Ross Video XPression, WWE Connect on Monday Night Raw LIVE

Ross Video’s XPression Real-Time Motion Graphics System and XPression Connect software bring social media messages to air in one of the most-watched programs on television, WWE Monday Night Raw LIVE.  Working with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and NEP Mobile Productions, Ross added new features and functionality to Connect, allowing WWE to drop a subscription-based on-air playout system and to streamline their social media workflow, saving them money and providing a better user experience for operators.

WWE’s multi-step process for displaying messages on-air begins at their Stamford, CT headquarters, where the Tweets are monitored and filtered coming in from fans and WWE Superstars using Mass Relevance, the Austin-based social media cloud service.  Items are sorted into separate feeds, corresponding to the theme of each of the show’s segments.  An operator in the NEP truck at the venue then intercepts those feeds with XPression Connect and can play them directly to air, or build playlists based on multiple feeds, with complete freedom to drag and drop, reorder, delete, and even print hard-copy lists of messages for review when necessary.

“We wanted to improve our social media playout on-air look and Ross gave us the capability to make the changes we were looking for,” said Marty Pingree, Vice President of Technical Operations for WWE.  “In addition, we now have much more control over our graphics look.  Using an XPression Studio system in Stamford, our artists build new XPression templates, which are then downloaded remotely by operators on-site from our XPression Project Server.  By using XPression we are able to decrease the turn around time of building out our graphics and getting them to playout.”

“It’s been an amazing process working with the WWE, arguably one of the world’s largest touring road shows.  They produce multiple hours of programming weekly, including the 3-hour live RAW show on Monday nights, traveling to all major markets in the US and worldwide, without stopping 52 weeks a year.” said Glen Maxheleau, Business Development Manager for XPression at Ross Video.  “The pressure in the control room when they go live is not unlike some of the major award shows that we do with XPression, as Monday Night Raw LIVE has a global audience.  We appreciate this high-profile opportunity for XPression Connect and have had great cooperation from both WWE and NEP.”

Monday Night Raw LIVE airs at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific on the USA Network in the United States and SportsNet 360 in Canada, as well as live or tape-delayed by numerous international broadcasters around the world.