Sports At-Home Production: Nep Australia's Andrews Production Hub Up And Running

With opening the facilities in Sydney and Melbourne in February and March 2018, NEP Australia’s Andrews Hub, an all-IP production facility connected to more than 29 stadia across the continent, started production. Andrews Hub lays the foundation for a new era of sports production in Australia and is set to serve as a blueprint for cost-efficient and scalable live sports production for the rest of the world.

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NEP Australia made history on March 10 this year, when the Andrews Production Hub in Sydney produced its first live broadcast for Fox Sports Australia; a Football Federation Australia A-League match in Perth between Perth Glory and the Central Coast Mariners. “Perth and Sydney are 4,000 kilometers away so it’s a pretty significant milestone, especially as we are using SMPTE ST-2110 for the IP transport of the video and audio signals,” says Marc Segar, NEP Australia’s Director of Technology.

NEP Australia’s Sydney and Melbourne facilities of their Andrews Hub enable multiple concurrent outside-broadcasts (OBs) and are the world’s largest networked broadcast centers todate. Based on an internet protocol (IP) core, the hubs enable remote and distributed production, with cameras and microphones located at the venue; while most of the production teams are at the hubs. Designed for large multi-camera sports broadcasts, they accommodate Australia’s most-followed football codes, Rugby League (NRL) and Australian Rules (AFL), as well as A-League football (soccer) and other popular sports from 29 venues around the country.