Case Study: FOX Sports 1 achieves low-latency, real-time remote MLB production with Haivision

How Fox Sports is Pioneering Remote Production for MLB

FOX Sports 1 needed to resume live MLB broadcasts under COVID-19 safety restrictions while keeping production quality and real-time commentary intact. To decentralize operations and enable commentators and analysts to work from home or small regional studios, FOX Sports 1 partnered with Haivision, leveraging Haivision’s video encoding and streaming technology (SRT, HEVC over TS, Makito X4 decoders) as part of their Production Anywhere remote-production model.

Haivision implemented a low-latency workflow—three main streams from the ballpark to the Los Angeles broadcast center (two SRT streams and one HEVC 20 Mbps TS), then SRT Gateway distribution to Makito X4 decoders for remote talent—allowing play-by-play and analysts to contribute from different cities. The result: FOX Sports 1 delivered a triple-header and roughly 30 MLB games with most commentators remote, achieved under 0.5 second latency, and required on-site co-location for commentators in only about four games, maintaining natural live commentary and broadcast quality.

FOX Sports 1

Brad Cheney

Vice President Field Operations and Engineering