TORONTO — Hockey fans will get their first look at Sportsnet’s new interactive NHL production studio tonight, as Sportsnet Studios officially debuts on Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey at 7 p.m. ET.
Announced in June, the new immersive broadcast studio (pictured above) “was built to provide the foundation for the network’s reimagined approach to the traditional hockey broadcast, content production and distribution,” reads a Rogers Sports and Media press release.
“As a new ‘sandbox’ for broadcasters and production teams to play in, the state-of-the-art technology, data capabilities and increased in-broadcast versatility allows the NHL on Sportsnet team to create interactive, immersive and innovative content.”
Some of the new broadcast technology features include virtual reality set extensions that “offer a larger-than-life opportunity to expand into the virtual world of the Sportsnet Stadium and transport hosts, analysts and reporters into new mediums”, and augmented reality that “lifts player statistics and graphics off the screen and into 3D for a unique presentation and more dynamic visual storytelling,” the release says.
In addition, new data capabilities “bolster in-broadcast statistics, graphics and content and deliver the information to the viewer in real-time”, and the studio’s “versatile physical space introduces the ultimate blank canvas to empower Sportsnet’s digital, social and broadcast teams in creating content that brings fans into the conversation.”
“The Sportsnet Studios are for Canada’s sports fans, first and foremost. The investment made in these studios is representative of the way Sportsnet is adapting everything we do to better serve today’s sports fan in the ways they want,” said Bart Yabsley, president of Sportsnet, in the press release.
“As our NHL on Sportsnet broadcast team unites under one roof with access to the most current technology on the market, we are leveraging our exclusive access to the NHL’s brightest stars to create content in ways not seen before in North America. We are pushing the envelope in sports broadcast technology for NHL fans and continue to set the bar in the Canadian media landscape evolution.”
The new studio is “one of the first large-scale, entirely IP-based sports studios in North America,” according to the press release.
Sportsnet Studios is housed within two distinct spaces — Studio 31 (2,500 sq. ft.) and Studio 32 (3,900 sq. ft.) — and includes the following:
- 22 set monitors delivering 1,200 sq. ft. of visible surface area in-broadcast
- The “Cove” centre piece — a 50 ft. curved, floor-to-ceiling LED wall
- Adjustable main studio desks equipped with end-to-end LED graphics displays
- 250 energy-efficient LED broadcast lighting fixtures
- 13 studio cameras
- Two cutting-edge IP-based production control rooms equipped with the latest multi-ME production switchers
- 50,000 ft. of video cables, 75,000 ft. of network cables and 55,000 ft. of audio cables
For a behind-the-scenes “Making of the Studio”, please click here. For a video tour of the new studios, please click here.
Image courtesy of Sportsnet.
