Looking Ahead
By Ken Kerschbaumer Sports Video Group, Executive Director, Editorial
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elcome to the 2023 SVG Sports Production Yearbook, our annual overview of not only the latest remote production trucks to be on the road (be sure to spend some time with our Sports Production Gearbase, beginning on page 199) but also reflect back on the state of the business and the accomplishments from some of the biggest names in the industry. The good news is that, overall, the state of the remote production industry is solid. As you’ll read beginning on page 65, those who offer remote production facilities and services have been faced with a multitude of challenges, but they have managed to weather them and are optimistic about the future. The continued growth in the number of sports events that are being delivered to fans coupled with advances in technologies like IP and the cloud have helped with allowing production teams to work in more cost-effective ways. And it appears that the cooling inflation rate will help improve the bottom lines of contracts that were written in pre-inflationary days and left many of the remote production service providers in a bad spot. One lesson from 2022 is that both clients and providers need to work together to offset unforeseen financial pain. What does 2023 hold? Clearly the nature of this Yearbook will continue to become less about production trucks on wheels and more about production facilities that are connected to or include large data centers. The good news for those who love the freewheeling nature of the sports production industry is that there will still be plenty of need for production trucks to be onsite and for new trucks to hit the road. The better news is that having production trucks onsite connected to production centers afar means less people on the road, a chance for the industry to attract homebodies as well as road warriors, and an industry that is more green and environmentally friendly without needing to be pushed to do so. A key part of those efforts involves the manufacturers and equipment suppliers that are also in the midst of massive change. The 2023 NAB Show promises to see lots of, well, promises around virtualized hardware and cloud-based tools for live production as there are still some key technology providers who do not have a cloud strategy. One thing is clear: the remote production service providers are looking to keep their clients happy and, increasingly, the words “cloud” and “virtualized” are part of contract negotiations and workflows. It’s of the utmost importance to a healthy industry economy that as many vendors are ready to make the leap to those technologies as possible. The Yearbook has always been a place for those in our industry to find answers. Answers about what trucks and remote production service provider can best meet their needs. Answers about key accomplishments and offerings from SVG sponsors. And thought leadership about the future of the business. And with more questions than ever, the answers found in our SVG Sports Production Yearbook are more important — and critical — than ever. We hope you enjoy this year’s edition and please let us know what you think!
CHAIRMAN Michael Davies, Fox Sports, SVP, Technical and Field Operations EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Ken Aagaard, SVG Chairman Emeritus and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Chairman Andrea Berry, NBCUniversal –Telemundo and Latin America, EVP, Operations and Technology Eric Black, NBCUniversal, SVP, Sports & Entertainment Technology Chris Brown, WBD Sports, VP, Tech Operations Jason Cohen, CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network, VP, Remote Technical Operations Mike Connelly, Bally Sports, EVP and Executive Producer Scott Gillies, SkyRae, President Steve Hellmuth, SVG Chairman Emeritus and NBA Entertainment, EVP, Media Operations and Technology Jeff Jacobs, NEP Group, SVP and Head of Production Patty Power, CBS Sports, EVP, Operations and Engineering Tom Sahara, SVG Chairman Emeritus and Industry Consultant Susan Stone, MLB Network, SVP, Operations and Engineering ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS Adam Acone, NFL Network, Director, Media Operations and Planning Glenn Adamo, Ivanhoe Media and Entertainment, President Peter Angell, Industry Consultant Craig Bernstein, NBC Sports, VP, Remote Technical Operations and Engineering Marsha Bird, NBC Olympics, VP, Olympic Operations Onnie Bose, NFL, VP of Broadcasting Dylan Boucherle, Warner Media/Turner Studios, VP, Technology Strategy and Media Workflows Kendall Burgess, Bally Sports, VP, Technical Operations Tab Butler, Industry Consultant Chris Calcinari, ESPN, SVP, Production Operations, Disney Media and Entertainment Kevin Callahan, Fox Sports, VP, Field Operations Mary Ellen Carlyle, Dome Productions, SVP and GM Brad Cheney, Fox Sports, VP, Field Operations and Engineering Ken Clausen, HBO, Director of Production Joe Cohen, Industry Consultant Michael Cohen, United Soccer League, EVP and Head of Broadcasting and Media Don Colantonio, Industry Consultant Scott Davis, CBS Sports, VP of Broadcast Operations Jim DeFilippis, Industry Consultant Ed Delaney, Industry Consultant Jed Drake, Industry Consultant David Dukes, PGA Tour Entertainment, Senior Director, Technical Operations Patti Fallick, USTA, Managing Director, Broadcast Mike Francis, CBS Sports, VP, Engineering and Technology Karen Ganjamie, MLB Network, VP, Broadcast Operations and Network Origination Jerry Gepner, CP Communications, COO Steve Gorsuch, Industry Consultant Ken Goss, NBC Sports Group, SVP of Remote Operations and Production Planning Mark Haden, NHL, Group VP, Broadcast Technology Rob Hedrick, NHRA, Tech Manager, Director of Production and Supervising Producer Ed Holmes, The Holmes Group, Principal Deb Honkus, NEP Broadcasting, Chairman of the Board George Hoover, Industry Consultant Darryl Jefferson, NBC Sports Group, VP, Postproduction and Digital Workflow Robert D. Jordan CFE, 1337 Facilities, CEO; Venue Road, Founder John Kvatek, FX Group, Director, Sports Broadcast Development John Leland, PSL International, LLC, Principal Glen Levine, NEP, President, U.S. Louis Libin, Broad Comm, President Jodi Markley, Industry Consultant Geoff Mason, Industry Consultant Bernadette McDonald, Major League Baseball, SVP, Broadcasting Ken Miller, Amazon, Director, Live Content Production and Operations Rama Motwani, WWE, Director, Digital Products Grant Nodine, NHL, SVP, Technology Ken Norris, UCLA, Director of Video Operations Gary Olson, GHO Group, Managing Director Del Parks, Sinclair Broadcast Group, SVP and CTO Scott Rinehart, University of Notre Dame, Director, Broadcast Technology Larry Rogers, FirstInTV, President Mike Rokosa, NHRA, Technology Executive Scott Rothenberg, NEP, SVP, Technology and Asset Management Oscar Sanchez, CONCACAF, Director of Broadcast Operations David Schafer, MSG Networks, SVP, Operations Bruce Shapiro, Industry Consultant Tracey Shaw, Digital Joy, President and Co-Founder Don Sperling, New York Giants Entertainment, VP and Executive Producer Jared Stacy, Amazon, Director, Global Live Sports Production Jerry Steinberg, Industry Consultant Steve Stum, NASCAR Productions, VP, Operations and Technical Production Patrick Sullivan, Game Creek Video, President Jason Taubman, Game Creek Video, VP, Design/New Technology Tina Thornton, ESPN, SVP, Content Operations Larry Tiscornia, Industry Consultant Jacob Ullman, Fox Sports, SVP, Production and Talent Development Eli Velazquez, Telemundo Deportes, EVP, Sports Content John Ward, Amazon, Senior Manager, Technical Operations Ernie Watts, Turner, Manager, Transmission Operations Center Mike Webb, YES Network, VP, Broadcast Operations Jeff Willis, Industry Consultant Dave Zur, KSE Media Ventures, SVP, Operations and Engineering
SPORTS PRODUCTION 2023 YEARBOOK
Association Leadership
Welcome to the 2023 SVG Sports Production Yearbook!
The Sports Video Group Advisory Board comprises leading industry figures who are committed to technical excellence in sports production.
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