Looking Ahead Welcome to the 2023 SVG Sports Production Yearbook!

By Ken Kerschbaumer Sports Video Group, Executive Director, Editorial

Welcome 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!

The Sports Video Group Advisory Board comprises leading industry figures who are committed to technical excellence in sports production.

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, VENN, Chief Technology Officer

Steve Hellmuth, SVG Chairman Emeritus and NBA

Entertainment, EVP, Media Operations and Technology

Jeff Jacobs, VENN, EVP and GM

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, Industry Consultant

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

UHD-DIGISUPER 122AF

UHD-DIGISUPER 122

UHD-DIGISUPER 111

UHD-DIGISUPER 86

UHD-DIGISUPER 27