MediaKind’s Media Processing Plays Vital Role in NASCAR Productions, PSSI Global Services Emmy Award Win

MediaKind’s media processing solutions helped to play an integral role in enabling NASCAR Productions and PSSI Global Services to win a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for ‘Large Scale “At-Home” Production for Live Sports with Minimal On-Site Production Assets.’ The award, which will be presented at NAB Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 7, 2019, came in recognition of NASCAR Productions and PSSI Global Services’ ability to deliver larger, more complex at-home productions through a range of technological advancements which remove the need for entire production teams to be located at the event itself.

Traditional productions of large-scale live sporting events have been challenged by the limitations of technology and reduced resources. Productions teams have often been required to be present on-site in order to receive and process a multitude of live camera, audio and data feeds, while addressing accompanying issues such as shipping logistics, setup and teardown time, staffing travel, equipment failure, and overall associated costs. Through the deployment of MediaKind’s compression technology, which includes AVP2000 Contribution Encoders and RX 8200 Professional IRDs, PSSI Global Services, and NASCAR Productions have been able to simplify the overall live event production workflow and leverage the use of advanced, complex equipment from a permanent external facility.

“To be recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with this prestigious award demonstrates NASCAR’s ongoing commitment to innovation,” says Steve Stum, VP of Track Operations and Technical Production, NASCAR Productions. “It’s a testament to the diligent work and great collaboration with MediaKind in helping us reimagine live-event production at NASCAR.”

In early 2018, PSSI Global Services, in partnership with NASCAR Productions, utilized MediaKind’s media processing solutions to successfully conduct the largest at-home production to date for the Rolex 24 in Daytona, Florida. The transmission from the event back to NASCAR’s headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, included 28 video paths and 75 channels of audio delivered synchronously for 32 consecutive hours, and was achieved using just two transponders on a single satellite, accessed via one antenna and one solid-state amplifier.

“Receiving this Emmy is a huge honor for all of us at PSSI Global Services, and it is the result of a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication. Our team invested countless hours alongside the engineers at MediaKind in developing this solution,” says Brian Nelles, Executive Vice President, PSSI Global Services. “Utilizing the flexible AVP encoding platform, we are able to meet the expanding transmission requirements for all of our clients’ large-scale at-home productions. We couldn’t be prouder of the results.”

MediaKind’s advanced media processing technologies played a key role in enabling PSSI Global Services and NASCAR Production to maximize data throughput and deliver higher quality images with low latency. The low-latency satellite path, as well as the availability and quality of fiber connectivity, provided the production of return feeds for large screens to take place onsite, driving fan engagement and ensuring the distribution for additional feeds on the same low-latency return path.

“The production of large-scale live sporting events demands a high quality and reliable service, so that viewers receive the best possible experience on all their screens. This award is a testament to the strength of our media processing solutions and industry expertise in enabling high quality video throughout the production process, delivered with maximum efficiency at reduced costs,” says Angel Ruiz, CEO, MediaKind. “We are proud to have collaborated in this project with NASCAR Productions and PSSI Global Services and help them to realize a true feat of television broadcast engineering excellence by transforming large-scale at-home production.”