ZTransform Marks 20 Years of Planning, Design, Integration, Launch Services

President/CTO Erik Utter explains the company’s focus on change and innovation

Seattle-based ZTransform (formerly Utter Associates) is celebrating its 20th anniversary of serving the sports and overall broadcast market with planning, design, integration, and launch services. The company specializes in working in the world’s most sophisticated broadcast and media environments, regardless of project size. Seeing a project through from initial specifications development to launch readiness and sustained operation, it handles the technical aspects of each customer’s needs.

Having watched the industry evolve just as his company has over two decades, ZTransform President/CTO Erik Utter discusses the changes that he has seen in both.

As ZTransform celebrates its 20th anniversary, why the name change early in 2023 from Utter Associates?
Utter Associates Inc. was formed when I became a freelance engineer in 2005. I’d taken a leave of absence from my day job in the summer of 2004 to travel to Athens to work for NBC Olympics, and I was inspired by the freelance engineers I met out there. I decided “I can do that!” so I set up on my own. Over the coming months and years, like many other organizations, the business took off and gradually evolved from a one-man band into a formidable team.

Ben Wolk, an industry colleague and trusted friend of many years, became a member of our Advisory Board in 2019. By 2021, our growing client portfolio triggered us to take the business to the next level when he agreed to join me as managing partner. With his extensive network, visionary tactics, and constructive guidance, we built new business strategies and processes that have resulted in significant growth over the last five years. The expansion of our team has been very deliberate; we’ve found some of the best industry professionals who fit the character of collaboration and excellence that runs through the company’s veins. We’ve since enriched our expertise and knowledge base to cover both traditional engineering and IT/cloud-based workflows.

ZTransform President/CTO Erik Utter (left, with Managing Partner Ben Wolk): “SDI continues to be a solid front-runner for many applications due to its cost, reliability, compatibility, and established infrastructure.”

By 2023, the continued growth of our team, our expanding customer roster, and our increased ability to manage multiple projects without compromising our standard of first-class service deserved a rebrand.

Modernizing our brand with a new name, logo, and website gave the company a new perception: as innovator and leader in the market but still with that personal touch. We felt that ZTransform fitted aptly with the notion of being the formula to success for our customers. We feel the rebrand reflects the dynamic company that we’ve become. We’ve had excellent feedback from people across different industry sectors, and we’re pretty sure the rebrand has helped us gain new business over the past year.

What services do you offer for your sports-oriented customers?
No one project is the same in the industries we serve. We offer tailored packaged services as well as the delivery of individual services to our customers, and we never try to over-sell. Our roots are in broadcast, and we’re proud to have served a long list of sports broadcasters and sports venues over the years.

ZTransform delivered the design, documentation, system integration, operational readiness and launch services for SMU’s five new SMPTE ST 2110 control rooms.

In fact, we just completed a new SMPTE ST 2110 production-control facility at SMU [Southern Methodist University], delivering the design, documentation, system integration, operational readiness, and launch services for its five new ST 2110 control rooms. When you’re working with a university making a major shift in the world of college athletics — moving up to the elite ACC — expectations are high. We delivered a design that matched their exacting standards, with meticulously thought-out technology that has benefited everyone — from its operators and creatives to SMU’s student body, faculty, and sports fans.

We have an ongoing relationship with the Milwaukee Brewers and have just been contracted to upgrade its broadcast infrastructure at its MLB facility, American Family Field.

We also recently provided Portland, OR’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum with its brand-new arena sound system. VMC is home to major junior ice-hockey team, the Portland Winterhawks Hockey Club, and was the original home of the NBA Portland Trail Blazers. To enhance the fan experience, we delivered design, technology procurement, legacy-systems decommissioning, new systems installation, testing, and go-live support. It included the main seating bowl’s loudspeaker-system line arrays and amplification; priority communication system speakers and amplification; all rigging for the main seating speaker systems, including programmable, motorized hoist systems; a front of house digital audio mixer; and new outboard equipment.

ZTransform assisted Midco Sports Network with the launch of South Dakota’s first NCAA Division 1 program, kitting out the new Midco Hockey Arena.

In the summer of 2024, when the UCLA Bruins moved to the Big 10, we were commissioned by UCLA to build a new production trailer. Our services included design, installation, commissioning, and test. We were also onsite throughout the first few games to provide support to operations.

For [Sioux Falls, SD’s] new Midco hockey arena and its resident [Augustana University] Vikings, Midco Sports Network launched South Dakota’s first NCAA Division 1 program. In readiness for launch, under some challenging time constraints, we installed the main-frame room, pressbox systems, cameras and rigging, lighting, production-control room with replay systems, video mixing, and audio suites. We also linked Midco Arena with the existing TV-production studios located in a separate building on the campus.

Over the past 20 years, the technologies used by sports organizations have changed dramatically. What do you see as the most promising change that has come (or is coming) to fruition?
Beginning in the early ’90s, I started working with the key vendors leading the way with SDI-compatible gear — including cameras, switchers, routers, and displays — and I had a lot of success with these transition projects. In 1997, when the Seattle Mariners were planning a move from the Kingdome to a brand-new ballpark, they asked me to design the control room and video systems. Their move from analog systems and 1-in. videotape was an easy one when the new stadium opened in 1999. While newer technologies like IP-based video transmission are gaining traction today, SDI continues to be a solid front-runner for many applications due to its cost, reliability, compatibility, and established infrastructure.

In 2019, Root Sports, an RSN under the AT&T Sportsnet umbrella, was an early adopter of REMI-style production, which was a driver behind a refresh of their production-control environment. We helped them by designing and implementing future-proof “right-size” control rooms, increasing efficiency and enhancing the performance of the live operation. SMPTE ST 2110 allowed us to provide sophistication that was not previously available and established Root Sports as a key leader in REMI production. We replaced end-of-life technologies with ST 2110 platforms, while integrating into a still viable legacy SDI infrastructure. We’ve had a steady stream of ST 2110 projects since.

Cloud-based/IP infrastructure has been a game-changer in the world of sports broadcasting, and, with the likes of ST 2110 technology maturing every day, we’re looking at next-level flexibility and scalability, which are the real strengths of the format. As we always have done, we’re essentially easing the complexities involved with the adoption of these technologies so that sports broadcasters can improve the quality and efficiency of their productions, while also staying ahead of the competition and meeting the evolving demands of viewers.

It’s incredibly important to us that we have operation-led experts in the team with deep-rooted knowledge of standards and technology. For example, we brought on a new director of integration and operation, Steve Bennet, who has worked on projects such as the Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta Falcons), Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Dolphins), and Amway Center (Orlando Magic). Our install lead is Richard “Fitz” Fitzgerald, who was involved in the Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle Kraken), Nike Stadium (Oregon Ducks), and Arizona Coyotes Stadium. Last year, former TEGNA Executive Director, Technology/Broadcast, Reed Wilson joined our engineering team, and we also recruited Andre Ferrer, who has been instrumental in the success of some very high-profile facilities throughout his career.

Erik Utter was inspired to set up what eventually became ZTransform after meeting freelance engineers while working with NBC Olympics in Athens in 2004.

Organizations have changed their focus over the years. What has that meant for you and how you approach projects?
It’s not just traditional broadcasters that are media companies these days. Over the last seven or eight years, we’ve seen organizations that have firmly planted themselves into the content space, despite their primary product or service not being video-centric at all. This is driven mostly by corporate entities but also includes government and education.

Sports broadcasters and sports venues are all about fan engagement. Producing high-quality content in-venue and for all available DTT and OTT platforms, often in real time, needs to be as efficient and as simple an operation as possible — not only for viewer loyalty but to retain and increase advertising revenue.

Our history in broadcast-technology workflow is the foundation of our work. More than that, it’s our passion. Navigating the right solutions takes expertise; technology for the sake of technology is never the right answer.

We make it our duty to understand a business’s unique needs and apply our extensive skills to help it achieve success now and as the business evolves. Sure, much of this is technology. But, in addition to our industry-leading solutions designers, many of our team members come from technical operations and understand how to balance the strengths of systems, people, and spaces.

Let’s look toward the future. What do you see on the horizon, from either a technological or an operational side, that you think will have the most significant impact on your business and how your customers create sports content?
We’re experiencing a high-growth phase right now, and our team is incredibly ambitious. We have expanded our national presence, and now we’re reaching international markets.

We’ve been steadily expanding our entire team from sales to engineering to admin, as well as broadening our portfolio of services. At the start of 2024, we announced the promotion of Paul Catterson to general manager; since then, we recruited Bob Hawkanson as SVP of sales and Bryce Livengood as senior account manager. Mark Brown is our new SVP of solutions and development, and Jim Butler is senior program manager.

Managed Services is a relatively new string to our bow. We now offer all-inclusive and modular managed-services options. Our new Zero Limits modules can be all-inclusive or mixed to create a custom-tailored managed-service plan that covers only what’s needed. We can customize the plan to account for seasonal activity and scheduled events.

We recognize that change is a constant. From the evolution of SDI to ST 2110, from HD to UHD, from SOA to cloud to AI, the technology and services options are broader than they’ve ever been. Our mission is to help sports broadcasters navigate the right path for their business.

How sports content is created has changed significantly over the last 20 years. Today, OTT platforms play a huge, important role in the distribution of sports content; we’ve seen broadcasters and sports venues investing heavily in the technology and partnerships to deliver these high-quality streaming experiences.

With the proliferation of low- to no-cost OTT channels — the obvious being YouTube, TikTok, and X — everybody can create content that’s available to the masses. But it is well-produced content that is truly pushing companies forward in all industries, to anchor themselves as experts in their field as well as to bolster brand awareness and credibility.

It’s how sports-content creators implement and use these solutions that’s important. This is where we add value. Our team comprises both highly qualified technical individuals and experienced operation-led personnel, providing expertise not only in deployment but in in-chair operations. ZTransform prides itself on the pairing of these skills as a differentiator in the industry.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Password must contain the following:

A lowercase letter

A capital (uppercase) letter

A number

Minimum 8 characters

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE

Daily Email Newsletters Monday - Friday

The Latest in Sports Production & Technology

Already have a login? Log in here to manage your newsletter preferences.