The Match was a one-on-one golf tournament between Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau held at The Wynn in Las Vegas last November. The date were captured and shared via streaming and Mark Steinmetz, senior manager of video technical operations at Bleacher Report/Warner Media, needed an audio codec that was redundant, reliable and, most importantly, could handle a REMI (remote integration model) production.

The event was captured live on site and the control room staff was sited at Bleacher Report in New York and, finally, Steinmetz selected Digigram’s IQOYA SERV/LINK and IQOYA CONNECT for its Dante connection to the production’s communication system.

“When Don Kuser from Professional Wireless Systems initially talked me through the capabilities the IQOYA system could provide for our remote workflow, I knew we had to try it,” said Steinmetz. “IQOYA opened up a whole new world, making everything run smoother for the producers. The audio was coming in from 2,400 miles away, but it was so clean that you couldn’t tell that there wasn’t a broadcast truck on-site.”

Due to the pandemic, production companies have reduced the number of people working on-site and this production model is becoming increasingly popular. It saves costs and avoids sending large OB vehicles and equipment to deal with the infrastructure.

“The IQOYA System allowed Bleacher Report/Turner Sports to not have a full truck on-site and not have to worry about what truck is in the area or how much it’s going to cost,” said Kuser of Professional Wireless which rented and installed the system on-site. “Now we basically have a giant digital audio snake from New York to anywhere in the world as long as we have an internet connection. I knew this technology would be a gamechanger for our clients when we saw it.”