TNT lets fans pick which players to follow online with Fan Choice Cams

By Andrew Lippe

Fan interactivity is a hot
commodity among sports leagues. Fan voting is on the rise and will have
a presence in this year’s NBA playoffs as TNT is offering NBA fans the
opportunity to vote on Fans Choice Player Cameras during the Western
Conference Finals. The player cameras, an integral part of the TNT OverTime
All-Access broadband channel on NBA.com, will follow the top vote getting player from the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs for a quarter. Fans Choice Cameras follow the players
whether they are on the court, in the huddle or on the bench.
“TNT wants this broadband
enhancement a handprint in all TNT programming,” says Peter Scott
executive interactive producer for Turner Sports. Turner will roll out
player cams for all seven games of the Western Conference finals and
will roll out the technology for NASCAR in a few weeks.
The channel, sponsored by Yellowbook, gives
fans the option of viewing four camera views at once or individually.
The four camera views include a robotic cam from the backboard, a scoreboard
camera and the two player cams.
The broadband channel streams
video using Adobe flash video and TNT uses Akamai for content
delivery. TNT uses also uses a Suncoast hybrid production truck for
the cameras.
This was not the first time
TNT displayed these innovative camera views. TNT tried out the player
cameras during NBA All Star Weekend. “The two cameras focused
on one player from the Eastern Conference and one from the Western Conference,”
adds Scott.