ALAMEDA, Calif.—Mobile live production solutions provider Ross Production Services (RPS) has standardized on Clear-Com intercom systems across its fleet of mobile units, flypacks and production control rooms to support complex live production workflows.

RPS supports a wide range of productions, including sports broadcasts, entertainment concerts, rodeos, esports, political debates and corporate events. To meet the demands of these diverse environments, the company relies on a fully integrated Clear-Com ecosystem that spans headquarters facilities, production trucks and remote user workflows.

“Every show has Clear-Com involved, from party lines to point-to-point communication and IFB connectivity,” said Lance Bracale, RPS director of broadcast engineering. “Any time you step into an RPS mobile unit or control room, you will be using a Clear-Com panel.”

RPS has deployed a comprehensive Clear-Com infrastructure throughout its operations, including Eclipse Omega and Delta digital matrix frames, IrisX user panels, Agent-IC mobile app, LQ Series IP interfaces and FreeSpeak wireless intercom systems. The systems are integrated into Ross Ultrix routing environments and configured to support both local and remote productions.

According to Bracale, Clear-Com’s flexibility and hybrid workflow capabilities were major factors in the company’s decision to standardize on the platform.

“One of the biggest things is deploying two-wire comms in the field over network using the LQ interfaces, while also being able to add four-wire connectivity when needed,” said Bracale. “Agent-IC has also been incredibly valuable for at-home users and as a fail-safe option for remote connectivity.”

RPS engineers and audio teams also benefit from the usability of Clear-Com’s EHX configuration software.

“The ease of the EHX software has made it simple for engineers and A1s to program and control intercom workflows,” Bracale said. “The Go LIVE functionality makes changes instantaneously without needing to push a full configuration, and Supervisor Mode gives engineers visibility into what users are hearing and selecting in real time.”

RPS has expanded its use of Clear-Com’s wireless solutions, transitioning from standalone FreeSpeak systems to IP-based wireless deployments using E-IPA cards and FreeSpeak Icon beltpacks.

“We are slowly upgrading to IP antennas connected directly to the E-IPA cards along with the new Icon beltpacks to save time during setup and simplify deployment,” Bracale said.

The company has also leveraged remote panel connectivity and Agent-IC clients to support distributed production teams, allowing users working from home to connect directly into production environments as though they were onsite.

More information is available on the Clear-Com and RPS websites.

OTTAWA and IROQUOIS, Ontario—Ross Video said it will invest C$122.5 million ($90 million) to expand its manufacturing and research and development (R&D) capacity across its facilities in Ottawa and Iroquois, creating 125 new high-skilled jobs over multiple years in engineering, manufacturing and R&D.

Ross Video reported that the investment will help the company advance AI-enabled media processing, more scalable live-production workflows, software-defined broadcast infrastructure, modular deployment options for customers, next-generation processing performance and other capabilities.

The expansion is being made with the support of Invest Ontario, which is providing a combination of financial support, including a conditional grant of up to C$6 million ($4.43 million) from the Invest Ontario Fund and other services.

In addition to the financial support, Invest Ontario will provide strategic guidance connecting Ross Video with key players in media technology and advanced manufacturing across Ontario, while helping the company navigate workforce and training opportunities.

In a separate announcement, Ross Video said that the expansion of its manufacturing and research and development operations in Ontario will also accelerate the next generation of Ultrix, the company’s flagship hyperconverged media processing platform.

More specifically, the expansion will help advance development of new Ultrix capabilities, including AI-enabled processing, modular standalone deployment options and a redesigned architecture built for greater scalability and future innovation. The enhanced platform is expected to significantly expand processing capacity while enabling more flexible and efficient live production workflows for broadcasters and media organizations worldwide.

The announcement was made at Ross Video’s Ottawa facility alongside representatives from the Government of Ontario and Invest Ontario, including Minister Vic Fedeli, Minister Stan Cho, and Invest Ontario CEO Khawar Nasim.

“Ross Video is a true, homegrown success story that speaks not only to the high caliber of Ontario-made technologies but to the resilience of our workforce and investment landscape,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, Ontario. “Through their expanded footprint in Ottawa and Iroquois, Ross Video will continue to unlock new opportunities for Eastern Ontario’s highly skilled workforce and reinforce the province’s global leadership in advanced manufacturing and tech innovation.”

Ross Video said it began discussions with Invest Ontario at an important point in the company’s growth as it evaluated how best to continue scaling its Ontario operations while investing in innovation, manufacturing, and talent.

Ross Video’s expansion reflects its commitment to growing in Ontario while scaling the delivery of next-generation tools to customers in more than 110 countries. Generating approximately 93 per cent of its sales through exports, the company is a major contributor to Canada’s global media-technology presence and is leveraging the Ottawa-to-Cornwall corridor’s deep engineering talent pool, research strength, integrated manufacturing supply chains and digital media network to support its growth.

“Ontario has been an important part of Ross Video’s growth and innovation story for decades,” said Troy English, Ross Video chief technology officer and senior vice president. “This investment will help accelerate the next generation of Ultrix with expanded AI-enabled capabilities, greater flexibility, and increased processing performance, while continuing to invest in Ontario talent, innovation, and manufacturing.”

Ross Video says the project reflects long-term confidence in Ontario as a place where advanced technology companies can continue to innovate, compete globally, and create meaningful opportunities while remaining rooted in Canadian communities.

Ultrix has become a core platform for broadcasters and live production teams by consolidating multiple traditionally separate media processing functions into a single software-defined system. The next phase of development is focused on helping customers simplify increasingly complex production environments while supporting emerging requirements around AI, cloud integration, and distributed workflows.

“Ross Video represents the kind of Ontario innovation that competes and succeeds on a global stage,” said Khawar Nasim, CEO of Invest Ontario. “Through the Invest Ontario Fund, we are proud to support the company’s continued growth and the advancement of leading-edge media technology being developed and manufactured here in Ontario.”

In announcing the expansion, Ross Video also highlighted the strength of Ontario’s broader technology ecosystem, including skilled talent, post-secondary institutions, government partners, and industry networks that continue to support innovation and advanced manufacturing across the province.

“What’s exciting about this project is the opportunity to continue building for the future while staying rooted in Ontario,” added English. “We’re looking forward to continuing to work with partners across the province as we grow our capabilities and continue developing world-class technology here at home.”

Ross Video’s Ontario operations bring together engineering, software development, and advanced manufacturing capabilities that support customers in more than 110 countries worldwide.

For more information about Ross Video, visit its website.

LAS VEGAS—Ross Video CEO David Ross kicked off 2026 NAB Show with an opening keynote that unveiled a broad portfolio of innovations designed to simplify workflows, increase flexibility, and enable high-impact live production across broadcast, sports, corporate, and live event environments.

Building on advances in routing, cloud, and audio, Ross demonstrated how its unified technology stack continues to evolve into a fully integrated, end-to-end production ecosystem.

During the keynote, Ross also highlighted the launch of Indigo, a new unified platform for video production workflows, ingest, editing, workflow automation, asset management, editorial and playout.

“The way audiences consume content keeps changing, not once in a decade, not once every few years,” Ross said during the keynote. “Constantly you're being asked to move faster, to create for more platforms, to do more with fewer resources, and to adapt without rebuilding everything you've already invested. We've spent a lot of time listening to customers about that challenge, about the friction of disconnected tools, about the need for workflows that are simpler, faster and more flexible. At Ross we believe the answer isn't just another tool, a better foundation, more connected way to create, manage and deliver content.”

That foundation, he added, is Indigo.

Indigo provides a browser-based platform for fast-turn, digital-first content production and is designed to simplify ingest, playout, and transcode with scalable, all-in-one systems.

“This powerful enterprise software represents an exciting new chapter for Ross,” he said. “Indigo is a pivotal product at a pivotal time in our industry.”

In addition, Ross highlighted significant advancements in infrastructure and control:

• NRG delivers next-generation SDI routing with UHD support and optional software multiviewer, reducing system complexity and cost
• Ultricore BCS NDI Control enables seamless discovery and control of NDI alongside SDI and ST 2110 workflows
• Ultricore-SVR provides high-performance, enterprise-grade routing control in a compact form factor
• ULTRIX-MOD-JXS extends ST 2110 connectivity across bandwidth-constrained environments
• UltriGPI bridges legacy GPI systems with modern IP workflows
• Ultrix Flexible Licensing and Ultriformat improve efficiency with dynamic resource allocation and built-in signal conversion
• openGear continues to offer a trusted, open ecosystem with expanded 12G SDI capabilities

Ross also continues to redefine live production switching:

• TouchDrive 5 introduces a powerful new control surface with expanded access and customization
• Carbonite HyperMax delivers scalable production with flexible licensing and resource sharing
• Carbonite Code Solo makes professional switching accessible through a software-based, NDI-native solution

Ross showcased tools that elevate visual storytelling:

• XPression enhances real-time graphics creation with browser-based monitoring and previsualization tools
• XPression.cloud enables scalable, on-demand graphics for live sports and events
• Ross Virtual Solutions (Voyager) leverages Unreal Engine for photorealistic virtual production
• PIERO brings AI-powered sports analysis and telestration
• Raiden streamlines weather storytelling with integrated newsroom workflows

Ross outlined a number of innovations in the area of camera movement and control:

• SmartShell v8.1 introduces real-time robotic visualization for improved studio awareness
• spidercam delivers cinematic aerial coverage across venues and environments
• X650 PT Head supports higher payloads with modernized control and AR/VS tracking
• Canon PTZ integration brings premium UHD imaging into Ross workflows with automation and AI tracking

Other new improvements and solutions included:

• Rio Replay delivers intuitive, operator-driven replay workflows with reliable, high-performance operation
• Lama Mix delivers professional-grade audio mixing in a flexible software environment
• Lama Connect enables seamless routing and protocol conversion across IP and cloud workflows
• Lama AutoMix uses AI-driven processing for consistent, high-quality speech mixes
• AudioEdge bridges traditional and IP audio systems with unified control
• OverDrive expands accessibility with new Studio and Omni tiers
• Quorum simplifies integration of remote contributors into live productions
• Quorum One offers an all-in-one production system for modern communication environments
• Ross Platform Manager (RPM) enhances operational control with centralized logging, analytics, and remote management

For more information, visit Ross Video at 2026 NAB Show 2026 in the North Hall at booth #N2005, or online at: https://www.rossvideo.com/go/events/nab-2026/

The intersection of Wall and Broad Streets in Lower Manhattan has seen its share of memorable events over the years at the New York Stock Exchange.

Whether it was the first time more than 1 million shares were traded in a single day 131 years ago, the Great Crash of 1929, the installation of the bronze Charging Bull sculpture two blocks south of the exchange in 1989, or simply the trading floor where traders and market makers each weekday transact, the exchange occupies a special place in the psyche of the nation.

Less public but equally noteworthy to NYSE insiders is the exchange’s recent completion of three new video production control rooms to support financial journalists and news organizations reporting on the exchange as well as to meet its own video requirements, ranging from coverage of opening and closing bell ceremonies, corporate announcements and interviews with business leaders to producing its own one-hour “NYSE Live” show streamed weekdays from the exchange via its website, the NYSE app and other streaming platforms.

Ian Wolff, director of Broadcast & AV Operations at the exchange, long dreamed of expanding the NYSE’s video production technology. So, when the exchange approved a major upgrade in 2023, Wolff was more than ready.

“It was time to do a full infrastructure upgrade,” said Wolff. “There were times we were doing three events at once in a control room designed to do one event. I wanted three control rooms that had the same exact gear and management said, ‘OK, go for it.’”

“We replaced every piece of equipment that dealt with the New York Stock Exchange control room. We went from pretty much one and a half control rooms to three control rooms.”

Before the project began, the NYSE production team was using the Ross Video XPression broadcast graphics solution and saw it could more fully leverage the system if it moved away from its existing production switcher to the Ross Video Carbonite.

“We realized that once the XPression and the Carbonite got together with RossTalk, it was a lot easier for the two of them to communicate to each other,” explained Wolff. “If we wanted to have a whoosh or something from the XPression, we could trigger it on the Ross Carbonite with ease.”

When management authorized Wolff to upgrade its video infrastructure and production control rooms, that level of seamless integration made it easy for Wolff to select Ross Video, he said.

CTI, a Ross Video Diamond systems integrator, assisted Wolff and the NYSE with the design of the rooms as well as installation and integration of the production control room technology. “CTI made me feel like I was part of the team and always treated me with respect,” said Wolff.

A large part of creating that rapport was CTI’s willingness to sit with Wolff and the production team, observe what they used to do, how they did it and ultimately bring in the new technology that met today’s production requirements, he said.

The centerpiece of each new control room is a Ross Video TouchDrive control panel controlling its own Ross Video Carbonite switcher. The main control room uses a Ross Carbonite Ultra 60 3 ME advanced production switcher, while the other two control rooms are each outfitted with their own Carbonite Ultra 24 3 ME switchers. The installation also relies upon a variety of Ross Video openGear modular cards to support various signal processing tasks, as well as Ross Video Tally Control.

The NYSE also deployed Ross Video XPression with support for real-time data to power broadcast graphics generation in each control room. Having the ability to import real-time data into XPression is critical to much of what the NYSE produces as the constantly changing stream of price ticker data drives the on-screen presentation of ticker crawls that many viewers tune in to see.

Production Workflow

Production control room workflows at the NYSE are essentially identical to those that drive most TV newscasts and other live shows. Typically, about 10 production personnel are required in the control room. From directors and floor producers to camera operators and teleprompter, also included are playback and show producer.

The NYSE house production format is 1080p 60. However, Wolff’s production team hands off 1080i HD to journalists, broadcasters and outside production houses that frequently rely upon the exchange for video. The exchange uses Ross Video openGear processing modules to convert from the house production format to 1080i.

In October 2025, the NYSE began using the last of its three new production control rooms to come online. Having three rooms available has proven to be a blessing due to the increasing volume of live production done daily at the exchange. Rather than having to double or triple up simultaneous productions in a single control room, NYSE is well-equipped to handle multiple live productions at the same time.

For the foreseeable future, the NYSE production control room buildout will continue to support a mix of HD-SDI 1080p baseband signals as well as a limited number of NDI IP video sources. While 4K isn’t on the table at the moment, Wolff and CTI worked together when designing the control rooms to be prepared for 4K/UHD. “We’re ready for 4K if somebody says the world is going 12G and everybody needs it,” said Wolff.

“I think we’ve futureproofed this house as much as we can. If management says, “We want you to start going 4K, we have the gear and the capability to do it.”

Looking back on the project, Wolff expressed a great deal of satisfaction with and an appreciation for the willingness of both Ross Video and CTI to address any issue that came up during the buildout.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of different manufacturers, and I’m not saying they don’t have good support, but Ross is at the top right now—just from what they gave us anytime we needed help. Even after the buildout, when we have questions for them, they are very responsive. They treat us like family,” said Wolff.

OTTAWA—During the 2026 NAB Show, Ross Video will highlight its support for the Media eXchange Layer (MXL) initiative and the Joint Taskforce on Dynamic Media Facilities (JT-DMF) through interoperability demonstrations and technology previews.

The Dynamic Media Facility (DMF) is an emerging architecture designed to make media systems more flexible, scalable, and interoperable by separating media processing into modular “functions” that can be dynamically deployed and connected across on-premises and cloud environments.

MXL (Media eXchange Layer) is the transport layer within DMF, providing a standardized way to move media between functions using shared memory rather than traditional streaming. This enables efficient, reliable interoperability between vendors while reducing processing overhead and avoiding vendor lock in.

At NAB, Ross will participate in an 11-vendor MXL interoperability demonstration hosted by AWS, while also showcasing software-based, containerized workflow control at its booth using RPM and DashBoard via the Catena control plane. Ross has also proposed a Security Workgroup within the JT-DMF, with several prominent partner companies already engaged.

The MXL interoperability and DMF-based workflow demonstrations will take place at the AWS Booth (West Hall, Booth W1701) and Ross Video Booth (North Hall, Booth N2005) during the 2026 NAB Show between April 19 and 22.

During the 2026 NAB Show, Dejero and other exhibitors have announced that they will be offering a “Field to Air” demo bringing together a full end-to-end live production chain across multiple booths on the show floor.

The participants stressed that the “Field to Air” effort will not be a staged demo, but as real, continuous signal paths operating in real time between the partners’ stands.

The demonstration brings together Clear-Com, Eutelsat, GlobalM, Matrox Video, and Ross Video alongside Dejero in a live demo that runs across multiple booths on the NAB show floor.

From field capture to air, every link in the production chain will operate in real time over TITAN Command–featuring three independent 5G modems, integrated antennas and Dejero Smart Blending Technology, combining cellular and Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO constellation into a resilient and reliable network.

“This isn’t a canned demo. It is a live proof of concept showing the broadcast industry what happens when the world’s most reliable connectivity meets the world’s best production technology,” said Michael Stanton, director of sales for the Americas at Dejero. “Field to Air brings together partners that broadcasters already trust, united by one thing: Dejero critical connectivity.”

The workflow combines Dejero’s blended connectivity (cellular + LEO satellite via Eutelsat), live encoding, transport, and downstream production systems, creating a true field to air pipeline that runs live throughout the event. It’s a multi-partner ecosystem designed to show how modern broadcast workflows can be built across distributed infrastructure, rather than relying on fixed, single location systems .

As part of the demo, GlobalM plays a central role in making that architecture work, acting as the multi-point distribution layer within the signal chain.

Using its software-defined video network, GlobalM receives the live contribution feed and distributes it in real time to multiple destinations across the NAB show floor, enabling each partner to integrate the signal into their own workflows simultaneously. This is where the orchestration layer becomes critical at managing routing, scaling, and per-destination delivery without duplicating the source feed. In practice, GlobalM is what turns a single contribution into a fully connected, multi-destination live production environment, tying together the entire ecosystem in a way that reflects how modern broadcast infrastructure is evolving.

The partners describes how it works and the primary workflow as follows:

• Field Capture: Dejero EnGo 3 mobile transmitter captures live video in the field using Live Video + GateWay mode, blending cellular and OneWeb LEO satellite connectivity via Eutelsat.
• Encoding: TITAN Command powers the live feed via Matrox’s REMI kit and Monarch Edge encoder, leveraging SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) at 10 Mbps per stream with a target latency of 200–300 milliseconds.
• Distribution: GlobalM’s software-defined video network (SDVN) serves as the multi-point SRT distribution hub, delivering low-latency and high-resilience feeds simultaneously to multiple partner destinations across the NAB show halls.
• Decoding & Production: Partner booths receive and integrate the live feeds into their own production workflows. Ross Video integrates feeds into its production switcher and core router, while Matrox, Eutelsat, and other partners decode and display and process the live signal at their respective booths.
• Additional workflows include Clear-Com’s tally services running on a separate IP path, as well as an NDI HX demonstration via the Dejero WayPoint Flex platform.

The six partners are multiple booths are:

• Dejero (W2761): TITAN Command and EnGo mobile transmitters provide the critical connectivity backbone for the entire demonstration.
• Eutelsat (W3409 & SL300): OneWeb LEO satellite connectivity integrated via REMI Kit and Monarch Edge encoder, with daily live transmissions from the Eutelsat truck.
• Ross Video (N2005): Integrates Dejero connectivity in its latest production truck built by Gerling and Associates, connecting live feeds via the Ross OSG-8971 SRT gateway to the truck’s core router and production switcher.
• Matrox Video (N2451): Supplies the REMI kit for field encoding and Monarch Edge encoder/decoder for SRT transport, streaming feeds to its booth and to Ross.
• Clear-Com (C5807): Provides return video, and tally services, including the launch of FreeSpeak Cell, a new cellular-based intercom ecosystem.
• GlobalM (W3736): Operates the multi-point SRT distribution hub via its software-defined video network, delivering low-latency and high-resilience feeds to all partner destinations.

“Eutelsat brings a longstanding history of delivering satellite-based broadcasting solutions to customers around the world. Our innovative OneWeb LEO constellation extends video expertise to deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity worldwide,” said Genaro Grajeda, key accounts manager for the Americas at Eutelsat. “Partnering with Dejero at NAB 2026 demonstrates the power of combining satellite and cellular connectivity for mission-critical broadcast production.”

“This is a strong example of how the right partners can come together to solve real production challenges,” said Jeff Moore, executive vice president and CMO, Ross Video. “Everything here is live and connected, and it shows how easily these workflows can come together.”

Throughout NAB 2026, Dejero and Eutelsat will produce live interview sessions streamed to YouTube from the Eutelsat truck, featuring partners, customers, and industry leaders. The live transmission schedule includes:

Sunday, April 19 – Tuesday, April 21: Morning sessions at 11:00 AM PT daily

Monday, April 20 – Tuesday, April 21: Afternoon sessions at 2:00 PM PT

Each session will run 15–30 minutes and feature technically knowledgeable spokespeople from each partner organization, demonstrating the technology in real time and discussing the workflows and partner ecosystem.

NAB 2026 takes place April 19–22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Dejero will be exhibiting at West Hall, Booth 2761. For more information, visit dejero.com/nab-2026..

STAMFORD, Conn.—NBC Sports has announced it has selected Ross Video’s Rocket Surgery RSVP to provide virtual and augmented reality for broadcast services for its production of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics, Feb. 6-22, and March 6-15, respectively.

TV Tech’s coverage of NBC Sports' overall tech plans for the 2026 Winter Games can be found here, here and here.

NBC Sports will utilize Ross Video’s Rocket Surgery RSVP to deliver virtual and augmented reality in its production of the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Rocket Surgery will showcase the combined creative strength of Ross Video, with on-site teams in Milan, Cortina, and Stamford, and deep collaboration with spidercam, helping NBC Sports bring the excitement of the Games in Italy back to viewers in the United States.

“The team at Rocket Surgery has always been there for us on our biggest productions around the world. Regardless of the ask or the timeline, this team delivers with enthusiasm and creativity and technical ability. NBC Olympics has always counted on Ross and the Rocket Surgery team to help us achieve our goals regardless of the venue or the country. We greatly look forward to partnering with them again on the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics,” said Michael Sheehan, coordinating director, NBC Olympics.

Ross Video’s RSVP has worked with NBC Sports for 10 years, assisting NBC Sports’ production efforts at previous Olympics and other major international sports events in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

“We’re thrilled to partner with NBC Sports for the Winter Games and to showcase the combined strength of Rocket Surgery and Spidercam. With teams in Italy and Stamford, we’re ready to deliver next-level AR experiences to audiences everywhere,” said Jim Doyle, vice president of creative services, Ross Video - Rocket Surgery.

DEHLI—Ross Video has announced that it is expanding and restructuring its commercial and technical teams in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region to provide improved customer engagement, and enhanced support.

As the company continues to expand its presence in the area, it said that the new structure addresses growing market demand and provides a clear framework for customer coverage, with streamlined communication, faster engagement, and dedicated support.

More specifically, Ross made the following announcements:

• Bhaskar Majumdar, General Manager for SAARC, will continue to lead the region’s strategic direction and operations.
• Kunal Verma, who has spent the past three years successfully driving sales across the region, will transition into the newly created role of Strategic Account Manager. He will focus on managing strategic accounts as part of a structured handover plan for all major opportunities.
• To reinforce customer coverage and improve responsiveness, Ross Video has appointed two new Regional Sales Managers (RSMs): Detesh Aggarwal – Regional Sales Manager, North & East SAARC; Isha Jain – Regional Sales Manager, South & West SAARC.
• To meet increasing demand for technical guidance and modernization support, Ross Video has strengthened its pre-sales organization in SAARC.
• Rama Krishna has been promoted to Manager, Technical Solutions, where he will lead the regional pre-sales team and oversee the expansion of technical coverage. Under his leadership, Ross Video will continue to grow the Solution Architect function in 2026.
• These investments enable customers to access deeper technical expertise, streamlined solution design, and more consistent technical engagement throughout project discovery and implementation.

“We are seeing tremendous momentum in the SAARC region, and this expansion allows us to stay closely aligned with our customers’ needs,” said Bhaskar Majumdar, General Manager, SAARC. “By adding experienced sales managers, focusing on strategic accounts, and expanding the pre-sales team, we are ensuring that our customers receive the localized attention, expertise, and partnership they deserve. This marks an exciting new chapter for Ross Video in SAARC.”

Ross Video also reported that it remains committed to long-term investment in the region, empowering customers with innovative, scalable, and future-ready live production solutions.

Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has only recently become achievable in software, and has taken a while to begin affecting the high end.

Greg Huttie, vice president of production switchers for Grass Valley, said the company’s designs have long relied on both silicon and code. “Every production switcher we’ve ever put out has software involved in it one way or the other,” Huttie said. “Across the board, I’ve got hardware engineers and software engineers. The world is becoming hybrid.”

Level of Trust
That world, though, interfaces with working practices which change slowly.

“When you talk to a vision mixer or technical director, they’re basically piano players,” Huttie said. “They have a tactile feel. I sat in director’s chairs for many years, and there’s a trust level—even though I’m calling something, my technical director is in my head, lingering on shots he needs to linger on but also knowing the rhythm of the show I’m putting out. They don’t look at the keys.”

That kind of experience, Huttie continued, is increasingly in demand on shows at every scale.

“There is a growing trend where you place yourself further downmarket—not in finished features or functions, but as a smaller piece of that Grass Valley hardware,” he added. “We just delivered 48x24 in a K-Frame XP and won awards at IBC and NAB. We saw that a lot of folks want the power of a production switcher, but they wanted to reduce headcount…going for that single seat.”

Increasingly, software-defined implementations more easily fulfill the demand for a wider range of options, as Huttie explained by reference to Grass Valley’s cloud-integrated Event Producer X with its Maverik X switcher.

“I think a better place for that single seat isn’t really for sports but events, news, corporate,” Huttie said. “Event Producer X couples things together and makes it less burdensome on body count, though we’re not advocating that you reduce your body count.”

A Connected World
Software definition has implications that reach further than feature set or scalability, according to Deon LeCointe, director of networked solutions at Sony.

“Everything we build now has to have some connectivity involved,” he said. “They have to be not only hardware for on-prem, they have to be software for cloud, SDI and IP.”

Even the comparatively recent move toward IP, though, faces unexpected pressures. “The prevailing logic is that if you’re building a new facility, or renovating, you have to take a hard look at implementing IP,” LeCointe said. “Three years ago, I would have said that the question still comes to mind.”

That idea, though, might no longer quite be universal. “When the pandemic happened, REMI became required for day-to-day operations, and it accelerated the conversation around IP tech moving toward cloud tech,” LeCointe said. “People were saying, ‘Can we skip IP and go to the cloud?’”

The answer, he said, was often no, not least because of the media industry’s uneasy relationship with metered-data exit fees. “Cost was a pretty big roadblock,” he said. “Then, the challenge of not having all your live production elements in the cloud—replay, graphics switcher elements, video shading—that just hadn’t gotten there yet.”

Given the interaction of so many complex technological considerations, LeCointe emphasized, Sony has kept things flexible.

“We opt for more of a customer choice philosophy,” he said. “M2L-X is our software-based switching platform, which can be deployed on the public cloud or on a COTS [commercial off-the-shelf] server. We’re not trying to delve into the minefield about where customers want to deploy.”

Back to Prem
A combined interest in quick, flexible scalability and cloud as a choice rather than a requirement, then, seems like the mood of the moment, according to Satoshi Kanemura, president and chief operating officer of For-A America.

“Everyone likes a 100-input big switcher, and that’s driven mostly by the technical director’s opinion,” Kanemura said. “Nowadays, what they’ve found is that sort of big event is once or twice in a year, but most operations need 20 to 30 inputs with 2 ME.”

Doing that the old way takes effort, Kanemura said. “When they increase or reduce the system, adding hardware, rewiring, recabling…they have to manage such a change,” he said. “So, software-defined is becoming a very big buzzword. One or two years ago, many people jumped into the cloud: ‘Cloud’s going to solve everything, it’s easy to increase or decrease the operation.’ What they found was that…even if they shrink the application, still using the cloud, that charge is coming every month.

“Now they’re coming back to the on-premise solutions,” Kanemura continued. “People who can’t afford a big switcher with 100 inputs can go toward software-defined. For-A Impulse can do anything a customer wants—switcher, multiview, frame sync or you can put only multiview into the server and that can be shared into the three rooms. Then, the next day, you can change it to all HDR-SDR conversion parts.”

For-A’s market position in Japan has granted it a unique position with regard to AI and the vexed issue of training data. “Now [that] cable revenue is down, most broadcasters are looking for new revenue from streaming,” Kanemura said. “They do the production in a 16:9 format, then want to trim down to 9:16 for cellphones. You can crop using AI to track the main player into the center of that 9:16…it’s that kind of AI engine.”

Making that happen has allowed For-A to leverage its relationship with NTV. “Their engineers and For-A’s got together to collaborate to build the AI,” Kanemura said. “To make a good AI, you have to give more and more data, but most AI in the market is not specified to the broadcast market; it’s more generic data they put in. [But] NTV has 70 years of archives—that AI knows how to cut, zoom, and understands the sort of scene. It’s a more broadcast-friendly AI engine.”

‘Keys to the Kingdom’
With or without AI, running a switcher on a workstation or server raises issues around the sort of real-time responsiveness that users expect. Les O’Reilly, director, switcher product management at Ross Video, described how the company has accommodated that change within an existing product line.

“The Carbonite family has shipped over 12,000 switchers,” O’Reilly said. “Carbonite as an operator user base was massive… and Carbonite Code launched at NAB 2024. It’s a Carbonite switcher, but instead of on an FPGA [field-programmable gate array], it’s running it on a GPU [graphics processing unit], a software-based switcher that can do some things that are different, but it still operates like a Carbonite.”

The bounds of the underlying hardware are necessarily imposed in a rather different way than the input and bus counts of a conventional switcher—though Ross’s experience in graphics has influence here.

“You have processing headroom you will run into in a software switcher,” O’Reilly explained. “In our XPression world, we have a software 3D renderer, all done in the GPU, which has a load meter. It’s showing you that you’re still rendering faster than your frame rate.”

Implementing that in a switcher running on COTS hardware, O’Reilly continued, gives users an easily-understood performance metric. “If you’re at 90%, you’re rendering 10% faster than real time,” he said. “If I see 103%, 104%, it’s telling me I’m not rendering 60 frames per second any more, I’m rendering 57. We give them the keys to the kingdom, let them build their shows and figure out what they can and cannot do.”

O’Reilly’s approach to AI’s role in the future of production switchers is pragmatic.

“I want our industry to introduce practical uses, otherwise the joke is that when a company does its keynote, the Discord group takes a drink every time they mention AI,” O’Reilly joked.

Ross’s approach leans toward making the switcher a directable part of the show itself. “We have a speech analysis tool that allows you to direct your show while talking,” O’Reilly said. “We had it on the floor—you could come up and direct it—ready one, take one, put one on the left split, two on the right—and since then we’ve refined and applied that to other products.”

Despite all this advancement, O’Reilly cautioned, the exigencies of live television have maintained the demand for traditional hardware. However, making changes acceptable to highly experienced users is, as always, a consideration.

“FPGAs keep getting bigger, badder and faster,” he said. “We’re constantly adding features and functionality, and we have to get the operator and the user to come along on the journey. So, yes, we absolutely can’t stay locked in the past, but we have to bridge to the future.”

It’s easy to frame open standards as a noble cause, somewhere between technical utopia and engineering idealism.

But that sells them short. Open standards aren’t just good engineering practice. They’re a smart business practice. Whether you’re a commercial network, a sports broadcaster or a national public service, the value of openness is measurable in reduced cost, increased agility and decreased risk. And if you’ve ever tried to scale a live-production operation across hybrid cloud and on-prem systems, you already know how valuable that can be.

Open Standards=Business Flexibility
We all know the pain of vendor lock-in. You commit to one supplier, only to discover months later that you’re boxed in—technically and contractually. Want to integrate a new tool from another vendor? Good luck. Want to move parts of your workflow to the cloud? Not so fast.

That’s where open standards come in. They provide the connective tissue—a shared language across devices and systems—so you can evolve your operation without rebuilding from scratch every time. Best-of-breed only works if systems can talk to each other. Standards make that possible.

Your Competitive Edge Depends on Interoperability
The future isn’t monolithic. It’s modular. And modularity only works with interoperability. Without standards, the time, cost and complexity of stitching together those workflows become the bottleneck. That kills agility, and with it, competitive edge.

That’s why we’re seeing growing demand not just for transport-layer standards like SMPTE ST 2110, but now also for control-plane standards like the new SMPTE ST 2138 (also known as Catena).

Customers are the Real Drivers of Standards
One of the biggest misconceptions is that standards come from vendors pushing their own agendas. In reality, the most successful standards are dragged into existence through customer pressure.

SMPTE ST 2110 didn’t win because it was elegant on paper. It won because major broadcasters and sports networks demanded a unified approach to IP video transport. They didn’t want 10 different IP protocols. They wanted one standard. They told vendors: “Get on board or we won’t buy.” That same customer-driven energy is behind Catena.

Why SMPTE ST 2138 Matters
Catena is a new open standard that simplifies control and monitoring across multivendor environments—cloud, on-prem, or hybrid. If ST 2110 solved how to move media, Catena tackles how to configure and control the infrastructure behind it.

It’s being built with real-world use cases in mind, co-developed by broadcasters, vendors and organizations like IABM. And it’s being launched through SMPTE’s Public CD process — a fast-track mechanism to open the spec for public feedback and adoption, without waiting years for full ratification.

We’ve reached the point where we need this to scale. The pain is real, and the time is now. ST 2138 gives us a smarter, more unified way to control our ecosystems.

Why Executives Should Care
Here’s what open standards actually mean for your business:

• Lower integration costs: Less custom engineering=faster deployments.
• Reduced risk: You’re not beholden to a single vendor’s roadmap.
• Greater agility: Spin up new capabilities, scale globally, migrate to cloud—on your terms.
• Talent retention: Engineers prefer open tools and transparent ecosystems.
• Strategic leverage: You negotiate with vendors from a position of choice, not desperation.

In other words, this isn’t an abstract technical debate. It’s a bottom-line issue

The bottom line—open standards aren’t about a live-production industry kumbaya. They’re about keeping your options open in an industry defined by constant change. They’re how you scale with confidence; how you avoid being stuck with yesterday’s infrastructure; how you get to market faster, operate leaner and innovate on your timeline, not someone else’s. In live production, agility is strategy. And open standards are how we enable it.

Want to Help Shape the Future of Control?
If this resonates with you, now’s the time to get involved. ST 2138 (Catena) is entering public consultation, and your feedback could make all the difference.

If you want control standards that truly support your infrastructure, now’s the time to get involved. Click here to review the draft and join the conversation.

With the dust now settled on IBC2025, TV Tech sister brand TVBEurope took the time this week to reflect on the biggest talking points and trends of the show in a special webinar.

The panel, Larissa Görner-Meeus, managing director at LaraMedia, Caretta Research co-founder Robert Ambrose, and Simon Hawkings, director of sales strategy and business acceleration at Ross Video, discussed multiple topics, including the Media eXchange Layer, cloud adoption, live production and the future of the industry.

One of the biggest talking points of the show was FinOps. “Finance has always been on the table when we were buying something. But now finance is a very central discussion that you have in any purchase or in any solution purchase,” explained Görner-Meeus.

“In this software-defined world that we’re moving so fast into, there are just new skills that we need and new disciplines that we need,” agreed Ambrose. “License management is one that comes up all the time in this world where we have all of this flexibility and floating licenses.”

This led the panel on to discussing the cloud, not a new talking point, but Ambrose told the audience he feels the industry is moving to a more pragmatic approach.

“There was a little while where everybody was cloud, cloud, cloud at all costs,” he explained. Now there’s much more focus on using the cloud where it makes sense. And, of course, it makes sense for lots of things. There’s a whole range of use cases where the cloud is superb. At the same time, there’s a lot of live production and broadcasting workflows, which are pretty constant workloads, and where that and cost and latency all make it much more sensible to just have it running on-prem on cheap servers. And I think, exactly what we’re seeing.”

“Maybe that’s another example of FinOps,” said Ambrose. “It’s understanding how to access the resources that you need and where’s the most economical place to have them.”

Hawkings agreed with Ambrose’s point, citing conversations at the show around the use of private cloud and customers building their own data centres in order to protect both costs and security.

“The move to software does not necessarily mean public cloud. It could end up looking in a way quite similar to how things are today, a room full of boxes with flashing lights doing things. But they’re running software. They’re not running FPGAs and hardware.”

The panel shared their overall thoughts from the show, with all three agreeing that they feel that in 2025, the pace of change in the industry is starting to increase. “It feels like we’ve got so much to talk about now in the way the industry is changing,” stated Ambrose.

“But we do always need to be careful, and this is always the danger of IBCs, that we can get caught up in the bubble. I think it’s always crucial to step back. We love new tech and love looking at the latest shiniest thing, but always step back and say, well, how is that going to change what we do for the better? How do we use it for real? Is this just a bubble, or is this something that is going make a change?

“That’s always a crucial question to ask after any of the big events.”

The full webinar is now available to watch on-demand here.

OTTAWA—Ross Video has acquired LAMA, a Dutch-based developer of advanced audio production software known for its innovative live mixing solutions. The acquisition significantly strengthens Ross Video’s audio solution set and core audio technology, while bringing in a highly experienced team in audio-focused solutions, the company said.

“We are excited to welcome the LAMA team to Ross,” said Jeff Moore, Executive Vice-President & Chief Marketing Officer of Ross Video. “Ross Video has built its legacy on giving our customers everything they need to connect with their audiences. This acquisition extends our audio capabilities, both on-premises and in the cloud.”

LAMA’s software is designed to streamline live audio workflows, whether operated by seasoned audio engineers or streaming content creators. Built for speed, flexibility, and integration, it supports use cases ranging from live broadcasts and esports to corporate events and streaming. Its features address connectivity, mixing, and mix automation with a modern, software-defined approach.

Proven in real-world use, LAMA powered Eurosport’s Olympic Games Paris 2024 and enabled SK Gaming to simplify esports audio with NDI integration.

“LAMA was built to challenge the traditional complexities of live audio,” said Ewan Cameron, Co-founder and CCO of LAMA. “Joining Ross Video allows us to keep innovating while expanding access to our technology through a trusted global brand.”

With LAMA, Ross customers will gain access to fully integrated audio mixing tools that complement their existing video workflows, removing silos and streamlining production, according to the company.

“We’re always listening to our customers, and they kept telling us how impressed they were with LAMA’s intuitive approach to audio mixing,” said Nigel Spratling, Vice President of Production Switchers at Ross Video. “When we took a closer look, it was clear LAMA had built something truly special: technology that’s modern, efficient, and aligned with the needs of today’s operators.”

LAMA’s software will be on display at the Ross Video booth 8.B91 during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam.

Modern newsrooms are under pressure to deliver compelling content in an increasingly competitive media environment. Viewers expect more than just accurate reporting—they want visually engaging stories that keep them watching. Traditional, static graphics fall short of meeting these demands, leaving newsrooms struggling to capture attention, maintain retention, and stand out.

To overcome these challenges, Ross Video offers a comprehensive graphics suite tailored for modern newsrooms. Combining powerful tools like XPression, Voyager, and Datalinq, the suite empowers broadcasters to deliver captivating, data-driven visuals with unmatched efficiency.

Static graphics limit engagement

Newsrooms face several key challenges when it comes to engaging their audiences with graphics:

1. Lack of viewer engagement

Static, linear graphics are often clear but fail to excite or immerse viewers deeper into a storyline, leading to reduced attention spans and lower retention.

2. Limited workflow efficiency

Integrating advanced graphics such as virtual sets, touchscreens, and data-driven visuals can be cumbersome without the right tools and can slow down production teams during live broadcasts.

3. Adapting to diverse formats

Newsrooms need graphics that can seamlessly transition across platforms and formats, from traditional broadcast screens to AR and virtual environments, without creating technical bottlenecks.

Ross Video’s graphics suite

Ross Video’s graphics suite redefines what’s possible in newsroom visual storytelling. By combining cutting-edge technology with user-friendly workflows, the suite enables broadcasters to create captivating visuals without compromising efficiency.

Dynamic visual storytelling:

Tools like XPression and Voyager enable newsrooms to craft immersive visuals for LED displays, on-set monitors, touchscreens, and augmented reality or virtual sets. Imagine election night coverage where an anchor interacts with real-time vote tallies or weather forecasts enhanced by dynamic 3D animations. With XPression Tessera, broadcasters bring dynamic storytelling to life by scaling graphics seamlessly across multiple screens, from video walls to on-set monitors. Its streamlined workflow—from design to MOS-driven playout—enables teams to deliver visually impactful, story-centric content with unmatched efficiency.

Real-time data integration

Datalinq, Ross Video’s powerful and unified data integration tool, connects your newsroom to live data sources across the entire suite of Ross Graphics solutions, such as election results and financial updates. This ensures that graphics are always up-to-date, accurate, and delivered in real-time, critical for maintaining audience trust during fast-paced news cycles.

For example, broadcasters can display real-time vote counts across interactive maps during election night, ensuring viewers stay informed and engaged.

For weather data, Ross Video’s Raiden integration is a specialized solution designed to enhance broadcasts with visually rich and precise weather graphics. Raiden is accessible through a web-based UI that can be used anywhere and has full MOS integration for seamless newsroom workflows.

Keep Reading: Discover how Raiden has Transformed Weather Coverage Workflows with RÚV

Simplified workflows for complex graphics

Ross Video’s graphics suite is designed to simplify even the most complex production workflows, providing a unified platform to create, manage, and control all graphics systems seamlessly. With the single MOS plugin, broadcasters gain unparalleled efficiency by controlling virtual sets, video displays, linear graphics, maps, and weather graphics—all from one interface and gateway.

This level of integration is a game-changer, reducing complexity while enabling teams to deliver high-impact visuals with ease. Tools like XPression Maps/Maps Touch and XPression Touch Factory further enhance this capability, allowing on-air talent to interact directly with graphics and create a more engaging viewer experience—all without adding burdens to production teams.

Scalable and future-proof solutions

Ross Video’s suite is built to adapt to the changing needs of newsrooms. Whether you’re integrating virtual sets with Voyager or expanding your capabilities for new platforms, the graphics suite scales effortlessly, ensuring your newsroom remains competitive in a rapidly changing media landscape.

What sets Ross Video apart

1. Unified Data Connectivity: The Datalinq plugin connects all devices to deliver real-time, data-driven graphics seamlessly.
2. Advanced graphics capabilities: Ross Video provides the tools to create captivating visuals, from AR and virtual sets to dynamic video walls. Video walls are now essential for modern broadcasts, enabling impactful standups with engaging, branded content. By integrating video walls, AR, XR, and insert graphics into the same platform with MOS workflows, Ross Video ensures seamless branding and streamlined operation, simplifying production while maintaining visual consistency.
3. Streamlined workflows: The single MOS plugin ensures easy operation across the entire graphics suite, reducing complexity, training time and costs.
4. Innovative weather integration: Features like Raiden weather integration empower broadcasters to enhance their weather coverage with visually stunning, easily customizable, data-rich graphics. With the ability to create and deliver weather graphics from anywhere in the world and seamless MOS workflow integration, Raiden streamlines production while maintaining flexibility. This unique combination ensures broadcasters can easily deliver impactful, real-time weather updates, no matter where their weather teams are located.

Real-world success stories

Broadcasters worldwide trust Ross Video’s graphics suite to elevate their newsroom operations:

• Election night coverage: A leading broadcaster used XPression and Voyager to create real-time, interactive election maps that displayed live vote counts and historical comparisons, keeping viewers engaged throughout the night.

• Weather reporting: By integrating Raiden weather with XPression, broadcasters transformed their weather segments with dynamic, 3D visuals, showcasing storm trajectories and rainfall predictions in ways that captivated audiences.
• Captivating storytelling: Ross Video’s XPression Tessera powers video walls with dynamic, story-centric visuals for breaking news updates, live interviews, and interactive storytelling. Whether showcasing real-time market fluctuations or presenting a timeline of unfolding events, XPression Tessera simplifies operations while delivering a polished, professional look that captivates audiences.
• Public health and crisis reporting: For public health crises or large-scale emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Ross Video’s Datalinq plugin integrates live data feeds directly into graphics. From tracking infection rates to visualizing vaccine distribution, these tools provide audiences with accurate, real-time updates in a visually compelling format, fostering trust and understanding during critical moments.

Transform your newsroom graphics

Boost viewer engagement: Dynamic, interactive visuals capture attention and keep viewers watching longer, increasing audience retention and loyalty.

Streamline newsroom workflows: Simplified integration and operation free up production teams to focus on storytelling, not troubleshooting or specialized content creation.

Future-proof your broadcasts: Scalable solutions ensure that your newsroom can adapt to new technologies, formats, and audience expectations.

Next Steps: Elevate your newsroom today

Ross Video’s graphics suite offers the tools, integrations, and support you need to transform your newsroom’s visual storytelling. From live data integration to dynamic visual effects, our solutions ensure your broadcasts captivate and inform.

July 19 marked one year since what has been described as “the largest IT outage in history” when cybersecurity company CrowdStrike updated its software that led to roughly 8.5 million systems crashing and refusing to properly restart.

A number of broadcasters were significantly impacted by the outage, including the U.K.’s Sky News and Sky Sports News. Sky News went off-air for parts of the morning on July 19, 2024, before returning with a much-changed backdrop, no graphics, autocue or packages.

In the United States, station group E.W. Scripps Co. told TV Tech that a strategy put in place over the past 10 years was able to quickly muster technical resources and identify and correct issues when they arose.

To mark one year since the outage, TV Tech and sister brand TVBEurope asked key media figures if they believe the industry has taken sufficient steps since then to prevent similar disruptions in the future.

Tim Claman, chief technology officer, Avid
One of the big learnings from that outage was that security strategies need to be more proactive and adaptive, rather than just responding to incidents after the fact. Since the outage, we have seen wider adoption of strategies that combine prevention and resilience methods.

Customers are bolstering traditional detection methods (like antivirus, EDR) with technologies that more dynamically identify potential threats, including AI-based monitoring, zero-trust models, dynamic policy management and more rigorous update testing, to help prevent and minimize impact from security incidents like we saw last year. While a lot of the technologies and approaches (CNAPP, IAM, EDR, Endpoint Isolation, Zero Trust, etc.) are not new, they are now being used more intelligently in combination with operational best practices to reduce risk.

Beyond the technological improvements and the evolution of best practices, we have seen a shift in mindset. The outage was a wake-up call for our customers, as well as for the vendor community. Media enterprises realize that they need to own their own destiny on security, rather than trusting security vendors, so they are more proactively managing their security strategies and practices. As a technology vendor, Avid is receiving more detailed and thorough security questions and requirements in RFPs, a reflection of our customers’ more intensive approach to security strategy.

Rowan de Pomerai, CEO, DPP
I think it’s probably fair to say that no, not enough focus has been given. There’s been a huge amount of business transformation and disruption, and AI has taken so much of the technical limelight, so it’s been easy to lose focus on concerns like security.

But perhaps AI could be the solution as much as the problem: contributors to the “DPP 2025 Predictions” said that “security concerns will go beyond human scale” as the capability to keep up with ever-changing threat vectors will become so complex that AI and other automation tools become essential.

Our “State of Media Technology Security” report also exposed a gulf between customers and vendors when it came to their assessment of the security of modern media technology tools. Clearly, there is more collaboration needed as we move forward.

Neil Maycock, TVBEurope contributor and business adviser
I think the CrowdStrike incident really highlighted that trying to protect against the ever evolving threats in cyber security carries its own risks, and the fact that major operations were so severely impacted is a testament to that. These were companies who take security very seriously and will have had extensive protocols in place to keep systems safely up to date, and yet an unforeseen scenario had devastating consequences. Therefore, to answer the question have sufficient steps been taken to prevent a repeat, I think the answer is of course industry will have protected itself from another CrowdStrike, but the real question is it ever possible to anticipate all possible scenarios?

Cybersecurity is a classic risk management exercise, where risk must be balanced against cost, both financial and operational impact. If we lock our systems down to the extent it compromises the ability of our organisation to operate, then the cost may outweigh the potential risks. Quantifying the risk and cost impact is a massive challenge, and one that is getting harder all the time. We frequently talk about the impact of AI in the media industry, but across all sectors AI is now being leveraged to implement ever more sophisticated cyber-attacks. For example, AI’s ability to impersonate key personnel, or create very specific personalised phishing attacks is creating new challenges.

Ensuring companies are adequately protected is an unenviable challenge.

Karl Paulsen, TV Tech contributor and retired CTO
I suspect this won’t be the last time we see something like this happen when there are so many moving parts in a single system. With Windows 10 support evaporating, much of the base software for users will be shifted and everybody and their dog will be wondering how to address a significant change in their hardware and software (including third-party support).

Impacts on multi-cloud will need to be managed, and it is still unclear what “AI” is going to do to everyone’s architectures. Errors are still likely to occur and an overload of systems management is a potential liability.

Dan Pisarski, chief technology officer, LiveU
The notorious CrowdStrike outage in 2024 taught an important lesson about shared vulnerabilities: you could have an entire, physically diverse set of servers and workstations—even in a building designed to withstand disasters (what if a meteor falls on the building, after all?)—but if every one of those servers runs CrowdStrike, you’re still at risk. This event has put real pressure on media organisations to rethink what disaster recovery looks like, especially when it comes to intentionally building diversity into Disaster Recovery (DR) plans.

Is your primary production on-prem? Then your DR should be in the cloud. Is your playout path based on a local fibre run? Then your DR plan should use wireless. The goal is simple: if something happens that wipes out an entire class of options (as the CrowdStrike incident did to Windows PCs and servers), you need a diverse DR plan that can avoid the fate that takes down not just one component, but an entire class of your mission-critical systems.

Cloud-based production platforms provide a diverse form of backup to hardware-based production solutions running Windows. If there is another day when “all Windows PCs don’t work in the world”, then you have a backup plan. The cloud solution does not require integration with Windows, and while it is not an exact match 1:1 of features of a hardware-based solution, that matters less when it is becomes the primary solution in a disaster recovery scenario.

This kind of built-in diversity applies at both small and large scales. At the small scale, for example, your bonded-cellular active/active wireless transmissions should use multiple carriers—not just for performance, but also “just in case” one carrier experiences a localized or nationwide outage (it’s happened!). On a much larger scale, diversity might mean having an elastically scalable cloud production service ready to go, even if you “usually” rely on on-prem production.

For more than 60 years, Austin PBS has been a central part of the cultural fabric of Central Texas, bringing powerful storytelling, trusted journalism and shows like Austin City Limits into homes across the region. As broadcast standards advanced and audience expectations changed, though, Austin PBS realized the station’s infrastructure needed more than a technical upgrade. They needed a transformation.

That vision took shape as the Austin Media Center: A bold, multimillion-dollar facility purpose-built to serve as a production hub, community resource and training ground for tomorrow’s media makers.

The Challenge: A Big Vision
The new Austin Media Center was designed to do it all: support multi-studio broadcasts, enable remote productions, host concerts and community events and give students hands-on experience in real-world broadcast workflows.

The new facility would include three studios, three control rooms, a centralized machine room and a fully integrated postproduction environment. But turning that dream into reality meant navigating more than just blueprints. There were real hurdles—pandemic delays, equipment shortages, and even a brutal Texas freeze that caused significant flood damage to newly installed gear.

Austin PBS tackled it all with the right partners by their side: Key Code Media as the lead systems integrator to guide the technical vision and Ross Video and other vendors to bring the puzzle together—one cable, console and control room at a time.

Ross Video: Tech That Plays Nice
Ross Video didn’t just provide gear—we brought a whole philosophy to the table. Reliable, powerful tools that connect easily to other devices.

Ross equipment played a central role in live production, graphics and media playback, working alongside systems from Clear-Com, Evertz, Sony, Telestream, Adder and Calrec to create a unified, high-performance environment.

But what really stood out was how easily it integrated with other key technologies—everything clicked into place.

Ross gear in action at Austin PBS:

• Carbonite Ultra switchers that power live shows from any studio.
• XPression graphics systems for real-time visuals.
• Tria Express Duet media servers that handle playback like a dream.

“Ross products gave us power and flexibility. Even more impressive was how well they integrated with everything else—making our system feel like one seamless environment.”
—Chris Ostertag, CTO, Austin PBS

The Impact

Key Code Media: More Than Integration—True Collaboration
Key Code Media was more than a technical lead. From day one, they were a true collaborator. From the start, their team worked hand-in-hand with Austin PBS—troubleshooting setbacks, mapping out signal flow and guiding every piece of the project with precision and care. When the flood hit, they rolled up their sleeves and reinstalled over 100 miles of cabling without missing a beat.

Beyond the physical build, Key Code Media made sure the PBS team—and their education partners at Austin Community College—knew how to run the show. Training, support, and teamwork were part of the package.

“Key Code Media didn’t just deliver specs; they stood side by side with us every step of the way. Without them, this facility would not be what it is today.”

— Chris Ostertag, CTO, Austin PBS

Inside the Austin Media Center: Technology That Tells Stories

Production Control & Backbone

• Three switchable control rooms that can manage any studio.
• Clear-Com intercoms, Adder KVMs, Evertz routers, and Telestream monitors.
• A machine room designed for power, redundancy, and remote control.

Studio Magic

• Studio A: A 6,600-square-foot venue for concerts, audience shows, and big moments
• Studio B: A 2,200-square-foot green screen space made for education and virtual sets.
• Studio C: A cozy 1,800 square-foot home for community programming.
• MT Fiber links all three studios for quick reconfiguration and camera swaps.
• Full UHD HDR workflows with Sony cameras, Calrec and DiGiCo audio consoles and professional lighting rigs.

Postproduction, Leveled Up

• Adobe Premiere Pro editing, backed by a 1-PB Facilis storage system.
• Avid Pro Tools with S4 console for immersive 5.1 audio mixes.
• Telestream Vantage for file-based workflows and CatDV for media asset management.

The Big Picture: What This Means for Public Media
The new Austin Media Center does more than produce great content. It empowers Austin PBS to take on bigger, more ambitious projects, collaborate with partners in education and culture and bring new voices and stories to life.

Austin PBS has built more than a studio—it’s created a community hub, a training ground, and a creative canvas for voices that matter. It’s a shining example of what public broadcasters can achieve when they have the right tech—and the right partners behind them.

Broadcasting. Powered by Partnership
When it came time to reinvent its future, Austin PBS didn’t settle. It built something bold—something lasting. Austin PBS had the vision. Key Code Media had the road map. Ross Video and a strong network of technology partners filled in the rest by delivering flexible, well-integrated tech.

Together, they built something bold, resilient and ready for what’s next. And in doing so, they’ve raised the bar. This station is no longer just keeping up. It’s leading the way.

Want to see it in action?

Consumers today expect broadcast content to be available whenever, and wherever they want. Broadcasters are under increasing pressure to create and disseminate content in real-time and on-demand across an ever-growing number of platforms and formats. If they don’t, their competitors will.

In this environment, downtime is not an option, and reliable broadcast operations are a must. This article will explore the impact of broadcast outages and the resulting downtime and explain what to look for in a technology partner to prevent it. 

Key challenges facing media companies today

The broadcast industry faces a litany of challenges today that impact both business viability and production quality. Mounting consumer expectations and an increasingly complex broadcasting landscape continuously put pressure on broadcasters to be everywhere, all the time. 

Some factors at play include: 

Increased audience demand for instantaneous and continuous coverage

Consumer habits have shifted dramatically over the past three decades thanks to the rise in handheld mobile devices, streaming platforms, and near-universal access to WiFi or network connections. In this landscape, consumers expect instant access to live and on-demand content across multiple platforms. 

This expectation for real-time and packaged content amplifies the pressures on media companies to maintain flawless operations and uptime, while also producing high-quality and engaging content for a growing list of platforms and devices. 

Increasingly complex production demands 

Because of this evolving—and accelerating—consumer landscape, production workflows have also become more complex. Production techniques have had to evolve to keep pace with what consumers expect from certain platforms, meaning the technology that’s used to create that content also needs to evolve. 

To create more engaging and dynamic content, broadcasters may expand their production stack to include more dynamic camera shots and moves, AR graphics, and other interactive visual elements. Production workflows may also pivot from on-premises to cloud or hybrid environments. As this complexity ramps up, more possible points of failure emerge.

Steep competition and budget constraints

This increased demand comes against a backdrop of steeper competition and budget constraints in the broadcasting industry—particularly in news production. 

In this environment, organizations have to make the most out of the revenue they have. They must be intelligent to boost the quality of their content, the efficiency of their workflows, and their ability to disseminate across multiple channels in real-time and on-demand. This is on top of the need to work remotely in an increasingly dispersed talent environment. 

Downtime is not an option. It’s a high-pressure, high-paced world with significant consumer demands and an ever-deepening competitive market that includes content creators from outside of traditional broadcasting channels. 

The consequences of operational failure in broadcasting

The impact of technology downtime is felt in virtually every business, in every sector. Society has become deeply dependent on our technology infrastructure, making even the smallest outage a major inconvenience. 

Broadcasters, however, face even heavier pressures to remain operational at all times. When other platforms go down, broadcasters are expected to be the source of real-time information. If they’re down, too, the impact on the company’s reputation can be severe.

Here are four consequences of significant operational failures in broadcasting:

• Loss of audience trust and engagement. When downtime or technical failures occur, audiences lose confidence in the broadcaster’s ability to deliver consistent, high-quality content. In a crowded media landscape, viewers are quick to switch to competitors, leading to a loss in both immediate and future viewership. This can mean a reduction in live viewership and decreased loyalty over time, weakening the broadcaster’s position in the market.  
• Financial and contractual ramifications. Live broadcasts, especially high-profile events, are tied directly to advertising revenue. For instance, the cost of a 30-second ad during the NFL’s Sunday Night Football in the 2023/2024 season was around $882,000. A single broadcast failure during such a high-stakes event can lead to massive financial losses, and even expose the broadcaster to legal complications and strained relationships with current and future advertisers.  
• Missed opportunities for exclusive coverage. When broadcasters experience downtime during live events or breaking news, they miss out on delivering exclusive, real-time coverage. This can result in lost opportunities for major scoops or key moments that attract high viewership, especially for news organizations. Competitors with more reliable systems may capitalize on these moments, gaining a reputation and audience advantage, leaving the original broadcaster with diminished viewership and industry relevance. 
• Increased operational costs. Frequent technical issues lead to downtime and raise the overall cost of operations. Emergency repairs, replacement of faulty equipment, and constant troubleshooting demand additional financial resources, which exponentially raise the cost of downtime. Moreover, downtime increases the need for overtime work or hiring additional technical staff to manage crises, further inflating operational budgets.  

The above is a list of worst-case scenarios. Operational failure, however, can come in much smaller packages, like accidentally putting up the wrong camera shot or consistent lag time in a specific production workflow. These minor operational failures can add to significant time loss and headaches for engineering and production teams. While less dramatic, they’re still costly in the long run. 

Downtime is seriously costly on a variety of different fronts. Over time, these costs accumulate, making it harder for companies to maintain profitability while still investing in future technological innovations. Unfortunately, while the cost of downtime is severe, there is no shortage of factors that might cause it. 

Internal and external factors threatening media operations

Broadcasters face a variety of internal and external factors that increase complexity and introduce new points of potential failure. These factors—and potential failure points—must be identified and actively controlled to avoid costly downtime. 

Internal factors include: 

• Managing broadcast gear and IT systems in the cloud or on-premises. Balancing on-premises and cloud systems can lead to inefficiencies and disruptions if not managed properly. This is an example of how accelerating consumer demands can lead to a rapid, and potentially uncontrolled, adoption of complex broadcasting infrastructure that can introduce complexity and failure points.  
• Maintaining performance with leaner teams. At the same time as this growing technological complexity, broadcasters are facing budget constraints that often require them to shrink and decentralize their production teams. Smaller, remote teams face increased pressure to produce content faster, and on increasingly complex infrastructures. Without streamlined tools and proper training, companies risk broadcast delays, diminished performance and content quality, and errors that may lead to downtime. 
• Skills gaps when adopting new technologies. As media production increasingly relies on advanced technologies, a lack of skilled personnel can lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. 

At the same time, companies face a variety of external factors, including: 

• Technological disruptions and cybersecurity threats. Events like the July 2024 CrowdStrike outage, which impacted thousands of businesses globally and caused mass downtime for dozens of broadcasters, demonstrate the severe risks of unplanned system failures. The incident caused a global ripple effect, with financial damages estimated to exceed $10 billion​. Without proper security and redundancy measures in place to mitigate against future events, media companies face similar risks of financial and reputational harm due to system outages or cyber-attacks. 
• Competitor pressure to innovate. Consumer demand and platform variety fuel innovations in content delivery, with major broadcasters leading the charge. Major, widely adopted innovations create a new standard in content consumption, which ramps up expectations for smaller broadcasters to follow suit. Failing to keep up with technological advancements can result in losing market share and relevance, making it harder to attract and retain audiences. 
• Supply chain and equipment shortages. Delays in sourcing critical equipment can stall production and lead to missed deadlines, especially in live events where timing is essential. This was made especially apparent during the pandemic when major supply chain issues crippled the global economy. In this environment, cloud and hybrid deployments became a necessity, forcing many companies—and broadcasters—to rapidly pivot their tech stacks.  

While companies can, and do, take steps to mitigate the challenges listed above, the reality is that growing complexity and diversified threats to infrastructure stability introduce a variety of potential failure points. The best way to prevent them is to partner with a trustworthy broadcast technology partner that understands the importance of uptime, and has built their products and services around the promise of reliability. 

What to look for in a trustworthy broadcast technology partner

To ensure reliability in critical broadcast operations, you need a partner with a proven track record of delivering consistent performance under pressure. 

Systems must be designed for uptime with rigorous failover strategies that keep broadcasts running smoothly even when issues arise. The ability to handle live, high-stakes events without failure is non-negotiable.

Your technology partner must provide reliable systems and adapt to the constantly changing broadcasting landscape. Innovation is key, but it must be balanced with stability. 

Partners who embrace cutting-edge advancements like cloud integration and IP workflows without sacrificing reliability are the ones who will help you future-proof your operations. The ability to evolve while maintaining performance is critical in an industry where staying ahead is essential for survival.

More information about the need for a reliable technology partner is available in this video.

To help you find that perfect broadcast technology partner, look for: 

• A history of reliable performance. Choose partners with a proven track record of consistent uptime, backed by case studies and testimonials from similar broadcasters. This provides confidence that they can handle demanding conditions without downtime. 
• Round-the-clock support. Ensure your partner offers 24/7 customer service with dedicated teams ready to troubleshoot. Quick response times prevent small issues from escalating into costly failures. 
• Industry-specific knowledge. A strong technology partner should understand the unique challenges of broadcasting and offer customized solutions tailored to your specific workflows, whether for live news or sports. 
• Robustness and redundancy. Broadcast systems must be built with robust and rugged systems to withstand demanding broadcast environments and resource usage. Integrated workflows and automation also help minimize human error. 
• Active security protection. Modern broadcast technology is vulnerable to a broad range of security threats that can compromise systems and data. Look for providers that prioritize hardware and network security as part of their offering, and actively push out updates to their products to ensure ongoing protection.  
• Training and support. A trustworthy partner prioritizes training to ensure teams are prepared to handle unexpected issues in real time, helping keep broadcasts seamless even in high-pressure situations. Training and support experts don’t just know the products, but also deeply understand the industry and the challenges that engineers and operators face. This allows them to support both technical issues, and offer guidance on how to solve wider workflow problems.  

Trust is built on reliability. In the world of broadcasting, you need partners who are as dependable as the systems they provide. Choosing a partner with proven reliability, comprehensive support, and the ability to adapt to your needs ensures that your broadcasts remain smooth, high-quality, and on the air, no matter the stakes.

The Ins & Outs of Today’s Signal Transport

As the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry stands at the crossroads of technological transformation, the choices you make today will define your operational success in the future.

Whether you’re planning to build or upgrade new facilities, our comprehensive whitepaper, “The Ins & Outs of Today’s Signal Transport,” provides the essential insights you need to make the best decision for your organization today and tomorrow.

Learn how the right transport tech can lead to significant workflow improvements from industry experts who advised the world’s largest companies.

Setting individual products aside, Simon Hawkings, director of sales strategy at Ross Video, said the cloud, artificial intelligence and viewer engagement are the three biggest trends to emerge from the 2025 NAB Show.

Speaking during an Executive Q&A with TVTech contributing editor Phil Kurz, Hawkings pointed out that the M&E Industry is in a transitional phase that will see technology vendors moving away from “selling metal to selling minutes” in the cloud and users embracing the cloud and cloud-based software to run production instances and enable other media workflows.

Contrasting the move to the cloud with previous technology transitions in the industry, Hawkings noted this one “is really different.”

“This is a more fundamental change in how we're going to do business as well as how the technology works,” he said, “and especially where Ross is coming from in the live production world.”

AI has witnessed rapid transformation in the media industry in the nine months since IBC2024, he noted.

The hype around AI has given way to real applications that improve media workflows. “People are using [AI] stuff in a practical way every day,” said Hawkings. Those include graphics, automation, transcription, auto tagging of metadata, fully assisted productions to make completed shows without an operator, facial and body tracking in cameras, highlight reel creation and clip generation, he said.

When it comes to viewer engagement, Hawkings noted the internet back channel from Smart TVs will give traditional broadcasters deploying ATSC 3.0 an effective way to identify users and serve ads and content better suited to their individual interests.

“All of a sudden now I [broadcasters] know who’s watching, and I know what they’re watching and when. [T]his is driving up ad revenue for some of these more traditional media companies, which is great,” he said.

The transitions evident at the NAB Show this year weren’t strictly limited to these technologies, however. Show organizers made a concerted effort to advance the effort they launched at last year’s show to appeal to the creator community.

“[NAB] created a forecast that said this [creator] market would be worth $500 billion… by 2030. [T]hat would be made up of 50 million professional creators. So, I think there’s a great level of interest in how the industry is going to shift and how we can take advantage of that growing market,” said Hawkings.

It really doesn’t matter whether it’s a brick-and-mortar studio, an Outside Broadcast (OB) truck or trailer, a virtualized production workflow running in the cloud or some combination of these.

When it comes to producing video, signal processing is central to the task. Simply stated, modern day signal processing encompasses the multitude of signal manipulations and modifications required to produce a show—everything from timing, synchronization, routing and distribution to production switching, character generation, audio mixing and even loudness monitoring.

Three fundamental approaches are available to meet these video production processing demands, including modular, integrated and virtualized. A fourth is a derivative of these in which two or more are combined. There are pros and cons to each.

For instance, modular processing offers extensive functionality through a broad selection of modules and extremely low latency performance—major pluses in its favor. Being hardware-based, processing modules are exposed to p obsolescence if there is a major shift in technology or what producers need. That can be particularly painful if an organization’s investment in modular processing isn’t fully amortized.

While the specifics may differ, integrated and virtualized signal processing also have their own sets of pluses and minuses. Needless to say, a hybrid of these approaches will reflect the advantages and disadvantages of its constituent parts.

Selecting the right option can be tough given the sheer number of factors that go into making an informed decision. Beyond having a clear understanding of the basic differences in processing and the strengths and weaknesses of each, a series of other factors must be considered.

For example, is the signal processing approach under consideration going to be deployed at a green field site, or will it augment an existing production workflow? Will the signal processing solution be installed in a studio where space, power and cooling requirements are relatively easy to accommodate, especially when compared to an OB unit? Does the media organization favor an OPEX or CAPEX spending model? How comfortable is the staff with the cloud?

The questions go on and on, and as each is answered a clearer picture emerges of the right direction to go.

Of course, there’s more to setting coarse than that. Each signal processing strategy must be evaluated in the context of what is happening in a rapidly evolving industry where one resolution gives way to the next, where standard dynamic range and high dynamic range must coexist to serve the widest possible audience and stereo and 5.1 surround are the warmup act for an immersive audio future.

Ross Video and TV Tech have produced a new white paper to help readers navigate the modern day signal processing landscape. In it, readers will find an examination of available signal processing alternatives with an eye towards assisting them in determining which best meets their needs today and positions their organizations for the long run.

While Ross is well-known throughout the video production industry for its wide array of signal processing technology, every effort has been made to examine the subject of modern signal processing in an objective manner. Readers not only will walk away with a clearer understanding of signal processing in modern video production workflows but also valuable guidance on selecting which approach is best for their individual circumstances.

Whether it’s modular, integrated or virtualized—or even some combination of those options— modern signal processing will play a central role in video production for the long haul. Our new white paper, “Navigating Modern Day Signal Processing,” will give readers the background they need to proceed with confidence in charting their organization’s way forward.

Click here to download the white paper.

In today’s fast-paced sports broadcasting environment, the role of the studio is becoming increasingly central to the overall production. Whether it’s pre-game analysis, mid-game breakdowns, or post-game commentary, sports broadcast studios are expected to deliver content that engages viewers visually as much as it does editorially. A key part of achieving this engagement is the ability to capture dynamic, creative shots that enhance the storytelling within the studio.

Yet, for many studios, managing complex camera movements and maintaining high-quality visuals across broadcasts can be a challenge. Traditional camera setups often rely on manual operation, which can result in inconsistent shot quality, operational inefficiencies, and higher production costs. With the growing need for real-time responsiveness and flexibility in studio environments, more advanced solutions are required to streamline camera operations and ensure smooth, polished visuals.

CHALLENGES IN CAMERA OPERATIONS FOR SPORTS BROADCAST STUDIOS

Inconsistent camera movements and shot quality

One of the biggest challenges in sports studios is ensuring smooth and consistent camera movements. Whether it’s a transition from one host to another, a sweeping shot across a panel of analysts, or a close-up to emphasize a key point, these movements need to be flawless. In traditional setups, these shots are controlled manually, leading to inconsistencies in timing, framing, and execution. As a result, the overall quality of the broadcast can suffer, diminishing the professionalism and impact of the in-studio segment.

Smooth, well-timed camera movements are essential for maintaining viewer engagement. For example, during a heated discussion among commentators, a poorly executed camera transition can disrupt the flow of conversation and diminish the viewer’s experience. Achieving consistent, seamless transitions is crucial to delivering a visually compelling experience that keeps the audience focused on the content, not the production.

Operator-intensive production requirements

Managing multiple camera angles in a live studio environment requires a highly skilled and coordinated team. In traditional setups, each camera must be controlled by an individual operator responsible for executing precise movements. This level of manual control can be time-consuming and labor-intensive and requires experienced operators who can react quickly to real-time developments in the broadcast.

The complexity of certain camera movements—like smoothly tracking talent as they move across the set—can present challenges, particularly in automated setups. While manual operation often provides the nuance needed to make such movements appear natural, automated systems can struggle to replicate the same fluidity without manual intervention. Maintaining a large crew of skilled operators to achieve high-quality, consistent results can drive up production costs, making it harder for studios to stay within budget while delivering polished broadcasts.

Limited flexibility for real-time adjustments

A sports broadcast studio is an inherently dynamic environment. Hosts move around the set to interact with graphics, video walls, or other studio elements. In some cases, they might shift locations unexpectedly or stand up to make a point more emphatically. While manual camera operators excel at making reactive adjustments with precision, relying on a dedicated operator for each camera can be inefficient and costly. Scaling this approach across multiple cameras significantly increases production complexity and budget, making it difficult to maintain efficiency in fast-paced broadcasts.

Traditional automated cameras result in inconsistent or delayed camera responses, which impacts the flow of a broadcast and may lead viewers to miss key moments or become distracted by awkward framing. Flexibility in camera movements and framing is especially critical in sports studio settings where timing and smooth transitions are vital to maintaining professionalism and viewer engagement.

The role of automation in solving studio camera challenges

As the demands on sports studios increase, many broadcasters are looking to automation to streamline their camera operations. Robotic camera solutions, like the ones used in top studios, help bridge the gap between manual operation and full automation. They bring advanced features that make capturing shots more precise and easier to control. Automated systems have the ability to execute precise, pre-programmed camera movements with greater consistency and reliability than manual setups. These systems provide a level of precision and control that can enhance a broadcast’s overall visual quality while reducing operational complexity.

Consistency and precision in camera movements

Robotic cameras are becoming a cornerstone of leading studio setups, often complementing manual systems. Manual tools like jibs and Steadicams have long been prized for their ability to execute dynamic, creative shots—the “candy” of broadcast visuals—but they also rely heavily on highly skilled operators. Achieving consistent quality across broadcasts can be challenging, as outcomes depend on operator expertise and technique.

Advanced robotic systems, such as Ross Video’s Artimo, are now bridging the gap between precision and creativity, offering smooth, fluid camera movements that rival those of manual setups. These systems can replicate complex moves traditionally reserved for manual tools, such as sweeping transitions or dynamic talent tracking, while ensuring consistency across broadcasts. With the added advantage of automation, these systems reduce operational complexity and provide reliable performance in live, fast-paced environments, helping broadcasters maintain a professional polish without sacrificing creativity.

Reducing the operator burden

Automating camera operations significantly reduces the number of operators required to manage a live studio production. Instead of needing a dedicated operator for each camera, an automated system can control multiple cameras simultaneously from a single console. This not only improves operational efficiency but also minimizes the risk of human error during live broadcasts.

With automation, operators can build pre-programmed sequences of shots that automatically recall new camera positions and framing throughout the show. For example, during a pre-game discussion, a sequence might include wide shots of the entire panel, close-ups of individual hosts, and dynamic transitions between angles—all executed with little to no manual intervention. This allows production teams to focus on other elements of the broadcast, such as coordinating graphics, managing audio, or interacting with live data feeds.

Real-time adaptability through AI-driven tracking

The latest generation of robotic camera systems leverages AI-driven tracking technology to further enhance automation. AI-based systems, like those deployed in leading broadcast studios, can automatically track on-camera talent, ensuring the camera stays framed on the subject even as they move across the set. For instance, a major German broadcaster, Sky Deutschland, incorporated these solutions during a recent studio overhaul, significantly improving their live sports coverage’s precision and dynamic capabilities​.

This eliminates the need for manual tracking and ensures that talent is always framed perfectly, even in fast-paced, dynamic environments. AI-driven tracking can be a game-changer in sports studios, where talent often moves around to interact with graphics, screens, or other visual elements. By following the talent in real time, these systems ensure that the camera keeps up with the action, delivering smooth, professional-grade shots that enhance the viewer experience.

For example, AI-driven technology like Vision[Ai]ry can autonomously adjust to follow talent’s movements, in a way that looks natural to the viewer. Systems like this offer a hands-off approach that reduces the need for manual adjustments, allowing directors to focus on other production areas.

Enhancing creative flexibility

In a studio environment, creative flexibility is essential. Automated camera systems can be programmed with customizable presets that allow directors to easily switch between different camera angles and movements. For example, a preset might be used to capture a wide-angle shot of the entire set at the start of a segment, then transition to close-ups of individual hosts as the discussion intensifies.

These presets can be triggered automatically or at the director’s discretion, allowing for seamless transitions between shots without the need for manual control. This level of creative flexibility enables directors to experiment with different shot compositions and movements, ultimately improving the visual storytelling of the broadcast.

Cost efficiency and scalability

By optimizing camera operations and enhancing workflow efficiency, automated camera systems improve cost efficiency for sports studios. These systems are scalable, making them suitable for studios of all sizes—from small local stations to large national networks. As the demands of live broadcasts continue to increase, the scalability of automation ensures that studios can grow and adapt their camera operations without incurring major costs or requiring extensive reconfigurations.

The future of camera automation in sports studios

As sports broadcast studios become more complex, the need for efficient, flexible, and high-quality camera operations has never been greater. Traditional camera setups, with their reliance on manual control, are becoming increasingly inadequate for the demands of modern broadcasts. Automated camera systems offer a solution that improves the consistency and quality of studio shots and reduces the operational burden on production teams.

By embracing automation, sports studios can enhance their creative flexibility, capture more dynamic visuals, and deliver a more polished and professional broadcast experience. Whether through advanced AI-driven tracking or pre-programmed camera movements, the future of in-studio camera operations lies in automation.

For studios looking to stay ahead of the curve, investing in a robotic camera system similar to Ross Video’s Artimo is an important step toward improving operational efficiency and elevating production quality. These systems offer the precision, adaptability, and scalability that modern sports broadcasts demand, ensuring that every segment is delivered with the highest level of professionalism and visual appeal.

A definitive guide to the modern sports viewer

Sports broadcasting is undergoing a seismic shift, with global audiences consuming live events in new and diverse ways. From multi-screen viewing to the rise of social media engagement, modern sports fans are more connected—and selective—than ever before.

According to our recent research, conducted in partnership with Kantar, sports audiences are adapting to new technologies and media formats at an unprecedented rate. These behavior shifts present challenges and opportunities for broadcasters and rights holders.

ARLINGTON, Texas—The University of Texas at Arlington is a prestigious research, teaching and public service institution whose mission is the advancement of knowledge and the pursuit of excellence. Our 41,000 students engage in in-person and online coursework supported by real-world experiences throughout our academic, internship and research programs. The Department of Communication at UTA offers a broadcast major where students learn to craft stories that engage and inform.

I’m not only an alumnus of UTA, having earned a master’s degree in communication and media studies, I also joined the faculty in 2008. I have since been developing a bilingual broadcast journalism program that, to this day, has a 100% graduation and job placement rate. I work with Hispanic students under the umbrella of the Hispanic Media Initiative (HMI), a program focusing exclusively on the advancement of Hispanic media Education, journalism, and research.

As a broadcast specialist in the department, I enjoy researching new and emerging media technologies that affect journalism and content-driven industries. My responsibilities at UTA include teaching TV production, broadcast news and making recommendations to ensure our state-of-the-art broadcast environments mirror workflows and systems used by the media industry.

News Production
Our television studio is used to produce Arlington Sentinel News (ASN) and Arlington Sentinel News en Español (ASNE). Given that we work closely with the NBC, Telemundo, Univision, and CBS 11 stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, we can’t compromise on the quality of our content and production equipment. We also produce corporate, sports, and entertainment shows, all of which use CueScript for teleprompting as part of our control room converged spaces.

Our studio is powered by Ross Video live production technologies; our Ross Inception News content management system works in concert with CueScript to teleprompt rundowns and bring stories to life. Given CueScript’s ease of integration, students don’t have to worry about how to send content to the teleprompter as it automatically and seamlessly syncs content in real time.

We discovered CueScript in 2014 through a strong recommendation from our systems integrator, Digital Resources Incorporated (DRI). We were looking for a robust prompting system that could be synced and operated directly with Inception News from a dedicated production station. CueScript fit the bill perfectly on both counts.

We focused on having a system that seamlessly integrates with Inception News. We’re able to simply add it to the workflow through IP and content is pushed directly to CueScript. Operationally, one of my favorite features is the prompter’s peripheral wheel, which gives the student control over prompting speed and story lines. This is only amplified by the user-friendly graphic interface.

Plug and Play
Training was minimal—it mainly consisted of configuring the prompter to the operators’ preferences, such as color, aspect ratio, and use of peripherals. The interface made it so straightforward, like plug-and-play or set-it-and-forget-it. It’s a very simple and reliable product. CueScript has everything ready to go.

CueScript is known for their service, and they don’t disappoint. They are consistent and they give us the confidence we need to focus on other projects that require more time and attention. The overall experience has been very positive, and we intend to expand the system going forward.

We’re considering including CueScript pedals and handheld devices, and we’re also looking into SayiT, their voice-activated feature that scrolls text in synchronization with speech, both in English and Spanish.

More information is available at www.cuescript.tv.

LAS VEGAS—In its opening keynote, Ross Video unveiled a host of new solutions and improvements to its offerings, highlighted many successful deployments, celebrated 33 straight years of growth and entertained the audience with some fun spoofs on Area 51 and Ross Socks, which are now in their ninth iteration.

In what has become a tradition, Ross’s chairman and CEO, David Ross, began by discussing company results for the last year, reporting: “I’m proud to share that 2024 was our best year ever. Thanks to team Ross, we achieved 33 consecutive years of orders growth and yet again, we’re twice as big as we were just five years ago [in 2019].”

Ross also highlighted the company’s environmental progress.

“Last year, we set a goal of having a carbon-neutral factory by 2025, and I can confirm that our factory is carbon neutral, not at some date in the fu-ture, but right now,” he said. “This might be the first carbon-neutral factory in our industry.”

During the keynote, Ross demoed a number of products, including Carbonite HyperMax, XPression, Ultrix, Media I/O, OverDrive and RPM openGear UI and the work of its Rocket Surgery design operation, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Solutions relating to cloud-based production, graphics, motion graphics, weather, robotics, switchers, newsrooms, augmented/virtual reality and other products were also demoed and used in the lav-ish keynote production.

The company also rolled out the ninth interaction of Ross socks, using its graphics and virtual reality technologies to depict an Area 51-style landing of a UFO. Several executives dressed as “Men in Black” modeled the socks. David Ross declined to say if the new socks are made of extraterrestrial materials. The socks and other Ross solutions are on display at SL206.

Copyright NAB

OTTAWA—At a keynote during the 2025 NAB Show, Ross Video introduced Carbonite HyperMax, a flexible and powerful platform for production switching, routing, video and audio processing, multiviewer monitoring, and ultra-high-resolution video compositing.

Carbonite HyperMax allows organizations to configure their tools to suit every production, integrating all of Ross Video’s industry leading production technology into a single, powerful hyperconverged platform.

With robust hardware and dynamic software licensing, Carbonite HyperMax provides organizations with a comprehensive suite of production tools so they can meet the production demands of today and in the future.

Key features include:

• Software Defined Production Engine: The SDPE blade at the heart of Carbonite HyperMax is a versatile software-enabled hardware platform that changes functionality to address multiple production needs.
• One License, Multiple Functions: A single software license activates advanced software features such as MaxME, MaxMini, and MaxScene on any SDPE blade. This maximizes flexibility and efficiency while eliminating the need for multiple licenses or additional hardware.
• Ross Platform Manager: An enterprise-level control system for managing software licenses and configurations across SDPE blades and standalone Ross switchers. With Role-Based Access and license tracking, ensures error-free management.
• TouchDrive Control: Carbonite HyperMax is fully compatible with the TouchDrive family of control surfaces, which includes DashBoard, Ross Video’s powerful operational control and configuration software.
• Hyperconverged Hardware: Ultrix FR5 and FR12 frames provide a compact, power- efficient home for SDPE blades. This reduces power usage, simplifies cabling, and lowers maintenance, making production more efficient and cost-effective.
• Rapid Deployment Force: With Ross Platform Manager, Carbonite HyperMax’s production capabilities can be instantly reconfigured and deployed anywhere— across rooms or continents—ensuring rapid adaptability to any production demand.

“Carbonite HyperMax has been designed with flexibility and scalability in mind, enabling users to easily add or remove capabilities based on their production requirements,” said Nigel Spratling, vice president production switchers & servers, Ross Video. “The smaller size, weight, and power consumption makes Carbonite HyperMax perfect for mobile production, while the dynamic licensing offers news producers the ability to modify and expand functionality to meet various demands while maximizing return on investment.”

More information on new Ross products can be found in this video of a keynote presentation at the NAB Show:

In today’s fast-paced broadcast landscape, OB vans are under more pressure than ever before. From the rise of UHD and HDR to the growing need to accommodate last-minute customer requests, OB crews are constantly navigating a minefield of challenges that push their systems to the limit. Whether it’s covering major live events or supporting regional productions, the ability to adapt quickly has become critical for success.

One of the biggest challenges for OB vans is keeping up with technological demands. As UHD and HDR become industry standards, the strain on existing systems grows, often forcing broadcasters to stretch their setups further.

Adding more cameras, integrating external feeds, and adjusting operator positions all contribute to this growing complexity. Broadcasters are expected to do more with less, leaving little room for error.

Common flexibility and scalability challenges in outside broadcasting

1. Technological demands and pushing systems to their limits:

As the industry continues to shift towards UHD and HDR, broadcasters need systems that can handle these increased demands. Traditional OB setups, often struggle to meet these rising expectations. Pushing hardware to its limits raises the risk of failure and increases the chance of unmet customer expectations.

2. Flexibility to add gear and adjust on the fly:

Another major issue is the need to keep OB vans flexible. Broadcasters frequently need to add new gear, integrate external feeds, or add operator positions—often at the last minute—based on customer demands. Engineers on-site want to say “yes” to every client request, but rigid systems make it difficult to accommodate these changes without significant reconfiguration.

3. The unpredictability of field production:

In the field, unknowns are inevitable, and the last thing an OB crew wants to do is spend precious time troubleshooting technical issues. Every second counts during a live production, and having to deal with sudden equipment failures, mismatched transport methods, or connectivity issues can derail an otherwise successful broadcast. Without a flexible, software-defined infrastructure in place, OB vans are more likely to face downtime and interruptions.

The need for flexible and scalable solutions

Given these challenges, modern OB vans need to be equipped with technology that offers flexibility and scalability without requiring extensive reconfiguration. CINELIVE, a North American mobile production company, faced this exact challenge while building a 4K HDR-ready mobile production truck. By leveraging Ross Video’s Ultrix platform, they were able to streamline their workflows across three verticals—corporate AV, traditional networks, and Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD)—allowing them to adapt quickly to diverse production needs without compromising on quality.

“There was no doubt that it’s not just the box for this time, but it’s the box for the next several years. This thing’s going to be on the road for a long time, and I don’t want to be switching out hardware two years from now—and I’m not going to be,” says Zach Pittman, President of CINELIVE​.

Software-defined solutions provide OB vans with the adaptability needed to handle the demands of diverse live events. This technology allows for the seamless incorporation of additional production devices, advanced processing functions, and various production formats without consuming excessive space or requiring complex I/O reconfiguration. By integrating switchers with software-defined production engines (SDPE) like the Ultrix Acuity, broadcasters can load different software profiles based on the production—whether it’s a sports broadcast, a live concert, or a corporate event—offering the flexibility to meet varying production needs, such as using one large production switcher, multiple mid-level production switchers, or a combination of both.

The ability to reconfigure systems on the fly offers another key advantage. With traditional setups, integrating new devices or adjusting workflows between productions can be cumbersome. However, software-defined solutions streamline the process, making it easier to respond to last-minute changes or unforeseen challenges during live broadcasts. This flexibility minimizes downtime and enhances overall production quality.

For instance, software-defined systems enable OB vans to easily switch between HD and UHD formats or between SDR and HDR, depending on the event’s needs. These systems also allow for the addition of replay systems, cameras, and other production devices with minimal disruption to the workflow. By simplifying the integration process, OB crews can manage more complex productions efficiently, reducing the need for additional hardware and ensuring they can handle a wide variety of live events.

The role of hyperconverged systems

To achieve true flexibility and scalability, OB vans should adopt hyperconverged systems that consolidate multiple functions—such as routing, signal processing, multiviewing, and production switching—into a single platform. This reduces the need for multiple discrete devices, simplifying the overall setup.

For example, traditional setups often require separate hardware for each function, leading to more equipment, higher power consumption, and greater cooling requirements. Hyperconverged systems integrate multiple functions into a single device, eliminating the need for separate hardware. This streamlines engineering and frees up valuable space for additional operator positions.

Another advantage of hyperconverged systems is that they enable OB vans to adjust to changes in production requirements more easily. Whether it’s scaling up for a larger event or incorporating new production devices, hyperconverged systems provide the flexibility to adapt without the need for extensive reconfiguration. This makes OB vans more versatile and capable of handling a broader range of live events, from small-scale productions to large international broadcasts.

The Ultrix platform: A game-changer for OB vans

One such hyperconverged solution is Ross Video’s Ultrix platform. Designed with flexibility and scalability in mind, Ultrix integrates routing, multiviewing, signal processing, and production switching into a single, software-defined platform. Ultrix Acuity, which combines the proven Ultrix router with Acuity switcher blades, offers even greater flexibility, allowing OB vans to mix and match signals across SDI, IP, NDI and Fiber, depending on the event’s requirements. This flexibility is powered by the SDPE blade, enabling OB vans to handle complex productions without sacrificing quality or operational efficiency.​

This software-defined architecture enables OB vans to handle a diverse range of live events, whether it’s an HD or UHD production. Ultrix eliminates the need for bulky external processing equipment and reduces the number of devices required to manage complex productions. This not only improves the operational efficiency of the OB van but also cuts down on power consumption and cooling requirements, making it a more sustainable option for broadcasters.

The platform’s flexibility also allows OB crews to reconfigure workflows quickly, ensuring they can respond to the unique challenges of each event. Whether adding additional production devices or switching between production formats, Ultrix makes it easy for OB vans to scale their operations without the need for costly upgrades or additional hardware. By solving a range of engineering challenges, Ultrix is the ultimate problem solver for OB vans, providing the adaptability and efficiency broadcasters need to succeed in a fast-paced environment.

Optimizing your OB van setup

When optimizing an OB van for modern live events, it’s essential to prioritize equipment that offers multifunctional capabilities, energy efficiency, and simplified integration.

Innovative Production Services, based in Australia, optimized their OB truck by incorporating a hyperconverged solution, allowing them to transition seamlessly between large-scale events and smaller productions. By reducing the amount of hardware required, they minimized the operational footprint and increased the versatility of their truck to handle a wide variety of productions efficiently​.

Hyperconverged systems, not only reduce the number of discrete devices required but also simplify the integration process by requiring less cabling. This design optimization saves time in the planning and building phases and gets your OB van on the road sooner, reducing both integration costs and deployment time.

In addition to streamlined integration, hyperconverged systems provide flexible I/O configurations, supporting a wide range of transport protocols—including SDI, Fiber, ST 2110, NDI, HDMI, MADI, and DANTE—all within a single platform.

Vatican Media, which handles some of the most widely viewed global religious events, adopted Ultrix to manage diverse signal formats, allowing them to integrate SDI, IP, and other formats seamlessly within their production workflows. By using Ultrix’s software-defined architecture, Vatican Media minimized the need for additional hardware, simplifying their setup for high-profile, complex productions.

This flexibility allows OB vans to handle a wide variety of production needs with minimal reconfiguration, enabling broadcasters to quickly adapt to changing event requirements. By consolidating processing and routing functionalities into a unified platform, hyperconverged solutions eliminate the need for excess equipment, reducing the operational footprint while still meeting the demands of complex live events. These systems simplify the design, integration, and operational phases, allowing broadcasters to focus on delivering high-quality production services with less hassle.

Adapting OB vans for the future of live production

The landscape of outside broadcasting is continuously evolving, and OB vans must be equipped to handle the demands of today’s fast-paced production environments. By adopting flexible and scalable solutions, broadcasters can future-proof their operations, ensuring they can deliver high-quality productions across a wide range of live events. While traditional setups often limit flexibility, software-defined systems offer a more adaptable and efficient way to manage modern broadcasting challenges.

Breaking New Ground in Outside Broadcasting

Outside broadcasting and live sports coverage are changing rapidly and now require innovative approaches to content delivery.

QTV has reimagined how sports are covered by combining cutting-edge technology, remote production workflows, and a passion for delivering exceptional viewing experiences.

Watch this panel discussion from the Broadcast Sport Summit for an in-depth look at QTV’s story and how Ross Video became a trusted technology partner.

It wasn’t all that long ago that most TV newsrooms relied on a person in the feed room to manage recording all of the incoming raw footage, news packages and other content transmitted to stations so reporters and editors could create stories and producers could build newscasts.

Someone in that room knew which satellite or microwave feed would be arriving at what time via which router output so that news content could be recorded on a designated tape machine. Tapes then were shuffled to the journalists and producers who needed them to write and edit stories. Eventually, those stories made air on the 6 or 11 o’clock news, and the cycle began once again.

But those halcyon days of TV news are long gone. Today’s newsroom is far more than a “television newsroom.” In many instances, it’s the hub of a 24/7 news operation that creates and distributes newscasts and stories 10 or more hours a day on air across multiple channels and around the clock via websites and social media.

With this transformation has come increasing complexity in managing incoming feeds. Not only has the number of feeds skyrocketed, but also the variety of signal formats used. While SDI feeds abound, many additional formats, codecs and signal types are in play as well, making transcoding to a house format essential.

At the same time, newsrooms have transformed old workflows to meet the challenge of 24/7 news operations, looking to achieve greater efficiencies and enhance productivity. Many have replaced the “feed room dude” of old with a workflow that enables anybody with permission in the newsroom to grab a feed, begin working with it and share that feed with multiple people.

Recognizing these evolving workflow requirements, Ross Video designed its Media I/O specifically to support modern newsrooms. The solution enables newsrooms to unify all of their ingest and playout channels in the same control interface.

Those in the newsroom can access feeds via Media I/O’s web UI from their laptops and workstations. In essence, Media I/O brings the feed room directly into the newsroom and places it on the desks of journalists who can ingest footage, play it out in real-time in any format and incorporate desired clips into their stories.

Reporters and others in the newsroom can control ingest and playout from their preferred web browser and access ingested assets, eliminating unnecessary, repetitive recordings of the same content by different people.

Media I/O supports most broadcast file formats, such as ProRes, XDCAM, DNxHD, AVC-Intra, XAVC, DVCPRO HD, HEVC and H.264, including growing files, as well as software-driven IP workflows like SMPTE ST 2110, NDI and SRT. Media IP works natively with baseband and network sources, such as SDI, HLS, MPEG DASH and RTSP.

The system also offers a visual schedular with a calendar-based timeline to enable users to manage and visualize upcoming recordings. Media I/O can be deployed on premises, cloud hosted as a virtualized system or as a hybrid to meet the individual preferences of media organizations.

These are only a few of the many features that make the Ross Video Media I/O a key enabler for modern newsroom workflows. Many others are in the works. For example, expect to see at the 2025 NAB Show a new feature for Media I/O’s web UI that allows users to open an asset in a web browser and view it as a proxy video, not simply as a thumbnail as in previous versions.

Media I/O enables newsrooms to allow anyone they want to be their own feed dudes, giving them access to and control over the signal sources they need to create news content more efficiently. With Media I/O, the feed dude is dead. Long live the feed dudes!

See Ross Video and the Media I/O at the 2025 NAB Show in booth SL206.

Click here to learn more about the Ross Video Media I/O.

Broadcasting and content creation is changing—rapidly. This evolution is driven by new technology, shifting viewer demands, the convergence of traditional and new media platforms, and the need for multi-platform content delivery across TV, mobile, and streaming. Consider, for example, Deloitte’s recent finding that nearly half of Gen Z and 30% of Millennial consumers prefer social media videos and live streams over traditional broadcast channels. 

As consumer demand shifts and traditional revenue streams erode, there’s immense pressure to adapt while managing more complex workflows required to deliver seamless content in real-time and on-demand across traditional and modern platforms. 

As remote production and multi-channel streaming become the new standard, many broadcasters rely on outdated technology that can’t meet these demands. In its current form, it’s either incapable of handling the complexity of modern broadcasting, or its deployment is rigid, making it hard to scale and adapt the technology to these new demands.

In this environment, the risk of technical obsolescence is real, leading to costly and inefficient broadcast workflows, failure to seize new market or platform opportunities, and potential increases in downtime and outages. Now, more than ever, broadcasters need technology that ensures sustained performance—solutions that work today and adapt to the industry without spiking costs and complexity. 

Why failing to adapt leads to long-term problems for broadcasting 

In an industry that never stops changing, relying on outdated technology is a recipe for disaster. Many broadcasters fall into the trap of investing in short-term fixes that meet today’s needs but fail to adapt as the industry shifts. This approach leads to long-term issues that can cripple operations and lead to costly technical debt that can hinder growth. 

Specific risk factors include: 

• Inability to scale for modern workflows: Outdated technology can struggle to handle new workflows, making broadcasters unable to meet growing production demands or audience expectations.  
• Higher operational costs due to constant upgrades: Broadcasters relying on outdated systems often need to invest heavily in major replacements or costly patchwork solutions to stay operational, diverting funds from strategic growth initiatives. Similarly, outdated systems can also cause inefficient workflows that strain operational budgets. In these cases, it takes more time for personnel to accomplish tasks that could be streamlined and simplified with more modern technology.  
• Loss of competitive edge: Broadcasters who fail to adopt future-ready technology risk falling behind competitors better equipped to deliver seamless, multi-platform content. This can lead to a decline in viewership and advertising revenue.

Failing to adapt doesn’t just affect performance—it impacts the bottom line. Broadcasters that fall behind face spiraling capital costs and the constant need for new investments to keep pace. 

This is on top of a gradual reduction in the ability to innovate and remain competitive, which can cause viewership to drop, further escalating the negative impact on revenues. 

Sticking with outdated technology is a risk broadcasters can’t afford. To maintain peak performance and safeguard long-term success, the technology that broadcasters use must improve alongside these industry changes. 

The importance of sustained improvements to technology 

Continuous adaptation in broadcasting doesn’t happen by chance. It’s the result of strong leadership, innovative thinking, a willingness to push beyond the status quo, and progressive technology that continues to meet customer needs. 

To achieve this adaptability, broadcast technology must be supported by partners who are committed to delivering regular software updates, hardware upgrades, and enhancements informed by real user feedback and deep knowledge of where the industry is today and is going tomorrow. This ongoing innovation keeps technology relevant and efficient, aligning with broadcasters’ changing needs and ensuring it remains viable for the long term.

One example is hardware designed with scalability in mind—like modular upgrades and flexible architectures. This allows broadcasters to expand and adapt their broadcast tech stacks without needing major infrastructure overhauls. 

Another example is platforms that support software-defined processing functions such as frame sync, HDR conversions, multiviewers, and audio processing.

Cloud compatibility is a third example. By selecting technology providers that actively innovate and integrate on-premise and cloud technologies, broadcasters can shift all or part of their workflows to the cloud. This unlocks numerous benefits that would not be possible on older, on-premise-only tech stacks. This includes reduced capital expenditure tied to physical hardware deployments, the ability to automate workflows, and the option to use remote operations staff. 

Ongoing improvements and innovation ensure that broadcast technology remains resilient and built to last. When technology partners actively incorporate feedback into product development, broadcasters benefit from solutions crafted to tackle real-world challenges, informed by the day-to-day hurdles they face. 

5 qualities of an innovation-driven technology partner

Sustained quality and performance come from a commitment to continuous product improvement throughout its lifecycle. 

The best technology partners ensure their solutions are built to last and stay closely engaged with their customers to anticipate emerging and future industry demands. By listening to customer feedback and aligning product development with industry trends, each new generation of products is designed with the lessons learned from previous versions. This ensures a foundation of reliability and performance that aligns with the changing needs of the broadcast industry. 

This approach provides live broadcast and media organizations with the confidence that their technology investments will continue to deliver value over time, even as new challenges arise.

Here are five traits to look for in a technology partner that point to a commitment to continuous product improvements:

1. Proactive roadmaps that align with future industry trends 

The most forward-thinking technology partners don’t just react to changes in the broadcast industry—they actively plan for them. 

With the rise of IP-based production, UHD, cloud-based workflows, and virtual production, broadcasters need systems that can adapt to these technologies without disruptive overhauls. A partner with a proactive roadmap will consistently look ahead, ensuring their solutions can handle whatever the future holds.

Most importantly, best-in-class technology partners ensure their products are ready to integrate these innovations seamlessly when the time comes, giving broadcasters the confidence that their technology will remain competitive without constant upgrades.

David Ross at IBC 2024 on being a trusted technology partner

2. A commitment to innovation 

It’s clear that the broadcast industry and consumer habits are far from static, and the technology needed to meet these demands can’t be either. 

As technology and viewer demands change, so too must broadcasters and providers. A top-tier technology partner will demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement—regularly updating their products based on customer feedback and market demands. R&D will be focused on both solidifying and preserving what works and continuously finding opportunities to get ahead of where the market is heading. 

Three signs to look for that indicate a strong commitment to improvement and scalability include: 

• Regular software and hardware updates: Continuous improvement means that your technology partner regularly releases updates that keep your systems performing at their best. This includes bug fixes and feature enhancements, security improvements, and new capabilities tailored to emerging needs.  
• Scalability for future growth: Your broadcast technology needs to be flexible and scalable to grow as you do. Whether you’re expanding your production footprint, adopting new workflows like remote production, increasing content output to enter new markets, or pivoting to emerging platforms, the right technology partner ensures that their systems can scale with you. Scalability is essential—your equipment should support HD and remote production models without requiring massive infrastructure investments. 
• Customer-driven enhancements: Partners that prioritize customer feedback are the ones who understand the real challenges broadcasters face. Broadcasters should seek out partners who listen to their input and incorporate it into product development. This ensures that each new iteration of a product is even more aligned with the broadcaster’s specific needs, making systems more intuitive and better suited for real-world challenges. 

This commitment to improvement and scalability helps broadcasters avoid obsolescence and ensures that their systems continue to perform optimally as new standards emerge.

3. A proven track record of long-term reliability 

Long-term reliability is critical in an industry where downtime during a live broadcast can lead to lost revenue and damaged reputations. A reliable technology partner should have a proven track record of delivering high-performance solutions that consistently perform well in high-pressure environments like live sports, breaking news, and major events.

Look for technology partners with a long and rich history of innovation and stability and those with a proven track record of supporting top broadcasters with minimal downtime. 

4. A commitment to modernization through innovation

To stay competitive, broadcasters need technology partners who are focused on continuously modernizing their products. This means ensuring that the systems being implemented today can easily adapt to tomorrow’s requirements without the need for frequent or expensive upgrades.

The best technology partners actively invest in the next wave of broadcast innovation. More importantly, they develop these products in a way that doesn’t require broadcasters to overhaul their entire setup regularly, allowing for continuous improvement without increasing costs. 

Cloud production suites are a good example of this. Broadcasters can integrate parts of their existing suite with the cloud to expand and augment their production capabilities. These platforms give broadcasters remote, off-premise access to advanced production capabilities without the need to onboard new capital expenditures or overhaul their existing suites. 

5. Flexible and scalable technology deployments 

Finally, the right technology partner should offer flexible and scalable systems. As broadcasters expand their operations—whether adding new production capabilities, increasing content output, or moving into new markets—they need technology that can easily grow with them.

Flexibility means that systems can be quickly adjusted to meet new operational demands without the need for major reconfigurations. A flexible system ensures that broadcasters can remain agile and adapt to industry changes in real-time.

As broadcasters face new demands, they also need systems that can scale with them without causing downtime or disruptions. Whether increasing content volume, streamlining and automating workflows, or moving into new markets, the right technology partner designs solutions with scalability in mind. This minimizes the need for disruptive overhauls while allowing broadcasters to meet new challenges head-on.

Sustaining broadcast operations with technology innovation

Maintaining peak performance in a changing broadcast industry requires technology that delivers longevity through adaptability and continuous improvement. This means solutions built with software-defined architectures, regular updates, and improvement cycles that adapt to industry standards. The key is adopting new advancements while ensuring backward compatibility so broadcasters can innovate without disrupting existing workflows.

Longevity in technology also stems from robust design—products must be stress-tested to operate reliably under demanding conditions and flexible enough to integrate new capabilities as needs change. While no system can fully anticipate the unknown, the right foundation allows broadcasters to adapt to emerging challenges and opportunities without constant overhauls.

Broadcasters should partner with technology providers who prioritize sustained quality and reliability through thoughtful design and a commitment to incremental yet impactful innovation. This approach keeps operations resilient and allows broadcasters to meet viewer expectations with confidence and consistency.

The Ins & Outs of Today’s Signal Transport

As the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry stands at the crossroads of technological transformation, the choices you make today will define your operational success in the future.

Whether you’re planning to build or upgrade new facilities, our comprehensive whitepaper, “The Ins & Outs of Today’s Signal Transport,” provides the essential insights you need to make the best decision for your organization today and tomorrow.

Learn how the right transport tech can lead to significant workflow improvements from industry experts who advised the world’s largest companies.

It’s funny how the lessons you learn in one part of your life often apply in others.

Such was the case with the pandemic that shut down so much of what I was doing in the corporate AV world as businesses adopted a strategy that sent employees home to work remotely to comply with social distancing recommendations from health authorities.

Overnight about 99% of what I was doing—mostly corporate AV services for gatherings in ballrooms—dried up. Looking around, I vowed that never again would I put all of my eggs in the same basket.

I wanted to create something that did not pigeonhole me in a single market niche that could be shuttered by a pandemic or any other unforeseen calamity. To the best of my ability, I would pursue a business strategy that emphasized flexibility so if one sector went down, I would have others to buoy me.

To that end, I founded and serve as president of three companies, Pittman Media Group, which focuses on AV production and integration as well as being the parent company of CINELIVE. CINELIVE is my OB mobile production company with a flagship 53-foot mobile unit serving hybrid or cinematic multi-cam and traditional live broadcast clients. My third company, which is unrelated to the first two, focuses on High-Density Ultra-Pure LED displays for video broadcast control rooms and critical control rooms in other industries.

Next-Level Flexibility
As I thought about how best to build an OB unit, I quickly realized that placing an emphasis on flexibility in its technical design, similar to my overall business north star, made perfect sense.

I selected an integrated media processing solution, aka a Ross Video Ultrix platform, in combination with Ross openGear-based modular-based processing to address multiple video production functions, such as audio and video routing, frame synchronization, multiview, production switching and other workflow essentials, in a single system.

Rather than relying on racks full of single-purpose technology and dealing with the footprint required for all of those racks and equipment, higher cooling loads and the increased complexity and weight of the cabling that would be necessary, the integrated processing available via Software Defined Production Engine blades and some supporting modular processing proved to be a far more elegant approach that could easily meet production requirements that vary from client to client and show to show.

Compared to OB units with traditional designs, CINELIVE devoted fewer equipment racks to video—about two-and-a-half, providing the flexibility to devote several more feet of truck space to audio, which runs one of the finest Dolby Atmos 5.1.4 audio suites ever built into an OB unit.

In this respect, flexibility equals scalability. Having additional free rack space means the unit can scale with new technology to enable new or expanded production requirements and associated workflows. Even more importantly, the fact the FPGA used to power our integrated media processing solution has additional processing headroom means the solution itself can also scale as new software revisions enable additional production capabilities to meet the needs of customers.

Besides space, this approach cuts weight by about 5,000 pounds when compared to a comparable traditional OB vehicle, meaning our CINELIVE OB vehicle is never even close to our 80,000-pound weight limit.

Other Benefits of Flexibility
There are several other important benefits of having such a flexible integrated signal processing solution. Adapting workflows is one example. No two productions are ever the same. As a result, tally identification of camera sources changes from production to production. Thanks to the flexibility built into our integrated system and our tally management system, which it supports, we can, for example, assign camera signals to various CCU inputs and all accompanying tally information, such as signal source name, automatically follows.

Having the flexibility to add new capabilities to our integrated media processing system as they become available also offers the potential to open up new monetization opportunities. One example is the addition of true 4K multiviewing support, which will give us the opportunity to upcharge our highest-end clients for this capability if we decide to do so.

Whether it’s the ability to add new capabilities to CINELIVE without major hardware additions, the chance to monetize new production capabilities, the means to make easy workflow modifications or the freedom to leverage more rack space, choosing to base our mobile unit on an integrated media processing system is delivering the flexibility needed to be competitive and keep clients happy for the foreseeable future.

As I learned coming out of the pandemic, building a business ethos around having the flexibility to adjust to come what may is also a recipe for success when it comes CINELIVE.

(Editor’s Note: Zack Pittman deployed a Ross Video Hyperconverged Ultrix integrated processing solution with Ross Acuity production switcher capability and a Ross Video openGear modular media processing solution to enhance production capabilities as required.)

More information is available in the Ross Video “Why Flexibility is Essential for Broadcast and Live Production Success” white paper and “CINELIVE Builds a Future with Ross” case study.

While virtual sets have had a presence in television studios for several decades, advances in artificial intelligence and virtual reality are revolutionizing the TV news of today. The use of virtual sets and advanced graphics, where the on-air talent works within a simulated 3D graphical environment, has made physical sets little more than background props that viewers never see.

“Virtual sets and advanced graphics are becoming essential in delivering impactful storytelling,” said Marcus B. Brodersen, CEO of Pixotope, a real-time virtual production platform. “Thanks to new technologies, broadcasters can now build more flexible environments that can be adapted on the fly, which is critical for the fast-paced nature of news production.”

“Virtual sets enable the visual extension of the set, meaning that you can do more with a limited space,” added Russell Leak, senior customer success manager with Vizrt, a pioneer in developing real-time graphics and live production solutions for content creators. “With detail-oriented virtual environments, presenters can interact with the space around them seamlessly, creating an engaging visual experience for the audience.

“Topped with data-driven immersive graphics to illustrate important data points clearly, virtual sets and advanced graphics are playing a crucial role in providing both information and entertainment,” he added. “They help illustrate the storytelling, improve audience retention and relay effectively crucial data-driven stories.”

Data Visualization
The most significant evolution in news tech over the past year has been in data visualization, according to Jim Doyle, Ross Video’s vice president, creative services.

“Using CG-generated graphics like XPression helps our customers provide results and information very quickly and provides virtual graphics to tell the story,” he said. “Our work with Fox News for their 2024 election coverage [which used Ross Video’s Graphics on Command voice-activated AI-driven live graphics system] is probably the most advanced TV news setup we’ve done. We’ve created a workflow where someone on set can verbally request the next graphic, and AI then recalls that specific scene, allowing them to speak to it.”

(Read: CBS Owned Stations Go Virtual To Reinvent News)

The U.S. and U.K. elections were big drivers of on-air news innovation in 2024.

“Broadcasters worldwide used Viz Engine, sometimes integrated with Unreal Engine, to create fully immersive 3D environments, including a full video wall of the White House for the U.S. elections, as well as an illustration of Parliament for the U.K. general election in blue and red, with seats changing in real-time as results came in,” Vizrt Senior Customer Success Manager Russell Leak said. “AI has also been a buzzword for a reason: It is being used for the setup and improvement of visualization of sets. For instance, Reality Connect, available in Viz Engine 5, uses advanced AI algorithms to enable hyperrealistic talent immersion, including shadow-casting and reflections within virtual studios and XR sets.”

Brainstorm specializes in advanced technologies like real-time 3D graphics, virtual sets, camera tracking, XR and film previsualization. In 2024, the company collaborated with Univision Arizona (KTVW Phoenix) to develop a complex virtual set and a suite of data-driven AR graphics templates for its election night coverage delivered on its large, green 35-by-30-foot cyclorama.

“Virtual sets, augmented reality graphics and real-time 3D graphics have been around for decades, but recent advancements in graphics quality and computing power now make it possible to deliver more realistic sets and complex graphics in real time,” Miguel Churruca, Brainstorm’s marketing and communications director, said. “By combining Unreal Engine for set rendering with real-time broadcast graphics engines, we achieve the best of both worlds for news production, with stunning background scenes and hyperrealistic graphics. We can even take it a step further with remote connections—bringing a remote talent directly into the news set rather than onto a screen, or virtually placing the anchor in a remote location, all in real time.”

What's Coming Next
As exciting as the innovations in virtual news sets and advanced graphics for news production were last year, what’s coming next is bound to be even more dazzling.

“In 2025, virtual studios will continue to become easier to implement and achieve photorealistic quality, even in live broadcasts,” Brodersen said. “With advancements in real-time rendering and lighting, such as real-time ray tracing, virtual sets will become indistinguishable from physical ones.

“Another area that is seeing very rapid advancement is AI-based tools for video analysis, processing and content generation,” he continued. “One of the innovations we are working on is ‘Pixotope Reveal,’ our AI-powered background segmentation tool that can automatically detect and select up to 20 talents. It allows you to place the AR graphics behind or in front of the talent without the need of complex infrastructure, such as green screen, chroma-keying or lights.”

Brainstorm’s Churruca agreed that a major goal among broadcasters is to achieve maximum realism, creating virtual sets that are indistinguishable from reality by using the latest rendering technologies.

“These advancements not only enhance visual quality but also improve lighting, reflections and interaction with graphics and other elements, resulting in a highly polished final output,” he said. “Virtual and real elements can seamlessly coexist—such as combining real tables and props with virtual backgrounds. We can mix talent and props with real LED backgrounds or pair virtual backgrounds with virtual screens, creating endless combinations for displaying images, graphics, or other virtual elements.”

Ross Video’s Doyle sees virtual reality breaking out of the news production studio in 2025. “I believe we’ll see more simplification in the control room,” he said. “I think virtual control rooms, at least for Tier-2 or Tier-3 productions, have a future. AI-driven routing and switcher control are also on the horizon, which will change things. Combined with what we’re doing now with voice command, we’re quickly moving into a whole new production environment.”

The Beginning of the End?
Does all of this progress spell the doom of traditional TV news presentation? “It’s looking that way,” Brodersen said. “The days of physical news sets with static, over-the-shoulder graphic windows are indeed fading. Even regional broadcasters, such as VideoReport Canarias [in Spain] and TV La 7 [in Italy], are making the switch to virtual sets and it’s likely more will follow.”

Said Doyle: “In some ways, yes, and in some ways, no. I’d say traditional over-the-shoulder graphics with an abstract image and two lines of text — that’s outdated. But I think graphics that reinforce what the talent is saying, like half slabs with bullets of information or data-driven charts and graphs, are still useful and aren’t going anywhere. “

What about physical TV news sets? Are they fated to go the way of ¾-inch videotape and paper scripts? “Definitely not,” Leak said. “To some extent, those news sets are not a thing of the past because audiences like familiarity, and the traditional news look is appealing to a key part of the audience.”

In fact, physical desks, chairs and other news-studio props still have their place in this brave new world of TV news production.

“Physical news sets continue to play a crucial role, but virtual news sets enhance the dynamics of news presentations,” Churruca explained. “Anchors are no longer confined to sitting behind a desk while OTS [over-the-shoulder] graphics illustrate the news: Now virtual sets and augmented reality graphics on physical sets offer greater flexibility. Anchors can move freely—standing behind a desk, interacting with AR graphics in a larger space or even being teleported to remote locations using chroma-key and virtual technology. Both physical and virtual approaches have their advantages, allowing us to leverage all available technologies to create more engaging news programs with dynamic presentations.”

The problem with broadcast tech that lacks customer focus
In an industry where technology and consumer habits are rapidly changing, live broadcast and media organizations need more than just cutting-edge solutions. They need tools designed with specific challenges and operational success in mind. 

Innovation without understanding the customer’s needs can result in technology that fails to solve real-world problems, leaving broadcasters with tools that don’t drive their business forward and may even hinder the quality of their broadcasts. 

This leads to four specific problems for both broadcasters and technology providers:

• The technology misses the mark. Many technology solutions—in broadcasting and many other industries—focus on novelty without addressing real-world problems. There’s a tendency to develop and buy based on the latest “shiny object” rather than what’s functional. And that’s usually driven by a lack of communication between end users and developers. When this occurs, broadcasters often encounter overly complex tools that fail to integrate seamlessly into their workflows, leading to inefficiencies, increased costs, and limited practicality instead of addressing their challenges effectively.
• There’s a loss of operational efficiency. When tools aren’t developed with end users in mind, the end user suffers the most. Broadcasters may end up with tools that don’t integrate well with existing systems, creating operational bottlenecks. These teams are left to figure out how to make ill-fitting technology work, often leading to higher training costs, downtime, or failure to leverage new solutions fully.  
• There are missed opportunities for revenue growth. If end users don’t know how to properly use a product, or that product doesn’t align with their actual day-to-day needs, they simply won’t use it. When that happens, there’s a loss of both the initial investment and stunting of potential revenue growth due to a lack of adoption, underused features, and limited ability to scale existing operations. Simply put, the tool purchased to drive growth is actually preventing it.  
• The broadcaster’s reputation takes a hit.  When a tool fails to deliver, the broadcaster also fails to deliver to their customers, potentially resulting in sub-standard content or live experiences. This can ultimately lead to a loss of trust from viewers, and a negative hit to the broadcaster’s reputation.  

Broadcast technology should be developed in lock step with customer needs. And that’s only possible when the technology provider develops close relationships with their customers, which in turn leads to customer-driven innovation.

Why broadcasting needs customer-driven innovation
Broadcast technology that doesn’t align with real-world needs isn’t useful. We’ve established that. Instead, what’s needed is close collaboration between end users—broadcasters—and individuals who create the technology they use to build and deliver content to their audiences. Customers, in other words, need to be in the driver’s seat of innovation. 

When they are, technology is planned, developed, and refined to address specific pain points and operational goals, instead of being driven by the hottest trends of shareholder pressures. This ensures that the technology allows for greater operational efficiency, reliability, and opportunities for strategic growth, rather than being a barrier to it. 

The most successful technology partnerships are those that prioritize customer collaboration, ensuring broadcasters are equipped to thrive both today and in the future. Tech providers can deliver practical, easy-to-use, and scalable solutions by engaging broadcasters throughout the product development process.

A technology partner that listens to these specific needs and develops tools to meet them helps the broadcaster not only deliver on the viewer’s expectations but also can construct integrations between these tools to ensure that the broadcast is seamless and free from delays. 

What to look for in a broadcast technology partner
Broadcasters should look closely at each vendor’s track record for customer-driven innovation when considering new technology partners. To do so, look for vendors who show the following characteristics and values related to their product innovation and customer service initiatives. 

1. They have a deep understanding of the industry 
First and foremost, broadcasters should look for technology partners with a deep understanding of the broadcast industry, the challenges they face as broadcasters, and the opportunities available to solve those challenges. Like with any partner, you want someone who is deeply plugged into industry, and intimately understands the technology, viewer demands, and platform requirements for large scale broadcasting. 

Ideally, these providers should have a clear perspective on where broadcast technology needs to go, and what they are going to do to help get it there. Look for providers who actively solicit feedback from their customers to better understand what end users need from their technology equipment. 

2. They strive to see their customers succeed
The deep industry knowledge mentioned above doesn’t just happen overnight. It comes from years of trial and error and, more importantly, from listening to clients. 

The strongest technology partnerships are built on a foundation of understanding the client’s unique operational needs and aligning product development with those needs. Broadcasters should look for technology partners that actively incorporate client feedback into their innovation processes. 

This is how that looks in practice:

• They have continuous feedback loops. Best-in-class technology partners hold regular, structured feedback sessions with their clients, ensuring that any pain points or operational challenges are identified early. This allows partners to address these challenges in real time, ensuring that technology adapts in response to actual broadcaster needs rather than hypothetical industry trends. 
• They focus their innovations on real-world problems. Broadcasters should expect their technology providers to prioritize practical, purpose-built solutions. Instead of focusing solely on delivering cutting-edge features, the best partners design products that solve real operational problems—whether that’s simplifying workflows, reducing manual interventions, or ensuring systems can scale as broadcast demands increase. 
• They’re opinionated but flexible in their innovation. A trusted technology partner should build solutions that are not only innovative but also adaptable. As the media industry continues to evolve, broadcasters will face new challenges, so their technology must adapt as well. This includes products designed to scale with future needs and keep up with new technologies and workflows, ensuring long-term operational success. 

If you’re unsure if a potential partner incorporates these points into their R&D roadmap, ask how they decide what products to build. It may be a red flag if customer input isn’t at least part of that process. 

3. They anticipate future industry trends through customer-informed R&D
Another key indicator of trust is a technology provider’s ability to anticipate future challenges before they become problems. This can be gathered from their own experience and from customer feedback sessions. 

Using these inputs to inform and adapt product roadmaps is another sign of a customer-driven technology partner. They actively listen to customer challenges, overlay that with their own experience, and forecast future needs—whether that’s addressing the growing demand for UHD content, integrating with new cloud-based workflows, or anticipating new distribution platforms. 

Broadcasters should expect technology partners to invest in scalable solutions that will help to modernize their current operations. Scalable technology is designed with the flexibility to integrate new technologies and workflows as industry trends shift. This future-proof approach prevents broadcasters from being locked into outdated systems, ensuring they can adapt as media landscapes evolve. 

To achieve that level of forethought, innovators need to intimately understand where customers are today, and what they will likely need in the future. That’s the sign of a customer-driven technology partner. 

4. They prioritize operational efficiency through design and support
Trust with a technology partner is also built on how effectively they support the broadcaster’s day-to-day operations—either directly through support services or indirectly through user-friendly and well-integrated tools. 

The most reliable partners design technology that is intuitive and easy to implement within existing workflows. They couple this with highly skilled and customized training that allows broadcasters to quickly integrate new technology into their operations. Look for solutions that simplify complex tasks and make your team more efficient. 

Support is also an important factor. Broadcasters should seek partners who provide on-call, 24/7 support, offering fast, effective solutions when issues arise. This type of support minimizes downtime, reduces operational costs, and ensures broadcasters can maintain high-quality production standards, even under pressure.

Bonus points for any technology partner who also uses these support conversations to help inform future product updates! 

Customer-driven innovation leads to customer-centric products Broadcasting is growing more complex every year. The last thing broadcasters need is added complexity from products that don’t align with their day-to-day needs. By focusing on scalability, innovation, and adaptability, Ross ensures its customers can grow confidently, innovate boldly, and deliver exceptional content across platforms. Ross Video provides broadcasters with the tools and expertise to thrive in an industry that rewards agility and creativity.

This puts their customers in the driver’s seat, giving them the power to shape the future of the tools they use to deliver great content and experiences to their viewers. 

Technology upgrade guide
Outdated technology — it slows production, diminishes content quality, and adds creeping maintenance costs that quietly drain productivity and threaten your competitive edge. But how do you upgrade technology without disrupting workflows? Or worse, causing downtime?

Download our Technology Upgrade Guide for a practical approach to modernizing live production technology so you can devise a strategy that ensures smooth operations during a transition and well into the future.

OTTAWA, Canada—Ross Video has acquired EagleEye from sec.swiss (Swiss Electronic Creation), a strategic move that enhances its portfolio of camera motion systems, the company said.

"Cable cameras really bring the audience into the event with camera angles, shots and motion you just can’t achieve in any other way,” Ross Video CEO David Ross said. “Now having EagleEye as part of our portfolio, Ross will be able to offer this creative option to an even broader range of clients.”

The acquisition broadens the company’s set of creative solutions and brings immersive cable camera viewpoints to more productions, Ross said.

Acquiring EagleEye gives Ross customers and partners access to an expanded portfolio of cable-camera systems, complementing Ross’ Spidercam series and extending solutions to a broader range of applications, it said.

EagleEye will be manufactured in Canada at Ross’s global manufacturing facility and will benefit from the company’s robotic camera expertise as well as its scope and scale of operation, the company said.

Ross’ cable camera portfolio now provides greater production flexibility for motion picture, broadcast, and live event applications for both indoor and outdoor use, it said.

Modular 1D, 2D and 3D systems are now available from Ross to meet a variety of needs, including 1D for vertical shots in studios; 2D for horizontal and vertical shots in sports and at events; and 3D for dynamic aerial footage in complex productions, the company said.

Customers can choose between short-term rental options for event-specific needs or long-term ownership with purchase models, meeting various budget and project requirements, Ross said.

“This acquisition allows us to address the growing demand for cable camera systems with a versatile offering that can cater to both rental and purchase models,” Karen Walker, vice president of camera motion systems and managing director of spidercam at Ross Video, said. “By integrating sec.swiss’s technology, we’re not only expanding on the spidercam range but also reinforcing our ability to provide scalable solutions for our clients’ most ambitious productions.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

Ross Video has outlined a shift in its strategic approach and announced a significant financial target for 2030.

The live production technology provider had previously announced plans to take the company into public ownership, with an IPO slated for 2025. However, CEO and majority shareholder David Ross has revealed a change in direction, signaling the company will instead seek private-equity investment to better align with its long-term growth and innovation objectives.

The decision to switch strategy was driven by a belief that the short-term focus of public markets was potentially detrimental to the company’s ambitions for sustainable expansion, Ross said.

Commenting on the decision, Ross told TVBEurope, “public markets reward mediocrity,” explaining that the short-term public-market ethos often impacted investments in innovation. “We’re about building extraordinary solutions and redefining industries—not fitting into a cookie-cutter mold,” he added.

In seeking to boost EBITDA margins to enhance its public-market valuations, Ross Video had deliberately slowed the pace of its R&D and sales investments. “Frankly, that’s just not me,” Ross reflected. “Pulling back on innovation and growth doesn’t fit the DNA of Ross Video. Private equity allows us to accelerate our investments while staying true to our mission.”

Ross Video also unveiled an ambitious plan to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2030. Named the “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (BHAG), the plan aims to double Ross Video’s revenue over the next five years in what the company said is a continuation of its well-established trajectory. According to the company, Ross has achieved 33 consecutive years of profitable growth at an average of 17% per annum.

A series of measures aimed at meeting this target includes expanding the workforce to between 2,000 and 2,500, with more than 1,000 employees focusing on R&D; a round of technology and talent-based acquisitions, with companies integrated into the Ross Video ecosystem and a market-leadership drive; increasing its presence across the globe; and raising the market share of its product lines.

“It’s not just about hitting numbers,” Ross said. “This is about creating better products, improving market position and delivering exceptional value to our customers. It’s a natural extension of what we’ve been doing for decades.”

The company is already looking for its next acquisition—No. 22—which, said the CEO, aims to bolster Ross Video’s legacy. “We’ve spent decades building trust, innovation and value,” he said. “The $1 billion BHAG is about taking Ross Video to the next level—not just in revenue, but in impact.”

This article originally appeared in TV Tech sister brand TVB Europe.

On election night, NewsNation will showcase a number of newer technologies and upgrades, including an Election Pulse tool to better visualize election results and a relatively new Washington studio that debuted this summer.

The Election Pulse visual tool will provide real-time updates on the projected outcome of the presidential race nationally and in key states. Throughout the night, an on-screen “probability needle” will move based on voting results, patterns, and remaining uncounted ballots, Paige Lobdell, executive producer of special projects and events at NewsNation, said in an interview.

“This is our first election as a 24/7 news organization,” Lobdell said, adding that Election Pulse is part of a wider array of new technologies and infrastructure the relatively new cable network will use in its election coverage.

As part of its coverage, NewsNation anchors will spearhead coverage from its New York studios. Throughout the night, the network will draw the newsrooms of local Nexstar Media Group stations and showcase a relatively new Washington studio that went live in the last few months.

“NewsNation will be drawing on the power of the Nexstar stations,” Lobdell said, allowing it to draw on the expertise of 110 local newsrooms at Nexstar stations across the country. “A lot of times, the national media just flies in and reports on what’s happening, but our newsrooms have people who live and work there,” she said. “They have great insights into things that are going to be very important as the night goes on.”

For Election Pulse, NewsNation partnered with Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ). On election night, NewsNation will have cameras on DDHQ staff based at Georgetown Law School throughout the evening so viewers can see exactly what’s happening.

“On TV, you’re going to get what’s the most important to the viewers at the moment, which is who has the greatest chance of winning this race at a particular time,” Lobdell said. DDHQ is providing the data and the analytics while NewsNation will rely on its internal graphics systems to visualize the information. NewsNation’s New York and Chicago newsrooms and its New York studios use Ross Video’s Xpression, Tessera and DataLinq solutions. In Washington, NewsNation augments Tessera with a homegrown video system called Optic, which is based on OBS software.

The Washington studio has windows on two sides that offer a live view of the nation’s capital as well as Union Station, Lobdell said. “One wall with windows features a track with an additional LED wall that maximizes our presentation space if we choose to not shoot against outside glass,” she said. “The other two walls are made up of LED panels. One is a large curved screen, the other is a flat wall that complements an alternative view from the main set usually focusing on scenic landmarks from Washington. The graphics for that set also come from Ross—mainly Tessera graphics.”

The JHD Group-designed set has four robotic cameras and a Steadicam, Lobdell said. Cameras are from Sony and use Ross robotics. “Our entire studio has multiple gels that allow us to electronically raise and lower them to compensate for different lighting temperatures when shooting against the windows,” she said.

“As our first big election as a 24-hour news network this is a big milestone for us,” Lobdell said. “On the tech side, I’m really excited about all the different ways we are going to be able to bring information to views through different graphics,” from the Election Pulse to the big board graphics.

On election night, Nov. 5, “NewsNation Decision Desk 2024” will be co-anchored by Chris Cuomo, Elizabeth Vargas and Leland Vittert and air from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET. Host of “The Hill Sunday” and political editor Chris Stirewalt will contribute from Washington.

Throughout the evening, “NewsNation Now’s” Connell McShane will breakdown voting results and provide up-to-the-minute reporting from the big board and primetime host Dan Abrams will offer insight and analysis.

The CW will provide a simulcast of NewsNation’s election night coverage from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. (ET). McShane and NewsNation Live’s Anna Kooiman will anchor overnight coverage from the network’s New York studio.

TV TECH: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2024 NAB Show New York?

SCOTT BOWDITCH: I think there are two key trends we're going to see. One is artificial intelligence, specifically how it's being applied to drive more creativity and improve production workflows. It’s clear broadcasters are starting to explore how AI can shape the future of the industry. The second big trend is cloud technology. We're not quite at full cloud adoption yet, but we're getting closer. Broadcasters across North America are testing cloud-based applications more and more. Eventually, it will be like flipping a switch—everything will be cloud-based. We're not there yet, but vendors and end users must be ready for that shift when it happens.

TVT: What will be your most important product news?

BOWDITCH: We've got an exciting new product launch planned for NAB Show New York—in the hyperconverged product group—and this will be the first time it's seen on a show floor. We can't discuss all the details yet, but we're excited to unveil it. On top of that, we're continuing to build on the success of products we've recently launched, like the new Ultricore Tally system, Carbonite Ultra Solo, our Artimo free-roaming robotics camera system, the Carbonite Code browser-based switcher, and dozens of other upgrades and improvements to existing product lines.

TVT: How is your new product different from what's available on the market?

BOWDITCH: We're under an embargo, so I can't give too much away. But what I can say is that we're building on the capabilities of our current Ultricore products, improving workflow efficiency and integration. Keep an eye out for the announcement at NAB Show New York.

TVT: What is it about the NAB Show New York that brings you back every year?

BOWDITCH: New York City is a powerhouse in the television industry. The broadcasters and production professionals there are really pushing the boundaries of technology, not just for local networks but for the entire country. With so many global organizations headquartered nearby, connecting with non-broadcasting is easier too. It gives them a chance to explore the ProAV tech they don't usually get to see. NAB Show New York allows us to meet those key decision-makers face-to-face, which is incredibly valuable. If you want to stay at the forefront of broadcast technology, this is where you need to be.

OTTAWA, Canada—Ross Video has launched Ultricore Tally, a full-featured, versatile tally control and management solution and will showcase it at IBC 2024, Sept. 13-16, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

As a software application installed on Ultricore BCS, Ultricore Tally can be used either as a standalone tally solution or with other Ultricore functions to deliver a rich control experience. Ultricore Tally goes beyond the basic functionality of tracing on-air signals from origin to monitoring point and offers a range of interoperability, scalability and configuration flexibility, the company said.

Ultricore Tally offers direct support for an extensive collection of industry-standard communication protocols to interface in real-time with equipment from Ross Video as well as third-party devices. Built on the foundation of Image Video technology, Ultricore Tally integrates with any workflow, it said.

The new tally solution provides the flexibility to operate in virtually any environment—from small to more complex systems—with shared resources across multiple control rooms, including remote studios and mobile broadcast trucks, it said.

The Tally System Console allows for easy, centralized configuration and management of Ultricore Tally. Any number of different configurations may be saved and quickly recalled to suite the needs of different productions or operator preferences, it said.

“Since we acquired Image Video back in 2020, we have continued to develop and enhance the tally control platform to support different environments better and to ensure seamless integration with Ross Video’s suite of solutions,” said Todd Riggs, director of product management, Hyperconverged Solutions. 

For more information and to see Ultricore Tally in action, visit Ross Video at stand 8.B91 at IBC2024, September 13-16 in the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

See Ross Video at IBC 2024 Stand 8.B91.

More information is available on the company’s website.

While most broadcasters and video professionals recognize Ross Video for its leadership in developing many of the key technologies used in the production of television as well as non-broadcast video, many may be surprised to learn that the company is also an industry leader in sustainable manufacturing.

Five years ago, Ross Video began a project to expand its factory in Iroquois, a small town in southeastern Ontario, Canada, near the banks of the St. Lawrence River, from the existing 65,000-square-foot manufacturing floor to 120,000 square feet.

One of the primary goals in designing the expansion was to advance the company’s environmental initiatives with the goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions. As Ross Video’s chief manufacturing officer, I am pleased to report that the factory will reach that goal within the next few months.

Achieving this ambitious feat started more than a decade ago when Ross Video put in place measures to comply with the RoHS Directive restricting hazardous substances, such as metals like lead, mercury and cadmium and other substances.

While not specific to carbon neutrality, RoHS Directive compliance launched Ross Video on the road to sustainability. By 2008, the company was firmly on the way to establishing a culture of environmental consciousness. Ross established mandates to source locally, especially for larger, bulky goods, when possible.

The shorter the distance bulky items must move, the less the fuel used—and therefore the lower the carbon emission required to deliver those items to the factory. One of the bulkiest items required by the factory is packaging. When cardboard is shipped, it’s inevitable that a lot of air is shipped as well. 

Working with these local sources, Ross co-designed the packaging to ensure it is fully up to industry standards with regards to shake and drop testing. Plus, the proximity of the sources to the factory translates into less carbon emitted in shipping.

The same is true of shipping machined metal—there’s a lot of air—and most importantly a lot of weight. The closer the source, the shorter the distance and, most importantly, the less fuel required, meaning a much smaller carbon footprint.

The company also took steps to eliminate generating wastewater and environmentally harmful air emissions from the factory. Ross also looked for ways to make more efficient use of power.

At about the same time in 2018, key European customers like BBC, Sky, ITV, IMG and others told Ross that future purchases would be contingent on two company executives attending a carbon literacy day in London. As one of those executives, I was pleased to learn that the instructor presenting the course thought Ross was in pretty good shape—perhaps the most advanced among the hardware vendors in the industry. However, there was still more to do. 

Shortly after the literacy day, Ross began planning for its factory expansion. It was clear for quite some time that the real gains to be made in carbon footprint reduction centered on capital equipment investment.

To make the most of the opportunity to reduce carbon that the expansion presented, Ross hired Red Squirrel Environmental, a Kingson, Ontario, Canada, non-profit to conduct a Level 2 ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) audit to help the company identify where the factory was using power, find the source of emission and offer guidance with the goal of achieving a net-zero carbon footprint with the expanded factory. That information factored heavily into the factory design and put Ross on the path to its emissions goal, which will be achieved no later than Q1 2025.

A couple of other factors have played a big role in achieving this goal. First, the new factory expansion includes rooftop solar power generation. Interestingly, a 2012 expansion of the facility was scheduled for solar, but shortly after its completion local building codes aimed at improving seismic protection prevented the company from adding the weight of solar panels to the roof. However, the latest expansion cleared the way for solar power, which now plays an important role in reaching the net-zero carbon goal.

Second, Ross Video CEO and majority shareholder David Ross as well as his family are quite supportive of efforts to make the company’s manufacturing and entire operation more environmentally friendly.

In fact, Ross Video’s commitment to environmental protection and sustainability extends well beyond the company’s factory. The same emphasis on sustainability is factoring into product design—most notably the Ross Video Ultrix Hyperconverged production platform. 

By combining many production functions previously only accessible from discrete production devices, Ultrix delivers substantial power, weight and cabling efficiencies—benefits that are particularly important in OB trucks when it comes to reducing carbon footprint.

Notably, Ross Production Services is walking the sustainability walk with its implementation of Ultrix in OB trucks and flypacks. The facilities provider has been building its production units based on Ultrix since its introduction.

As a result, it has been able to design and build a 16-camera 4K hyperconverged unit leveraging Ultrix in a 40-foot box truck chassis with the same production punch available in a traditional 53-foot production trailer.

As Ross Video moves forward, the company remains committed to implementing other measures to advance its sustainability goals even further. That’s good news to European broadcasters—and one day to broadcasters worldwide—as they continue to look for ways to advance their own sustainability efforts.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.— Live Media Group Holdings (LMGH) has built and integrated a new production control room at TNDV headquarters, one of its three divisions, leveraging REMI (remote integration model) production.

“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. This cost-efficient approach allows for substantial savings on airfare, hotel and other travel costs, as well as streamlining complex logistics,” said TNDV president Rob Devlin. “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.”

During the pandemic, 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, it said.

A swift decision was made to convert an often-idle greenscreen studio that had been used for occasional satellite media tours. In its place, it designed and integrated an impressive, fully equipped 28-by-17-foot production control room suite, LMGH said.

The production control room is based on the Ross Video Ultrix Acuity platform with Ross XPression for real-time graphics creation. It integrates the Ross Acuity software-defined production engine with 4 M/E switcher cards, Ultrix hybrid routing and multiviewer capabilities, it said. 

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 its Elevation mobile unit, which is parked outside the building, it said.

TNDV’s facility already offered the critical REMI components, such as robust, reliable fiber-based high-speed internet and satellite uplink connectivity. 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 all incoming video signals for a particular event remain in sync for precision mixing and that the final program is dependably distributed to a customer’s destination. “Having these multiple tiers of transmission and networking is highly advantageous to REMI production and really sets this service apart,” said Devlin.

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 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,” said Devlin. “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.”

More information is available on the TNDV and LMGH websites. 

Some of the biggest news stories of all time — the Chilean Miner Rescue, the O.J. Simpson Trial, and the Miracle on the Hudson — started with high-quality reporting from local news.

Today, local news broadcasters face unprecedented challenges. According to Pew Research, Americans increasingly turn to social media platforms or other online sources. Younger US adults are now reported to trust social media information as much as information from national news outlets.

While local channels have seen a large audience decline, they still attract the biggest audience compared to cable and network stations — and that presents a huge opportunity for local broadcasters. In fact, despite that viewership decline, local TV stations have seen an increase in revenue from both advertising and retransmission fees in recent years, particularly during election years.

Using Technology to Make More with Less

Even simple weather forecasting graphics involve ingesting and processing multiple data sources. If local news created graphics from scratch every broadcast and updated them manually, they could never keep up with national organizations.

Automated data ingestion and templated graphics expedite and simplify this process, allowing local news producers to use the highest-quality graphics without overburdening their creative teams, saving a lot of time and resources from repetitive manual creative work.

Local news network Graham Media Group uses ‘super-templates’ to create and distribute high-fidelity, on-brand graphics for their network of stations from a single creative hub.

Watch this video to see how Graham Media use XPression to do more in less time.

Ensuring Brand Consistency & Integrity Across Platforms

Brand consistency conveys professionalism and credibility. Automated templates like lower-third graphics, over-the-shoulder graphics, transitions, etc., give local news the ability to quickly incorporate consistent graphics, even when covering novel topics.

Automation also makes it easier for newsrooms to distribute content to multiple platforms. 86% of Americans “sometimes” or “often” get news from a smartphone, computer, or tablet, so news stations must leverage creative technology to configure their news broadcast graphics to fit different aspect ratios, screens, orientations, and contexts.

Leveling the Playing Field with Smart Content Creation

There is a huge opportunity for local TV news stations in this election cycle. High-quality stories told with a true local voice, real on-the-ground reporting, and clever use of high-fidelity graphics can give local news stations an edge over larger broadcasters in an age when people are ever more discerning in the sources they choose.

Ross Video’s technology like XPression and Streamline Pro help local broadcasters around the world take full advantage of modern graphics and compete with national broadcasters. To learn more about how Ross Video solutions can make your newsroom more efficient and effective, reach out to one of our team here.

Keeping Pace in the Election Race

2024 is a big year for newsrooms with a record number of elections taking place around the globe. For advanced insights on how newsrooms can get ahead in addressing their elections needs with cutting-edge graphics, download our guide.

Achieving sustainability targets is becoming a major consideration for Outside Broadcast facilities providers in Europe and will likely weigh heavily in the thinking of OB companies around the world as government regulators adopt measures to reduce carbon emissions.

For OB companies, compliance is a heavy lift. On one hand, they must satisfy all of the production requirements of their clients—something that’s heavily dependent upon what technology is on board. On the other hand, OB facilities providers face penalties or even worse for not complying with sustainability targets when it comes to vehicle weight.

Until recently, there hasn’t been a suitable alternative to business-as-usual remote production. Large, expando tractor trailers, essentially TV production studios on wheels, have required lots of technology, signal routing and remote power. 

However, that’s all changed thanks to the Ross Video Ultrix hyperconverged production platform. Ultrix combines production switching, audio mixing, multi-viewers, video and audio routing, color correction, signal processing, audio embedding and de-embedding and frame synchronization in a single platform, thus the term “hyperconverged.”

This means weight is dramatically lower; less rack space is needed; fewer cables are necessary, and required on-site power is far less. 

By way of comparison, consider an Ultrix FR12 Hyperconverged production platform and a traditional OB trailer decked out with the same production capabilities. The Ultrix FR12 delivers and same production punch in 14 rack units vs.as what would take a row or even multiple rows of full racks in a traditional system.

Power savings are huge, too. An OB vehicle would require significant amounts of power to do what the Ultrix FR12 can do with only 2,400W. There are big savings in terms of cables as well: thousands of interconnect cables for a traditional unit vs. a few hundred cables for the Ultrix FR12.

All of this adds up to a huge weight difference. In a traditional OB trailer, thousands of pounds of technology, racks and cables would be required to deliver the same production capabilities as an Ultrix FR12 setup weighing just 128 pounds. 

Smaller, lighter production trucks made possible by Ultrix burn less fuel than their heavier counterparts and therefore have a smaller carbon footprint. They are also becoming increasingly important in Europe as countries place weight restrictions on commercial vehicles traversing city centers—precisely where many broadcast sporting and entertainment events occur.  

While weight savings, reduced fuel usage and lower on-site power requirement are significant in the context of sustainability for OB facilities providers, they are equally as important when it comes to production flypacks.

The weight savings of Ultrix alone are significant because lighter flypacks cost less to ship. Beyond these savings, Ultrix-centric flypacks mean setup, maintenance and teardown are far easier and less time-consuming simply because there are fewer discrete tech components in the system. And regardless of whether it’s an OB truck or a flypack, ease of deployment and use translates directly into easier management and ultimately higher profitability.

Keeping It Simple
The desire to boost profits where possible has driven a movement among OB facilities companies towards simplification. The simpler things are, the less effort ultimately required to bill for OB facilities and flypacks.

The effect of the Ultrix Hyperconverged production platform on simplification is far-reaching. Before a new production truck or trailer is even built, the availability of a hyperconverged production platform simplifies design, reducing equipment room space and cooling load as well as drastically cutting the number of cable runs otherwise required.

From an operational perspective, Ultrix simplifies operations and engineering as well as personnel training. Not only do fewer discrete pieces of technology make Ultrix simpler to use and maintain than a traditional production setup, but having one system do so much in software means system training is simpler.

With many OB facilities providers reporting problems with higher-than-normal turnover, easier training makes managing frequent personnel departures simpler to handle by reducing the time and effort necessary to bring new hires up to speed.

Having common control over so many functions, Ultrix also simplifies configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting and potentially reduces the number of personnel needed to staff any given production.

The Ross Video Ultrix Hyperconverged production platform is enabling today’s OB facilities providers and others to succeed in a changing landscape of environmental impact concerns, staffing and personnel demands and operational realities.

Consolidating what previously were multiple discrete production technologies into the compact, lightweight and power-efficient platform that is Ultrix makes achieving sustainability requirements possible—something that’s a must-have in Europe and soon will likely be required around the world.

But simply baking so many diverse production capabilities into a single system isn’t enough. In the high-stakes game of television production of sporting and entertainment events, delivering superior video and audio quality is table stakes. Here too, Ultrix excels.

For all of these reasons, many OB facilities providers in Europe and elsewhere where sustainability is a top priority are specifying Ultrix for their new OB vehicles and in the process are positioning themselves for future success.

2024 is a big year for newsrooms with a record number of elections taking place around the globe.

To enable news departments to deliver reliable, engaging and data-driven election results to viewers quickly, we have put together a comprehensive guide on the changes in viewing habits and audience expectations over the last few years, and how leading newsrooms are using graphics and technology to meet them.

What to Expect

Ross Video’s Election Graphics Guide is a comprehensive resource designed to help newsroom directors enhance their election coverage with better graphics and more efficient workflows.

In this guide, we discuss how the news media landscape has evolved and explore the technology newscasters are relying on to provide more engaging, more accurate real-time data to keep their viewers informed.

Specifically, the guide covers essential topics such as data integration, real-time updates, and effective templated design strategies, making it an invaluable tool for anyone involved in producing election-related content.

Who Should Read This Guide?

• News Producers & Newscast Directors
• Broadcast Professionals
• Graphic Designers
  

For expert insights on how newsrooms can get ahead in addressing their elections needs with cutting-edge graphics and production workflows, download your free guide.

Contrary to what many believe, virtual studio solutions are not new technology. They have just been neglected. 

CBS tried them at the dizzy heights of the dot-com bubble back in 1999, as did many others. But the combination of expense, complexity, and subpar graphics meant they crashed and burned very quickly. 

As one, the industry quietly turned away and pretended it had never happened.  

But in recent years, we have quietly been helping traditional news broadcasters around the world, from the BBC to NBC experiment with new forms of video production and keep up in the creative arms race that modern media has become.  

Many have found that virtual studio technology offers a significant strategic advantage for modern newsrooms — and can be for yours too. 

Media Consumption Habits Are Driving Change  

Media consumption habits have shifted in the last decade, making the industry more competitive than ever before.  

As audiences are bombarded by the volume and variety of news outlets and media forms available, news broadcasters are rapidly expanding and experimenting with creative elements to keep viewers engaged.

A lower technological barrier to entry and shift of advertising capital towards new advertising platforms (such as social media) has resulted in lower news viewership and budgets — and smaller creative and technical teams for many broadcasters.  

Newsroom directors and their teams must do more with less to produce engaging, accurate content to capture audiences — and are increasingly turning to virtual studio to do that.  

Overcoming the Physical Limits of Traditional Studios 

While the traditional news industry has been reluctant to implement (or even talk about) virtual studio, they have become commonplace in sports broadcasting.  

Their adaptability and ease of redesign make virtual studio a powerful tool for news broadcasters — especially those operating under constrained budgets. That flexibility allows newsroom directors to do more with graphics and creative elements, inject more dynamism and visual intrigue into their broadcasts, and turn the studio into a storytelling tool. It also facilitates much faster set up and tear down times, rapid transitions between segments and shows with a fraction of the budget, time, and resources required by physical sets. 

Virtual Studio in Action – Revolutionizing Broadcast Efficiency 

The advantages of a virtual broadcast studio are threefold: easy set-up, more creative, and reduced broadcasting resources. 

For instance, NBC LX built a virtual set into their new studios, allowing them a lot of flexibility and allowing them to use immersive graphics to grab attention and draw people into the story.  

(See how NBC LX uses their virtual set to tell better stories in this video)

Virtual studios can also make live video production more efficient. They allow for faster transitions between sets and environments, meaning producers can quickly repurpose studio spaces for different programs without having to spend the time and resources building multiple hard studios and sets.

Virtual sets and studio elements are programmed using automated workflows, templates and pre-recorded transitions, meaning they can be used and repurposed for multiple different stories with minor editing. These highly automated workflows are particularly useful for smaller production teams, empowering reporters and creatives to deliver more high-quality content with a fraction of the work involved. 

Elevate Your Newsroom with Ross Video Solutions 

Success in the modern newsroom means doing more with less: more content with less budget, more engagement with less staff, and more “bells and whistles” in less time.  

Modern news broadcasters use Ross Video products like XPression, Voyager, and Lucid to automate and streamline immersive virtual studios. Workflow automation tools, like Overdrive and Streamline Pro, stitch these tools together, accelerating the production process and ensuring brand consistency and quality.  

That frees reporters and creatives to deliver more content, creating and embellishing their own stories — sometimes live on air — without adding to their news directors’ long list of worries.  

To learn more about how Ross Video can help your newsrooms stay competitive in the rapidly changing media landscape, reach out to one of our newsroom production experts here.

Keeping Pace in the Election Race

2024 is a big year for newsrooms with a record number of elections taking place around the globe. For advanced insights on how newsrooms can get ahead in addressing their elections needs with cutting-edge graphics, download our guide. 

OTTAWA—Ross Video has announced that it will be participating in InfoComm 2024, held from June 12 to 14 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where it will be showing a variety of innovative video solutions and a collaboration at the AVIXA TV Studio. 

Ross Video, in partnership with AVIXA at Booth W2645, will present the AVIXA TV Studio – a dynamic live corporate studio experience equipped with the latest Ross technology, including a Virtual Set Solution with Voyager Trackless, overlay graphics from XPression, record and playback with Tria Express Duet and the Ultrix Carbonite hyperconverged routing and switching platform. 

At Booth W2145, Ross Video will showcase its comprehensive integrated video solutions for corporate AV environments that expand across vertical markets. Attendees can explore products for any professional audiovisual needs, including:  

• Quorum 2.1 meeting production software with multi-room support 
• Carbonite Code, the new software-based production switcher with NDI I/O  
• Ultrix Hyperconverged with Carbonite blade 
• Media I/O 
• TouchDrive production switcher control panels 
• XPression Tessera and Mosaic for easy management and high-res video image processing on extra-large displays   
• Advanced PTZ cameras, Tria servers, and much more 

The AVIXA TV Studio at Booth W2645 will demonstrate the practical application of virtual production technologies. The studio will produce and livestream seven episodes throughout the show, which will be broadcast to a global audience through major social media channels, including YouTube and LinkedIn. 

The AVIXA booth will also host live demonstrations, video workshops, and a behind-the-scenes look at Ross Video’s virtual solutions so attendees can learn how to apply them to their corporate workspaces. 

For more information about Ross Video’s presence at InfoComm 2024 and to schedule a meeting, please visit: https://www.rossvideo.com/go/events/infocomm-2024/

How’s this for irony? If there is one thing that’s constant in television technology, it’s that nothing remains static.

So, today’s mixed signal transport environment should be nothing new for seasoned video professionals. Whether it’s transport or any other aspect of television technology, things constantly change. That could be film to video, analog to digital, SD to HD, standard dynamic range to high dynamic range—the list goes on and on.

Those responsible for technology and those who control the purse strings in the Media & Entertainment Industry have learned to live with and thrive in this environment of change.

When it comes to signal transport—inside a facility, from the field to a facility, between facilities on a campus or even across facilities separated by many miles—the latest changes have spawned an abundance of options.

While established solutions for these applications, ranging from Serial Digital Interface (SDI) to point-to-point microwave and satellite transmission, are still relevant, the emergence of Internet Protocol (IP) transport is leaving its mark.

Today, protocols like SMPTE ST 2110, Network Device Interface (NDI) and Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) offer additional ways to move signals around facilities and enhance workflows. Frequently those responsible for SDI-based facilities are looking at ways to add these transport options to enhance workflows and derive other benefits.

From the field, contribution leveraging IP protocols like Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST), Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) and others makes it possible to move IP packets to facilities over wireless and wireline networks. These same protocols also offer an efficient way to transport content between buildings on a campus, to remote studios and even to the cloud.

Add to these IP protocols continued development of SDI to address, for instance, the greater bandwidth demands of higher resolution video formats (i.e. 4K and 8K Ultra HD) as well as HDR and the sheer number of protocols and formats engineers and managers must consider can seem overwhelming.

To assist media professionals, Ross Video has published a new white paper, “The Ins & Outs of Today’s Signal Transport.” 

It presents in an understandable way the strengths and limitations of many of the most popular signal transport options available today. Readers will find an informative discussion of the fundamentals of these options, different use cases, the pros and cons of each and a look into where signal transport is headed. 

Written with a full understanding that many M&E businesses will be working in a hybrid signal transport environment for the foreseeable future, the white paper brings an objective perspective to an examination of how different signal transport options can be added to existing infrastructure to enhance today’s media workflows while positioning organizations for the future.

The white paper also includes handy charts that give readers an at-a-glance understanding of the key characteristics of different transport options.

Click here now to download the white paper.

It's happened: The realistic virtual sets and advanced news graphics that have been wowing TV viewers for years have become accepted elements of broadcast production. 

“It’s no longer a gimmick,” said Ray Ratliff, Vizrt’s Product Evangelist, XR. “Broadcasters and media producers are leveraging these technologies to help them tell their stories, expanding the depth and richness of their stories in new and powerful ways.”

Better Quality, Easier to Use
Just because virtual sets and advanced news graphics have come of age doesn't mean that these technologies are standing still. In fact, advances in both technologies explain why they continue to impress viewers and news producers alike.

“The improvements in tracking technology for virtual sets have been a game-changer,” said Mike Paquin, Ross Video’s Senior Product Manager, Virtual Solutions, “These systems are now incredibly precise and reliable, which means they require less maintenance and can be used daily without the need for constant recalibration. 

"The improvement in control systems is also significant: in the past, there were standalone control systems which required a dedicated operator, but with technology like Voyager and Lucid, the control side can be easily integrated with existing workflows, eliminating the need for dedicated operators and extensive training.”

Advanced news graphics have also become easier to use, accelerating the adoption of virtual sets and augmented reality (AR) in TV news production.

“One factor driving this trend has been increasing simplicity in use for day-to-day graphics,” said Aldo Campisi, Chyron’s Vice President for Latin America, Caribbean, Spain & Portugal. “We’ve focused on simplifying and deskilling daily use of virtual sets and/or augmented reality, even enabling our customers to extend the CAMIO newsroom automation workflow they use for traditional graphics into the world of virtual sets and virtual graphics,” he said. “With this functionality, producers can use a familiar tool set to build graphics in 3D space, in augmented reality, and in virtual sets all while maintaining data visualization functionality.” 

Thanks to the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into virtual set and news graphics systems, achieving “real-time photorealism is easier and more cost-effective than ever before,” said Ratliff. At the same time, the ability to format these effects into templates is simplifying and speeding up the production process “without impacting staffing requirements.”

The Impact 
Collectively, advances in virtual sets and news graphics are allowing broadcasters to explain stories to their viewers in new and visually exciting ways. 

For instance, when Thailand’s Amarin TV wanted to explain the progress of an election during a results broadcast, “they visualized the candidates as runners on a race track,” said David Dowling, Chief Revenue Officer with Pixotope Technologies. “Depending on how well they were doing or how big their numbers were, the graphics showed their positions on the track, plus whether they were still fresh or tired, or about to give up the ghost.”

Meanwhile, when Iceland’s RUV TV wanted to explain the latest volcano that had erupted on that island nation, “they incorporated an AR volcano onto their news set,” Dowling said. “It was a story-telling element that really helped their presenters explain what was going on.”

Across the TV broadcast industry, “we see customers using immersive graphics to put their presenters in the middle of the action,” said Ratliff. “Broadcasters place their people in fully virtual environments, bringing more significant presence and context to their stories, helping viewers understand the content better. We’ve seen incredible examples of this globally on a variety of coverage whether it's elections, sports or other major news.” 

“Graphics are now truly telling the story in an immersive way, and they're not just being used in virtual sets, where talent is in front of a green screen,” Campisi added. “Visual storytelling is also being enhanced with augmented graphics. The presenter might be standing in front of a true LED video wall with graphics that are brought into extended reality, creating an immersive experience that empowers the newsroom team to demonstrate, visualize, and story tell with much greater detail and emphasis.”

What’s Coming Next
As impressive as virtual sets and news graphics are today, they are likely to wow viewers even more in the years to come. At the same time, the trend in these technologies is to make them less obvious to the viewer, rather than more. 

“I think that photorealism is something that people are crying out for and I can certainly see that trend having an impact on the way in which graphics are presented,” Dowling said. “Even if it's just a lower third or a bug, the look will be as close to real life as possible.”

Meanwhile, the technologies that have revolutionized the look of TV news appear destined to break out of this niche. 

“At Chyron, we’re increasingly being asked for solutions that help our customers commercialize their productions,” said Campisi. “By its very nature, a 3D virtual set offers more spaces that may be digitally branded than with simpler 2D graphics. Looking ahead, we can see how advanced skeletal tracking and visualization — to the point that it’s highly representative and realistic — could be translated across sports and entertainment. 

“For example, a match targeting a younger demographic could feature all the well-known athletes on a team stylized to look like characters from a popular animated series or an epic space opera,” Campisi added. “In other words, properties and brands could be marketed and monetized in remarkable new ways to realize exponential returns.” 

Advances in GPUs, AI tools, and decreasing LED prices are now blurring the lines between virtual and actual reality, according to Campisi. 

“These innovations will enable hyper-realistic, immersive sets and interactive presentations, enhanced by AR and MR integration. Cloud-based flexibility, real-time automation, and lifelike virtual characters will revolutionize newsroom graphics, pushing the boundaries of visual media.”

The NAB Show in Las Vegas unveiled cutting-edge technology trends shaping today's Media and Entertainment (M&E) landscape and provided insights into future developments.

With a pervasive presence of cloud technology and discussions revolving around AI, notably Generative AI in media, the event highlighted advancements enhancing professional workflows.

Noteworthy developments include solutions for high-resolution content (e.g., 4K and 8K Ultra HD), HDR for richer color depth, and immersive audio experiences. Additionally, improvements in SDI and IP protocols were evident, underscoring the continued relevance of on-prem operations alongside cloud integration for scalability.

These trends, among others, were explored in this free TV Tech Talk with TV Tech Contributing Editor Phil Kurz and Simon Hawkings, director of Sales Strategy and Business Acceleration at Ross Video. 

OTTAWA—Ross Video has announced the introduction of Raiden, a data-driven weather graphics software that combines data gathering, processing, and visualization tools to transform how broadcasters create weather and climate content with more immersive real-time weather content.

The first release of Raiden brings weather graphics to the XPression toolbox and seamlessly integrates with existing production workflows through an intuitive web-based tool. That allows meteorologists to collaborate with producers and designers to prepare weather and climate content anywhere, the company reported. 

Tailored for the demands of the modern newsroom environment, Raiden facilitates collaboration across departments. 

The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RUV) was the first adopter of the Raiden system in their newsroom. “Raiden has transformed our approach to weather storytelling by removing the limitations of our old system,” said their head of production, Gisli Berg. “Our news and weather teams now collaborate more effectively to produce higher-quality content. And the ability to access and prepare content from anywhere has made the team’s job easier."  

“Raiden is the latest addition to the innovative lineup of Ross Graphics solutions that already includes our XPression Real-Time Motion Graphics system, our PIERO Sports Analysis toolset and our Voyager Unreal-based Engine with the Lucid Control System,” added Boromy Ung, senior director - product management and business development - graphics at Ross Video. “With Raiden, we strengthen an already robust ecosystem of products designed for the newsroom. It’s another example of our commitment to advancing our solutions to empower customers to create the most captivating content and maintain their competitive edge in the broadcasting industry.”

Raiden’s powerful toolset enables meteorologists and content creators to produce captivating weather narratives. The Ross described the most notable features as follows: 

• Powerful data aggregation: Raiden seamlessly acquires, processes, and visualizes preferred weather data from a wide range of sources for the XPression graphics engine. 
• An intuitive story creation tool: A user-friendly web-based Interface enables users to quickly build or update a weather story and rundown from anywhere for live production 
• Integrated graphics system: An XPression Plugin with DataLinq™ enables broadcasters to design and operate news and weather content from a single graphics engine. 

To learn more about Raiden, visit www.rossvideo.com/raiden. 

LAS VEGAS—Ross Video has announced an agreement to acquire Bannister Lake Software (BL Soft), a 31-year old Cambridge, Ontario-based provider of data-driven broadcast graphics. BL Soft products add to Ross’ XPression Graphics Solution Set, consolidating and automating workflows for various data feeds like branding, tickers, gaming and elections, connecting them to XPression for real-time rendering, Ross said. BL Soft’s portfolio also includes a suite of HTML5 graphics creation and publication products that drive graphics to cloud-based playout and production applications as well as websites, apps and digital signage systems.

BL Soft’s flagship product, Chameleon, revolutionizes the way real-time data is accessed and utilized, according to Ross. With a comprehensive range of sources, including news, sports, weather, elections, financial updates, closings, eSports, wagering data, promos, sponsorships, and more, Chameleon offers a single, all-in-one solution. Users can effortlessly construct stunning and dynamic tickers, L-Bars, snipes, web widgets, and full-frame graphics that showcase up-to-the-second data-driven content. Rendering can be into an HTML5 data stream or via XPression Graphics, a video stream, or both at the same time. 

“We’ve known the Ross Team for a long time, watching the company grow and doing it the right way. We felt it was about time that we became an inside part of what’s going on,” said Georg Hentsch, President of Bannister Lake Software. “We’ve got some amazing technology that will really benefit from the global footprint that Ross has created.”

“We are excited to welcome the Bannister Lake Team and technology portfolio to Ross,” said David Ross, CEO of Ross Video. “We’ve enjoyed a close association with Bannister Lake for a long time and have been customers of each other. Bannister Lake includes XPression in their turnkey solutions, and Ross uses BL Soft’s technology in Ticker and Branding applications. This acquisition will unlock the opportunity to do even more together and expand the solution set we offer to our clients, especially in the realm of HTML5 graphics.”

Recent innovations in live on-set virtual production (OSVP) have gone a long way toward addressing concerns about workforce skillsets and costs fueling producers’ lingering resistance to upending old ways of doing things.

As 2024 gets underway, the gains are impacting progress at both ends of the production spectrum and all points in between. At the high end, content producers now have access to an unprecedented array of purpose-built OSVP studios in the United States and beyond, many of which just came into operation over the past year or so. Featuring massively scalable LED volumes, these facilities are supporting projects that routinely set new OSVP benchmarks for use case versatility in film, broadcast, and ad productions. 

Meanwhile, in-house productions are making use of LED wall building blocks linked to camera-to-computer rendering “cabinets” that can be stacked to support virtually any volume space. Workflow management systems harmonize dynamic elements across the physical and virtual spaces, including robotic cameras, 3D extended reality (XR) objects, lighting that illuminates the physical space in synh with on-screen luminosity, and much else.

Procedural and Cost Concerns
But, for all these gains, the next-gen approach to VP can still be a hard sell when it comes to convincing project managers to relinquish heavy reliance on postproduction in favor of spending upfront on expertise and technology that significantly reduces the need for location-based production. 

The point is made by Gary Adcock, a leading voice in next-gen VP production who leverages expertise in lens and camera manufacturing to help producers navigate tough use cases.

Adcock says it’s often hard for people to embrace the idea of basing production on a roadmap that front ends preparations for dealing with all the nuances of visual effects, coloration, lighting, etc. that have traditionally been reserved for post.

“You have to think about what the end point is and work backwards to make sure what you’re setting up in VP will take you there,” Adcock explains. “For people who have spent a long time in film, that can be a hard transition to make.”

Especially when they must get budgetary approval to cover the upfront costs. “Our rough planning is every three meters of wall has its own computer rendering system,” Adcock explains.  “When you start getting into 100-meter walls and every three meters you have to do that, all of a sudden you have a tremendously expensive outlay for computer systems.”

Those devices can run $25,000 to $40,000 each or more, he notes. And then there’s the cost of licensing and running in-camera VFX software such as the commonly used Epic Games-supplied Unreal Engine, which combines, compresses, unifies frame rates, and parses out the moment-to-moment scene-specific raw CGI and camera-captured video footage for synchronized rendering on each wall segment. 

But such costs pale next to what it can cost for a location-based shoot, especially if the in-camera VFX approach can deliver truly realistic visuals that would otherwise be impossible. For example, Adcock notes, no one can tell there are no real cars involved in the climatic wild car chase at the end of “The Batman,” released in 2022. “We’ve gotten to the point where we can mimic the reality of the world in a way that’s necessary for the types of things that are done for filming and television,” he says.

Recruitment Challenges
On top of these incremental costs, there’s a need to hire people with new skillsets and/or retrain existing staff to work in this new environment. This is made harder by the difficulties the industry is having with bringing new people on board, notes Ray Ratliff, evangelist for Vizrt products utilizing extended reality (XR) that have helped propel the company to the forefront in next-gen VP. 

“A significant challenge to the industry is the lack of new people joining the broadcast engineering workforce,” Ratliff says. He knows this from first-hand experience with customers whose leaders “share the challenges of recruiting new talent from universities and broadcast-adjacent technology fields.”

Vizrt is doing its part to remedy the situation, Ratliff adds. “Vizrt works with universities in many parts of the world to expose technology students to the broadcast field and nurture their interest in the field,” he says. “We also have opportunities for internships and development programs that we are also in discussions to expand to further support building the broadcast engineering talent pipeline.”

AI to the Rescue
The heavy lifting is getting less burdensome thanks to advances in the use of AI, which Ratliff says Vizrt is leveraging “to eliminate complexity and bring more value to our customers.” One of the more dramatic cases in point involves a solution to one of the most vexing issues with in-camera VFX, namely, enabling realistic immersion of on-screen personalities into the virtual environment.

Vizrt’s latest version of its Viz Engine real-time graphics rendering platform incorporates a new AI-driven function called “Reality Connect” into its workflows. Utilizing AI algorithms in conjunction with continuously updated 3D models of people on set enabled by Viz Engine’s integration with Unreal Engine, the solution delivers “significant improvements in reflections and shadow in the virtual environment,” Ratliff says. 

AI is providing many other ways to save staff time and reduce the level of expertise required to execute tasks. For example, Vizrt is using the technology to track objects in a scene, obviating the need to implement multilayer tracking systems. 

Ratliff also points to the recently introduced Adaptive Graphics tool, which eliminates the need to manually configure graphics for each type of display used in a production by allowing designers to build a graphic once and set parameters for automatic adaptation to different displays.

Building OSVP Expertise
But even with such advances there remains a big gap to be filled when it comes to much-needed OSVP expertise. Closing that gap is a front-burner priority at Sony Electronics (SE) and Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), according to Jamie Raffone, senior manager of cinematic production at SE. 

The two divisions are teamed using SE components to support in-camera VFX on Sony Innovation Studio’s Stage 7, a giant volume facility at SPE’s Culver City, Calif. production lot under management of Sony’s Pixomondo (PXO) unit. 

“Everybody [in production] wants to understand not just what the costs are but what it takes to make use of this technology,” Raffone says. It’s not just a matter of retraining personnel, which is essential; it’s also about educating decision makers, she notes.

“There’s not a single role that says ‘yes’ or ‘no’” to using volume facilities in production,” she says. There needs to be decision-making expertise at multiple levels of management, “from vice presidents to directors to producers to people overseeing corporate investments.” At the ground level, once a go decision is made, there’s a need for knowledgeable oversight that “starts with script evaluation and getting the staff together to execute the project.”

Sony is playing an active role in filling these knowledge gaps, Raffone adds. “Sony is aligning with specific workflow integrators, designers, and consultants, so that when a company wants to use the Sony ecosystem, they have a partner guiding them through the entire workflow. There’s so much more to this than buying equipment.” 

Simplifying Broadcasters' Use of OSVP
Making the right equipment choices is fundamental to expanding OSVP adoption. Looking at how this point has resonated in the live broadcasting arena, Mike Paquin, senior product manager for virtual solutions at Ross Video, says use of the technology “is starting to become more mainstream, in part because we’re making it more user friendly.” 

Automated orchestration of components is a big part of this, he adds. Under the command of Ross’s widely used Overdrive automated production control system, the company’s VP controller Lucid orchestrates every in-house or third-party component that’s been integrated to operate in the VP workflow, including switchers, robotic cameras, graphics platforms, and Ross’s Unreal-powered Voyager XR rendering system.

With its acquisition of G3 LED in 2021, Ross also became a leading supplier of LED panels that can be seamlessly stacked for use in any scenario, including giant volumes with pixel pitches as small as 1.56 mm encompassing floors, walls and ceilings. “We’re one stop,” Paquin says, “the only things we don’t provide are lenses and cameras.”

These integrated solutions have gone a long way toward simplifying OSVP for broadcasters, Paquin notes. “We’re helping people do stuff every day without an army of people,” he says. “Instead of needing one studio for the new set, another for sports, separate ones you have to set up for special events, you can flip a whole set from one use to another during a commercial break.” 

Will in-camera VFX be the live broadcasting norm everywhere in two or three years? “That’s my goal,” Paquin says. 

OTTAWA—Ross Video and NDI, the connectivity tech company, have announced a strategic partnership for Ross to broadly license and adopt the most advanced NDI technology across its portfolio, extending and enhancing existing support for the NDI standard.   

This collaboration will allow Ross to incorporate the most up-to-date AV networking features of NDI across its portfolio through NDI Advanced, ensuring enhanced video connectivity, flexibility, and workflow efficiency across the ecosystem, the companies said.  

“Ross Video has supported the NDI standard for many years and is excited to be taking this next step in supporting enhanced versions of NDI, NDI Advanced, and the evolution of NDI connectivity,”  commented Jeff Moore, executive vice president, and chief marketing officer at Ross Video. “We’ve found NDI incredibly useful and look forward to being on the forefront as things advance.” 

“NDI is excited to have Ross Video on board as a flagship adopter of NDI Advanced,” said Nick Mariette, director of product management at NDI. “A cornerstone company in the broadcasting industry adopting our most advanced technology and formats is the best demonstration of how NDI has grown to become a pervasive industry standard, capable of performing to the benchmark set by leaders in the segment.”   

NDI, a proprietary connectivity standard, supports a range of video codecs and enables seamless interoperability for devices and software across standard IP network infrastructures.

NDI Advanced offers product developers all the benefits of NDI technology, like seamless device discoverability, bi-directional remote control, and embedded metadata streaming and unlocks an additional set of features for enhanced video connectivity, including:

• Sending and receiving all NDI formats, from NDI High Bandwidth to NDI HX3, the most advanced format yet, which allows for visually lossless, low-latency video with minimal bitrates. 
• Access to the NDI Certified program, enabling products to be certified by the NDI team for guaranteed interoperability, performance, and reliability  
• Custom-packaged SDKs for Hardware or Software, including reference designs for major FPGA models from Intel or AMD. 
• Extended personalization of connection settings for each sender, finder, and receiver. 
• AV Sync, Genlock APIs, and KVM Support. 

Ross Video will incorporate NDI Advanced features broadly across its portfolio, including the following product lines: 

• XPression graphics solution 
• Ultrix hyperconverged platform 
• PTZ broadcast video cameras 
• Media I/O capture and playout solution 
• softGear Streaming Gateway 
• Vision[Ai]ry Ft facial tracking and recognition solution  
• PIERO sports graphics analysis system 
• DashBoard production and facility control solution 

More information about the integration of NDI Advanced into Ross Video’s solutions is available here. 

More information about NDI is available here. 

Systems Contractor News, a sister brand to TV Tech, recently announced the new inductees to its Hall of Fame for 2024. Among the honorees was Dave Ross, CEO of Ross Video. The following is SCN Content Director Mark Pescatore's profile:

Although he officially joined the company in 1991, David Ross has been a part of Ross Video since he was about 9 years old. He has a vivid memory of watching his father, John, working with a graphic designer on the company logo at the time.  

It may seem like it was destiny, but David almost didn't build his career with the family business. He had plans to work for a big tech company or possibly for NASA as an engineer. But after he shared his potential future plans, his mother pulled him aside and told him his father had always assumed David would come to work with him at Ross Video.

As David recalled, Ross Video was a one-product company (video switchers) at the time—and after a particularly difficult recession, his father was one signature away from selling the company. Instead, they decided to work together to save it.

And did they ever. The Canada-based company has not just survived but thrived, improving its revenue from $2.5 million in 1991 to about $400 million today. Under David's leadership, Ross Video has enjoyed a pattern of consecutive growth lasting 32 consecutive years. David became president of the company 20 years ago and added the title of CEO in 2006.

Ross Video is known for a variety of product lines, from its production switchers to its XPression graphics, Ultrix routers, Spidercam robotic cameras, D3 LED displays, and … socks? Like so many other companies, Ross Video has offered a variety of promotional items over the years, including socks. 

During the company's keynote at the 2019 NAB Show, David jokingly launched Socks 2.0—and the online chat exploded. So, the company decided to, well, run with it. The result has been a regular dose of levity at their annual event, as well as a sock drawer for the CEO that's half-filled with company-branded stockings.

Technically speaking, David is an engineer. He earned a degree in computer engineering from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, and helped redesign the company's switcher software while he was a co-op student. You can see his most recent handiwork in the look and feel of TouchDrive 4, the company's latest family of control surfaces for live production. However, business was basically his unofficial minor at the university—and he's spent plenty of time educating himself to the point where he considers himself more of a businessman these days.

Ross Video maintains a strategy of "integrated diversity," which means it only expands its product offerings through companies and technologies that "touch on the edges of what we already do," he explained. As a result, the company benefits from utilizing the same sales, R&D, and manufacturing teams, while targeting the same verticals and customers with new products and services. The company's strategic acquisitions have also added resources across countries and continents.

"I think what we're doing works really well," David said. "I love exploring new technologies and finding ways to make customers more successful."

While traditionally known as a broadcast company more than a Pro AV company, that perception of Ross Video may be changing. In late October, David congratulated the sports and live events team, because its sales surpassed broadcast sales for the first time. "Broadcast equipment has been getting cheaper, and I think Pro AV needs are getting more sophisticated," he said.

More than 30 years in, David, 58, is still excited about the company his father started in the 1970s with an analog switcher. "You wake up every morning with a list of things to do that's different from the week before," he said. "There's nothing like the multiple dimensions of running a company like Ross."

If you’ve bought a new car in the past eight years, you probably have noticed a trend: Many controls are now on a large touch panel. If you bought a larger video production switcher in the past 10 years, you may have noticed the same thing.

Now that touch panels are part of the control interface for production switchers, users and manufacturers alike are gaining strong experience in ergonomics and convenience. Talking to users, there is no question that touch panels bring important and worthwhile new features to switchers—but they also say that there is no substitute for a button-and-lever control panel.

“For quick actions like switching cameras, tactile hardware panels are best—your hands instinctively know where to go,” said André Dantzler, president of SociallyU, which operates a well-equipped studio in Chattanooga, Tenn. “But for complex setups like customizing multiviewers, [a computer or touch-panel interface] gives you much more intricate control.”

In SociallyU’s studio, a Blackmagic Design ATEM Constellation 8K switcher and several Ultimatte 4K keyers (also by Blackmagic Design) are used to create virtual backgrounds. Dantzler relies on Blackmagic’s ATEM Software Control to provide a touch-panel interface for the switcher.

“The ATEM Software Control lets you get detailed in ways hardware switchers can’t,” Dantzler said. “You can easily rename inputs, adjust advanced camera settings, and build up media assets. [It gives us] the best of both worlds: the ATEM Software Control for detailed setup since it’s free and doesn’t require additional hardware, and the Constellation 8K switcher’s physical panel for quick live actions.”

From My Cold Dead Hands…
Michael Lange, a freelance technical director in Madison, Wisc., agrees that touch panels definitely have a place in the world of production switchers.

“A touch panel allows you to create a custom interface or menu for a specific show,” he said. “For example, if you needed to create a custom screen for recalling a set of macros or effects, you could do that. On some systems, you can completely customize the look and feel of that menu, so there’s a lot of power there to augment traditional control surfaces.”

However, don’t think even about taking away his traditional pushbutton-and-lever control panel.

“On any live broadcast, I prefer physical buttons and levers—you need an interface you can feel, without looking down,” Lange said. “You need an interface where you can build muscle memory. Touchscreens typically don’t allow for that, and they’re too error prone. Touchscreens do have their place in switcher interfaces, but they excel at configuring settings and displaying menus.”

“For fast-paced shows, you need an interface you can feel,” he said. “The learning curve is definitely greater for a traditional interface, but that’s by design. With greater flexibility and power, comes a greater learning curve, much like learning to play the piano.”

Lange typically does his live switching work using Vizrt production switchers, and Jon Raidel, global CoE lead for cloud and live production at Vizrt, concurs with Lange’s observation.

“On any live broadcast, I prefer physical buttons and levers,” Raidel said. “This is critical for speed. You need an interface you can feel, without looking down. You need an interface where you can build muscle memory. Touch screens do have their place in switcher interfaces, but they excel at configuring settings and displaying menus. For fast-paced shows, you need an interface you can feel.”

Manufacturers listen carefully to the requests they get from working technical directors, and what manufacturers hear is that TDs overwhelmingly prefer a pushbutton-and-lever control panel for a fast-paced program.

However, they also hear that the ability to reconfigure settings as needed is a feature of value.

“The touchpanels that we find on video control surfaces such as the FOR-A HVS492WOU are not only capable of displaying a much greater amount of information at once, they’re exponentially faster in terms of data entry,” said Ken Sorrell, CTO for Production Technology Partners as well as the touring video director for Christian/crossover artist Lauren Daigle. “They also make on-the-fly adjustments or changes quite easy, which is important when directing anything live.”

User Requirements
“Overall the design of the control surface has remained consistent associated with user’s comfort and use requirements,” said Greg Huttie, vice president for switchers at Grass Valley. “There has been some incorporation of touchscreens with certain areas of the surface, along with heavy usage in the display screen tied to the menu. All changes we’ve incorporated have been vetted by the TD community in keeping with their fervent belief in maintaining tactile feel when it comes to punching a live show or sporting event.”

Huttie does notice that there are some situations where touch-panel interfaces get used.

“Productions are now tasked with creating revenue related to more than a single production output,” He said. These secondary or ‘plus programs’ are utilizing touchscreen control surfaces more frequently than the standard primary production.”

Technical directors—the people who sit at production switchers and make split-second decisions about which button or control to use—all have one voice when it comes to switcher control panels: “Don’t take away our buttons!” Still, touch panels and related computer control capability clearly have a place in modern production switchers. And their role will probably get bigger.

“While the design of the production switcher control panel has remained fundamentally unchanged, the development of control technology, such as touch displays, has allowed users to access configuration parameters quickly and easily,” said Nigel Spratling, vice president for production switchers & servers at Ross Video. “There is still a place for switches and levers, however, the latest control technology is now very much part of the modern production switcher.”

However, with the accessibility of new technology and with the shifting landscape of the live production industry, video production switchers are now being used in a wider array of live production spaces and are being operated by users of all age groups and experiences, Spratling adds.

“In response to this changing landscape, contemporary video production switchers must offer users the flexibility to choose their preferred mode of operation,” Spratling said. “Experienced users are likely to prefer the positivity and precision of physical controls, while beginners might find a touchscreen interface less intimidating with unnecessary controls stripped away. The future of video production switcher controls is likely to be a hybrid, accommodating various user preferences.”

The Crux of it
And that might be the crux of it. I’m old enough to remember when film editors described the “tactile” feel of working with film, and how it was part of the art form. There is very little of that particular tactile feel going on today, as virtually all editing is done electronically on computers.

“With more financially accessible hardware and software introduced to the market over the last several years, and more people entering the industry because of that accessibility, there certainly has been a shift, though I would say a traditional panel and lever style switcher is probably still the most common among industry veterans,” said Bob Caniglia, director of sales operations for the Americas at Blackmagic Design. “As the next generation of creatives comes up, it has been interesting to see how industry demands have been shifting.”

“For example, our ATEM Software Control, which comes free with our ATEM live production switchers, provides even more controls,” Caniglia said. “It can be run on Mac or Windows, and can even be duplicated so more than one person can work on the same workflow simultaneously. Having software like this running on an iPad [for example] allows for great flexibility and level of detail. However, a more traditional interface may make more sense for a straightforward workflow. Having a combination allows users to find the ideal balance for any given setup.”

Hot Topic du Jour
Also, the hot topic du jour is artificial intelligence. Will there be a day in the coming years when Alexa or Siri is the technical director for the Super Bowl or the Olympics? Or even for the six o’clock news?

I know, you’re thinking, “That’s impossible.” Perhaps you are right. However, the big benefit of touch panels used to control production switchers is flexibility.

“A key benefit of touchscreen interfaces is configurability,” Spratling said. “If a manufacturer adds new functionality to its video production switcher, it is a relatively quick design of the software interface to support it. However, to support the same functionality with physical buttons, a redesign of the switcher panel may be required and the user to purchase the newly designed panel. Some manufacturers even allow users to customize their own touchscreen interface!”

In the coming years, might we see a switcher that can understand spoken commands like, “Take camera 2,” or “Key in Marsha’s lower-third?” Once the AI learns the rhythms of a news broadcast, could it do as good a job as an alert, well-trained human?

That is the logical extension of the flexibility provided by touch panels and computer interfaces now appearing on production switchers.

Production switchers are the heart of any live production system. It used to be that they were all about mix/effect busses and chromakeyers, but today’s switchers really are where the action happens in the live production process. 

Editor's note: This article was updated on Jan. 24. 

The term “live production over IP” covers a lot of territory, but the basic idea is that IP circuits are used for at least some of the signals in the production. In some studios that are built for IP production from the ground up, IP circuits are the primary pathways, and the gear directly connects to these IP circuits.

Just about any type of production can work with IP technologies. Examples of productions that use IP techniques range from the highest-level sports and events, down to local news and talk shows. Although more traditional SDI systems are still practical and in wide use, IP-based systems are here to stay.

One huge benefit from IP techniques is the ability to get remote feeds very quickly and at low cost. What used to take an expensive satellite feed can now be set up in seconds inexpensively from anywhere in the world using an IP feed.

“On my way home from [a major sporting event in] Australia, I could not help marveling at how much has changed over the last decade,” said Karlheinz Amberg, director of global events for Lawo. “Each event has become a milestone, as cutting-edge technology is deployed at the request of host broadcasters. ST2110 IP and remote production have become the de-facto standards for today’s international broadcast centers.”

Smaller Footprint
One of the benefits of increased use of IP technology for large-scale broadcasts is that the gear has a smaller footprint.

“One might argue that thorough planning allows operators to prepare enough hardware for global events, yet last-minute requests and changes of plans are difficult to address in this way,” Amberg said. “Besides, who wants to justify the carbon footprint of shipping additional devices to where they are needed in a matter of hours? 

At this year’s global events, Lawo’s HOME Apps took center stage, according to Amberg.

“For one recent event, it was decided to run them on 10 Dell servers (10U in total),” he said. “We used them for 60x HOME UDX apps to downconvert 3G ST2110, 1080p HDR streams to 3G ST2110, 1080p SDR, 1080i SDR and other flavors of broadcast video.”

Amberg said that when the entire planet is watching, the slightest glitch may trigger tirades of irate remarks by the director, the CTO, the organizing committee, and the sponsors who pay substantial amounts to be associated with a flawless experience.

“I think it’s fair to say that any match, race, hockey tournament, motorcycle event, etc., of global interest you have watched over the last 20 years has involved a considerable amount of Lawo gear,” Amberg said.

Stepping in When Satellite Can't
BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, used Matrox Video’s Monarch EDGE encoder technology, coupled with GlobalM’s SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) distribution platform, to televise the state funeral of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II across the U.K. a year ago. 

The workflow began with Monarch EDGE multichannel encoders. Most live content ready for distribution entered master control as SDI feeds, and an EDGE E4 quad-channel, 4:2:2 10-bit encoder captured and contributed four high-quality, low-latency streams—main and reserve domestic feeds, and main and reserve international feeds—to the GlobalM streaming platform.

The GlobalM orchestration network then distributed and transmitted the SRT-enabled feeds, including backup and redundant paths, to international rights-holders across the globe, while the master control monitored all streams in real time with the GlobalM web dashboard. During the 12-hour broadcast, GlobalM did not drop a single packet, providing worldwide BBC audiences access to 12 hours of high-quality, uninterrupted event coverage.

Spending associated with satellite contribution and distribution has historically been restricted to events that warrant its expense and complexity, and fewer and fewer broadcasters are equipped with the necessary satellite-receiving equipment. In the case of the queen’s funeral, rights-holders with no satellite capability still needed to access the signal in the same quality as satellite would provide.

“The BBC would not have been able to meet the demand for the content without the EDGE/GlobalM combination,” said Paul Calleja, chief technology officer and co-founder of GlobalM. “Matrox Monarch EDGE’s high-quality and low-latency encoding support on the GlobalM private IP backbone gave BBC Studios complete stability and quality for each stream, ensuring international rights holders near and far got exceptional event coverage.”

In this case, GlobalM chose SRT, and Monarch EDGE performed flawlessly with this transport mechanism, according to Calleja. In rapid response setups like the queen’s funeral, commissioning is key. Monarch EDGE proved easy to set up and deploy, so that the broadcaster could focus on capturing the event, and not struggle with network configuration.

The highly competent broadcast staff that operates at the highest levels needs to get experience and training in a challenging learning environment. One such program in the United States is at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan.

At FHSU, a faculty-led student crew is tasked with the official television production of all the school’s NCAA Division II sports, which go to paying customers. Therefore, there is no room for error or equipment failure.

FHSU broadcasts everything from football to volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s basketball. The college also has a partnership with a local high school, where the high school pays FHSU to livestream scholastic athletic events that include football, volleyball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, and track.

“To capture all this sports content across the schools, we use about 10 cameras routed into a NewTek TriCaster TC1,” said Nick Schwien, director of Tiger Media Network at Fort Hays State University. “We use Vizrt/NewTek equipment for all our live productions in-house and off campus, including a TriCaster 2 Elite, a TriCaster TC1, a TriCaster Mini 4K, Viz Engine, 3Play 3P2 and 3Play 3P1, and other components by Vizrt.”

For cameras, FHSU uses a mix of Panasonic, Blackmagic Design, NewTek PTZ and JVC equipment. Much of the gear is mounted in a custom-made Bigfoot cart.

“Our TriCasters handle anything we can throw at them, and they are a great way for college students to learn about productions,” Schwien said. “We are even currently in the process of developing a sports production emphasis at FHSU, which works out well since the gear has been so easy for the students to learn.”

Ease of use and reliability are critical in a learning environment, and Schwien said that the TriCasters and associated gear have really worked out well in that regard.

“The TriCasters also help us stream to many different platforms using an easy setup process that expands our opportunity to reach audiences,” he said. “It helps us engage our loyal audiences and fan bases as well.”

Adapts Better to Last Minute Changes
JAB Holding is a behind-the-scenes corporation that invests in many well-known name brands, such as Panera Bread, Tiffany, Lacoste, Cover Girl and Burberry. With offices spread across the globe, it is time-consuming and expensive to have company-wide face-to-face meetings. For its annual gathering this year, JAB hired Gradient Experience to produce a two-day conference on video using high-quality IP links that featured LiveU encoders and decoders.

“The use of LiveU allowed our team to adapt to last-minute changes in scheduling,” said Corey Protin, head of livestream & studios for Gradient Experience. “When a guest could no longer fly to our London green-screen facility, we simply used a LiveU encoder alongside the LiveU LU4000 4K/quad HD rackmount receiver to bring him/her into the production. We were able to meet the presenters’ needs, without sacrificing our production quality.”

Products for live IP production are among the fastest growing categories in the video industry. Although broadcasters have been able for decades to do remote broadcasts via microwave, IP remote devices give users far more mobility and flexibility. 

An example is the TVU One from TVU Networks, which just debuted at IBC 2023. The TVU One is a portable 5G cellular modem that can work at resolutions up to 4K/60 fps in HDR quality. In addition to supporting 5G cellular modems, the One can also be fitted up to work with Starlink, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and satellite.

The Power of 2110
A major network-owned station on the East Coast recently upgraded its news production to a Ross Video Hyperconverged solution. This included two Ultrix-FR5 platforms featuring integrated Ultrix Acuity production switchers, connected to the station’s existing ST 2110 production network. The Ross gear has been deployed as the heart of two live production studios, which also use the company’s routing systems and multiviewers.

“As rack space was limited, Ultrix delivered a full production solution for two studios in a compact 10RU, connecting easily into the existing ST 2110 network,” said Alun Fryer, technical marketing lead for Hyperconverged Solutions at Ross Video. “The system integrated a full-size Ultrix Acuity production switcher for each studio with the flexibility to repurpose the hardware to multiple smaller Ultrix Carbonite switchers on demand for smaller production jobs.”

Fryer explained why the Ross Ultrix solution was the right for this large broadcaster.

“[Ultrix] integrates video and audio production, signal processing and routing into a compact, adaptable platform,” he said. “The software-defined features allow the customer to adapt the capabilities of the platform to the needs of the facility dynamically, giving them the production flexibility they needed.”

The tools for live IP production cover a lot of turf in the television industry, incorporating everything from familiar-looking devices like production switchers to cloud-based services that were just thought of a few years ago. The competitiveness of the live broadcast business—especially news—means that broadcasters are always going for the gear that will get them on air with news in the fastest, most flexible way possible.

This in turn spurs manufacturers to develop products and systems that give broadcasters that “faster-than-now” capability. IP systems, with their easy integration of wireless and wired devices, is the platform on which faster-than-now is built. 

Want to learn more? Attend TV Tech's free October TV Tech Talk: Advances in Live IP Production, Oct. 19. Register here.