NHL Puck Drop 2023: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Enters NHL on TNT Season With Remote Graphics

TV Graphics is supplying scorebug technology

After airing the Vegas Golden Knights’ first Stanley Cup victory in June, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports is rolling into the 2023-24 NHL season with a doubleheader on Wednesday night: the Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Colorado Avalanche vs. Los Angeles Kings at 10 p.m. For the endeavor, the operations team will deploy its season-long remote graphics integration from its facility in Atlanta.

“Similar to what we did for baseball during the regular season this year,” says Chris Brown, VP, technical operations, WBD Sports, “we’re implementing remote graphics for all of our regular-season NHL games. This is something that we began during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’re now looking to expand it.”

Remote Graphics Operations: Atlanta-Based Team Fires Off Insert, Scorebug Elements

This season, WBD Sports will be deploying remote graphics for all games on its air. Working closely with TV Graphics owner Dan Murphy and GM Joseph Jopplin, the transition began months ago during the brief NHL offseason. The workflow was first used for last Thursday’s preseason matchup between the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The technology relies on a new control room built at WBD Sports headquarters in Atlanta.

Insert graphics and scorebug operation will be handled at WBD Sports’ facility in Atlanta.

Organizationally, the team at WBD Sports will deploy the same operation on all its marquee properties, including the upcoming start to the 2023-24 NBA season. Spearheaded by Director, Technical Operations, Lee Estroff and the rest of the technical-operations team, the workflow was tested during the offseason, allowing the team to become familiar with the new implementation.

“This is a seismic shift for us at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports,” notes Brown. “When we start the season, we’ll have some reps under our belt on the remote-production workflow as well as the new elements from TV Graphics.”

In addition, the first full season will be available via the B/R Sports add-on through Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max streaming service.

Game-Day Setup: NEP Group Supplies TS2, ND6 as Season-Long Mobile Units

Wednesday night’s first two games will be handled by mobile units from the broadcaster’s season-long provider, NEP Group. NEP Supershooter 6 will be parked outside Boston’s TD Garden, and Supershooter 20 will be in the compound at Los Angeles’s Crypto.com Arena. Throughout the eight-month-long season, two NEP trucks will drive WBD Sports’ NHL-based productions.

“We’ll have a couple of one-offs at the beginning of the season,” notes Estroff, “but [NEP] TS2 and ND6 will handle the lion’s share of games. ND6 will be responsible for games on the East Coast; TS2 will handle the West Coast [games].”

A brand-new workspace was constructed in Atlanta for the new NHL remote-graphics workflow.

On the tech side, Ankle Cams will once again return atop the 21-camera complement. Also on the list will be five super-slow-motion cameras and robotics, including one installed inside each net.

Outdoor Hockey: Crew Starts Initial Planning for 2024 NHL Winter Classic

For the third consecutive season, WBD Sports will broadcast the NHL Winter Classic. On Jan. 1, 2024, the event will take place for the first time in the Pacific Time Zone when the Seattle Kraken host defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park, the home of MLB’s Seattle Mariners. The first phase of planning is already under way.

“There was one initial survey that we did back in the summer,” says Estroff, and we have another one coming up soon. As seen in the past, this will be one of our large tentpole events, and we’ll have a full onsite production with all of our tech enhancements and studio set in Seattle.”

WBD Sports tapped TV Graphics for on-screen elements.

After two years of Winter Classic productions —  the first in record-breaking cold at Target Field in Minneapolis, the second at Fenway Park in Boston — the crew is excited for a third go-round on this marquee event on the NHL calendar.

“We all look forward to being in Seattle for New Year’s,” says Estroff.

Busy Season: WBD Sports Balances MLB Postseason, NHL and NBA Openers

The fall season not only brings the temperatures down but signals the start of a busy broadcasting schedule for MLB, NHL, and NBA national-rights holders. WBD Sports is in the midst of a hectic period of events ranging from the MLB Postseason to the NBA on TNT tipoff on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

From Estroff’s perspective, this month is when the expertise is put to the test. “It’s a time when our schedule gets ramped up,” he says. “We’ve been working on October for the last four or five months, but everyone’s ready for it.”

The controlled chaos of October gets any production professional’s adrenaline pumping. At WBD Sports, those pros include, on the NHL on TNT side, Director, Sports Engineering, Dan Nabors; Manager, Sports Engineering, Crystal Hope; Lead Tech Manager Eric Grossman; Manager, Tech Operations, David Cabeza; and VP, Field Engineering, Carlos Linares.

“Everybody is dedicated to [this project],” says Brown. “October creates a level of excitement around being busy after a short break over the summer. The team has been segmented and split up appropriately in such a way that I think everybody knows what their responsibilities are.”