Executive Perspectives 2017, Part 1: The State of the Mobile Sports Production Business

Insights from the biggest names in the industry

Although the mobile-production business is booming, truck providers face a host of challenges when it comes to technology and their bottom line. Vendors are being asked to deliver more for less as networks look to trim production costs and explore new “at-home” production workflows on lower-profile shows. In addition, technology continues to evolve at a breakneck pace, forcing mobile-production providers to address the needs of today while preparing for the potential arrival of 4K and HDR. Meanwhile, the rise of IP infrastructure seems inevitable, but truck designers must make difficult decisions because IP standards remain in flux and the technology for a full IP-production ecosystem is likely still a few years away. In advance of the New Year, SVG sat down with more than a dozen industry leaders to discuss the current state of the business and, more important, where it’s headed. Here are the executives we spoke with:

Do you consider the current state of the remote-production business healthy? Why?
Carlyle: We do. We are in a unique situation because we have different owners [in co-owners Bell Media and Rogers Media] than other mobile businesses [have]. [Sports is] still appointment viewing, so [broadcasters] need facilities to produce those events. The types of facilities may change, but I don’t think overall, in the next five years, it’s going to drastically change. 4K has also helped us a lot. If we didn’t have 4K, we probably wouldn’t be launching the trucks as quickly as we [are].

Sullivan: I have seen some downward pressure on some of our customers, who are being tasked to do things more efficiently. I think, at the moment, we’re in one of those cycles [when] there’s a lot of pressure to cut costs on the production side. I think we’ve been able to [deal effectively with] those issues that are facing our customers and remained healthy in the process.

Farrell: There are so many outlets for remote productions right now. Whether productions end up on phones or 4K TVs, they all need efficient multicamera production facilities. That makes a very diverse base of mobile units.

Garvin: It seems to be quite healthy and stable. The demand for mobile units seems to be consistent although there is less growth than we saw a few years ago.

Werteen: The industry is healthy, although we need a steady diet of Vitamin C. With audiences becoming fragmented and our clients under cost pressures, you have to focus on maintaining a sustainable business, in addition to supplying quality service.

Greene: I consider the state of remote production healthy, perhaps healthier than ever. We look at the growth based on the number of opportunities we discuss with our partners or future partners. We are unable to do a considerable number of events due to lack of availability with our fleet.

Lewis: There’s definitely continued growth. It’s changing, and I think that is unhealthy only if people are not paying attention to industry trends. We see the upper end of the shows getting much bigger and moving into a higher level. Perhaps to accommodate the budget for that, mid-level shows are moving to more-economical production methods like the REMI model, and we’re benefiting greatly from that.

Orgera: Yes, though we have some concerns. F&F has been fortunate to experience growth this year, [following] the acquisition of Crosscreek in mid 2015. The industry is thriving with so many events covered for broadcast and dramatic growth in large streaming events. However, we have great concerns about the vendors that provide equipment. Their business models have changed significantly, and the proposed restructuring and [providing] services and equipment to remote[-production] vendors will be so costly that it will cripple the industry and stagnate [their] abilities to grow at the rate our clients need and require. It is a huge concern and one that we believe the entire industry should address.

Rubenstein: From where Ross Mobile Productions and our many partnerships see it, our evolution to meet their needs has helped keep the remote-production business going strong and healthy. With so many new broadcast outlets, the rising cost of rights fees, the demand for content, and the need to cut costs, there needed to be alternatives to the traditional ways of doing things. Our efficiency model has continued to scale up, and the demand for our services on even larger shows has forced us to keep improving.

How has the increase in “at-home” or REMI [remote-integration] productions impacted your business and the industry? Do you see this = continuing?
Lewis: We’re seeing expansion, and we expect it to grow, which is a good thing for us. We’re building trucks specifically for this market, and we seem to be hitting the mark with our clients on a balance of equipment and agility and cost-effectiveness. They are very pleased with the production quality.

Garvin: The demand for at-home production has diminished for us this year. Although it is still in demand for smaller productions, it appears that networks have re-examined the value proposition — especially when factoring in all the capital and personnel costs involved back in the studio.

Rubenstein: At-home production represents a shift in how events are traditionally done. If you don’t find a way to fit your business or production model into that new way of doing things, it can have a negative impact. We have made our trucks able to do [at-home] productions as well as traditional. It has also forced us to get even better and more efficient. I see networks continuing to look for the best ways to save on costs while maintaining quality. These trends now have Ross Mobile Productions with a Fort Lauderdale-based studio, four flypacks, and multiple mobile units with high-level at-home or REMI capability.

Sullivan: Not much [interest] honestly. The interesting thing about REMI is, audio requirements are not all that different from requirements for regular shows, so, by the time you finish meeting those requirements, you’re almost back into a 53-ft. truck. There have definitely been some cost savings as a result of REMI production, but there hasn’t been a big explosion that makes us think that we should invest in [REMI-focused trucks]. I have seen an increase in requests for flypacks. I think it’s likely that, in the future, we won’t really need a 53-footer with two engineers and a driver and can get by with a sprinter van that has an engineer who drives it as well.

Carlyle: It’s definitely impacting our business. REMI is coming. We found a way to make it work. We’ve reconfigured our older trucks to adapt to REMI very easily. We haven’t done that with our newer trucks, [which] we feel should be on the larger events that aren’t REMI. We have also opened up a control room [that] we’ve given end-to-end REMI service. We had roughly five events last year, and we’ll have 38 this year in that control room where we’re doing both ends: the REMI [onsite] and the control room.

Greene: I’m certain all in our space are seeing a greater number of requests for IP-based productions. I see it not only continuing but growing at a steady pace. Each company has a choice: embrace the methods and become [able] to deliver whatever our clients need or refuse to do it and live with the result. I think our philosophy is evident [in the recently launched] Killer Frost, [which is] handling over 100 IP productions for the Pac 12-Networks.

Farrell: We believe those at-home–type broadcasts will continue to grow. The good thing is that a truck built to do larger shows can go down to that level. They may not want to all of the time, but it is a good way to fill in the white spaces on the calendar.

Werteen: We believe the trend for at-home productions, in multiple forms, will continue to grow. We are working with multiple clients on these types of productions but only in circumstances where it makes financial sense for these clients and NEP.

Moorhouse: There is an increase, and I believe it will have a huge impact on our business. But it’s still only for the second- and third-tier events.

Do you expect more requests for 4K productions in 2017?
Carlyle: Obviously, we’ve been very focused on the progression of 4K as we build new facilities. We converted our Trillium [mobile unit] to 4K and also built Pioneer as a [purpose-built] 4K truck. We have a very busy 4K business with NHL and the [Toronto] Raptors and Blue Jays; starting in January, all the Raptors home games will be in 4K. We’re hoping to go forward with another 4K truck, but that has yet to be decided.

Garvin: We have one mobile unit built from the ground up for 4K, plus several that are 4K-ready. Requests for 4K are gradually increasing, but it’s still a very limited market. We have also identified several factors which differentiate good 4K from poor 4K and have implemented those in our 4K mobile unit.

Levine: We anticipate additional 4K events. We have over a dozen units that are 4K-capable. Our new Denali Yukon will launch 4K-ready with Sony HDC-4300’s in mid December. We are excited to work with Sony and the Golf Channel on three-hole coverage at the Sony Open, shot in 4K/HDR. We have a robust upgrade plan for more UHD-capable trucks in 2017.

Sullivan: Our Madison truck, [which launched] in the fall for MSG Networks, is 4K-capable. We are also building 4K-capable trucks for MASN and YES Network, and we converted another truck, Glory, to do 4K for U.S. Open golf. I believe there’s going to be an increase in demand for 4K, particularly when the issues around HDR get sorted out. I personally think HDR is a must for 4K, and that will really push things forward.

Orgera: 4K seems to be a weekly conversation within the industry. We have always designed and built our mobile units with growth in mind. Currently, three of our mobile units can pass 4K, and we have designed a 4K mobile unit and are working with several clients on this build. Should the opportunity present itself to move forward, we can quickly execute our plan.

Farrell: We have done a dozen or so 4K shows this year. In most cases, we have been able to use a 3G truck to handle the 4K.

Greene: There will be more requests in 2017 than there were in 2016, as was the case this year compared to 2015. We began preparing for this technology several years ago by ensuring our fleet had the ability to adapt when client’s needs demanded it.

Snyder: Today, about half the Lyon Video fleet is 4K-capable. We have one mobile unit equipped with 4K-capable cameras and another set of 4K cameras available from our shop. As we continue to invest more in coming years, 4K-capable will be a requirement Lyon Video requests from our vendors. UHD will become more prevalent in the next several years. We think HDR may be a more compelling technology depending on the final specification of the live version of HDR.

And how are you preparing your fleet for this rise in 4K — and possibly HDR — requests?
Hoover: All of the dozen or so new OBs NEP has built worldwide over the past year are capable of 4K production using IP and/or quad-HD–SDI infrastructure. So moving to 4K is basically turning on the feature. However, HDR is still a work in progress as standards evolve.

Taubman: Without knowing it, we started preparing for 4K in 2010 by making sure that our entire fleet going forward was 3G-capable. And we didn’t really know what 3G was going to be used for — maybe 60p or 3D. Now we are doing 4K in a quad-linked 3G [model]. So we have a fleet that, with minimal effort, is upgradeable to 4K. In fact, that is what we did with RiverHawk for [MLB Network Showcase] 4K games. By the end of 2016, we’ll have three trucks on the road that are [purpose-built] 4K, and anything we do going forward is going to be 4K as well.

Wehner: Since we have built the first 4K mobile unit from the ground up, we know more about 4K than almost anyone. We have also done extensive tests of 4K HDR at actual sports venues. We’ve done this with a 3G infrastructure, but, in the future, we would do it with 12-Gb single coax.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 of SVG’s Executive Perspectives 2017 later this week. 

Responses compiled by Jason Dachman, Brandon Costa, Karen Hogan, and Ken Kerschbaumer during Q4 of 2016. This article was originally published in the 2017 SVG Mobile Production Yearbook.