Revealing Metrics of Remote Television Production Volume 2 Issue 1: July 2019

MSG150 Connects NY Sports MSG Networks launched its popular MSG150 show on May 6th. The VCC was there for the launch, bringing in top players coaches and commentators in NY sports including Walt Frazier, Mariano Rivera, John Starks, Travis Zajac and Martin Brodeur in all 74 remotes in just the first 24 shows. VCC’s remotes are being sponsored by Fios.

Jerry Passaro, Senior Vice President of Network and Technical Operations for MSG Networks comments “The lag-free interaction with the innovative platform has made it feel as if the guests are right there in studio with our hosts and continues to provide our production team with incredible flexibility each night.”

A couple of interesting statistics emerged: 87% of remote contributors joined the show through their smartphones vs other devices. Despite Android having a US penetration of about 52%, fully 89% of the smartphone remotes were from iPhones.

© The Video Call Center, 2019 �1

Framing the Perfect Remote

Creating reliable & good-looking video calls for broadcast from around the world without an onsite crew takes a combination of great technology - and talented people. Needless to say the VCC staff has learned a few things on the way to connecting nearly 6500 remote contributors with a 99.7% reliability rate. VCC’s expert call producers work with the subjects to optimize con-nectivity and adjust framing & lighting, all while making it fun for the contributors. Since the vast majority of VCC remotes are done via smartphones, a lot of the effort is ensuring the phone is on a stable surface and composing a shot in a room that the call producers have never visited. “It is often challenging to find an object to rest the phone on at eye level that will also give us a good background” says Producer Jonni-Lynn Galietti, “We sometimes have the subject show us their room, and creatively identify items that can be stacked to mount the phone on. Each remote shot is a different puzzle!”

REMOTE REP RTTM 2019 Summer Sports Edition

Metta World Peace may have missed another network’s traditional interview due to a flat-tire, but thanks to the VCC, he still made his remote with MSG.

Revealing Metrics of Remote Television Production Volume 2 Issue 1: July 2019

 

© The Video Call Center, 2019 �2

Intersport Takes Viewers Courtside

In April, Intersport, an independent media & marketing firm, utilized VCC for the Dos Equis Men’s 3X3U basketball tournament in Minneapolis. Intersport not only brought players and coaches on-air between coverage of games, but also equipped idle players with smartphones to shoot the action and comment live on what they were seeing from the stands. “Our mission when producing events is to give the viewer an experience that is as close to being there as possible. The Video Call Center adds a whole new dimension to how we achieve that,” says Intersport Executive Producer, John Paquet.

Texas Rangers Bid Adieu For 25 years the Texas Rangers have played baseball in Globe Life Park in Arlington Texas. The ballpark saw Kenny Rogers pitch a perfect game during its debut season in 1994 and was home to the American League Champion Rangers teams in 2010 & 2011.

As the Rangers prepare to move to a new ballpark next season, Fox Sports SW is working with the VCC to bring back former players and coaches to reminisce about their experiences and say good-bye to the old stadium. Former manager Kevin Kennedy, pitching coach Tom House, as well as players Chris Young, Glenn Hoffman and Will Clark are some of the major leaguers who’ve participated. The VCC enables the players and managers to appear on the air, engaging commentators and even participating in live play-by-play thanks to the full low-latency return video signal that VCC delivers to their smartphones and laptops.

Fox Sports Detroit Pitches a Perfect Broadcast

On April 29th, the Detroit Tigers #1 draft pick Casey Mize threw the second no-hitter of his young career, this one for the minor league Erie Seawolves. A year earlier, Casey achieved a no-hitter at Auburn University. FSN Detroit knew that they needed to get Casey to participate in its broadcast of the MLB Tigers the next day. VCC sprang into action, connecting Casey via his phone from the locker room in Altoona, PA to the VCC end-point at

FSN’s headquarters in Detroit, which was in-turn routed to the Tigers game truck in Philadelphia through Fox’s VAN network.

Casey clearly means good luck for the Tigers. While he was on-air in the top of the third inning he was able to watch the return feed on his smartphone and see the Tigers “hit for the cycle” as a team (home run, triple, double and single in one inning), and ultimately win the game 3-1.

Kevin Kennedy provides play-by-play and commentary from home

Intersport interviews Jae-Sean Tate of the Belgian Pro Basketball League