LTS Workshop Preview: Second Screen, Social TV To Dominate Next-Gen TV Conversation

This year, SVG’s League Technology Summit will kick off with four Technology Workshops intended to meet the information needs of the industry. Workshops are open to all registered attendees and sponsors and will take place at the New York Hilton from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday Dec. 12. Each workshop is designed to create an environment promoting open dialogue, with an emphasis on solving problems and helping attendees understand new concepts and developments. Leading up to the Summit, SVG is providing an in-depth preview of each workshop: DTV Audio, Next-Generation TV, Postproduction and IT, and Remote Production.

The days of producing sports content for a singular living-room screen are long gone. Smartphones, tablets, and laptops have become a way of everyday life for sports viewers. Content producers, networks, leagues, and teams are tasked with producing and distributing video content to a seemingly endless stable of platforms that continues to grow with the release of each new mobile device and operating system.

In addition, the role of social media and social television continues to expand in sports broadcasting. Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks present valuable new opportunities for sports entities to grow their brand while driving fans toward their telecasts and original content.

To address the rapidly changing world of sports-content consumption and delivery, SVG will offer an entire workshop devoted to “Next-Generation TV,” featuring presentations and panels that address how content owners can maximize their rights in the next generation of sports television.

High-Efficiency Video Coding: Beyond MPEG-4
Matthew Goldman, Ericsson, head of compression technology, Solution Area TV, will kick things off with an in-depth look at the upcoming compression standard, High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). The new standard, which promises twice the efficiency of the current MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) standard and four times that of MPEG-2, is expected to be released in 2013 and could pave the way for 3D and 4K sports production and delivery.

Mobile Basics: Myths and Realities of Android
Next up comes a look at the Android mobile operating system, which will delve into the many strengths and weaknesses of Google’s unique open-development platform. Although the Android OS does provide a valuable platform for mobile-app development, many of its detractors complain that the model is unorganized and unsustainable. Experts from the digital arms of sports-content leaders — Phil Green, USTA, senior director of advanced media; Joe Inzerillo, MLB Advanced Media, SVP of multimedia and distribution; Joseph Maar, Fox Sports North and Fox Sports Wisconsin, coordinating producer — will tell you how to get the most out of the Android platform.

Content Creation for the Second Screen
In this panel, a team of industry leaders will provide a wide-ranging look at the current second-screen marketplace. Tablets, mobile phones, and laptops have their relative strengths and weaknesses as content-consumption devices. They also require different approaches to deliver the best experience. Learn how to make sure your content-creation department is optimizing video for different platforms with Eric Black, NBC Sports and Olympics, director of digital operations; Noah Fischbach, NFL, VP of product and technology; Dan Marshall, Elemental Technologies, SVP, worldwide sales and service; Mark Silver, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, senior director, digital media; and Alex Terpstra, Civolution, CEO

Social TV on the Rise
The second half of the afternoon will be devoted to the rapidly increasing role of social media in sports production, moderated by Social.TV Founder/CEO Paul Farkas.

“Everything that a sports viewer has been familiar with in the past is about to change in the next five years, and a substantial part of that will be through social media,” says Farkas. “Through social media and social TV, fans can actually interact with sports content, and these live broadcasts are starting to be produced with that in mind. This is going to change not only how fans interact with the game but how the telecast itself is produced.”

Social Media Workshop, Part One: Social Sports TV
Social TV is a buzz topic, but how does it integrate with broadcast-TV workflows and programming? Moderated by Farkas, a panel featuring Johnsie Garrett, Clipsync, SVP of sales and business development; Bradley C. Harrison, BVH, managing partner; Ryan Kurek, LVRG Marketing and Media, founder/CEO; Jeff Lillibridge, Phizzle, senior digital strategist; Bo Moon, Bloomberg Sports, co-founder/COO; and Katie E. Richman, ESPN, director of social media, will discuss how to get the most out of socially interactive multiplatform programming for tablet and mobile apps, maximize live streaming, and build an online audience. The panelists will discuss traditional and innovative advertising models and technology.

Social Media Workshop Part Two: All A-Twitter for Sports
The second of the two social-media–focused panels will center on Twitter, which has plenty of good things going for it — improved ticket sales, fan loyalty — but has also led to some embarrassing incidents for athletes and big fines for some owners. Moderated by Farkas, a panel of Stephanie Agresta, Weber Shandwick, EVP/managing director of social media; Tom Donahue, Trendrr, co-founder; Paul Dunay, Networked Insights, CMO; Michael Falato, Txtstation, VP of sales and business development; Todd Kaplan, PepsiCo, director of sports marketing; Mary Scott, MATTER, Edelman Sports & Entertainment Marketing, GM, will discuss the ins and outs of proper tweeting from both in the room and afar.

Password must contain the following:

A lowercase letter

A capital (uppercase) letter

A number

Minimum 8 characters