Stamford Spotlight, Part 1: NBC Olympics' At-Home Production Goes Full-Throttle 24/7 for PyeongChang 2018 The operation at NBC's SPOC in Stamford is bigger than ever By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, February 23, 2018 - 3:53 pm
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Nearly 7,000 miles separate PyeongChang from Stamford, CT, but, for the past three weeks, the two have been attached at the hip for NBC's largest and most complex Winter Olympics production to date. The at-home operation at the NBC Olympics Sports Production Operations Center (SPOC) in Stamford is bigger than ever before and has become a truly 24/7 operation, with crew members literally exchanging seats at shift change. Although at-home efforts do reduce cost and travel, NBC is more focused on how the expanded use of its Stamford facility has boosted its production capabilities and quality for PyeongChang 2018.
NBC Olympics' leaders in Stamford: (from left) Stacey Georgiou, Tim Canary, Ken Goss, and Tom Popple
The further expansion of our [at-home] production has been a major next step forward for us, says Tim Canary, VP, engineering, NBC Olympics and NBC Sports Group. We are doing more and more here without adding substantial amounts of people. When you look at [departments] like our Highlights Factory or the Off-Tube [commentator operation], we are doing a lot more compared with Sochi with basically the same number of people. It's not just the technology that makes that possible but also the people and the level of consistency we've had here year after year.
During the Games, more than 1,000 people have worked at SPOC on the PyeongChang Olympics. With more than 2,400 hours of total multiplatform coverage (roughly the number of hours for Sochi and Vancouver combined) and 10 days of 24-hour linear-TV programming, the SPOC has been a pressure-cooker of activity.
The facility is running six active control rooms (in 24/7 operation on most days), as well an additional truck parked outside for NBC's 4K coverage. Also returning to Stamford for PyeongChang 2018 are the Off-Tube announce-booth setup (featuring eight temporary commentary booths in Studio 4), the Highlights Factory and Streaming Factory operations, Broadcast Operations Center (BOC) and Transmission, and a few newcomers, such as the Enhanced Viewing Experience room. Throw in an army of Avid Edit and Pro Tools suites, as well as all of NBC Olympics' EVS servers and MAM ingest channels, and it's obvious how big the at-home operation is.
It once again has been a genuine team effort with a phenomenal group of people, says Ken Goss, SVP, remote operations and production planning. We've been able to plan shifts for the 24-hour operation, so everyone is as fresh as they can be, and it's been very positive. The entire team has done a great job, and I think everyone here feels that they have contributed to the overall success of the PyeongChang operation. Stamford has truly become a place that you can depend on to be rock-solid week in and week out - and that's even more valuable during [the Olympics].
A Sextet of Control Rooms: NBCSN, NEWBERT, 4K HDR, Digital, and More
For Sochi 2014, control rooms were located in SPOC only for curling and Gold Zone production. This year, a total of six SPOC control rooms are serving studios in both Stamford and PyeongChang.
It's exponentially bigger this year, notes Tom Popple, VP, studio operations and facilities, with all the sports and studio shows coming out of here.
NBCSN is utilizing three crews at PCR4 for its 24-hour days during the PyeongChang Olympics
NBCSN is deploying three crews at PCR4 for its 24-hour days. PCR4 is the production hub for NBCSN's Coastal Cluster Studio during the daytime in PyeongChang (16 hours per day); Studio 3 in Stamford takes over for the recap show (eight hours per day during PyeongChang overnight). The NBC Coastal Studio has six channels in both directions between PyeongChang and Stamford on a Media Links Frame. All the cameras are shaded at the IBC in South Korea and sent to PCR4, where the show is integrated.
Going 24/7 was a big deal for us this year, so we worked closely with the rest of our team here to make sure we had everything we would need. We [established] a workflow for the three production crews, when we switch out everyone - producer, director, TD, graphics, and the others - when an event switches over. And it's worked out great.
PCR4 also has control of a Calrec RP-1 remote audio-production system (new for this Olympics) to enable A1s to mix locally. In addition, NBC mirrors the teleprompter in both locations: prompting is done locally in PyeongChang and sent over IP to PCR4 for the producer and director to view.
The Calrec RP1 is definitely one of the biggest changes for us this year, says Popple. It gives the A1 the ability to create their own local mix and do the things that you would normally have to submix remotely. That got rid of a lot of extra manpower and wiring. We will continue to use that moving forward.
In addition, PCR2 handles hockey coverage from the smaller arena in PyeongChang along with SPOC's Studio 2 for pre/postgame coverage and intermissions. The onsite operation uses NBC's custom NEWBERT flypack: an Evertz EMR-64 router, Lawo-based audio core, a small intercom system, and an EVS replay unit in six flight cases.
PCR3 and Studio 1 are serving as home for NBC's Olympic Ice figure-skating program and curling, while PCR8 and Studio 6 handle Olympic Gold Zone.
Mobile TV Group's 39FLEX mobile unit is parked at the truck dock at NBC's SPOC in Stamford to serve the 4K HDR/Dolby Atmos production of the PyeongChang Olympics.
Mobile TV Group's 39 FLEX has been pulled up to the truck dock to integrate NBC's 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos coverage, which is being delivered by OBS
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Stamford Spotlight, Part 1: NBC Olympics' At-Home Production Goes Full-Throttle 24/7 for PyeongChang 2018 The operation at NBC's SPOC in Stamford is bigger than ever By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
