It’s bad enough that the Pac-12 Conference kicked off its most significant football game as the East Coast was tucking itself into bed at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night. But those who were awake to witness it saw a fuzzy, low-budget disappointment.
Oregon beat Washington State 38-24.
The conference stayed alive in the College Football Playoff race with Oregon’s win. But the broadcast itself was so disappointing it caught the attention of several industry insiders and drew ire from viewers. I’m thinking Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff may want to consult with some industry production experts as he goes to negotiate the next round of media rights with partners.
A few things:
♦ We’ve all seen those massive, humming broadcast trucks parked adjacent to football stadiums on game day. Two sources told me that ESPN saved money by utilizing “low-budget” trucks to carry the signal on Saturday night. The result was a less-than-HD quality broadcast that was apparent to anyone watching. Jon Wilner of The San Jose Mercury News captured the resolution beautifully in a side-by-side screen shot comparing the crisp Colorado-UCLA broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks to the ESPN offering for the Oregon-WSU game.
♦ Worth noting that as much as we all like to pile on the Pac-12 Network... it uses high-quality equipment, production trucks and refuses to cut corners and go on the cheap when it comes to the quality of the picture you get on your screen. Part of that is the state-of-the-art technology and high-speed infrastructure the network shares with its 12 member universities.
♦ I’ve spent a game day inside the Centralized Command Center in San Francisco. One of the interesting things I learned there was how inconsistent the number of cameras is from Pac-12 game to game. Mike Ortiz, the conference’s senior director of video operations, showed me a dozen angles in one Pac-12 stadium that day and only six on another. Turns out six is the minimum number of cameras contractually allowed for any conference game.
Guess how many ESPN had for the Oregon-WSU game?
Answer, per a source: Six.
I suspect that’s why the broadcast cut to commercial during a couple of key instant replay decisions. The lack of footage and camera operators was a major tell. There wasn’t a great angle available to review (and possibly overturn) the Anthony Brown fumble in the second half, for example. It was a key play that could have had a game-changing impact. The Pac-12 obviously wants to get that call right, but I wondered as the review went down how hamstrung the replay crew was in trying to make that call without the additional angles.
It’s not the first time this kind of thing has happened. The Washington-Oregon State game that kicked off at 8 p.m. on FS1 last season suffered a similar fate. A bad spot may have cost the Beavers a chance to win that game but there were no pylon cameras and not enough angles available.
♦ I’m told ESPN’s normal spotter for the 7:30 p.m. game was also out last night, per an industry source. That source only noticed this and thought to inquire because he was watching the game from home in the second half and noted that broadcasters Dave Flemming and Rod Gilmore weren’t routinely referencing the names of players who made tackles. A back-up spotter was there but only helping the crew on big plays such as sacks and interceptions.
♦ Same source also suspects, but hasn’t confirmed, that ESPN’s crew may have been working without a stage manager. The source noted that the in-booth shots of Flemming and Gilmore included a monitor with their promotional spots instead of cards typically handed to the broadcasters by a stage manager. This isn’t unique to ESPN. More and more broadcasts are now doing it, but when combined with the other cost-cutting factors it becomes part of a larger story.
Takeaway: ESPN went on the cheap on a late broadcast that the network knew an important swath of the country wasn’t likely to see anyway. I’ve reached out to ESPN and will update if/when they provide a response but the prevailing sentiment is that the network treats the Pac-12 this way, well... because it can.
Even bigger takeaway: The Pac-12 needs to take note of this and ensure that it doesn’t happen with future TV contracts. Raise the number of minimum cameras at the stadiums. Ensure that the crews are staffed and ask that pylon cameras and isolated camera operators who can better follow the action are mandatory. Also, require ESPN to use a truck that will give viewers a quality picture on their television vs. the low-budget rig it sent to Eugene on Saturday.
Anything less reflects poorly on the Pac-12.
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Canzano: Pac-12 deserves better than ESPN’s fuzzy, low-budget broadcast - OregonLive
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