With the college football season well underway, the constant need to improve the fan experience has never been greater.

That’s easy to understand when considering the fan’s perspective. The ease of lounging in front of a 4K screen in an easy chair while enjoying some inexpensive eats—and the overall time and money saved—has created stiff competition for athletic programs that need to fill expensive seats in massive stadiums.

So what’s one way for the athletic programs to battle back? By providing multi­faceted—and sometimes mind-blowing—film and video upgrades.

Brandon Meier has had a front-row seat for this progression. He started his career at the University of Nebraska as many dream of doing—as a student production assistant from 1996 to 2002. Over that span, he worked in the university athletic department’s HuskerVision unit.

Back In the Day
HuskerVision was created in 1994 to operate two large Mitsubishi CRT screens and produce video content for the Cornhuskers back when Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium had 3,000 square feet of broadcast facilities.

Today, Meier is the deputy athletic director of external affairs and oversees all creative and content for Nebraska athletics. This included the recent installation of a new Daktronics 117-foot-by-33-foot screen, and 25,000 square feet of production facilities following a move into the football team’s former offices. That shift involved a $13 million upgrade in broadcast facilities, including a $6.5 million investment in equipment and infrastructure.

The facility now houses the eight full-time HuskerVision staff who handle in-game video and other broadcast duties from three control rooms. They control the SMPTE 2110 broadcast deployment with an IP data center-level infrastructure, 12 4K Grass Valley Group HDR cameras and three EVS servers with 2 terabytes of IP switching capacity. Nebraska was the first university to install Lawo/VSM routing and IP management infrastructure, Meier said.

The new HuskerVision production facility (read more about it in SCN) also includes 34 operator stations, a new rack room with 40 racks and a centralized UPS backup with Liebert air conditioning units to keep the operation cool.

Much of its non-event content is shot in a 2,600-square-foot studio with a 24-foot green-screen cyclorama, full AES 67 IP audio integration with Lawo I/O frames for trucks to grab video feeds and a Riedel intercom. Beck TV was the project integrator.

While the group uses all three control rooms at peak times, it’s the master control room that serves Nebraska’s eight other athletic venues around campus. Meier said Mark Jacobson from Chicago-based Stadia Video Group “did an amazing job as our consultant and provided great value for our overall investment. He also worked hand-in-hand with Brock Raum, a former HuskerVision production assistant, who was the senior engineer for Beck TV overseeing the equipment integration.”

The Kickoff
But since it’s football season, Meier has enjoyed the new production capabilities on game day. “Higher-quality replays, better clarity of camera images and larger lenses help engage the fans to interact with our show,” he said, although the main improvement is “better, more reliable workflow.”

“We can be ready to go in a moment from one venue to another,” he said. “We may have volleyball at 3 p.m., then football at 6 p.m. In the spring. It’s not uncommon for us to have three events at once.”

Meier said that while much of HuskerVision’s equipment “was end-of-life, so it was time” for the update, there’s an additional benefit. “This helps us prepare our students for top industry positions and it gives them experience with state-of-the-art broadcast gear,” he said.

For more information, check out “Cornhuskers Coverage Conversion” on TV Tech sister brand SCN.

How Vast Is It?
The big new attraction at the University of Illinois’ Gies Memorial Stadium is a $30 million Daktronics video board above the south end zone, measuring 17,300 square feet (250 feet by 69 feet, which would rank fifth in the NFL). It’s “the largest in all of college athletics,” said Derryl Myles, senior associate athletic director for Fighting Illini Production and Technology.

The board is so vast that it is about 6,700 square feet larger than the board at Auburn University’s Jordan-Hare Stadium, which ranks second in the Football Bowl Subdivision. On its back are two more video displays to greet the Fighting Illini faithful as they arrive for the game, with each measuring 29.5 feet by 52.5 feet.

But that’s just the first upgrade in the overhaul of the video and broadcast operation, which also includes a 12.5-foot-by-180-foot “super ribbon” under the north end zone, with east and west ribbons of 4 feet by 427 feet.

New broadcast infrastructure is used to create and distribute content for the screens and elsewhere within the U of I’s network. It starts with content capture via six in-stadium Grass Valley LDX 150s, plus two Bolin PTZ cams mounted on the goalposts.

Images are distributed from the new control room, which is located not in the stadium but in the nearby Bielfeldt Athletics Administration Building. It features an IP infrastructure, which works off of an Evertz Magnum router; NETGEAR and Cisco switchers, using SMPTE 2110 with SDI baseband support; one Ross Carbonite switcher, with two XPressions with four channels each; and two Evertz Dreamcatchers for replays.

Showing the Money
The university is making best use of the old equipment, as it now serves as a second control room for streaming service B1G+ (Big Ten+) for “overlapping smaller events” held in the basketball arena, State Farm Center, Myles said. It includes four Sony 300 Triax HD cameras, a Ross Carbonite switcher with one channel of Xpression and the Mira Abacus for replay.

To connect the new network, Illinois has 144 strands of fiber emanating from Bielfeldt, 72 of which are dedicated to Memorial Stadium and 72 to State Farm Arena. The old auxiliary fiber still connects Huff Hall, home to smaller sports such as gymnastics, wrestling and volleyball.

Myles said the update was made for this football season for simple reasons: It was time and the athletic department had the money.

“Our infrastructure was about 12 years old when longtime fan and university donor Larry Gies generously contributed $100 million to university athletics, [which is] the biggest of many of Gies’s gifts to the university that he loves,” he said. The updates also include Wi-Fi
upgrades at more than 100 access points throughout the stadium through a partnership with MSB Engineering.

“The cool thing about it is that we’re now more flexible in what we can do in and out of the stadium, with various user interfaces,” Myles said.

So while accessing a philanthropic contribution is a long process, “We’ve moved forward since it was approved in January,” said Myles, who now has a new task at hand. “We’re still in the trial and error stage with our new Daktronics boards, but we’re making progress every day.”

Coming Attractions
You could say the technical updates at The Ohio State University, another Big Ten stalwart, are two-fold. Some of the work is complete and more is underway, slated for completion before the 2027 football season.

The obvious upgrade is the new north videoboard, standing out in the closed end of Ohio Stadium. The 44-foot-by-17-foot board from Daktronics is complemented by new 4.5-by-450-foot LED ribbon boards mounted on the fascia of the upper deck, along the east and west sidelines.

The coming attraction is rising on the southern end of the property: A new $3.8 million, 21,500-square-foot (total area) TV compound benchmarked for the ever-varying number of large and small trucks on hand to cover a given day’s competition.

“We’re relocating the site from the general-use parking lot to one near the Huntington Club entrance, which is 450 feet south of the stadium,” Executive Associate Athletic Director Mike Penner said.

The new building will house an Evertz ENX Router, Evertz 5800MSC sync generator and Evertz 3406 SDI transport; Sencore AFN-1000 IP encoders and a Sencore MRD 80100 decoder; Dante audio ML-32D, ML-16D and MM-2D-X transports by Tascam; and a Phabrix QXL SDI analyzer.

Part of the impetus for the new compound is to accommodate more production vehicles. That’s been spurred by the growing number of marquee TV matchups held in Ohio Stadium, as the footprint for Big Ten and potential College Football Playoff games “can require that a given facility accommodate more trucks, generators, satellite uplinks and main connections,” Penner said.

“It’s a better space for the networks to set up,” he said. “It’s covered from the elements and will be unified with our broadcast in-house production for TV, cable, audio/visual transit and digital video signage.”

Wait ’Til Next Year
But that isn’t all that is on the horizon.

Back in the bowl, coming in 2027 is a new 157-foot-by-45-foot video board, as well as a 157-by-10-foot LED ribbon board that will be complemented by a new audio system with Fulcrum speakers and Powersoft amps installed by C.V. Lloyde Audiovisual. This time, the updates will all be in the south end zone.

There is also an LED control room in the press box. Game-day video content is captured via 12 Sony professional-grade PTZ, production and cine cameras, with Ross routing, graphics and switchers.

About 500 feet of fiber connects the TV compound to a hub inside the Ohio Stadium, with several hundred more connecting the main nerve center in the Schottenstein Center around a campus that supports more than three dozen teams.

The arena, which lies across the Olentangy River from Ohio Stadium (but still within the campus footprint), contains a Grass Valley main switcher and tech from Ross Video for routing and graphics, Dreamcatcher for Replay and Sony Cinecameras for PTZ and production.

Into A Higher Gear
When the University of Washington agreed to join the Big Ten two years ago, the move came with various mandates for upgrades in and around the campus, including a big change in avenues for the creation and distribution of sports content.

That led to an extra improvement that wasn’t expected, but more on that later. First, it called for the building of four new control rooms, not inside Husky Stadium but in Alaska Airlines Arena, which connects to several venues around the campus.

Just how these four SMPTE 2110-based control rooms inside the arena “are broken down and used varies greatly,” Deputy Athletic Director Kurt Svoboda said of an operation which incorporates more than 20 Grass Valley and Sony cameras.

In the case of Huskies football, games involve three scoreboards from Daktronics. This includes the east main video board, which is 31.2 feet by 108 feet, plus two wing boards that measure 18 feet by 31 feet each, alongside three rows of ribbon boards.

New gear in master control includes two GVG K-Frame SXP switchers, six Ross XPressions for graphics and six Evertz Dreamcatchers. Anthony James Partners was the system integrator, with major university partners GVG and CTI.

The university has also added a 1,000-square-foot video and photography studio with seven LED columns that can be configured into a single 10-foot-by-27-foot background, “which is big for a small room,” said Svoboda, also noting the separate Pro Cyc wall.

“That space is where we can host a sports talk show, students’ athletic promos, interstitial content,” Svoboda said, noting the versatility offered by the new setup. “We have a 2,300-square-foot event space with another LED wall that measures almost 7 feet by 12 feet, between the control rooms and photo/video room.

“So we can host a premium event for professional industry groups where guests can watch the games unfold in the arena before them,” he said.

Getting Schooled
The above illustrates what often happens when a university athletic department changes conferences. “When we were in the Pac-12 we didn’t need these spaces, since the conference handled all of the game broadcasts,” Svoboda said.

“However, when we joined the Big Ten, we had to upgrade our infrastructure so we could provide content to the Big Ten Network,” he said. “That was an extra challenge at the time, because we never had athletic employees in the content creation space, nor did the university have a major for it—nor do we to this day.”

That said, the university has “grown a great deal” in just two years. “In 2024, we had no student workers and we needed hands,” Svoboda said. “Since then, we’ve gained 50 students who are working with us. Some got full-time jobs in the industry when they graduated with unrelated degrees, but still offered actual working experience.”

Today, the approach at UW is still evolving.

“We now have a four-credit class in sports video production because the university has recognized its importance to what we do to the point that our production personnel now serve the entire university for its video production needs,” he said. “So we’re very proud of that.”

There's several periods in sports when major events happen all at once. It usually happens twice a year—in early June, when Major League Baseball, the French Open, Belmont Stakes, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals—and periodically one of golf's major championships—all take place simultaneously.

The other period occurs in late October when all of the major sports leagues in the U.S. are playing at the same time.

That happens again this year when on Monday, Oct. 26, the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL will all have games scheduled, marking the "Sports Equinox," a rare day when all four major U.S. leagues are in action at the same time.

With games airing across networks and apps, DirecTV is observing the specialy day by offering its viewers a curated Multiview featuring four games, one from each league, on a single screen for customers whose packages include the participating networks.

Also, DIRECTV Sports Central will help fans find live and upcoming games across sports and supported apps, follow their favorite teams, check schedules and scores, and get team alerts and game-time notifications.

DirecTV is promoting anticipation for the Sports Equinox through Meta Reels Trending Ads, TikTok Pulse and Super Like, Snapchat Reminder Ads, a Reddit Category Takeover, and a free-to-play DraftKings contest. Fans can predict outcomes across the four leagues for a chance to win up to $5,000. The campaign also extends to CTV and digital video inventory with a :15 and :30 spot.

The NBA tipped off its 2026-2027 season in a big way on Tuesday with a trio of marquee games broadcast live on NBC and its Peacock streaming service.

The day started in mid-afternoon with a matchup between the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons, which was won by Detroit, 121-113.

Then it was on to Madison Square Garden with the most anticipated matchup between NBC champs New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers spoiled the Knicks season debut with a 106-100 victory. The nightcap saw the San Antonio Spurs host the Oklahoma City Thunder with the Thunder winning 116-104.

Although the NBA traditionally starts their season on Tuesdays in late October, this was the first time a network had ever broadcast three NBA Tip-Off games. The new season marks the second year of the NBA's 11-year, $77 billion deal with Disney, NBC and Amazon Prime. NBC approached the network with the idea, according to NBC Sports Executive Vice President Justin Byczek.

“We kind of challenged the NBA,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “We think opening day should be expanded, and we’d love to be the network that gets behind it, and over the course of the next decade, let’s try to understand where opening day can get to.”

Some fans in certain markets reported that their local affilliates preempted the games in favor of regular local programming, according to Awful Announcing. Viewers in Memphis and Nashville, Tenn.; Columbus, Ohio; Omaha, Neb.; and Madison, Wis.; among others, tweeted that they could not access the games on their local stations. Viewers in areas that could not access the games on their local stations could watch on one of station's auxiliary channels (aka diginets) or on Peacock.

An NBC spokesperson told Awful Announcing the vast majority of local stations did indeed carry the games live.

“Broadcast stations serving 99% of U.S. households aired the game either on NBC or an alternate local station,” the spokesperson said. “It was also available on Peacock.”

LONDON—Despite recent turmoil in traditional regional sports networks (RSNs), the value of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) regional broadcast rights at $1.6bn in 2026, accounts for 43% of the league’s total $3.7bn broadcast rights revenue, according to a new report from Ampere Analysis.

The contribution remains substantial despite the disruption to regional sports networks (RSNs), which traditionally broadcast teams’ games to local audiences outside national television packages, the researcher said.

Rooted in linear cable, regional sports networks (RSNs) have come under increasing pressure from cord-cutting, as US households move away from traditional pay TV towards streaming. Over the past four years, 13 of MLB’s 30 teams have lost their regional sports network partner, including 12 following the bankruptcies of Diamond Sports and Main Street Sports Group.

Ampere estimates that US pay TV households will fall from 96 million in 2016 to 65 million by the end of 2026, while streaming households will increase from 57 million to 112 million over the same period.

MLB.tv has taken on responsibility for broadcasting local games for affected teams which has contributed to the robustness of the regional rights income. In the 2026 season, it holds regional broadcast rights for 14 of the league’s 30 teams. Most of the remaining teams have more lucrative regional television arrangements with the ones in the larger, more populous markets having a bigger pool of fans and potential regional sports network customers.

Ampere estimates that the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees alone account for 23% of total MLB regional rights fees and that in total, the 14 teams partnered with MLB.tv currently account for roughly 30% of all regional non-advertising TV revenue. These teams previously had more lucrative agreements with their regional broadcast partners, with MLB.tv currently providing an interim solution.

With labor talks threatening an all-out "strike" for the 2027 MLB season, Ampere adds that greater revenue sharing between teams may be introduced following the expiry of the collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association at the end of this year. This could reduce the television revenue gap between teams in smaller and larger markets.

In the upcoming negotiations, MLB wants to centralize local broadcast rights at its next media rights cycle in 2028. This could allow the rights to be sold collectively to a streaming platform, potentially on a national basis, Ampere said.

In terms of the overall U.S. market, Ampere expects US pay TV households to decline further to 58 million by 2031, while streaming households will reach 120 million. A consolidated package of local MLB rights would offer a substantial volume of games to broadcasters interested in one of the ‘big four’ US sports leagues.

DirecTV this week announced “Build Your Own Multiview,” a new feature that gives subscribers more control over how they stream live games by letting them select up to four eligible channels to watch together on one screen.

The feature is being rolled out this week to DirecTV streaming customers on Gemini and Roku, with Android TV, Fire TV, Vizio, LG, Apple TV and Tizen TV to follow. Building on DirecTV’s curated Multiview experience, fans can now choose between pre-selected combinations or create their own two-, three- or four-view lineup.

The experience is simple and intuitive. While watching eligible content, fans can access Multiview directly from the DirecTV interface. The channel they’re already watching is pre-selected, and from there they can add other available sports channels to create a two-, three- or four-view lineup. Fans can also add or remove selections as they watch.

“Eligible content” includes a wide range of sports networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FS1, NFL Network, NBA TV, MLB Network, NHL Network, CBS Sports Network, Golf Channel, Tennis Channel, ACC Network, Big Ten Network and SEC Network. Additional participating local broadcast and national networks can also become available when they’re carrying eligible live sporting events, according to DirecTV.

This new feature joins existing Multiview channels and DirecTV Sports Central as part of DirecTV’s sports viewing options. Available from the main menu, Sports Central brings live and upcoming games across football, basketball, baseball and hockey together in one place, where fans can view schedules, follow the action and set recordings for their favorite teams.

Studio W has been a staple space at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., headquarters since 2014. That’s among the reasons it was time to “tear it down to the studs” after the 2026 Super Bowl.

Those are the words of Anthony Lacaprucia, senior director of ESPN studio operations, who has been with the network for three decades. He’s now working within a 9,000-square-foot environment so technically advanced that it would have been tough to imagine when he started.

“Studio W still lives in Digital Center 2, in Bristol, but we’ve made huge strides with this first refresh,” Lacaprucia said.

On that note, builders ESPN Studio Operations, Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology, ESPN Creative Studio and designer Jack Morton Worldwide went big on the new set. It now serves as the home for daily studio shows like “NFL Live” and in-game wraps for ABC college football coverage and NHL telecasts, among other programming.

The key feature of the rebuild was adding more than 9,200 square feet of movable LED displays, walls and desks, “with a purpose-built XR volume,” he said, featuring roughly 44.7 million pixels and rendering capabilities for multicamera virtual shoots.”

So a multicam setup it is, with the studio equipped with Sony HDC-5500 cameras supporting native ST 2110, HDR, and UHD workflows, Mo-Sys camera tracking across a Jimmy Jib Pro, three robotic pedestals, and two manual pedestals, as well as a Vislink wireless RF platform for Steadicam operations across the facility. The new multicamera virtual production technology allows up to four cameras to capture images simultaneously from the same LED wall.

“That presents new opportunities for storytelling in a virtual reality setting,” said Lacaprucia. For instance, college football analysts can be depicted as immersed in game situations, and NHL analysts P.K. Subban and Mark Messier can be shown discussing game action from within a hockey rink during wraps. “The size of the LED displays, when combined, is 8 feet by 55 feet, and can be broken up into four individual tracking displays.”

So the displays “viewers see on college football broadcasts,” he said, use “the same technology for our daily ‘NFL Live’ (and the weekly ‘Fantasy Focus Countdown’) shows. They’re just set up differently.”

Adding to the complement of automated displays is the 146-inch Creative Connors touch- screen system, which can be relocated to other parts of the studio. So for Studio W, ABC’s college football is only the start of what’s to come from under ESPN’s vast umbrella.

In the end, it’s all about having options. “On any given college football Saturday, it can be home to ABC, while Studio X is the home of ESPN, and Studio E is hosting ESPN2 wraps,” Lacaprucia said.

LiveU has unveiled details of its work to support CRD Audiovisuel in delivering live content from the start of the 2026 men’s and women’s Tour de France.

Working with the organiser of the annual cycle race, CRD Audiovisuel had to overcome issues with fluctuating connectivity to provide live paddock shots, behind-the-scenes coverage, interviews and more from locations that have previously presented difficulties.

Key objectives for the project included ensuring reliable connectivity at each race start, a plug-and-play setup that avoided heavy RF infrastructure, strong enough bitrate to ensure broadcast-quality output and a simple intercom system.

Featuring LIQ, LiveU’s AI-driven intelligent connectivity software to manage eSIM cards, LiveU’s LU900Q was deployed, with each unit connected to the strongest available network based on its location. The solution provided CRD Audiovisuel with reliable performance across congested or saturated network environments, said the company. Using only public 4G/5G networks, the LU900Q provided 99.9 per cent of connectivity needs across the men’s and women’s races.

Stéphane Reibre, MD at CRD Audiovisuel, said, “I could never have imagined that LU900Q and LIQ would perform so well in the field. We had exactly zero problems, which, in this specific context, is a small miracle. If you’ve ever covered a Tour, you know what I mean.”

“The trust Stéphane has shown in our teams and our technology honours us,” added Philippe Gaudion, LiveU’s regional sales manager for France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. “We supported him as closely as possible to contribute to the success of his project, and we are all very proud and happy about it.”

NEW YORK—FuboTV has launched “My Local Sports,” a new service that allows subscribers in select markets to purchase their local regional sports network (RSN) as part of an add-on package to their Fubo Sports subscription. My Local Sports also includes a selection of sports-focused FAST channels.

Fubo has marketed itself as a prime source for regional sports and local network coverage. This new service allows Fubo subscribers stream coverage of their favorite local teams packaged alongside the lighter Fubo Sports content service according to the company. A year ago, the streamer launched its first 'Fubo Sports' skinny bundle for $56/month.

“As we build FuboTV’s strategic plan for profitable growth, giving fans flexibility, choice and value is one of our key priorities,” said Alisa Bowen, CEO, FuboTV. “The launch of My Local Sports advances this by offering Fubo subscribers a competitively-priced lighter sports package together with their local regional sports network, for the best in local and national coverage. With My Local Sports, Fubo strengthens our leading position as the home for local sports while offering our subscribers new options to follow their favorite teams.”

The Fubo Sports standalone plan features 20+ sports and broadcast networks, including direct access to ESPN Unlimited, featuring national and local pro and college team coverage. Fubo Sports is currently priced at $54.99 for the first month (new customers only) and $64.99/month thereafter, following a free trial. RSN add-on package pricing varies per market.

RSNs/team coverage available in the My Local Sports add-on package to Fubo Sports currently includes:

• AB TV (Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Kings)
• Blue Jackets Hockey Network (Columbus Blue Jackets)
• Blue Note+ (St. Louis Blues)
• BravesVision (Atlanta Braves)
• Brewers.TV (Milwaukee Brewers)
• Cardinals.TV (St. Louis Cardinals)
• Chicago Home Sports Network (Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Bulls)
• Detroit Sports Network (Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings)
• Diamondbacks.TV (Arizona Diamondbacks)
• Guardians.TV (Cleveland Guardians)
• Hurricanes Hockey Network (Carolina Hurricanes)
• Mariners.TV (Seattle Mariners)
• Marlins.TV (Miami Marlins)
• Marquee Sports Network (Chicago Cubs)
• MASN (Baltimore Orioles)
• NBC Sports Bay Area (San Francisco Giants, San Jose Sharks, Golden State Warriors)
• NBC Sports Boston (Boston Celtics)
• NBC Sports California (Athletics, Sacramento Kings)
• NBC Sports Philadelphia (Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia 76ers)
• Padres.TV (San Diego Padres)
• Rangers Sports Network (Texas Rangers)
• Rays.TV (Tampa Bay Rays)
• Reds.TV (Cincinnati Reds)
• Rockies.TV (Colorado Rockies)
• Royals.TV (Kansas City Royals)
• Twins.TV (Minnesota Twins)
• Wild+ (Minnesota Wild)

ESPN delivered its most-watched WNBA regular season ever in 2026, marking the third straight year that regular season viewing set records.

Across 29 games, the WNBA on ESPN networks averaged 1.37 million viewers, up 17% year-over-year.

ESPN presented 17 games this season, averaging 1.24 million viewers, up 32% year-over-year, while 12 games on ABC averaged 1.56 million viewers, up 9% year-over-year.

The historic season also delivered significant growth among younger audiences. Viewership among persons 2-17 increased 29% year-over-year, while persons 18-24 grew 27%.

Non-Indiana games averaged 984,000 viewers, up 24% year-over-year and its WNBA Countdown show averaged 595,000 viewers, up 27% year-over-year.

The record-setting season was highlighted by five games averaging more than 2 million viewers. Those games were:

• Indiana Fever at Atlanta Dream – Aug. 16, ESPN: 2.58M viewers
• Indiana Fever at Chicago Sky – Aug. 8, ABC: 2.56M viewers
• Indiana Fever at Minnesota Lynx – Aug. 2, ABC: 2.52M viewers
• Dallas Wings at Indiana Fever – May 9, ABC: 2.49M viewers
• New York Liberty at Indiana Fever – Aug. 11, ESPN: 2.01M viewers

Indiana Fever-Atlanta Dream on Aug. 16 led all WNBA games across ESPN networks this season and became the most-watched WNBA regular-season or postseason game ever on cable.

ATLANTA—The Ohio Valley Conference has renewed its deal with Gray Media to broadcast the league’s athletic events across twenty Gray markets in eight states.

As part of the Conference’s multi-year contract with ESPN, the entire package will also be simulcast live nationally on ESPN+ and available through the ESPN app without digital blackouts.

The 2026-27 package again features select men’s and women’s basketball matchups, plus expanded coverage with three men’s soccer, three women’s soccer and four volleyball contests this fall. A list of basketball contests to broadcast on Gray stations will be announced at a later date, in addition to plans for spring sports coverage.

Gray’s Tennessee Valley Sports & Entertainment Network and Mid-South Sports & Entertainment Network each looks forward to bringing two Tennessee institutions – Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee at Martin – to viewers across the state.

The Tennessee Valley Sports & Entertainment Network broadcasts over-the-air in Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, while the Mid-South Sports & Entertainment Network broadcasts in Memphis and Jackson. The OVC is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee (just south of Nashville).

In addition, Gray’s Matrix Midwest in St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, Missouri, will serve hometown viewers of OVC’s Southeast Missouri State University, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Lindenwood University, while Gray’s Illinois stations in Champaign, Peoria, Quincy, and Rockford are excited to serve fans of OVC’s Western Illinois University and Eastern Illinois University.

Gray’s Indiana stations in Evansville, Ft. Wayne, South Bend, Lafayette and Terre Haute will focus on the University of Southern Indiana, and Gray will also bring the package to fans of Morehead State University in Lexington, Kentucky.

CHICAGO—United has inked a deal with Dish to provide live professional and college football broadcasts from ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, FS1, ESPN, ESPN2, NFL Network and TNF on Prime Video on Starlink-enabled seatback screens for people flying on the airline.

The games began being available this week and will continue through the Super Bowl in February. United expects to have Starlink on nearly 700 airplanes by then.

Starlink’s WiFi in the sky and live TV streaming on seatback screens is now on board more than 220 mainline aircraft for customers in every class of service – up to 700 flights per day – with plans to reach 700 mainline planes early next year. The airline expects to complete installations before the end of 2027.

Starlink is free for MileagePlus members in every class of service.

"Starlink opens a whole new world of features and benefits for our customers, regardless of where they sit on the plane – now football fans don't have to schedule their flights around game day," said Andrew Nocella, United's executive vice president and chief commercial officer. "Instead, they can watch their favorite team on seatback and also make changes to their fantasy roster, text or live chat with friends, or even stream different games on their phone, laptop or tablet, just like they would do at home."

United's new agreement represents a collaborative effort with Dish, utilizing its OnStream platform, to deliver content to next-generation aviation environments.

"With United, we are helping to rewrite the inflight playbook," said Amir Ahmed, executive vice president, video services, Dish. "Whether you're sitting on your couch or cruising at 35,000 feet, you should be able to watch your favorite teams play. By pairing DISH's OnStream platform with United's Starlink connectivity, we're keeping fans connected to the moments that matter most."

United said that the new service is just the latest example of how United is using Starlink to redefine the inflight entertainment experience. Last month, United partnered with ESPN to host a first-of-its kind live Fantasy Football Draft from 30,000 feet where ESPN analyst Tyler Fulghum made his picks live from the sky during the two-hour broadcast. And earlier this summer, United customers could stream the biggest soccer tournament in the world onboard Starlink-powered domestic flights.

Starlink is now active on more than 560 United mainline and United Express® aircraft and the airline has already flown more than 31 million passengers on Starlink-powered aircraft across more than 464,000 flights, powering 14.2 million devices.

As live sports proliferates on streaming platforms and more viewers are watching live sports, new research from Premion and Advertiser Perceptions finds that demand for live sports streaming/CTV ad inventory is also growing.

The survey found that nearly three-quarters (73%) of advertisers plan to allocate budget to live sports streaming/CTV advertising over the next 6–12 months, driven by engaged fans and major live events. Agency demand is even stronger, with 79% planning to invest, compared with 65% of marketers, the study found.

At the same time, the study also indicated that advertisers also want better measurement, stronger proof of ROI and simpler ways to navigate an increasingly fragmented sports marketplace as they ramp up those investments.

“Live sports continues to deliver something incredibly valuable for advertisers: passionate audiences showing up in real time,” said Blake Hebert, head of publisher operations, Premion. “As more sports viewing moves to streaming, advertisers want to capture that engagement with greater precision, accountability and local relevance. The opportunity now is to make live sports easier to access, measure and prove across an increasingly fragmented landscape.”

Six in 10 advertisers (61%) say reaching highly engaged sports fans during live events is a top reason for investing in live sports streaming, making it the leading investment driver. More than half (52%) also point to capitalizing on live sporting events that draw large audiences.

The appeal goes beyond engagement and scale. 41% cite aligning their brands with premium live sports content, while 40% are looking to extend the reach and impact of linear TV campaigns and 37% want to connect with streaming-first or cord-cutting sports fans. The findings reinforce streaming’s growing role in extending linear reach and connecting advertisers with shifting sports audiences.

57% of advertisers rank audience delivery and geographic reporting down to the local market among their most important measurement capabilities, higher than any other capability tested. That local focus signals that advertisers want to know not only that they reached sports fans, but that they reached the right audiences in the markets that matter, the researchers reported.

Accountability also ranks high. 52% prioritize attribution following exposure to live sports advertising, while 49% prioritize transparent reporting across publishers and inventory sources. Another 49% prioritize measuring incremental reach beyond linear TV. The expectation is clear: prove audience delivery, quantify streaming’s incremental reach and connect exposure to outcomes.

The survey also found that four in 10 advertisers (40%) are investing in live sports streaming to extend the reach and impact of linear TV campaigns, while nearly half (49%) prioritize measuring incremental reach beyond linear TV.

The findings underscore how streaming and linear are increasingly working hand in hand. As sports audiences spread across screens, streaming helps advertisers extend linear reach while adding greater targeting and measurement, the researchers said.

In terms of barriers to investment, the survey indicated that cost is the top obstacle to greater live sports streaming investment. That factor was cited by 44% of advertisers, with difficulty measuring campaign performance and ROI close behind at 41%.

Other hurdles reflect the complexity of today’s sports marketplace. 35% cite a lack of transparency into campaign delivery and reporting, while 34% point to the complexity of buying across multiple publishers and platforms. Another 34% cite limited access to premium live sports inventory.

Notably, just 23% cite difficulty reaching sports audiences at sufficient scale, the lowest-ranked challenge. The gap is telling: reaching sports fans isn’t the primary obstacle. Cost, proving performance and navigating a fragmented marketplace are the bigger hurdles to greater investment.

“Our research shows advertisers already recognize the value of live sports streaming. The next step is removing the friction that can hold back greater investment, from buying complexity to transparency and ROI. Solving those challenges will help advertisers get more from live sports,” added Hebert.

Premion commissioned Advertiser Perceptions to survey 302 U.S. advertising decision-makers from August 3–11, 2026. Respondents were involved in media brand selection decisions and represented companies or clients with at least $1 million in planned advertising spend over the next 12 months. The sample included both agency and marketer respondents from the Advertiser Perceptions AdPROs Community and trusted third-party partners.

The full report is available here.

SACRAMENTO—CBS Sacramento (KMAX), and UC Davis Athletics have announced a new deal that will bring five 2026 UC Davis Aggies football games to the greater Sacramento area via free broadcast TV.

The five-game package gives fans free televised access to a UC Davis team that enters 2026 ranked No. 6 in the FCS. Under third-year head coach Tim Plough, the Aggies are coming off a 9-4 season and a fifth FCS playoff berth since 2018.

“This partnership reflects our commitment to showcasing the teams, traditions and institutions that matter most to Northern California,” said Scott Warren, regional president and general manager, CBS Sacramento and CBS Bay Area. “UC Davis is an important part of the fabric of our region, and we're proud to partner with the university to bring Aggies football free to viewers across the Sacramento area while helping connect more fans with the excitement of the season.”

“Expanding the reach and visibility of Aggie football throughout the Sacramento region continues to be a priority for our department, and this partnership with CBS Sacramento is an important step forward,” said Rocko DeLuca, director of athletics at UC Davis. “Providing free, over-the-air access to our games gives us another opportunity to grow our base of support, connect with UC Davis alumni throughout the Sacramento region and introduce even more fans to Aggie football.”

2026 CBS Sacramento / UC Davis Football Broadcast Schedule:

• Saturday, Sept. 19, 7:00 p.m., Stetson
• Saturday, Sept. 26, 7:00 p.m., Montana
• Saturday, Oct. 24, 4:00 p.m., Northern Colorado
• Saturday, Nov. 7, 4:00 p.m., Utah Tech
• Saturday, Nov. 21, 1:00 p.m., Cal Poly

ESPN is reporting strong viewing numbers for its U.S. Open coverage, with Sunday’s US Open Men’s Championship match between Ben Shelton and eventual champion Alexander Zverev attracting an average audience of 3.2 million viewers on ABC, the largest viewership on record since ESPN began televising the tournament in 2009.

Viewership peaked at 4.0 million from 5:30-5:45 p.m. ET.

Earlier, Saturday’s Women’s Championship, won by Elena Rybakina over Aryna Sabalenka, averaged 2.7 million viewers, peaking at 3.2 million from 6:30-6:45 p.m. The audience was up 13% year-over-year (YOY) and was ESPN’s largest since 3.4 million watched Sabalenka and Coco Gauff in 2023.

The Men’s and Women’s championships combined to average 3.0 million viewers, up 9% YOY.

The All-American Friday night Men’s semifinal match between Shelton and Frances Tiafoe averaged 3.1 million viewers, peaking at 3.7 million between 10:45-11 p.m., the largest Men’s semifinal audience on record for ESPN. The earlier semifinal match with Zverev defeating Karen Khachanov averaged 1.2 million, with the two semifinals combining to average 2.2 million viewers, up 19% YOY.

Overall, the event ranks as ESPN’s most-viewed US Open since 2022. The two-week long tournament across ESPN networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2) averaged 1.2 million viewers, a 4% increase YOY.

Other key viewing figures include:

• ESPN delivered its largest US Open opening day audience ever on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, 914K avg. viewers, up 13% YOY. Action on ABC averaged 1.25M avg. viewers, up 7% vs. 2025.
• The second round drew 834K avg. viewers on ESPN/ESPN2
• Third round across ESPN and ESPN2 averaged 1.1 million, up +27% from last year and also standing as the most-viewed since 2022. ESPN2’s Saturday daytime telecast averaged 1.0 million viewers, up +31% from the comparable telecast last year, while ESPN2’s prime window (1.1 million viewers) was up +43%.
• Through the completion of the third round on Saturday, Sept. 5, ESPN had recorded its most-viewed since 2022 (avg. 846K)
• Third round viewership was boosted by Serena and Venus Williams competing in doubles during primetime, attracting an average audience of 1.2 million (peak 2.2 million from 10-10:15 p.m.) as they lost a three-set match to Hao-Ching Chan and Maya Joint.
• Tournament average (through Women’s Semifinals): 1.0 million viewers, up 2% YoY, ESPN’s most-viewed US Open since 2022
• Quarterfinals average: 1.3 million viewers
• Tuesday primetime Quarterfinals window (7:30 p.m. – 3:40 a.m.): 1.6 million viewers, featured latest-finishing match in US Open history
• Women’s Semifinals: 2.2 million viewers, up 24% YoY, most-watched US Open Women’s Semis in ESPN history
• Women’s Semifinals peak (9:45-10 p.m. ET, Gauff vs. Rybakina): 2.6 million viewers

ATLANTA—Gray Media and the Cleveland Cavaliers announced a deal with DAZN that will allow Gray to broadcast 15 regular season Cavaliers games on free, over-the-air TV during the 2026-27 NBA season.

The 15-game package is a simulcast of the games available for free that are in front of the Cavaliers on DAZN paid subscription paywall offering.

The games will air locally in Cleveland on Gray Media’s stations, WOIO (CBS 19) and WUAB (MyNet 43), and statewide on Rock Entertainment Sports Network.

Rock Entertainment Sports Network is a collaboration between Gray Media and Rock Entertainment Group, which owns the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Sirens, Cleveland Monsters, and Cleveland Charge.

In addition, Gray stations in other markets, including Cincinnati, Ohio; Lima, Ohio; and Parkersburg, West Virginia will also air the 15-game package. Gray will seek additional third-party broadcasters to air the games in other parts of the territory where Gray does not own or operate television stations.

“We are absolutely thrilled to partner with the Cavaliers and DAZN to bring world-class basketball straight to our viewers' living rooms completely free of charge,” said Chris Conroy, general manager of WOIO/WUAB. “Local sports belong on local television, and this historic agreement delivers for Cavs fans.”

WUAB has a long history of broadcasting Cavaliers games and a nostalgic legacy of carrying Cleveland Indians baseball. Live Cleveland Cavaliers basketball adds to a lineup that has featured the Cleveland Browns, Columbus Blue Jackets hockey, college football, NCAA March Madness, and events like The Masters.

“In partnership with Gray and DAZN, we've built the most enhanced and accessible broadcast ecosystem we've had in years,” said Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group, Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Arena. “Our fans are at the core of every decision we make, and this season we're proud to triple the number of games available for free, over-the-air on Gray's local stations and Rock Entertainment Sports Network.”

The current schedule provided below is subject to change. The broadcast schedule will include pregame and postgame coverage.

• Mon. October 26, 2026 - Minnesota at Cleveland 7:00 PM (WUAB)
• Thur. October 29, 2026 - Cleveland at Atlanta 7:00 PM (WUAB)
• Mon. November 2, 2026 - Oklahoma City at Cleveland 7:00 PM (WOIO-CBS)
• Sat. November 14, 2026 - Dallas at Cleveland 7:30 PM (WOIO-CBS)
• Sat. December 12, 2026 - Golden State at Cleveland 8:00 PM (WOIO-CBS)
• Fri. December 18, 2026 - Cleveland at Detroit 7:30 PM (WOIO-CBS)
• Wed. December 23, 2026 - Cleveland at Washington 7:00 PM (WOIO-CBS)
• Sat. January 2, 2027 - Cleveland at Charlotte 1:00 PM (WOIO-CBS)
• Sat. January 23, 2027 - Cleveland at Dallas 8:00 PM (WOIO-CBS)
• Fri. January 29, 2027 - Cleveland at Toronto 7:00 PM (WOIO-CBS)
• Sat. February 6, 2027 - Orlando at Cleveland 7:30 PM (WOIO-CBS)
• Sun. February 14, 2027 - Phoenix at Cleveland 1:00 PM (WOIO-CBS)
• Tue. March 9, 2027 - Cleveland at Detroit 8:00 PM (WOIO-CBS or WUAB)
• Sun. March 14, 2027 - Cleveland at Sacramento 6:00 PM (WOIO-CBS or WUAB)
• Sun. April 4, 2027 - Charlotte at Cleveland 3:00 PM (WOIO-CBS or WUAB)

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—The tendency of younger viewers to spread their disposable time across more platforms and types of content than any other generation hasn’t reduced their interest in watching sports, according to Hub Entertainment Research.

Hub’s latest wave of “Evolution of Sports: What’s the Score?” research finds sports viewership is up, and it's rising fastest among younger fans.

Fans age 18 or younger are about seven times more likely to say they're watching more sports on TV than they were a year ago, rather than less—more than double the ratio seen among fans overall.

Among teens who say they're watching more, more than two in five respondents credit a genuine, growing interest in sports overall or in a specific team or athlete.

Older fans (age 55–74) are more likely to point to simply having more free time—not rising interest—as the reason for increased viewing.

“One factor driving the success of sports today: younger fans are just more interested than the generation before them,” said Jon Giegengack, a principal at Hub and one of the study authors. “But as with scripted content, their fandom is diffused across multiple kinds of media and content. It shows up as a YouTube stream, a group chat during the game, watching live stats on social while the game is on. The industry is built to reach the fan who plans their Sunday around kickoff. Now they need to adapt to fans that watch the game on TV and spend the rest of the week following it everywhere else.”

The research also suggests fans are finding sports through creators and social platforms, not appointment viewing. For younger fans, social platforms aren't a supplement to sports coverage, they're becoming the main event, Hub said.

The survey found that 45% of fans under 35 get “most” or “all” of their nonlive sports content from social media, more than four times the rate among fans 55 and older.

In addition, creators are increasingly carrying the games themselves, not just the highlights: during the FIFA World Cup, a single YouTube channel in Brazil streamed 104 matches—more than twice as many as the country's national broadcaster.

For younger fans, the second screen is part of the game, not a distraction from it, the study found.

With scripted TV, a phone in hand usually means divided attention. Sports works the other way: the second screen is mostly pointed back at the game. And that is far truer for young fans than older ones.

Among fans 13–34 who use social media during a live game, 62% say what they are doing on that second screen is about the game itself. Among fans 55–74, only 33% say the same.

The gap is widest on the most-social behaviors: 65% of younger fans posting to social during a game are posting about that game, versus 29% of older fans. Purpose-built tools are game-related for nearly everyone, with 89% of 13-to-34-year-olds and 85% of 55-to-74-year-olds following live stats saying it is about the sport they are watching.

These findings are from Hub's “Evolution of Sports: What’s the Score?” Wave 6 report, based on a survey of 3,814 U.S. sports fans ages 13–74, conducted in July.

Sony will feature its latest technology for news, cinema, immersive and live production, including its R-Series broadcast system cameras, SRG-AS10 and SRG-XS10 auto-framing PTZ cameras and its latest networked live and software-defined broadcast innovations, during IBC 2026, Sept. 11-14, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

Other tech developments on display will be:

• The new DP7 and DP5 controllers, FX5 Cinema Line camera and current development of the RIALTO 65 image sensor block expanding VENICE 2 to 65mm format.
• Cinematic Live's color-matched Cinema Line and HDC cameras showcasing a broad portfolio for cinematic live production.
• The fourth generation DWX series digital wireless microphone system, DWT-B40 and DWR-R40Q.
• Spatial content production solutions, OCELLUS camera-tracking system V2.0 and XYN
• HawkREPLAY delivering rapid turnaround to air with enhanced zoom and hold keyframe and HawkNEST improving fast 9:16 social exports for quicker content delivery.

Sony will also present several use cases in specific applications, including cinematic live, AR and IP broadcast studio, immersive production, AI-powered streaming studio and podcasting.

For news, Sony will feature an expanded range of data transmitters, including its previously announced collaboration with LiveU and additional demonstrations with Dejero and TVU Networks, designed to enhance transmission efficiency from the field. It will also show its latest version of a camcorder with remote-control capabilities to broaden its range of applications.

Sony's live production solutions will demonstrate how broadcasters, production teams and content creators can deliver higher-value productions with greater flexibility and operational efficiency. Next-generation system cameras will be on display, including the newly launched R-series, and the latest AI PTZ auto-framing cameras, including the BRC-AM7 for broadcast.

The BRC-AM7 demo will highlight version 3.1 firmware featuring improved tracking performance in Ball Sports (Basketball) mode, enabling smoother shooting and camera operations.

The company will also showcase the evolution of virtual and spatial content production with its latest camera tracking system OCELLUS with Crystal LED VERONA. CAPRI will be on display separately. Based on customer feedback, the upcoming OCELLUS FW V2.0 supports lens calibration and automatic offset measurement functionality to measure the positional relationship between the camera and tracking sensor. Sony’s XYN Spatial Capture solution enables real-world spaces to be captured and transformed into high-quality 3DCG assets.

Sony continues to expand its Digital Imaging and Cinema Line portfolio, with the latest Cinema Line Camera FX5 and RIALTO 65 image sensor block making show debuts. Designed to enhance creative flexibility, the FX5 features a newly developed fully stacked CMOS image sensor, while new DP7 and DP5 monitors deliver accurate color reproduction and remote camera control.

Company representatives will also lead two sessions in the Showcase Theater in Hall 3, including: "A Software Revolution: The Future of Broadcast,” Sept. 12, 4-4:20 p.m., and "The New Frontier: Redefining Multi-Camera Virtual Production,” Sept. 11, 5:15-5:35 p.m.

See Sony at IBC 2026 stand 13.A10.

More information is available on the company’s website.

SAN FRANCISCO—Dolby Laboratories will feature updates for Dolby OptiView, the company’s live sports platform, during IBC2026, Sept. 11-14, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

The updates include new AI-powered intelligence to understand what drives fan engagement, the debut of Dolby Vision on the platform and greater flexibility for Dolby OptiView Ads.

The Dolby OptiView platform is designed to deliver more engaging live sports experiences. It gives teams, leagues and streamers capabilities that enable a better understanding of their audiences. The platform also allows them to create personalized experiences, unlock monetization opportunities and deliver premium-quality live content that keeps fans watching.

Dolby Vision is now available through Dolby OptiView for the first time, bringing stunning brightness, contrast, color and detail to live sports. Dolby Vision helps fans experience every moment with greater clarity and realism. The Seattle Seahawks are the first team to introduce Dolby OptiView with Dolby Vision, bringing exclusive live programming and preseason coverage directly to fans through the official Seahawks app and Seahawks.com.

The company also is expanding Dolby OptiView Ads beyond the Dolby OptiView Player, enabling support for additional video players. As a certified server-guided ad insertion solution verified within the Google ecosystem, Dolby OptiView Ads helps publishers maximize monetization while maintaining a high-quality viewing experience.

In one deployment with a major sports organization, the solution delivered an average 76% increase in eCPM and an average 132% increase in fill rates. In-stream ad formats help providers make more effective use of their ad inventory while keeping live action visible during ad delivery, reducing disruption for viewers.

See Dolby Laboratories at IBC stand 5.F86.

More information is available on the company’s website.

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Roku is expanding availability of its NFL Zone from the U.S. to Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

NFL Zone, a centralized hub within the Roku Sports experience, brings global fans a dedicated destination to discover live and upcoming games, the NFL Fast Channel highlights, clips, and other NFL content throughout the season.

The expansion—which takes effect today—builds on Roku’s growing sports presence internationally, following the launch of the Sports experience in Mexico in 2025 and earlier this year in Brazil and Canada. It also comes as engagement across Roku Sports experiences continues to grow, with streaming hours up 122% year-over-year and unique visitors up 80% in the U.S. in Q2, the company said.

The expansion also includes the NFL Channel, the League's free, ad-supported destination for 24/7 NFL programming. Roku will offer officially branded NFL clips and highlights alongside live and upcoming games to viewers in Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

The NFL Channel offers a 24/7 stream of NFL programming, while the NFL app provides access to NFL+, the League’s exclusive streaming service featuring live local and primetime games on mobile, NFL Network, live game audio, and other on-demand content, plus game replays and NFL Redzone with an NFL+ Premium subscription.

YouTube TV has integrated the ESPN Unlimited service into its offers, making the content available directly on YouTube TV.

The integration means that subscriber to the main YouTube TV plan, or any plan that includes Sports, can now catch all the action directly within the YouTube TV app and interface.

The addition of ESPN Unlimited was part of a distribution deal struck between Disney and YouTube last year.

Popular features like unlimited DVR, key plays, scores and stats and multiview will also be available with ESPN Unlimited content, all within the YouTube TV app.

As part of the launch, the vMVPD has also enhanced the YouTube TV interface to make it easier for viewers to find the content they want. The live guide now shows three rows of currently airing live events from ESPN Unlimited, along with a dedicated network row for further browsing. When a game has multiple feeds, fans will now have the choice between options for different languages, home and away feeds, and alternate camera angles, all clearly labeled in our updated station picker.

In addition, the YouTube TV Fantasy View feature now supports ESPN Fantasy Football. ESPN Fantasy Football users can link their ESPN account through YouTube TV settings ahead of the upcoming NFL season to track their fantasy teams during live NFL games.

NEW YORK—The software-based realtime media monitoring, multiviewing and quality control (QC) provider TAG Video Systems has announced TAG Blue, a cloud platform that gives every company on a delivery chain shared visibility of their workflow, and uses AI to turn that visibility an analysis of root causes and recommendations for dealing with issues.

TAG Blue will be previewed at IBC2026, Stand 1.D33, RAI Amsterdam, 11–14 September.

TAG’s Core platform already gives broadcasters complete visibility inside their own operation. The challenge is what happens beyond that boundary. As content moves across more entities, facilities, partners and workflows, visibility breaks down in two distinct ways. First, every entity on the chain sees only its own leg of the workflow. No one sees the full path. Second, the telemetry each deployment generates is rich enough to explain what went wrong, but connecting the dots across companies to a root cause and a next step is impossible or takes too much time and money.

TAG Blue gives every entity in a delivery chain visibility into the workflow points they have in common using TAG technology, with no new instrumentation required. AI technology then correlates errors across the defined path, finds the potential root cause, and recommends the steps to fix the issue.

Operators can also ask TAG Blue directly what happened, powered by a large language model (LLM) built into the platform, and get an answer instantly instead of digging through logs.

In a live sports broadcast, for example, shared visibility between production and takers is crucial. From the venue all the way to the platforms airing it, TAG Blue lets them all see the same picture, end to end. If something breaks along the way, everyone already knows where and why, instead of each side checking its own system while the clock is running.

TAG is working with other leading media technology vendors to extend that same shared visibility further across the industry.

"Traditionally, every entity on the chain could see what was happening inside its own walls and almost nothing beyond them. When something goes wrong, the phone starts ringing. TAG Blue changes that. It gives them real visibility across the chain, securely, without giving up control, and its AI turns that into a root cause and solutions. Now broadcasters, service providers and operators can solve the problem and avoid unnecessary costs related to service outages," said Ziv Mor, chief growth officer, TAG Video Systems.

TAG Blue is in development, with design partners and is expected to be available before the end of the year. TAG will preview TAG Blue at IBC2026, Stand 1.D33, RAI Amsterdam, 11–14 September 2026.

NEW YORK—Elon Musk’s social media platform X has launched "NFL Gametime on X," a new fan experience that brings real-time scores and stats, official team content, news, creators and the ongoing NFL conversation together into a single destination that is integrated throughout the platform.

“For years, X has been a key platform for NFL fans to connect, react and engage around every NFL moment,” said Brent Lawton, vice president of media strategy and business development, NFL. “We’re excited to deepen our partnership with NFL Gametime on X, allowing our fans to have official scores and stats, team content, and the conversation together in one place.”

Developed in partnership with the NFL and designed by Musk’s SpaceXAI, NFL Gametime on X is designed to bring fans closer than ever to this season’s on-field action. It features two complementary experiences built for avid NFL fans:

• NFL Timeline pinned alongside For You and Following tabs at the top of the timeline, fans can follow news, highlights, creator takes and fan reactions all in one prominent feed for the entire season.
• Gametime Hub delivers official NFL data alongside the conversation in the NFL Timeline. Fans can track scores and key stats in real time while staying connected to everything happening on X.

The social media platform noted that two out of three U.S. users are already on X and that NFL Gametime on X opens powerful new opportunities for brands and advertisers to reach highly engaged fans.

“NFL Gametime on X turns football fandom into a seamless opportunity for brands,” said Monique Pintarelli, head of global advertising, SpaceXAI. “Advertisers can now reach highly passionate fans across the entire funnel, from awareness and cultural conversation to real-time engagement during live games, all on X. Together with the NFL, we’re giving brands a powerful, authentic way to show up throughout the season.”

NFL Gametime on X is now live. Follow @Sports and @XBusiness for more updates.

NEW YORK—In the runup to the start of the 2026 season on Sept. 9, the National Football League has inked three major commercial agreements with sports betting operators.

DraftKings and FanDuel, who have been sports betting partners with the NFL since 2021, each signed a multi-year deal while Fanatics Betting and Gaming signed a separate multi-year agreement, expanding a relationship with the NFL that includes collectibles and official league merchandise.

“We are thrilled to have three world-class partners in the sports betting category,” said Renie Anderson, executive vice president and chief revenue officer at the NFL. “DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics share our vision for innovation and fan engagement, but most importantly, our commitment to protecting the integrity of the game. We look forward to navigating this next chapter in sports betting together.”

As part of these multi-year deals, all three partners will have the ability to leverage NFL marks within the sports betting category and promote online and retail sports betting. They will also have presence at NFL tentpole events such as the Super Bowl and NFL Draft, unique hospitality and VIP experiences and integrations across NFL-owned digital media properties. Finally, they will have access to real-time, official play-by-play statistics, proprietary Next Gen Stats and BetVision through Genius Sports, the league’s exclusive data distribution partner.

All three NFL partners agreed to adhere to the league’s core game integrity policies and will collaborate on intelligence sharing, advocacy efforts and responsible gambling initiatives. This includes working together to prohibit wagers the league finds objectionable, including bets tied to officiating and injuries, along with those that can be knowable in advance or easily manipulated by a single person.

In addition to sports betting, DraftKings will continue its partnership as the Official Daily Fantasy Sports Partner of the NFL, which began in 2019 and includes exclusive rights to NFL IP and marks. Fanatics will become an Official Online Casino Marketing Partner of the NFL.

Along with the announcement of the new deals, the league emphasized its focus on game integrity as the foundation of the NFL’s approach to legalized sports betting. The league’s comprehensive integrity program features collaboration with sports betting partners, policy education and enforcement, information sharing and monitoring for suspicious activity in coordination with law enforcement, regulators and third-party partners.

Genius Sports provides real-time monitoring of betting patterns to identify potential manipulation. Each club also has an assigned Integrity Representative—typically a retired FBI agent or senior law enforcement officer—to support these efforts.

All players, coaches, officials and staff are required to complete annual training on the league’s Gambling Policy and to sign and acknowledge the policy each year.

More information is available at media.nfl.com/LSB.

ATLANTA–Gray Media has announced a deal with the Atlanta Braves fans for rights to air two Atlanta Braves games in Spanish across 18 Telemundo Affiliate Stations across the Southeast.

The first game, in which the Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3, aired on August 25.

The second will air at 7:15pm ET on September 8 and feature a matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays.

A locally produced pre-game featuring analysis, statistics, roster highlights and more are scheduled from 7:00pm to 7:15pm prior to both games featuring play-by-play host Alejandro Villegas, and sports commentator Juan Jordan.

These games will air on the following Gray Media stations that comprise Telemundo Georgia, Telemundo Alabama, Telemundo Tennessee and Telemundo South Carolina:

• Atlanta (WKTB)
• Savannah (WPHJ)
• Augusta (WGAT)
• Columbus (WCTA)
• Macon (WTMH)
• Albany (WTSG)
• Birmingham (WTBM)
• Huntsville (WTHV)
• Mobile (WMBP)
• Montgomery (WBXM)
• Dothan (WRGX)
• Nashville (WTNX)
• Memphis (WTME)
• Knoxville (WBXX)
• Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville (WDKT)
• Myrtle Beach-Florence (WXIV)
• Charleston (WZCH) Columbia (WTES)

The full Atlanta Braves schedule and tickets are available at Braves.com.

NEW YORK—DAZN today announced that it is acquiring EverPass Media, a provider of premium live sports content to commercial venues. The acquisition furthers the sports streamers expansion in the U.S. and marks the expansion of DAZN for Business, a dedicated media platform serving bars, restaurants, hotels, and other commercial venues into the U.S.

Founded in 2023 by 32 Equity and RedBird Capital Partners, EverPass is described as “a purpose-built media and technology platform that partners with rightsholders, distribution partners and business owners to unlock access to premium live events and drive business growth. “

The acquisition reflects EverPass' three-year effort to evolve how premium live sports content is distributed to commercial venues. Following completion of the acquisition, EverPass’ technology will serve as the foundation for DAZN’s next generation of commercial venue distribution, and EverPass will formally rebrand to DAZN for Business.

Alex Kaplan, CEO of EverPass, will continue to lead the business as well as take on a larger role within DAZN. RedBird Capital Partners, 32 Equity and TKO Group Holdings will become minority shareholders in DAZN. Existing EverPass customers will continue to receive service and support as usual, with no interruption to their current service as a result of the acquisition.

DAZN has had an ambitious summer with its U.S. expansion, signing exclusive streaming deals with MSG, and NBA franchises Minnesota Timberwolves and Indiana Pacers just in the past month. It also signed a deal last fall to be the exclusive provider of live NHL games in to 200 countries outside the U.S., Canada and the Nordics.

EverPass has the exclusive commercial distribution rights for NFL Sunday Ticket, which includes every live out-of-market Sunday regular-season afternoon NFL game. In July 2026, EverPass and DirecTV reached a new agreement to collaborate and provide distribution of NFL Sunday Ticket via satellite and streaming, ensuring the commercial marketplace has access to this content across the United States.

In addition to NFL Sunday Ticket and other NFL content, EverPass provides commercial venues with access to programming from leading sports leagues and competitions, including the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, MLB, NBA, WNBA, NWSL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, MLS, Formula 1, college football and basketball. EverPass also has distribution partnerships with Peacock, Netflix, Paramount and Apple as well as YES Network and Chicago Sports Network.

EverPass has developed an IP-based technology platform purpose-built for multiscreen commercial venues. The platform delivers premium streaming content through one commercial solution and gives venue operators greater flexibility, control and consistency across their screens and locations. Following deal completion, the platform will be the technology and operational foundation for DAZN for Business.

EverPass’ capabilities include centralized management of multiple screens and venues, smart content scheduling, integration with existing audiovisual infrastructure, commercial-grade streaming devices and tools that allow businesses to promote offers, engage customers and measure performance.

The platform is designed to simplify the transition from traditional satellite and cable distribution to streaming, while giving rights holders and content partners a scalable and secure route into the commercial market, the company said.

“This is an important step in DAZN’s journey to become a global home of sport,” said Shay Segev, CEO of DAZN Group. “EverPass Media gives us a proven commercial distribution platform, deep relationships across U.S. venues, and an attractive portfolio of premium rights that perfectly complements our growing U.S. business. DAZN can now serve every type of customer in the U.S.— from individual sports fans using the DAZN app to commercial venues looking to provide the best possible viewing experience for their customers.”

Broadcast Management Group has designed and deployed a custom REMI production ecosystem for The Pro Tour, a new professional golf tour featuring elite athletes from some of the world’s biggest sports leagues including the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.

LiveU’s LU800 field units and LIQ intelligent connectivity served as key components within BMG’s broader production workflow. The setup gave camera operators the freedom of movement and a new view from the green that has always been challenging to achieve, while eliminating the cost constraints, environmental strain, and access limitations of legacy OB trucks.

As the tour’s turnkey broadcast partner, BMG provided creative services, live production, engineering, transmission, media management, and distribution for each five-hour live broadcast.

During a stop at the PGA National Resort in West Palm Beach last spring, BMG was faced with covering a crucial hole that had reportedly never been televised because it fell outside the venue’s fixed fiber infrastructure, according to the company.

In response, BMG implemented a nearly fully wireless production workflow using LiveU LU800 bonded cellular transmission systems enhanced by LiveU IQ intelligent connectivity. Starlink was ready as backup connectivity, though according to BMG, never had to be deployed. This meant that the technical director, master control, and channel management team could work from home or the NOC.

The hybrid workflow dramatically shrunk the production footprint compared to a traditional cable-and-truck build, with more cameras able to cover more of the course because they’re no longer limited by where fiber happens to run, BMG said. Every camera, including drone coverage, transmitted live feeds to BMG’s Network Operations Center (NOC), where AI continuously monitored available network conditions and automatically optimized connectivity across multiple cellular networks.

“The Pro Tour let us design a broadcast ecosystem from the ground up, built around where the story was, not where cable could reach,” said Kathy Samuels, BMG’s director of creative services. “LiveU's LU800, and LIQ intelligent connectivity gave our creative vision somewhere to actually run. Bringing creative services, live production, engineering, and distribution into one workflow gave us a scalable model that supports the tour today and can grow with it.”

ESPN delivered the most-watched WNBA game ever on cable as the Atlanta Dream-Indiana Fever matchup averaged 2.6 million viewers on Sunday, August 16.

The telecast ranks as the most-watched WNBA regular-season or postseason game ever on cable. The audience was up 178% compared to last year’s ESPN regular season average. The game peaked at 4 million viewers from 7:15-7:29 p.m. ET.

Leading into the game, WNBA Countdown presented by Google Pixel averaged 452,000 viewers on ESPN, up 33% compared to last year’s ESPN regular season average.

The second game of ESPN’s Sunday doubleheader also delivered a record audience, as the Phoenix Mercury celebrated Diana Taurasi’s jersey retirement. Portland Fire-Phoenix Mercury averaged 1.4 million viewers, the most-watched non-Indiana regular-season WNBA game ever on ESPN and up 46% from last year’s ESPN regular-season average.

Through 25 games, the WNBA on ESPN networks is averaging 1.4 million viewers, up 16% compared to the comparable point last season.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—Spectrum SportsNet LA, the exclusive television home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is now available to Spectrum customers in former Cox markets throughout the Dodgers broadcast territory.

The launch, which follows the close of Charter's acquisition of Cox Communications, is in time for the August 21 game against the Pirates. It brings Dodgers baseball and SportsNet LA's full slate of studio programming to a significantly expanded audience just as the playoff race heats up.

Beginning immediately, subscribers to Contour TV Preferred or Contour TV Ultimate in former Cox markets located in the Las Vegas, Orange County, Palos Verdes and Santa Barbara areas have access to SportsNet LA as part of their TV service.

On Contour TV lineups, the network can be found on channel 50 in Las Vegas, channel 63 in Orange County, channel 54 in Palos Verdes and channel 36 in Santa Barbara.

SportsNet LA's coverage includes live regular season games alongside the network's full lineup of studio programming. Regular season game coverage is led by Joe Davis and Dodgers legend Orel Hershiser, now in their 11th season together as the voices of Dodger baseball, with additional game analysis from Eric Karros, Jessica Mendoza and Dontrelle Willis, and field reporting from Kirsten Watson.

More information on the network is available at sportsnetla.com.

NEW YORK—Gracenote’s Q3 2026 Data Hub analysis shows rapid growth for sports-related ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels and programming over the last year.

Overall the number of FAST channels classified as sports rose 13.8% year over year to 264. Over the same period, unique sports program titles increased 31.2%, while individual games and events distributed across FAST climbed 37.5%.

Each measure captures a different dimension of the FAST sports market, the researchers noted.

Channel count tracks FAST channels classified as sports, while program title count reflects the breadth of distinct offerings. Because a single sports program title can encompass many games or competitions, tracking them individually provides a fuller picture of the volume of sports distributed across FAST.

The analysis also found that in July, sports programming appeared on 20 FAST channels outside the sports category. The pattern resembles traditional television, where sports serves as both destination programming on dedicated channels and as part of lineups centered on other genres.

In general, sports programming also grew faster than the overall FAST category. Globally, FAST channel count increased 17.5% year over year to 2,172, compared with 18.6% gains in total video distribution and 19.4% in TV program titles.

The resulting larger sports inventory gives FAST programmers greater flexibility to create varied schedules and reduce reliance on frequently repeated content, the researchers explained. More broadly, the findings suggest that competitive differentiation across FAST will increasingly be shaped by the range and volume of programming within the ecosystem—not channel count alone.

The Gracenote Data Hub is a set of data visualizations tracking the volume and composition of programming available across leading global subscription video-on-demand services (SVOD) and FAST channels. Derived from Gracenote Global Video Data and updated quarterly, the Data Hub covers Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix and Paramount+, as well as more than 2,170 FAST channels.

Q3 Data Hub reporting pairs program title counts with data on individual episodes, games and events, offering a more granular view of programming distribution and revealing changes beneath topline catalog and channel counts.

HENDERSON, Nev.—While the FIFA World Cup 2026 broke viewing records in the U.S. on linear TV and on streaming platforms, new data from Gaming Compliance International (GCI) suggests that an enormous amount of illegal streaming also occurred around the world. Its first complete global measurement of illegal streaming across the 2026 FIFA World Cup, estimates that there were 174.3 billion qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus globally across the tournament.

The analysis also found that:

• 174.3 billion qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds or more globally across the tournament
• 1.68 billion average qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus per match, globally
• 6.2 billion qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus globally for the Spain vs Argentina Final
• 95% of qualifying illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus globally carried advertising for unregulated gambling

The estimate is derived from GCI's global monitoring and marketplace intelligence, using multiple proprietary and third-party licensed data sources.

A qualifying illegal stream view requires at least 90 seconds of streaming, denoting a "committed view". This is a stream-view measure, not a unique viewer count. The methodology accounts for stream interruptions, forced refreshes, reloads, mirror switches and channel resets throughout each match.

GCI's analysis also highlighted a dark nexus between illegal streaming and unregulated online gambling with heavy ad loads for unregulated gambling in the illegal streams.

GCI monitoring shows that illegal streamers can receive payment for advertising and referring audiences to unregulated gambling, with affiliate deals offering between 25% and 50% of net gaming revenue produced by unregulated gambling operators from referred customers.

The result is a powerful illegal economy: premium sports content attracts mainstream audiences; illegal streaming monetizes that attention; and unregulated gambling pays to acquire those audiences.

This relationship was previously identified by GCI in Great Britain. Analysis released in January 2026 found 3.1 billion illegal stream views of 90 seconds plus across the Top 10 sports in Great Britain during 2024 and another 1.6 billion during the first half of 2025, with unregulated gambling advertising present upon 89% of illegal sports streams.

The GCI study found that the World Cup demonstrated the same relationship at global scale.

Overall, GCI estimated the 2026 FIFA World Cup would generate $593 billion in global online betting handle — the value of money wagered on World Cup betting online. Of that total, $409 billion — 69% — was unregulated, compared with $184 billion — 31% — regulated.

While regulated operators saw record activity, the majority of wagering value flowed through offshore, unregulated and unlicensed channels, the study found.

Illegal streaming connects these two parts of the marketplace by delivering sports audiences to unregulated gambling operators while those consumers are watching live events and each game presents fresh betting prospects.

The commercial relationship with unregulated gambling is not the only risk associated with illegal streaming.

GCI's analysis found that video players, pop-ups and fake "click to watch in HD/4K" buttons can hide malware, spyware and keystroke loggers, exposing audiences to data harvesting and other forms of cybercrime.

"174 billion qualifying illegal stream views should remove any remaining illusion that illegal streaming is a marginal problem for sport, said Matt Holt, CEO of Gaming Compliance International (GCI). “Consumers experience one marketplace, and illegal streaming is an industrial-scale part of it — competing for the same audiences and extracting value that should support rights holders, broadcasters and the wider sports ecosystem.”

"When 95% of qualifying illegal stream views carry advertising for unregulated gambling, illegal streaming is not simply stealing content,” he added. “It is providing one of the world's largest sporting audiences as an acquisition channel for the unregulated gambling economy."

The full GCI Illegal Streaming – Global: World Cup 2026 report is available from Gaming Compliance International (GCI).

OSLO, Norway—Live production tech provider Appear ASA has successfully completed a demonstration with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP) that showed how a full multi-camera remote live production can be delivered reliably over bonded 5G cellular and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity without relying on fixed internet infrastructure.

"Remote production continues to transform the economics of live broadcasting, but until now its benefits have often depended on access to dedicated network infrastructure," said Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen, CEO, Appear. "This proof of concept demonstrates that broadcasters can reliably extend those same production models to remote venues using bonded 5G cellular and LEO satellite connectivity. By combining our unique, hardware-accelerated SRT technology with the flexibility of the X Platform, we're helping customers rethink how and where live production can be deployed."

The proof of concept successfully demonstrated a complete REMI production workflow, transporting four live HD camera feeds from a remote racecourse to TRP's production facility while simultaneously returning two HD programme feeds back to the venue over the same bonded network, Appear reported.

The successful outcome also demonstrated how broadcasters can extend high-quality remote production to locations where dedicated fiber or fixed connectivity is unavailable, creating new opportunities to deliver live coverage from geographically dispersed venues while reducing operational complexity, Appear explained.

TRP, the production arm of Racing Victoria, delivers live horse racing coverage from 51 regional racecourses across the Australian state of Victoria.

Of these, 20 – together with the state's metropolitan venues – benefit from access to high-quality wired connectivity that makes REMI possible; the remaining 31 regional racecourses do not. With TRP planning to centralize its production resources, the organisation wanted to determine whether broadcast-grade REMI production could be achieved at these remote racecourses using cost-effective bonded cellular and LEO connectivity.

Working closely with TRP, Appear deployed its compact X5 platform at the racecourse and an X20 at the production centre to validate the workflow.

Four live HD camera feeds were encoded in HEVC and transported using Appear's unique, industry-leading hardware-accelerated SRT technology across bonded 5G cellular and LEO satellite networks.

At the production center, the X20 decoded the incoming feeds for live production while simultaneously encoding and returning two HD programme feeds to the racecourse, enabling complete two-way production and communications throughout the event.

Once production was complete, the finished programme was reviewed by TRP and Racing Victoria, produced end-to-end as though it were a live broadcast.

The proof of concept was conducted across two separate racecourse locations, including a more remote venue where heavy rain and challenging weather conditions tested the resilience of the workflow. Across both sessions, all four camera feeds and two return feeds were delivered successfully, with no video quality issues reported and no operator intervention required, demonstrating the robustness of Appear's hardware-accelerated SRT transport and the viability of broadcast-grade remote production over bonded cellular and LEO connectivity, the companies reported.

Unlike traditional contribution solutions limited to a single programme feed, the Appear X5 simultaneously transported four live camera feeds and two return feeds within a single compact platform. Combined with Appear's hardware-accelerated SRT technology, the deployment delivered reliable, low-latency transport while maintaining broadcast-quality video across variable network conditions. The same platform can also be reconfigured via software to support JPEG XS workflows over high-bandwidth IP networks, allowing broadcasters to use a common platform across both remote and metropolitan production environments.

"For us, this wasn't simply about proving that the technology works; it was about validating a new way of producing live racing from some of our most remote venues," said Charles Cole, engineering and technical operations manager, Thoroughbred Racing Productions. "The success of these trials has given us confidence that multi-camera REMI production over bonded cellular and satellite connectivity is a practical option for our regional racecourses. It opens the door to centralising production resources while maintaining the quality, reliability and operational standards our live coverage demands."

As the NBA gears up for the start of the 2026-2027 season on October 20, a new study from Guideline shows that NBA ad revenue hit a record $2.1 billion in the 2025-2026 season.

This growth was helped out by a 39% year-over-year spike in ad revenue during the NBA Finals, with ad spend rising from $183 million to $256 million for five games.

Overall, the regular season generated $870 million in revenue, while the playoffs brought in $1 billion.

Guideline also reported that streaming was up 8,481% YoY, rising to a 41% share in spending, the highest of any league ever recorded.

In addition, streaming-simulcast estimated revenue was also up 3,303% YoY, rising from $10 million in 24/25 compared to $347 million in 25/26.

However the linear ad spend declined 19% YoY, as spending from Warner Bros. Discovery shifted to Peacock and Amazon.

In contrast, playoff spending grew across every round, led by the play-in round, which was up 54% YoY.

William F. Rasmussen, the visionary who co-founded ESPN, has died at age 93 from Parkinson’s Disease.

In 1978, Rasmussen, a former sports broadcaster and public relations executive, and his son Scott started investigating satellite delivery of television. On a Friday afternoon in August 1978, he and Scott were stuck in traffic on Connecticut’s Interstate 84 while travelling to the New Jersey shore. They were discussing possible programming for their newly acquired satellite transponder from RCA. On a lark, Rasmussen blurted out the idea of creating a network devoted only to sports. Sports fans both, father and son instantly thought they had a great idea.

In time, their idea grew from a service showing Connecticut sports to state residents to a 24-hour national sports network. Bolstered by financial backing from the Getty Oil Co., a contract for programming with the NCAA and an advertising agreement with Anheuser-Busch – then the largest sponsorship deal in cable history – the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (changed to ESPN, Inc. in 1984) launched in 1.4 million homes at 7 p.m. ET on Sept. 7, 1979.

In July 1979, Rasmussen was named ESPN chairman, succeeded as president by Chet Simmons, formerly president of NBC Sports. In addition to “SportsCenter,” under Rasmussen’s leadership the network introduced around-the-clock sports programming and coverage of the early rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in the spring of 1980.

From its beginning in Bristol, Conn., with about 80 employees at launch working in one, unfinished building on less than an acre, ESPN has grown to employ more than 5,900 people around the world, providing eight U.S. television networks and the sports programming on ABC.

Rasmussen was predeceased by his wife of 56 years, Lois, in 2011 and is survived by two sons – Scott Rasmussen and his wife Laura and Glenn Rasmussen – his daughter Lynn Van Hollebeke and her husband Louie, seven grandchildren, Andy, P.J., Wil, MaryAnn, Donna, Jessica and Sarah, one great grandson, Otto, and one great granddaughter, Adelaide.

After publicly disclosing his Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis in 2019, Rasmussen became an ambassador for Parkinson’s patients through both the American Parkinson Disease Association and The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to https://www.apdaparkinson.org.

NEW YORK—Nielsen’s June 2026 reports of The Gauge and Media Distributor Gauge reveal that the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup 2026 drove remarkable audience engagement with over 84 billion minutes viewed across Fox and NBCUniversal properties.

That viewing also pushed both distributors to June's only viewing increases in the Media Distributor Gauge.

Meanwhile, the combination of World Cup matches and NBA Finals games helped drive a 118% increase in broadcast sports viewing, and led the broadcast category to 19.8% of TV and its first increase during a June interval (+0.6 share pts.) since the inception of The Gauge in 2021.

According to the June Media Distributor Gauge, Fox exhibited the largest gain in share of TV (+0.9 pts.) compared to May, and the largest overall viewing increase among all distributors this month (+18%). The World Cup surge boosted viewing on Fox affiliates by 73%, and Fox Sports 1 was up 232%. FOX concluded the month with 7.4% of total TV watch-time and moved up to No. 5 in the Media Distributor Gauge rankings.

NBCU-Versant represented 9.1% of total TV viewing in June (+0.7 share pts.). That success, the researchers reported, was a result of two drivers: NBCU’s Telemundo served as the exclusive home to all Spanish-language World Cup coverage, which drove a 143% monthly viewing increase to its broadcast affiliates in June. Peacock also benefited from Telemundo’s World Cup coverage, as days with games exhibited a 60% audience increase on the platform over those that did not, and viewing from Hispanic audiences increased nearly 200% compared to the prior month.

Peacock’s 34% total monthly viewing increase was also due to owning June’s most-streamed title, “Love Island USA.” The six-night-per-week appointment viewing for the reality dating series generated 6.8 billion minutes across the month. Overall, Peacock gained half a share point to represent 2.3% of total TV viewing in June, its second-best share of TV to date behind February 2026.

Overall streaming usage was up about 3% compared to May, but due to it being just below the 3.1% increase for total TV usage, the category dropped back 0.1 share point to 48.5% of TV watch-time.

In addition to Peacock, several other streamers also saw monthly viewing increases, including YouTube, Netflix, The Roku Channel and Paramount Streaming (Paramount+ and Pluto TV combined), but similar to the overall streaming category, their shares were flat or down slightly. However, YouTube remained in the lead among media distributors with 13.8% of time spent.

Disney held on to the No. 2 spot among media companies with 9.6% of TV. ABC’s coverage of the five-game NBA Finals showdown between the San Antonio Spurs and eventual champion New York Knicks helped drive a 15% viewing bump for ABC affiliates in June. Each game of the series was the most-viewed broadcast telecast on days played, and Games 3, 4 and 5 were the most watched telecasts over the June interval with more than 20 million viewers a piece.

Cable represented 19.5% of television in June (-0.9 pts.) as viewing was down 2% compared to May. This was largely due to the absence of the NBA and NHL playoffs, which led to a 10% monthly decline in cable sports viewership.

Due to the fact that advertising sales for Versant are still retained by NBCUniversal, and to preserve data trends and insights in these reports, NBCU and Versant are reported together in the Media Distributor Gauge with each company’s respective share included in the Media Distributor Gauge chart.

The June 2026 interval spanned four weeks, from 06/01/2026 through 06/28/2026. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, with weekly intervals beginning on Monday.

DirecTV is updating its user interface with the planned launch of Curated Multiviews, a new feature that brings together live games in a single view, scheduled around what’s on that day.

DirecTV noted that Curated Multiviews are currently rolling out to customers and will be available to eligible customers by August 27.

Each Multiview features live games from networks already included in a customer's package, laid out together and ready to watch. When a Multiview is available for the game a user is watching, that viewer will see a “Multiview” button in the video player.

Users will only see Multiviews for networks included in their packages and games available in their areas.

DirecTV said that its sports team curates each of these Multiview around two ideas: marquee matchups fans may want to follow together and themed slates built around the day’s action.

That could mean an SEC Saturday lineup one weekend or a collection of NFL games airing across CBS and FOX on Sunday, the operator explained.

DirecTV noted that the Curated Multiviews aren’t replacing existing Mix Channels. Those always-on channels bring together a set lineup of live networks in one place, making it easy to keep an eye on sports, news, weather and more.

Curated Multiviews work differently. Instead of occupying a permanent spot in the channel guide, they’re built around specific live sporting events. A Multiview appears when the action starts and wraps up when the games do, with program titles and artwork that make it easy to see exactly what’s playing.

DirecTV noted that Curated Multiviews are currently rolling out to customers and will be available to eligible customers by August 27. As the experience becomes available, users will find Multiviews on the Sports Central carousels.

BALTIMORE—Sinclair’s AMP Sports has launched “The Riverside: A Podcast on the University of Tennessee Volunteers,” the latest in its growing portfolio of local college football podcasts.

Hosted by Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer, former Volunteers quarterback Erik Ainge and national champion defensive back Fred White, “The Riverside” launches Aug. 25. The podcast will deliver insider analysis, behind-the-scenes stories, exclusive interviews and candid conversations.

Produced in partnership with Fox 17 Nashville, the video podcast will provide year-round coverage of University of Tennessee sports, with a focus on football.

Long-form episodes will be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and all major podcast platforms, with new episodes released weekly.

"The Riverside" joins AMP Sport’s slate of college sports podcasts, including those dedicated to covering the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Texas Longhorns, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Michigan Wolverines.

More information is available on the Sinclair website.

HEBBEN BRIDGE, U.K.—Calrec has integrated its ImPulseV virtualized DSP software with NEP Platform, bringing its scalable audio processing capabilities to NEP’s growing software ecosystem.

NEP Platform is an orchestration layer that brings software applications together in a unified software-defined environment, enabling broadcasters, rightsholders, leagues and live content producers to deploy, orchestrate and scale resources up or down rapidly as production requirements evolve.

"Pairing the power of NEP’s software orchestration platform with Calrec’s ImPulseV allows NEP to offer customers virtualized audio production environments and services that best fit the needs of each production. The ability to add temporary virtualized processing resources means broadcasters can scale to support their biggest events without significant up-front hardware investment,” said Calrec director of product management Henry Goodman.

"It also simplifies technical complexity. Wherever the processing is located and however a workflow is designed, it should feel seamless to the operator. Working closely with NEP, Calrec’s ongoing ImPulseV development simplifies deployment and gives customers the freedom to build more flexible, scalable production workflows.”

Seamless blending of on-premises infrastructure with remote, virtual or hybrid operations across multiple processing environments has become an increasingly established way for media companies to generate more content. Calrec's ImPulseV DSP software gives companies the freedom to choose how they work with processing resources that flex to meet any production demand.

“NEP Platform brings those trusted applications together, making it easier to deploy, connect and manage them through a unified operational framework. Adding Calrec’s ImPulseV to the NEP Platform ecosystem further expands those choices, giving customers access to scalable, virtualized audio processing while streamlining how modern production workflows are deployed and managed. It's another example of how we're growing an open ecosystem that gives customers the flexibility to build the workflows that best meet their operational needs.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

PARIS—Dalet has announced it will be participating in the IBC2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Program as part of a project exploring the future of AI in sports production.

During the Program, it will be collaborating with Astro Malaysia, Middle East Broadcasting Company (MBC), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), AWS (Amazon Web Services), ITV, Google Cloud and other industry leaders on AI for Live Sports and Beyond: Rewiring Live Media via Agentic AI Orchestration and "meCast."

Located in Hall 14 at Stand 14.D25 in the Future Tech Zone, the project explores how agentic AI can automate live media workflows, enabling real-time content adaptation, personalization and new monetization opportunities for sports and other live productions.

As part of the demonstration, Dalet will showcase how its media-aware AI platform, Dalia, together with Dalet Flex and Dalet InStream, orchestrates live workflows from ingest through AI-powered analysis, compliance review and publishing, helping sports organizations accelerate production while maintaining editorial oversight and governance.

For sports organizations, broadcasters, leagues and rights holders, the ability to rapidly create, personalize and distribute live content is fundamental to enhanced audience engagement and revenue generation.

Dalet already supports sports customers with media workflows that accelerate highlight creation, content discovery, repurposing and multi-platform publishing, enabling teams and rights holders to maximize the value of every live event.

The IBC2026 Accelerator project showcases these capabilities by exploring how AI can intelligently orchestrate complex live production workflows while keeping humans in control.

The Accelerator demonstration complements Dalet's broader showcase at IBC2026, where the company will present innovations across Dalet Flex, Dalet Pyramid and Dalia, demonstrating how trusted, media-aware AI is transforming media operations from production through distribution.

Visitors to the Dalet stand will see how the latest innovations help media organizations modernize production and content supply chains, accelerate news workflows, improve content discovery, and streamline sports production through AI-assisted highlight creation, intelligent media management and automated publishing.

Attendees will also learn how Dalet's open, media-aware AI architecture enables organizations to deploy trusted AI while maintaining governance, operational control and flexibility through support for multiple large language models.

Dalet will be exhibiting at IBC2026 in Hall 7, Stand A43. For more information, visit https://www.dalet.com/events/ibc/.

PRINCETON, N.J.—Triveni Digital has announced that TV Globo, a leading Brazilian broadcaster, has selected the company’s TV 3.0 broadcast chain and monitoring solutions to support its deployment of next-generation television services.

TV Globo will also leverage Triveni’s GuideBuilder XM, Broadcast Gateway, and StreamScope XM Analyzer to deliver live coverage of the upcoming international football tournament in Brazil.

The two companies did not specify the name of the tournament, but Globo has used Triveni solutions for its TV 3.0 broadcasts and Brazil will be hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 from June 24 to July 25, 2027. Globo has broadcast rights to those matches.

“TV 3.0 represents an important step forward for broadcasting in Brazil, creating new opportunities to deliver richer viewing experiences while expanding the possibilities for broadcasters,” said Jonas Ribeiro, head of infrastructure and telecom projects and products, TV Globo. “Triveni Digital’s solutions have impressed our engineering team with their robustness and extensive feature set, giving us confidence as we deploy these new services across multiple markets. We are excited to have Triveni Digital supporting this important initiative.”

As Brazil transitions to TV 3.0, TV Globo has deployed Triveni Digital’s GuideBuilder XM transport stream encoder, Broadcast Gateway scheduler, and STLP generation solution in Brasilia. In addition, TV Globo will use the StreamScope XM Analyzer to monitor and verify service quality in Brasilia and other cities participating in its TV 3.0 rollout.

The deployment represents a significant milestone for Triveni Digital as Brazil launches what is widely regarded as the world’s most advanced next-generation broadcast television platform. Built on the foundation of ATSC 3.0 and incorporating innovations tailored to the Brazilian market, TV 3.0 is expected to transform how broadcasters deliver high-quality video, immersive audio, interactive applications, and new advertising experiences.

“We’re proud to bring our expertise in deploying ATSC 3.0 technology across the United States to TV Globo as Brazil enters this exciting new chapter in broadcast television,” said Mark Simpson, president and CEO of Triveni Digital. “Being selected to support TV Globo’s TV 3.0 deployment for coverage of one of the world’s largest sporting events is a tremendous honor. We look forward to helping ensure viewers receive the highest-quality television experience while supporting TV Globo’s broader vision for the future of broadcast and streaming. Ultimately, we believe many of the innovations being introduced in Brazil will influence future ATSC 3.0 deployments in the United States and other markets as the next phase of the transition unfolds.”

Triveni Digital will demonstrate its comprehensive TV 3.0 solution at SET Expo, Aug. 17-20 in São Paulo in booth 66b.

More information about Triveni Digital products is available at www.TriveniDigital.com.

BURY ST. EDMUNDS, U.K.—Vinten will demonstrate how its latest manual and robotic camera support solutions are helping broadcasters deliver more content from more locations, using a wider variety of cameras and lenses, while balancing crew, space and budget constraints during IBC 2026, Sept. 11-14, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

The company will feature the Versine 240 fluid head, introduced at IBC 2025. The head joins the flagship Versine 360, extending a range designed specifically for every position without at box lens at outside broadcasts.

Supporting payloads from 0 to 55 pounds (0-25 kg), Versine 240 delivers the precise balance and smooth movement needed for long-lens operation within a lightweight design suited to roaming OB positions, touchline coverage and live event production.

Vinten will also demonstrate VEGA Lite, its broadcast-ready PTZ control solution that delivers professional automation, consistent workflows and scalable control. Supporting a wide range of broadcast PTZ cameras and robotic devices, VEGA Lite provides a single control platform that allows broadcasters to create a unified workflow.

The company will showcase dedicated support solutions, including the manual Osprey Lite pedestal, adapted for direct PTZ camera mounting, and the robotic Tecnopoint Starter Ceiling Track, which provides smooth overhead PTZ camera movement while maximizing valuable floor space.

Vinten will also highlight the FP-188+ full XY robotic pedestal, controlled by the VEGA Control System, for permanent studio facilities. Incorporating intelligent mapping and enhanced on-board sensing, the system enables precise, repeatable camera movement while helping operators avoid potential collisions in busy studios.

See Vinten at IBC 2026 stand 13.A05.

More information is available on the company’s website.

In July, U.S. authorities announced the seizure of more than 1,000 domains that had been used to illegally stream high-value live sports. The sites were providing unauthorized real-time broadcasts, and investigators confirmed they were actively streaming protected matches before obtaining seizure warrants.

It’s an impressive enforcement action. It is also a reminder of a basic reality for streaming providers: When content is valuable enough, there will be sophisticated efforts to steal it, redistribute it and profit from it. But that does not mean every streaming provider needs the same anti-piracy strategy. Many need big boosts in proactive protections while others may not need quite as much.

For years, the industry conversation has often focused on whether a platform has sufficient content protection. A better question is: How much protection does your particular business need and what’s the best pathway forward?

The answer begins with understanding what role content plays in your revenue model.

Level 1: Video Is Something You Offer

At the first level are businesses where video is part of the offering, but it is not the primary reason customers are there.

Consider a communications provider that includes basic video programming within a broader package of internet, mobile or other services. The content might be largely on-demand, widely available elsewhere and relatively inexpensive. Customers are not necessarily choosing the provider because it has exclusive programming they cannot get anywhere else.

Here, anti-piracy is largely about meeting content protection requirements and maintaining the ability to license and distribute programming. That does not make security unimportant. It means the investment should reflect the business risk. Spending heavily to protect content that generates relatively little direct revenue can be as strategically questionable as spending too little to protect highly valuable content. For this category, the objective is straightforward: meet requirements, protect access and keep costs proportional to the value being protected.

Level 2: Video Helps Drive the Business

The equation changes for platforms where video plays a substantial role in attracting and retaining a broad audience.

These services might combine movies, series, children’s programming, lifestyle content and some sports. They compete on choice. Revenue might come from subscriptions, advertising or a combination of both. Piracy now presents a more significant economic threat because unauthorized viewing can hurt the business in several ways.

A pirate is not necessarily just stealing a piece of content. Unauthorized redistribution can mean the legitimate provider is paying the infrastructure costs associated with delivering video that is ultimately consumed outside its business model. CDN abuse, credential misuse and restreaming can turn distribution expenses into costs that benefit pirates rather than customers.

Advertising adds another dimension. When audiences consume stolen programming elsewhere, the legitimate service loses the opportunity to monetize those viewers. For these businesses, protection needs to extend beyond simply controlling access to content. Operators need greater visibility into how their services are being used so they can identify suspicious behavior and respond before abuse becomes expensive.

The goal is a balance between protection, operational cost and the subscriber experience.

Level 3: Content Is the Business

The highest level is fundamentally different.

These are platforms built around premium live sports, exclusive programming, early-release entertainment and other must-watch content. Subscribers are paying specifically for access to something valuable that they cannot legitimately obtain elsewhere. Here, piracy attacks the core product.Rights can cost millions of dollars or considerably more. Subscriber acquisition is expensive. Exclusivity drives demand. If premium content becomes freely available through pirate services, the consequences can include lost subscriptions, higher churn and lower returns on content investments.

Live programming raises the stakes further because its value is concentrated within a remarkably short window. Discovering an illegal stream after an event has concluded may help with enforcement, but the most valuable opportunity to protect revenue has already passed. That makes proactive protection essential. Platforms at this level need to think in terms of detecting suspicious activity as it happens, understanding where unauthorized distribution originates and enabling rapid countermeasures. Traditional protection remains important, but prevention, visibility and speed become equally critical.

Start with the Business, Not the Technology

The most useful anti-piracy assessment may therefore begin without discussing technology at all. Ask four questions:

1. Is video the primary product or one component of a larger offering? 
2. Does the business compete on price, variety or exclusivity? 
3. How directly does content consumption generate revenue? 
4. And what happens financially when someone watches that content somewhere else?

The answers likely reveal the level of protection that makes sense. A provider offering basic video as an add-on does not face the same risk as a broad entertainment platform. And neither faces the same economics as a service that has invested heavily in exclusive live programming.

What all three have in common is the need to stop treating anti-piracy as a generic checkbox.

Enforcement actions against massive illegal streaming operations demonstrate just how valuable stolen content has become. But the lesson for streaming providers is not that everyone needs maximum security everywhere. It’s that protection should be proportional to what is at stake.

And when content is the business itself, what is at stake can be nearly everything.

Verimatrix (Euronext Paris: VMX) powers the modern connected world with people-centered content security. Trusted by leading operators, broadcasters, streaming services, and content owners worldwide, Verimatrix delivers intuitive solutions that protect premium digital content and services across today's media ecosystem. With more than 30 years of expertise, the company combines advanced content protection, anti-piracy intelligence, and secure service delivery to help customers combat piracy, safeguard revenue, and deliver seamless viewing experiences. Verimatrix enables organizations to securely deliver premium entertainment with confidence. Learn more at www.verimatrix.com.

Comcast and Disney have reached a new carriage agreement for the NFL Network and the NFL RedZone channel that gives Xfinity customers access to the services in the run-up to the start of the NFL season.

The services were removed from the Comcast Xfinity lineup when the blackout began in late April. It was the first carriage dispute since Disney’s ESPN acquisition of the NFL Network was completed in early February.

No formal announcement was made about the agreement and financial terms were not disclosed.

“We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with The Walt Disney Company to bring NFL Network to our customers in time for the start of the preseason games and to offer NFL RedZone Channel at the beginning of the regular season,” Comcast said in a statement to NBC Sports.

NEW YORK—The New York Jets and CBS New York have inked a multi-year extension of their deal that will provide fans with preseason game broadcasts, Jets shoulder programming, and exclusive team content.

The deal continues their 28-year relationship and re-establishes the station as the official broadcast home of the New York Jets.

The Jets preseason coverage begins on Friday, August 14 when the team hosts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium (7:00 p.m. ET). On Friday, August 21, the team will make the trip to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium (7:00 p.m. ET). The final tilt of the preseason slate will be the annual summer contest against the New York Giants (Friday, August 28, 7:30 p.m. ET) in Preseason Week 3.

All preseason games will air on CBS New York and stream on Paramount +.

“For nearly three decades, CBS New York has been a trusted partner in helping us connect with Jets fans across the region,” said Hymie Elhai, president, New York Jets. “This extension builds on that longstanding relationship and allows us to deliver even more access, insight and exclusive content to our fans. From live preseason coverage to behind-the-scenes programming and new team-focused shows, we’re excited to continue bringing Jets football to fans year-round through CBS New York.”

As the 2026 NFL preseason kicks off, the collaboration will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes content produced by “1JD Films,” including preseason and offseason special programming that the station said will bring fans closer to the action than ever before.

Throughout the season, Jets fans can also tune in to a robust lineup of team-focused programming, including “Jets GameDay,” “Jets Late Night,” and “The Official Jets Podcast.” As part of the refreshed programming slate, “Jets GameDay” will replace the former “Coaches' Show,” while “The Official Jets Podcast” will deliver new perspectives and expanded coverage of the team year-round.

"The New York Jets have been an outstanding partner for decades, and we're proud to continue this relationship for years to come," said Johnny Green Jr., regional president and general manager of CBS New York and CBS Boston. "As we extend the partnership past 30 years this reflects our shared commitment to serving fans, and continuing to work together to deliver compelling content and support impactful community initiatives that engage our audiences and Jets fans across the region."

COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN has expanded capabilities for its Live Event Master Control, providing sports broadcasters, leagues, rights holders and content owners with a more flexible and scalable approach to managing live event distribution.

Built on the LTN Network, the enhanced master control solution combines low latency IP transport, cloud-native playout, automation, scheduling, monitoring, graphics and optional operator-assisted services for live sports and events into a unified platform designed for live sports and events.

LTN’s Live Event Master Control capabilities have supported more than 20,000 live sporting events and broadcasts for leading broadcasters, sports leagues and content owners worldwide. The latest enhancements streamline live MCR workflows with greater automation, visibility and flexibility across live production workflows.

Its capabilities enable users to launch and manage complex workflows without the cost, time and infrastructure requirements traditionally associated with dedicated control rooms and on-premises systems.

The latest capabilities include:

• Automated workflows for frame accurate routing, graphics, ad signaling and playback.
• Enriched graphics, including integration with upstream data sources.
• Picture in picture, squeeze backs and other unique on-screen layouts. 
• Multi-language support, including captioning and announcer integration.
• Deep audio manipulation and video transformation.
• Advanced transmission and video/audio payload monitoring.

LTN’s platform enables customers to leverage LTN-hosted workflows running across the company’s purpose-built global IP video network.

Users can choose between:

• Live Event Master Control services operated by LTN experts.
• Self-service workflows powered by LTN’s scheduling, automation and monitoring software.
• Hybrid models that combine customer-provided operations with LTN’s managed services and technical support.

More information is available on the company’s website.

WUPPERTAL, Germany—Riedel Communications will feature the Live Production Experience, a connected demonstration that follows the production chain from image capture and signal transport to live switching, replay, audio processing, monitoring, control, communications and delivery during IBC 2026, Sept. 11-14, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

Rather than presenting each technology in isolation, Riedel will show how its systems can work together within a coordinated, IP-focused environment to simplify operations and give production teams a more consistent and flexible way to build, run and evolve their workflows.

At the center of the demonstration are the SimplyLive Production Suite Flex, now expanded with SMPTE ST 2110-capable server configurations; MediorNet’s hybrid SDI-IP and native ST 2110 capabilities; SAME audio processing; and hi human interface as the overarching control and orchestration layer. With ARRI camera technology at the point of image capture, the demonstration makes the end-to-end vision tangible by connecting the production workflow within one coordinated IP environment.

Riedel will also make the IBC premieres of the MediorNet HorizoN ST 2110 MultiViewer App, the DSP-1216HL Commentary Control App and the StageLink NSA008-A as well as unveil intercom and audio developments.

SimplyLIveRiedel will highlight new Flex server configurations adding SMPTE ST 2110 to the SimplyLive platform’s existing support for SDI, SRT NDI, and other video workflows. The expansion broadens deployment choices and allows SimplyLive to fit more directly into ST 2110 production environments and Riedel’s wider IP infrastructure.

Further enhancements bring new capabilities and greater operational flexibility to the SimplyLive software suite. Alongside integration with SKAARHOJ control panels, Riedel will showcase new Venue Gateway options.

MediorNetThe new MediorNet HorizoN ST 2110 MultiViewer App expands native IP capabilities and reinforces HorizoN’s role in modern ST 2110-based infrastructures. The new app brings multiviewing directly into the MediorNet processing environment. It extends Riedel’s established multiviewer approach into native IP environments while maintaining the operational flexibility required for modern live production.

hi human interfaceRiedel's hi human interface is a vendor-agnostic control and orchestration platform. Browser-based, platform-independent and vendor-agnostic, hi enables operators to configure, control, and manage routers, multiviewers, video and audio mixers, software-defined networks (SDNs) and other third-party technologies with a unified interface.

Supporting baseband, IP or hybrid infrastructures, hi adapts to different users, operational roles, and production environments.

Smart Audio and Edge ConnectivityRiedel will showcase its SAME Smart Audio & Mixing Engine, an advanced audio processing software suite built on commercial off-the-shelf server cluster technology. Designed for scalable and automated workflows, SAME provides flexible processing resources that can adapt to changing production requirements.

Its distributed approach separates audio processing from individual physical workspaces, allowing resources to be accessed and managed across different locations. This supports a broad range of applications, including mixing, monitoring, voice-over, loudness management, signal analysis and in-line processing.

At the edge of the network, Riedel’s expanding StageLink Network Stream Adapter family provides compact, rugged devices for decentralized audio and intercom connectivity over standard IP networks. At IBC, Riedel will premiere the new StageLink NSA008-A, supporting flexible signal distribution within Artist, Bolero and wider IP audio environments.

Bolero and Bolero MiniThe company will introduce enhancements across its Bolero wireless intercom portfolio with new 5G filtering for Bolero antennas and beltpacks. The enhancements are designed to increase resilience in demanding RF environments and support reliable communications in increasingly congested production settings. Bolero beltpacks will also feature a refreshed, more robust hardware design, along with new RF-resilient options.

Bolero Mini complements the full-size Bolero beltpack. It combines four programmable keys and dedicated volume controls with the audio performance, RF capabilities, Bluetooth connectivity, and operational concepts of the wider Bolero ecosystem.

The company will also feature:

• The Artist Ecosystem with Virtual SmartPanel and 1200 Series SmartPanels.
• Easy5G private 5G network support.
• DIVA+ managed technology for complex live events environments.

See Riedel Communications at IBC 2026 Stands 10.A24, 10.A31 and 10.A38.

More information is available on the company’s website.

NASHVILLE—Gravity Media has formed a strategic partnership with U.S.-based live event production and technology company Live Media Group (LMG) and has sold eight mobile units in the United States to LMG, including three premium production trucks with existing major broadcast contract.

The deal includes the addition of engineering and technical staff, further enhancing LMG’s production expertise around the country.

“The United States remains a critically important market for us. By partnering with Live Media Group, we are combining complementary strengths to deliver even greater value to our customers. We are excited about what this partnership makes possible and look forward to everything we will build together.,” said Jamie Hindhough, regional CEO of Gravity Media.

The new strategic partnership will see the companies collaborating on projects requiring both mobile production facilities and services. While Live Media Group assumes ownership and operation of Gravity Media's U.S. based Outside Broadcast (OB) truck fleet, Gravity Media will continue to support projects through its RF technology and other services, creating a comprehensive solution for clients operating throughout the United States.

Beyond expanding its mobile production fleet, the acquisition also provides Live Media Group's operating companies, including TNDV Television, Live Media and GameTime Productions, with access to additional specialty cameras, production equipment, production services and engineering resources that can be deployed across a broader range of projects.

The acquisition marks another milestone in Live Media Group's long-term strategy of expanding its national footprint through carefully selected acquisitions that enhance client service while preserving operational quality. Since acquiring SureShot Teleproductions in 2015, Live Media Group has continued to grow with the acquisitions of TNDV Television and HARB Production Services in 2019, Lyon Video in 2022 and now Gravity Media's U.S. mobile production assets.

Gravity Media and LMG are working closely to ensure a coordinated and seamless transition of the OB fleet. Throughout the process, customers can expect uninterrupted service and the same high standards of quality, innovation and delivery that both organizations are known for globally, Gravity Media said.

“Over the past few years, Live Media Group has transformed and grown in meaningful ways with a focus on expanding what we can offer our customers and partners,” said Michael Sullivan, Live Media Group president.

“This partnership with Gravity Media deepens that commitment, giving clients access to an even broader range of live production capabilities not only with additions to our mobile fleet, but also expanding what we can offer across RF, specialty cameras and flypacks for both domestic and international clients. None of this happens without great people on both sides, and I could not be prouder of where we are headed.”

The acquisition significantly increases Live Media Group's available production capacity at a time when demand for high-end mobile production services continues to rise. The three flagship production units included in the transaction arrive with existing contracts supporting major U.S. broadcast partners and premier professional events, while all eight mobile units expand the company's ability to support sports, entertainment, corporate and live event productions nationwide.

The additional fleet also arrives at a critical time for Live Media Group's operations. "Historically, our mobile units have been fully committed most of the year," said Sullivan. "These additional assets immediately provide us with greater scheduling flexibility while allowing us to support more clients without compromising the level of service they've come to expect. Rather than turning opportunities away, we're now positioned to say yes to more productions."

The strategic partnership established alongside the acquisition also broadens the company's service offerings. Clients requiring RF along with other solutions can now benefit from Gravity Media's specialized RF technology and services, while Gravity Media's international customers requiring mobile production support in the United States will be served through Live Media Group's expanded fleet.

More information is available on the Gravity Media and Live Media Group websites.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. and NEW YORK—DirecTV has concluded a multiyear agreement with EverPass Media to distribute “NFL Sunday Ticket” via satellite and streaming to bars, restaurants and commercial venues nationwide through DirecTV for Business beginning with the 2026 season.

Under the agreement, DirecTV for Business will serve as EverPass’ sales, marketing and commercial distribution partner for the out-of-market pro football package, with or without the NFL RedZone channel.

DirecTV for Business will also be EverPass’ Preferred National Distributor for EverPass streaming platforms throughout the U.S. This brings a major commercial television provider together with the commercial rightsholder for the NFL’s out-of-market package.

“For decades, businesses have trusted DirecTV to deliver the biggest moments in sports,” DirecTV Chief Operating Officer Mike Wittrock said. “This agreement gives businesses more flexibility in how they watch ‘NFL Sunday Ticket’ and other sports content, with access to one of the most comprehensive commercial sports offerings.”

Added EverPass Media CEO Alex Kaplan: “We’re pleased to partner with DirecTV for Business to expand access to live sports for venues. This agreement is about creating greater availability for bars, restaurants and other commercial businesses so they can offer ‘NFL Sunday Ticket’—and other live sports content—with flexibility in how they receive the service.”

DirecTV serves more than 300,000 commercial locations nationwide. Through this agreement, businesses will benefit from a streamlined relationship for sales, service, billing and support while continuing to access the programming their customers expect every week throughout the NFL season.

Beyond “NFL Sunday Ticket” and NFL RedZone, the agreement also enables DirecTV for Business customers to subscribe to other premium sports content offered by EverPass via streaming or satellite. Existing EverPass customers will receive services as usual.

In a major distribution deal that will make YouTube an even more important outlet for sports and premium video content, NBCUniversal and YouTube have announced a multi-year global strategic partnership that brings Peacock to millions of YouTube Premium subscribers in the U.S. and expands the international reach of Universal+ and Hayu.

The deal, which pairs YouTube’s global scale, creator ecosystem and diverse content with NBCUniversal’s premium entertainment, blockbuster films, live sports and iconic franchises, is a notable example of how the lines between traditional TV and streaming continue to blur.

When fully implemented, the agreement will allow YouTube users to easily jump between creator content on YouTube to NFL games and big-budget TV series on Peacock. Such distribution scenarios are likely to become even more important to the future of NBCU after it is spun off from Comcast.

In a note to investors, LightShed Partner's Richard Greenfield highlighted the groundbreaking potential of the deal by stressing that "Peacock is being fully ingested into YouTube Premium, not just bundled alongside it. That distinction matters enormously. A YouTube Premium subscriber will be able to watch NFL games, NBA games, and MLB games directly within the YouTube app, the same way they would if they had subscribed to Peacock through YouTube Primetime Channels. No app-switching, no separate login, no friction. It will feel like YouTube offers the content itself."

"YouTube is proving that the platform, not the content, is the most powerful asset," he added. "Every sport, every show, and every stream flowing through the YouTube interface is another reason a subscriber never needs to open a competitor’s app. If sports rights holders are willing to let their content be ingested (and Peacock clearly is), that creates a powerful flywheel that gets harder to disrupt over time."

The deal, which is Peacock's largest wholesale distribution partnership to date, also extends NBCUniversal's multi-year distribution partnership with YouTube TV and Comcast’s distribution partnership with various YouTube products; deepens the companies’ longstanding advertising and technology relationship; expands NBCUniversal's international streaming footprint through Universal+ and Hayu in select markets; and creates new opportunities across sports production and live sports on YouTube.

“This partnership brings NBCUniversal’s world-class content and iconic franchises to YouTube’s unmatched scale and global platforms,” said Mike Cavanagh, co-CEO of Comcast Corporation. “We’re excited to deepen our relationship with YouTube through a collaboration that reflects our strategy of partnering with industry leaders to drive sustained growth for NBCUniversal.”

“We’re incredibly excited to expand our partnership with NBCUniversal to redefine what a modern entertainment subscription can be for consumers,” added said Neal Mohan, CEO, YouTube. “YouTube Premium brings your favorite creators, artists and cultural moments together uninterrupted, and now, we’re pairing that ultimate viewing experience with Peacock’s expansive lineup of live sports like Sunday Night Football and the NBA, blockbuster Universal movies, and original series. This makes it easier than ever for our members to find and watch all the premium content they love, all in one place.”

More specifically, the wide-ranging deal includes:

• Beginning in early 2027, Peacock Premium will be included in a bundle with YouTube Premium, making it immediately available to millions of existing YouTube Premium subscribers. This will substantially expanding Peacock’s reach and making it one of the most broadly distributed premium streaming services in the U.S.
• Subscribers will receive seamless access to Peacock within the YouTube experience, featuring marquee live sports including the NFL, Olympics, NBA, MLB, Big Ten and Notre Dame Football, Big 12, Big East and Big Ten College Basketball, Premier League, WNBA, Kentucky Derby, golf and more, hit series such as Love Island USA, The Real Housewives franchise, Law & Order: SVU, Saturday Night Live, The Traitors, All Her Fault and The Office; and award-winning and blockbuster films.
• This deal also extends NBCUniversal's multi-year distribution agreement with YouTube TV, the largest and fastest-growing pay TV provider in the U.S., ensuring continued broad linear distribution of NBCUniversal's industry-leading portfolio of entertainment, sports and news programming.
• The companies will deepen their longstanding advertising technology collaboration, including through FreeWheel, to enhance advertising capabilities and drive greater monetization at scale.
• The agreement will also expand the global reach of NBCUniversal’s international streaming services, Universal+ and Hayu, through YouTube Premium in select markets.
• NBC Sports will be the production partner for select premier live sporting events on YouTube.
• A selection of live sporting events from NBCUniversal will stream on NBC Sports’ YouTube channel, bringing a sample of world-class games to millions of users on YouTube.
• The deal extends and expands the distribution and offerings of YouTube, YouTube TV and YouTube Premium on Comcast’s Xfinity and Xumo platforms.
• Peacock Premium (currently $10.99/month) will also be available as a separate add-on subscription through YouTube Primetime Channels starting later this summer. Peacock Premium Plus has been available via YouTube Primetime Channels since late June.

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL—The Minnesota Timberwolves have announced a new local media rights agreement with DAZN that makes it the new exclusive home for Timberwolves basketball across its local broadcast territory.

The deal creates a new team-branded subscription service. Launching later this summer, it will allow fans to stream Timberwolves games and provide access to broader team content.

Fifteen games will be available for free this season, underscoring the team’s commitment to reaching more fans.

The subscription service will be available throughout the entirety of the Timberwolves' home broadcast territory, which includes full coverage across Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, with partial coverage extending into Kansas and Wisconsin.

The team reported that DAZN’s digital-first viewing experience and multi-device capabilities will allow fans to seamlessly access games, programming, and additional content across smart TVs, mobile devices, web browsers, and partner streaming platforms.

Production for all local game broadcasts, including pregame and postgame coverage, will be provided by the NBA.

“Our commitment to the best possible fan experience is what drives everything we do,” said Timberwolves & Lynx CEO Matthew Caldwell. “With DAZN, we’re delivering on that promise, bringing Timberwolves basketball directly to fans through a modern streaming experience that expands reach with 15 free games and meets fans wherever they are.”

“The Timberwolves are one of the most exciting young franchises in the NBA, with an incredibly passionate fanbase. We are honored to be their exclusive regional home starting next season and to give fans an easy way to watch the team they love," said Shay Segev, CEO, DAZN Group. “The NBA is one of the most popular leagues in the world and the Timberwolves are an indelible part. Bringing a team of this calibre onto DAZN is an amazing addition to our growing U.S. sports portfolio. We can’t wait to start serving Timberwolves fans as the team prepares for another incredible season.”

DAZN will deliver live Timberwolves games alongside a broad slate of additional content, giving fans expanded access to live action, pre- and post-game shows, highlights, behind-the-scenes storytelling, and original programming that deepens the fan experience.

DAZN also reported that new interactive features will be launched throughout the season including live in-game fan chats, polls, quizzes, and games.

Available in more than 200 markets worldwide, DAZN has partnerships spanning the NFL, NHL, soccer, boxing, MMA and other major sports leagues, competitions and properties.

Additional details regarding game availability, programming, launch timing and pricing will be announced at a later date.

MIRAMAR, Fla.—NBCUniversal’s Telemundo 51 Miami/WSCV has announced an agreement with the Miami Marlins that will make live Spanish-language coverage of Marlins games available for the first time on the station.

Telemundo 51 will broadcast the Marlins against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, Aug. 9, at 1:40 p.m. ET, and against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 3:10 p.m. ET – the final game of the 2026 regular season – on free over-the-air television in South Florida.

“Our viewers have a deep passion for baseball, and we are proud to make Marlins baseball available to Spanish-speaking fans on Telemundo 51 for the first time,” said Jorge Carballo, president and general manager of Telemundo 51 and NBC6 / WTVJ. “This initiative underscores our shared commitment to serving South Florida’s vibrant Hispanic community.”

“Baseball is deeply rooted in the Spanish-speaking community, and that is especially true here in South Florida,” said Caroline O’Connor, Miami Marlins president of Business. “Our partnership with Telemundo 51 Miami allows us to connect with Spanish-speaking fans in a more meaningful way through Spanish-language broadcasts while expanding access to Marlins baseball across the region.”