U.VA. ENCOURAGED AFTER ACC NETWORK REHEARSAL
Linear cable TV network is set to launch in August
CHARLOTTESVILLE — By academic year’s end, the University of Virginia will have produced 132 live events and 136 video board shows. One among the 268 was unique.
Wednesday’s men’s basketball game versus Georgia Tech was the first, and only, linear production. A dress rehearsal for August’s ACC Network launch, the technical demands for linear (over-the-air television) far surpass those for digital (web), and the athletic department’s video services personnel prepared for weeks in advance, in conjunction with ESPN, the conference’s television partner.
“I think it went really well,” said Erik Elvgren, a senior producer at U.Va., who served as Wednesday’s technical director, “and certainly the feedback we got back from the ESPN folks who were there … was very good. That’s not to say it was perfect. Obviously there’s a learn- ing curve and things we can improve upon, but that’s why we’re here doing it early before the network.”
Virginia was the 10th of 15 ACC schools to produce a game for linear telecast, and Virginia Tech anticipates its rehearsal this spring, once control rooms in the south end zone of Lane Stadium are complete.
Starting in August, the schools will produce scores of live events annually for the ACC Network in virtually every sport, football excepted. Football’s technical scope
will continue to require the production trucks fans are accustomed to seeing outside of arenas and stadiums.
Otherwise, control rooms equipped to ESPN’s linear specs will serve as broadcast hubs on ACC campuses. The infrastructure and personnel upgrades cost the schools millions — Virginia’s investment is north of $7 million — but the bet is network revenue will easily trump the seed money.
Digital telecasts for ACC Network Extra will become more frequent, especially for Olympic sports, and schools will continue to produce their video board offerings. The ACC Network’s linear events add another layer — hence the need for more people and equipment.
“For a digital game, it’s all done completely in-house by the school,” said Mike Szlamowicz, Virginia’s director of video services, live events and the ACC Network. “All the men’s basketball games that were on (the web) were produced by one of our full-time staff … and tech-directed by our full-time staff. We select the announcers ... and that’s across the whole conference.
“For the linear games, ESPN brings in key personnel. In (Wednesday’s) case they brought in a producer, a director, an assistant director, an assistant producer, an operations producer and the talent. And they also staffed a few of the ancillary statistics jobs. They rely on the school to basically fill out every other position on the broadcast. … Moving forward, we’ve been led to believe ESPN will still bring in what they call above-the-line crew, the producer, director and talent, at least for these linear games.”
For example, play-by-play man Mike Couzens and analyst Jordan Cornette were courtside Wednesday at John Paul Jones Arena, less than 200 yards from a court-level control room that was staffed by ESPN and U.Va. Moreover, ESPN brought personnel in merely to observe and critique the ESPN2 telecast.
“Digital shows exist in a vacuum,” said Szlamowicz, who during Wednesday’s game ran a separate control room and coordinated an 11-person crew for video board presentations. “They’re kind of self-contained. Linear shows, there are a lot more cooks in the kitchen when it comes to the way the show is put together and what is being discussed at a given time.”
Szlamowicz estimated that basketball games, digital and linear, require crews of about 20, including five or six camera operators and two replay operators. A handful might be full-time video services staff, but most are freelancers or students — Virginia offers a sports media production class.
Linear games are more taxing because they demand enhanced communication lines among crew members during the event and more coordination with ESPN’s studio shows in Bristol, Conn., and Charlotte, N.C. Toward that end, Virginia during the past 18-plus months has upgraded equipment such as phone interfaces and control-room monitors and hired two full-time employees, including Sean Foltin as coordinating producer for the ACC Network.
“To hire Sean to kind of take the lead role in overseeing those productions has been a massive help,” Szlamowicz said.
Foltin coordinated graphics for Wednesday’s telecast, and his goal is to make digital productions “indistinguishable” from linear.
“It was a great experience to learn from the ESPN folks (Wednesday),” he said, “so we can improve not only our next linear show but also all of our digital shows moving forward.”
ESPN offered Virginia a second men’s basketball game for linear production this season, but digital obligations for other events that day would have overwhelmed the staff and infrastructure. The Cavaliers are not scheduled to for any linear telecasts during the spring sports season, which Szlamowicz called “a little” disappointing.
“But we’re also not too upset about having a chance to catch our breath,” he said, “because in the fall it’s going to be fast and furious. … It’s a grind. There are a lot of games to get through, and it’s only going to (grow). There will never be a season where we do fewer games than we did the previous season.”
As those demands expand, Virginia and other ACC schools undoubtedly will need to dedicate more personnel and space to network concerns. But with the ACC Network set to debut in five-plus months, U.Va.’s staff feels more prepared than ever.
“We are definitely in a much better place today,” Szlamowicz said, “than we were Tuesday morning understanding what the challenges are.”