The Rundown: Inside the Details of the Broadcast<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sperling-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Sperling at his position during Thursdays runthrough at MetLife Stadium.<\/p><\/div>\n
With the cancellation of the entire 2020 preseason slate, the New York Giants have been given extra days for practice at their training facility in East Rutherford, NJ. As teams remain distant from each other to curb the spread of the virus, intrasquad scrimmages have become a common occurrence. Although similar in nature to what MLB teams did during Summer Camp<\/a>, the Giants will take this live-to-tape effort to the next level with manned cameras and an on-air team inside of the stadium.<\/p>\nOn the talent side, Bob Papa <\/strong>and Carl Banks <\/strong>will call the action from the booth. Instead of the sideline, Shaun O\u2019Hara <\/strong>will report from the first row of the stands. Albeit not directly next to the players, this vantage point will still allow O\u2019Hara to give insight into what\u2019s happening over the course of the game. NBC 4 New York Sports Anchor Bruce Beck <\/strong>will also appear as a special contributor.<\/p>\nAlong with O\u2019Hara\u2019s knowledge on the field, a camera will be set up behind the Giants bench to provide additional sights and sounds from field level. Head Coach Joe Judge<\/strong> will wear a microphone, which will then be compiled into a segment that will run in the show on the following day.<\/p>\nSince the televised portion of the special will be live-to-tape, Sperling and his team devised a system that will allow the re-aired game to be edited while it\u2019s still in progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the game is going on, we’ll have four lines sending back camera feeds, interviews, mic\u2019ed up audio, and other elements to NBC,\u201d he says. \u201cThis will allow the Giants Production staff back at the practice facility to composite the show as the scrimmage is still going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lastly, at halftime and during the postgame, fans will be able to hear from GM Dave Gettleman<\/strong>, Director of College Scouting Chris Pettit<\/strong>, as well as players that participated in the scrimmages. After completion of each airing, the game will be available for consumption on Giants.com<\/a>, the Giants Mobile App<\/a>, and the Giants YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\nProducing at Game Speed: In-Venue Experience Includes Replays, Crowd Noise, and More
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\nFor those who\u2019ve played organized sports, practicing at game speed translates to positive results when the referee blows the whistle on gameday. The production crew will follow suit with a game-like atmosphere inside of the stadium to simulate an official contest at MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201c<\/strong>We’re going to produce the game [in this way] because Coach Judge wants a game environment,\u201d says Sperling. \u201cWe’re going to have crowd noise, music, and PA announcements.\u201d<\/p>\nHired over the offseason, Judge is still getting comfortable in New York and within this historic organization. This process includes gaining trust from those around him, and for Sperling and the rest of the production staff, they want to give a good impression right off the bat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t had a game with Coach Judge yet, so we’re trying to make a first impression on him as well,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe’re also going to have replays and challenges, so we\u2019re not just looking at [these games] as a practice to make sure we’re sharp.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite bringing the noise that is customary for Giants games, the in-venue team will run with a truncated staff with less equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese scrimmages automatically reduce the need for the full-time crew that we normally have,\u201d continues Sperling. \u201c[This show] could probably go with two EVS servers instead of three, but we’re going to go with three. We’re going to go with one switcher instead of two, and normally, we have two TDs because we produce a B-show, but we’re not going to have a B-show.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Two-Pronged Strategy: Crew Divides Production Responsibilities<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Front-Bench-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a>While Sperling will handle the televised special, Christine Baluyot will control the in-venue videoboard production.<\/p><\/div>\n
Since the team will be responsible for producing the on-air product and in-venue videoboard content, the Giants decided to ditch the regular playbook and split the leadership of their production team to handle both aspects of the show. Along with Sperling, Senior Director of Production and Events Christine Baluyot <\/strong>will be in charge as well.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019ll be interesting, but we’re going to split our team,\u201d says Sperling. \u201cWhile normally Christine line produces the game on the rundown and I executive produce, Christine’s going to focus more on the in-game and I’m going to focus more on the [televised] special. I\u2019ll be talking to my producers in the booth and on the field when to go on the air, how long to speak, and when to throw down to Shaun or to Bruce Beck for interviews. Christine needs to make sure that our coach is happy with the game environment that we\u2019re creating, and I need to make sure that the show is getting all the elements it needs for us to properly get it to NBC.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the production staff prepares for these broadcasts, the past week has been filled with rehearsals and run-throughs in order to get all members in-sync and on the same page.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did a set day on Thursday, where we went through the looks at all of our positions,\u201d he says. \u201cWe looked at loading, running, and testing everything on the board that we need for the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this new wrinkle, Sperling will be tasked with a different role that he\u2019s not used to performing. When the regular season comes around, Sperling will be able to return to his normal position in a different looking show.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis [split strategy] will only happen during a [production] like this,\u201d he continues. \u201cDuring the regular season, we’ll go back to semi-normal. We won\u2019t have as many people and not as much capability, so we won\u2019t have as much fan and sponsor opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giving Necessary Exposure: Broadcasts Shine Light on Sponsors, Television Partners<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Control-Room-scaled-e1598634989461-300x180.jpg\")
<\/a>A look inside of the Giants’ control room.<\/p><\/div>\n
2020 has altered the programming schedule for all networks around the country. Many local networks were planning on airing preseason fixtures for fans in their respective areas, but when they were nixed from the NFL calendar, an empty hole was in need of feeling. Rather than settle for something other than New York Giants football, the franchise believed that extra time in training camp allowed for these scrimmages to be televised.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur coach was going to run these in practices since a lot of teams play intrasquad scrimmages,\u201d says Sperling. \u201cWe thought, \u2018Why not take these intrasquads, offense vs. defense, and try to turn it into something that NBC could air?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Since stands will be empty and sponsorship messaging won\u2019t be prevalent in MetLife Stadium, the Giants felt that it was an advantageous situation to give necessary exposure to their partners by adding material on these televised games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe figured that we can give some exposure and make-goods to our sponsors who lost inventory without preseason games,\u201d he adds. \u201cThis is our way of taking care of our sponsors and taking care of NBC.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seizing an Opportunity: Scrimmages Provide Blueprint for Upcoming Season<\/strong><\/h3>\nBefore the team\u2019s first home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, September 14 at 7:10 p.m., a majority of production snafus and hiccups will be out of their system because of these scrimmages. In addition to the potential production hurdles that may lie ahead in this unique season without in-venue fans, it\u2019ll also be the first Monday Night Football <\/em>game on ESPN\u2019s schedule.<\/p>\n\u201cIf we didn\u2019t have these scrimmages, we would have gone into the season without doing anything and then open up on Monday Night Football<\/em>,\u201d he concludes. \u201cIt\u2019s no small task, so it\u2019s great to have a couple of practice runs underneath our belt.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/strong>Giants Blue-White Scrimmage Special will be presented on NBC 4 New York on Saturday, August 29 at 6 p.m. ET and Friday, September 4 at 7 p.m. ET.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The COVID-19 pandemic has taken away a lot from sports and live event production, but it hasn\u2019t broken the unwavering loyalty, spirit, and passion of New York fans of the […]\n More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":189796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[9248,33,1760],"tags":[7258,5339,972,128],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189795"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189795"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189804,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189795\/revisions\/189804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sperling-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>Sperling at his position during Thursdays runthrough at MetLife Stadium.<\/p><\/div>\n
With the cancellation of the entire 2020 preseason slate, the New York Giants have been given extra days for practice at their training facility in East Rutherford, NJ. As teams remain distant from each other to curb the spread of the virus, intrasquad scrimmages have become a common occurrence. Although similar in nature to what MLB teams did during Summer Camp<\/a>, the Giants will take this live-to-tape effort to the next level with manned cameras and an on-air team inside of the stadium.<\/p>\n On the talent side, Bob Papa <\/strong>and Carl Banks <\/strong>will call the action from the booth. Instead of the sideline, Shaun O\u2019Hara <\/strong>will report from the first row of the stands. Albeit not directly next to the players, this vantage point will still allow O\u2019Hara to give insight into what\u2019s happening over the course of the game. NBC 4 New York Sports Anchor Bruce Beck <\/strong>will also appear as a special contributor.<\/p>\n Along with O\u2019Hara\u2019s knowledge on the field, a camera will be set up behind the Giants bench to provide additional sights and sounds from field level. Head Coach Joe Judge<\/strong> will wear a microphone, which will then be compiled into a segment that will run in the show on the following day.<\/p>\n Since the televised portion of the special will be live-to-tape, Sperling and his team devised a system that will allow the re-aired game to be edited while it\u2019s still in progress.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the game is going on, we’ll have four lines sending back camera feeds, interviews, mic\u2019ed up audio, and other elements to NBC,\u201d he says. \u201cThis will allow the Giants Production staff back at the practice facility to composite the show as the scrimmage is still going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Lastly, at halftime and during the postgame, fans will be able to hear from GM Dave Gettleman<\/strong>, Director of College Scouting Chris Pettit<\/strong>, as well as players that participated in the scrimmages. After completion of each airing, the game will be available for consumption on Giants.com<\/a>, the Giants Mobile App<\/a>, and the Giants YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n For those who\u2019ve played organized sports, practicing at game speed translates to positive results when the referee blows the whistle on gameday. The production crew will follow suit with a game-like atmosphere inside of the stadium to simulate an official contest at MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>We’re going to produce the game [in this way] because Coach Judge wants a game environment,\u201d says Sperling. \u201cWe’re going to have crowd noise, music, and PA announcements.\u201d<\/p>\n Hired over the offseason, Judge is still getting comfortable in New York and within this historic organization. This process includes gaining trust from those around him, and for Sperling and the rest of the production staff, they want to give a good impression right off the bat.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t had a game with Coach Judge yet, so we’re trying to make a first impression on him as well,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe’re also going to have replays and challenges, so we\u2019re not just looking at [these games] as a practice to make sure we’re sharp.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite bringing the noise that is customary for Giants games, the in-venue team will run with a truncated staff with less equipment.<\/p>\n \u201cThese scrimmages automatically reduce the need for the full-time crew that we normally have,\u201d continues Sperling. \u201c[This show] could probably go with two EVS servers instead of three, but we’re going to go with three. We’re going to go with one switcher instead of two, and normally, we have two TDs because we produce a B-show, but we’re not going to have a B-show.\u201d<\/p>\n While Sperling will handle the televised special, Christine Baluyot will control the in-venue videoboard production.<\/p><\/div>\n Since the team will be responsible for producing the on-air product and in-venue videoboard content, the Giants decided to ditch the regular playbook and split the leadership of their production team to handle both aspects of the show. Along with Sperling, Senior Director of Production and Events Christine Baluyot <\/strong>will be in charge as well.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll be interesting, but we’re going to split our team,\u201d says Sperling. \u201cWhile normally Christine line produces the game on the rundown and I executive produce, Christine’s going to focus more on the in-game and I’m going to focus more on the [televised] special. I\u2019ll be talking to my producers in the booth and on the field when to go on the air, how long to speak, and when to throw down to Shaun or to Bruce Beck for interviews. Christine needs to make sure that our coach is happy with the game environment that we\u2019re creating, and I need to make sure that the show is getting all the elements it needs for us to properly get it to NBC.\u201d<\/p>\n As the production staff prepares for these broadcasts, the past week has been filled with rehearsals and run-throughs in order to get all members in-sync and on the same page.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did a set day on Thursday, where we went through the looks at all of our positions,\u201d he says. \u201cWe looked at loading, running, and testing everything on the board that we need for the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n In this new wrinkle, Sperling will be tasked with a different role that he\u2019s not used to performing. When the regular season comes around, Sperling will be able to return to his normal position in a different looking show.<\/p>\n \u201cThis [split strategy] will only happen during a [production] like this,\u201d he continues. \u201cDuring the regular season, we’ll go back to semi-normal. We won\u2019t have as many people and not as much capability, so we won\u2019t have as much fan and sponsor opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n A look inside of the Giants’ control room.<\/p><\/div>\n 2020 has altered the programming schedule for all networks around the country. Many local networks were planning on airing preseason fixtures for fans in their respective areas, but when they were nixed from the NFL calendar, an empty hole was in need of feeling. Rather than settle for something other than New York Giants football, the franchise believed that extra time in training camp allowed for these scrimmages to be televised.<\/p>\n \u201cOur coach was going to run these in practices since a lot of teams play intrasquad scrimmages,\u201d says Sperling. \u201cWe thought, \u2018Why not take these intrasquads, offense vs. defense, and try to turn it into something that NBC could air?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Since stands will be empty and sponsorship messaging won\u2019t be prevalent in MetLife Stadium, the Giants felt that it was an advantageous situation to give necessary exposure to their partners by adding material on these televised games.<\/p>\n \u201cWe figured that we can give some exposure and make-goods to our sponsors who lost inventory without preseason games,\u201d he adds. \u201cThis is our way of taking care of our sponsors and taking care of NBC.\u201d<\/p>\n Before the team\u2019s first home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, September 14 at 7:10 p.m., a majority of production snafus and hiccups will be out of their system because of these scrimmages. In addition to the potential production hurdles that may lie ahead in this unique season without in-venue fans, it\u2019ll also be the first Monday Night Football <\/em>game on ESPN\u2019s schedule.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we didn\u2019t have these scrimmages, we would have gone into the season without doing anything and then open up on Monday Night Football<\/em>,\u201d he concludes. \u201cIt\u2019s no small task, so it\u2019s great to have a couple of practice runs underneath our belt.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Giants Blue-White Scrimmage Special will be presented on NBC 4 New York on Saturday, August 29 at 6 p.m. ET and Friday, September 4 at 7 p.m. ET.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The COVID-19 pandemic has taken away a lot from sports and live event production, but it hasn\u2019t broken the unwavering loyalty, spirit, and passion of New York fans of the […]\n More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":189796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[9248,33,1760],"tags":[7258,5339,972,128],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189795"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189795"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189804,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189795\/revisions\/189804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Producing at Game Speed: In-Venue Experience Includes Replays, Crowd Noise, and More
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\nA Two-Pronged Strategy: Crew Divides Production Responsibilities<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Giving Necessary Exposure: Broadcasts Shine Light on Sponsors, Television Partners<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Seizing an Opportunity: Scrimmages Provide Blueprint for Upcoming Season<\/strong><\/h3>\n