliability and oncoming migration to a VoIP and Cloud future. The result is a platform used by ESPN, IMG and Canal+.

Simplylive is pleased to announce a new alliance partnership with Kairos, the revolutionary new IT/IP Platform from Panasonic. 

KAIROS utilizes variety of IT ecosystems based on COTS technology and easily expands functions and links external devices by adding application software. 
​

ESPN’s St Pete Clearwater Elite Invitational returned to Clearwater, Florida in February 2020, providing more than 40 games of softball across ESPN’s networks. 

Each participating team played between four and six games over the course of four days, with the USA Softball Women’s National Team also competing in three exhibition games throughout the weekend. 

Gravity Media provided three Simply Live ViBox all-in-one production solutions, as well as engineering to integrate with the OB provider, to provide coverage of three of the pitches at the event. 

The setup included a single-user production with three cameras and one director/producer; a dual-user setup with five cameras, director/producer and dedicated replay operator; and one large three-user setup with 10 cameras, director/producer and two dedicated replay operators.

The whole ESPN team produced 40 games in four days from four fields split between two compounds a mile apart. On Friday 14th, we were live on ESPNU for over eight straight hours, which created a post-season-coverage type of atmosphere. 
​
The streaming numbers for the tournament were impressive, and the Sunday night ESPN2 game delivered in dramatic fashion both on and off the field, with a solid rating for a softball game in February.

When The Jump returns to ESPN on Monday, the entire crew will be working from their homes – marking the first time ESPN is deploying a fully at-home workflow for one of its studio shows. The “Live at Home” remote-production workflow was developed in recent weeks by a committee that featured more than 30 ESPN staffers from the company’s Creative and Studio Direction, Production, Production Operations, Remote Production Operations and Technology departments.

“The goal of the committee was to review the best option for producing studio shows at a high-level, while allowing all of the associated staff to work from home,” Chris Calcinari, SVP, ESPN & ABC Sports Remote Production Operations, wrote on ESPN Front Row. “The ‘Live from Home’ committee reviewed several cloud-based solutions that work well to execute very basic productions, but did not allow for a large volume of video, graphics or animation. The committee quickly turned to several tools that have been deployed in the field and could be operated from afar.”

At the core of the “Live at Home” remote workflow is the Simplylive ViBox, which is based at ESPN’s Seaport Studios in Manhattan, but controlled from a staffer’s home in Los Angeles. The ViBox touchscreen production system provides us with the ability to cut/dissolve/wipe between cameras, video and animation sources. It also allows us to store and playback video and insert graphics.

​Remote home studios have been built out for The Jump on-air talent with audio/video signals from each home sent over the internet (using the TVU application) to the Seaport Studios for integration into the ViBox.

​A Vizrt graphics device is also based at our Seaport Studios and is controlled from Operators’ homes in Middlebury and Southington, CT.

All communications take place using a Unity Intercom app installed on the phones, tablets, or computers of everyone involved, including talent.

Production staff is also able to pull video from ESPN media servers and edit at home.

CLICK HERE to read Calcinari’s full post on ESPN Front Row and to see more behind-the-scenes photos.

Euro Media Group (EMG) has launched a fully cloud-based video review solution for video assistant referee (VAR) with Simply Live. The new combined technology means that VAR match officials can work remotely from anywhere with internet access.

Remote production trials are carried out regularly in France but for the Pro B clash between Paris Basketball and Aix Maurienne broadcast on Sunday 26 January on RMC Sport, AMP Visual TV delivered a real live remote production that went to air.

“At RMC Sport we like to implement new workflows. We had been thinking about producing a live remote production and not just a trial for quite some time, so with AMP Visual TV and our own "Letsee" team we chose a basketball game,” said Luc Pannier, director of broadcasting and production for the Altice Group, owner of RMC Sport.
This is the first time a Pro B (second division of the National Basketball Championship) regular-season match has ever been held at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris-Bercy – two days after the NBA Paris Game 2020 between Charlotte and Milwaukee.

Equipment used for coverage was identical to that of a traditional match produced with the help of the IXI Live mobile unit. Seven cameras were deployed around the basketball court with five camera operators manning the three cameras on the sidelines, plus one for wide shots and one for close-ups, with two minicams positioned behind the hoops.

“We placed a sensor at the base of the wide-angle camera that, depending on the shot, automatically enabled the minicam to follow the direction of the action. The interesting thing about our set-up is that we used traditional 300Mb fibre broadband instead of a costly dark fibre network to send seven video and audio signals as well as all the other data,” said François Valadoux, deputy CEO for technical resources at AMP Visual TV.

Simplylive ViBox for the production
On-site at the AccorHotel Arena in Bercy there was a pared-down production crew of five camera operators, some assistants and two sound engineers. At the AMP Visual TV media centre (which has moved from the 15th arrondissement of Paris to join the nerve centre of the group’s studio facilities situated at la Plaine Saint Denis, close to the future Olympics village), the crew members who usually work in the IXI Live mobile unit were calling the shots.

They included a director, LSM operator, digital imaging technician, sound engineer and, for the graphics, a dedicated broadcast designer from Tangodelta, services provider for the Professional Basketball League. Worth mentioning is the fact that the commentator and the sports analyst were also in a remote location and just the on-air announcer was present at the stadium to be on set and conduct interviews.

Match director Raphael Gaboriaeu calls the shots for Paris Basketball vs Aix Maurienne, with Simplylive ViBox. “As far as I am concerned, it makes no difference that we are not on site. Directions are given in real-time (as well as tally signals for the camera operators),” said match director Raphael Gaborieau.

“Before the match, I was told there would probably be a one-second delay between transmitting and receiving the signals back at the studio but the delay was barely a quarter of a second.

“For the remote production I used a ViBox, like I normally would in the production truck and I could even have single-handedly managed the slomo replays if needed,” said Gaborieau. “However I chose to go to the stadium to check the camera positions and for a briefing with the operators on site. Otherwise we could have simply used skype to visualise each position.”

Cost savings? Not just yet…
At present, a single one-off remote production does not cost less than normal on-site production. There will be a cut in costs when the professional league (or any federation) and the championship broadcaster agree to tweak the schedule.

In fact, the economy of scale can only be effective if production teams produce a series of two or even three matches a day or even more over a single weekend.
​
This will surely happen in the short to medium term for a good number of championships as financial pressure is severe in the world of sports broadcasting production.

SimplyLive is coming to a reseller near you. 

Do you produce live multi-camera sports productions? Are you looking to...
     ➢ Produce more content with less dollars?
     ➢ Work with systems that are extremely flexible and easy to use?
     ➢ Expand your business without breaking the bank?
     ​➢ Purchase production tools that won’t be obsolete in a year

If so, you'll want to come see the SimplyLive ViBox, the world’s most intuitive and easy-to-use live sports production system. 

​Starting in February, 2020, SimplyLive with be demonstrating the ViBox systems at a reseller near you. Current dates are listed below, and check back because more dates are being confirmed.

Check in with resellers to confirm times and to reserve a spot.
​Thanks!

Simplylive announced its partnership with CIS Group as a value-added reseller and system integrator in Brazil and the Eastern United States.  

“I have had the pleasure of working with CIS Group for many years and am thrilled that they have chosen to partner with Simplylive” said Chuck Silber, Simplylive’s Chief Revenue Officer.  “The CIS team was quick to realize the potential of Simplylive’s future-proof software driven sports broadcast solutions, and they are highly motivated to help us expand our reach into the markets that they serve.  I believe their outstanding reputation and high level of technical expertise uniquely positions them to help Simplylive disrupt traditional sports production workflows across all levels and segments of those markets.” 
​
Commenting on the partnership, CIS Group’s CEO Matt Silva added “I’m extremely excited to work alongside Simplylive in order to optimize our clients’ sports production workflows. It goes without saying that the sports industry pushes the media-tech space towards the edge of technological possibility and propels our entire industry beyond those bounds, further driving innovation. To me and the entire CIS team, it’s absolutely sensational to be partnering with a company that shares our vision and enthusiasm for the sports industry as a whole.”
​
About CIS Group
For over 30 years CIS has been a distributor and digital systems designer and integrator, providing innovative technology solutions to a multitude of clients in various regions. In doing so, we have focused on putting our clients’ budget to good use by optimizing their workflows, ultimately enabling them to maximize creativity. Our core expertise lies in broadcast and entertainment, but we also service non-media institutions, such as houses of worship, educational entities, and corporates.

Headquartered in Florida, USA, CIS also has offices and representatives in Brazil (Rio and São Paulo), New York, and Portugal. For more information on CIS Group, the services we offer, and our partners please visit: www.cisgroup.tv.