BitFire Networks Keeps Professional Fighters League Productions Connected Across Multiple Sites

Video-transport and remote-distribution tech links operations in Atlantic City and Durham, NC

This year, the Professional Fighters League opted to go with a hybrid production model mixing onsite personnel and facilities in Atlantic City, NJ, with a remote setup featuring 10-plus operators at SMT’s headquarters in Durham, NC. To keep these two locations connected as if they were in a single production compound, PFL tapped BitFire Networks’ video-transport technology and remote-distribution platform with integrated comms.

A total of 15 SMT personnel are working remotely from Durham, NC, for Professional Fighters League shows and are able to receive live video feeds and stay in communication with the production team in Atlantic City courtesy of BitFire Networks.

“BitFire has been the genius behind our communications and connectivity for PFL,” says Professional Fighters League Executive Producer George Greenberg. “We have a pretty complex setup that requires a lot of communication even though we’re not all in one place. The system is just brilliant and has made communication seamless between those of us [onsite] and those [working remotely].”

With so many operators working remotely, the crew requires high-quality video feeds to monitor everything happening onsite. BitFire servers are installed at both the main production truck in Atlantic City and the SMT office in Durham, allowing production to transmit several multiview feeds between the venues. The SDI feeds include embedded audio and can be routed to all the remote operators as needed.

BitFire’s FireBridge remote-distribution platform with integrated comms serve the 10-plus operators working remotely from the SMT office in Durham. For each operator, BitFire has set up custom FireBridge web links that include the company’s comms solution. The comms channels are tied in with the production truck onsite in Atlantic City, allowing seamless communication between the operators working at the two venues.

In addition, two full BitFire remote announce kits have been installed in the homes of hosts Jonathan Coachman and Ian Parker. The kits include BitFire servers to integrate the camera feeds of each talent with the production truck. Included in the setup are PTZ cameras that can be fully controlled remotely by the production truck; audio gear to support mic, IFB, and talkback; and monitoring to support return video feeds from the production truck.

All solutions use the proprietary BitFire transport network, allowing the PFL to set up and execute these solutions over the internet.

BitFire Networks allows the production team in Atlantic City to stay in touch with the SMT team in Durham, NC, for all PFL productions.

“BitFire is thrilled to partner with the PFL as they return to live production in 2021,” says BitFire President/CEO Bob Sullivan. “Utilizing our transport network, we are able to help optimize the shows’ workflow, integrating multiple remote locations to the main show’s onsite production in Atlantic City.”  Sullivan says. “It’s exciting to see many of our core products — two on-air remote talent kits, virtual comms interface, and our proprietary video-transport platform — incorporated into the show, all live, via the public internet.”

With headquarters in Phoenix and Boston, BitFire provides an end-to-end live-video-transmission and -production solution created in response to new world demand for an agile, professional-grade, live IP video transport, and expert remote-production services.

BitFire’s platform includes the BitFire Transport Network, a fully managed portal that provides point-to-point delivery of broadcast-quality video to wherever it needs to go. The BitFire Transport Network can be accessed either by browser-based FireBridge, when broadcast is needed for one-to-one or one-to-many live contribution and collaboration, or through FirePower, a stackable HD server and authentic configuration that receives and delivers video packets with deterministic latency and frame-accurate synchronization.

BitFire Production Services are provided by a team of broadcast experts, along with production trucks and additional assets, including remote-production-control rooms (REMI), camera packages, and live-production and postproduction capabilities.