NASHVILLE — Recognizing the business opportunity that remote integration presents, Live Media Group Holdings (LMGH) has built and integrated a brand-new production control room at the headquarters of TNDV, one of the company’s three divisions.
REMI production allows broadcasters and other content creators to seamlessly capture live hi-res video at remote event locations for backhaul to centralized production and distribution facilities at very low latency.
“With REMI, the value proposition is that there’s no need to setup or build a full production suite at a remote location or send out skilled technical crew members to work the event,” said TNDV President Rob Devlin. “This cost-efficient approach allows for substantial savings on airfare, hotel and other travel costs, as well as streamlining complex logistics. Now, high-resolution camera feeds travel to us over IP and/or satellite from the remote location and our rich local talent pool handles the work right here.”
All three LMGH divisions — GameTime Productions, Live Media and TNDV — have long specialized in supporting live events through best-in-class mobile video and audio trucks, expert video crews, and other production and distribution services. The company aggressively responded to growing REMI demand during the pandemic, when many live events were compelled to move from physical gatherings to online streams.
At that time, TNDV sister company GameTime Productions began packaging live remote event productions for major networks, such as ESPN. When GameTime landed its first REMI production contract, TNDV had only 15 weeks to build its centralized video production control facilities to capitalize on the opportunity. A swift decision was made to convert an often-idle greenscreen studio that had been used for occasional satellite media tours. In its place, they designed and integrated an impressive, fully equipped 28 x 17-foot production control room suite.
The production control room is based on the Ross Video Ultrix Acuity platform, with Ross XPression for real-time graphics creation, and integrates the Ross Acuity software-defined production engine with 4 M/E switcher cards, Ultrix hybrid routing and mutliviewer capabilities. The suite also provides adjacent, isolated areas for mixing digital audio and generating EVS-based sports replays and highlights, as well as comfortable seating for producers, technical directors, other team members and guests. If there’s a surge in demand for the REMI service, TNDV can harness a second control room that’s identically configured on their Elevation mobile unit, which is parked right outside the building.
TNDV’s facility already offered the most critical REMI component—robust, reliable fiber-based high-speed internet and satellite uplink connectivity. To this infrastructure, TNDV added Haivision Makito X4 HEVC encoders enabling Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) of ultra-low latency 4K/UHD and HDTV High Dynamic Range (HDR) contribution video. The Haivision Makito X4 platform ensures that all incoming video signals for a particular event remain in sync for precision mixing and that the final program is dependably distributed to the customers’ destination. According to Devlin, “Having these multiple tiers of transmission and networking is highly advantageous to REMI production and really sets this service apart.”
While the primary target is live sports, Devlin expects some projects will also come from music festivals and other live entertainment events — a core component of the TNDV live production business. The REMI control room first became operational in June 2024, with a series of women’s softball games produced for Athletes Unlimited. This new next-generation network of professional sports leagues specializes in delivering women’s pro basketball, softball, volleyball, and lacrosse games for broadcast on networks, such as ESPN and Bally’s.
“With our new REMI service, we can now work with our media and entertainment customers any way they prefer,” Devlin said. “On-site production will never completely disappear, but in an era where many networks are hungry for content, using a REMI workflow helps with efficiency in delivering high-quality productions at lower cost. REMI saves content creators and broadcasters their two most valuable production commodities, time and money.”
— Reporting by Brian Galante, for Weekly Tech Roundup
