New standalone solution gives production teams everything they need to create, produce and deliver live content from one flexible system

MONTREAL, CANADA –September 10, 2026 – Grass Valley today announced AVORA, a new standalone, all-in-one live production solution that brings the tools needed to create and deliver sophisticated live shows together in one streamlined system.

Launching at IBC2026, AVORA gives production teams a complete environment to prepare, produce and deliver live content, from switching and graphics to audio, remote guests, content, replay and delivery. Instead of building a production around multiple separate tools, AVORA brings everything together around the show.

At the heart of AVORA is a simple idea: make professional live production easier to create, operate and repeat. Production resources can be prepared, saved, duplicated and recalled as a complete show, making it easy to move between recurring events, formats and productions without rebuilding the workflow each time. Teams can configure the production around the needs of each show and adapt it as those needs change.

“AVORA answers a very clear market need,” said Jonathan Lyth, Product Director for Live Applications at Grass Valley. “Production teams increasingly need professional capability, operational simplicity and the flexibility to scale around the show. AVORA brings the whole live production together in one system, giving teams a simpler way to create, operate and repeat sophisticated live productions.”

AVORA supports both visual, shot-based production and more traditional program/preset operation, allowing operators to work in the way that best suits the production. Its web-based user experience also enables multiple production roles to work with the same AVORA system from their own browser interfaces where required.

Remote guests can join productions through private invitation links, with low-latency connectivity, mix-minus and talkback built directly into the workflow. Content, graphics and prompting are integrated too, while replay, recording, monitoring, playout and delivery extend AVORA beyond production switching into a complete live production environment.

One system. One show. Everything you need.

AVORA is built on the founding principles and technology of GV AMPP, while operating as a standalone Grass Valley solution. It brings Grass Valley’s software-defined production experience into a self-contained all-in-one system, giving teams the flexibility to configure their production without the complexity of assembling and operating multiple independent tools.

AVORA is designed for a wide range of live productions, including sports, live events, venues, education, corporate and enterprise media, regional production and other repeatable workflows. The same system can be configured for different productions, formats and operating models.

For existing AMPP customers, AVORA also provides an additional option for productions where a standalone, all-in-one system is the right operational fit.

AVORA complements Grass Valley’s wider live production portfolio. K-Frame continues to serve dedicated hardware switching environments, while Maverik X and AMPP address software-defined production at enterprise scale. AVORA adds a standalone all-in-one model for productions where integrated capability, flexibility and simplicity are the priority.

AVORA will be showcased at IBC2026 on the Grass Valley booth, stand 9.A01, and in the IBC Future Tech Zone, stand 14.C49, ahead of commercial availability later this year.

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About Grass Valley

Grass Valley empowers over 90% of the world’s top media brands to create and deliver compelling stories that captivate audiences. At the heart of its solutions is the GV Media Universe (GVMU), combining advanced hardware solutions, with the agility, elasticity, and adaptability of the AMPP Media Operating System. Together, they form a seamless, scalable ecosystem for efficient and innovative workflows.

With a portfolio spanning from camera to consumer, Grass Valley provides the flexibility to build solutions for every need – from a single creative harnessing immense production power to globally distributed teams collaborating seamlessly. This breadth of capability enables customers to craft efficient workflows that inspire and engage their audiences.

With over 65 years of expertise, Grass Valley has consistently driven the evolution of live content creation and storytelling. Headquartered in Montreal and supported by Black Dragon Capital, the company remains dedicated to shaping and leading the media revolution.

For most of his career, Kevin Callahan has built the World Cup somewhere else. As VP of Field Operations & Engineering at FOX Sports, he’s spent the last 12 years putting together temporary broadcast facilities for the network’s biggest events, three years out of every four; build it, run it for 45 days, tear it down, and start over for the next one. 

The 2026 World Cup was different. Instead of building a temporary facility for the tournament, FOX operated out of its Pico headquarters in Los Angeles, a building that’s on the air every day of the year whether or not there’s a World Cup happening. 

“This one was very different because we were working within the confines of our building,” Callahan says. 

That meant planning years ahead of time instead of weeks, all while Pico kept its everyday broadcasts running without interruption. “For the past three years, every technology decision made within our Pico headquarters in LA was looking forward to this World Cup,” he says.

The 104 matches ran through two match control rooms – PCR 101 and 102, upgraded for the tournament with Grass Valley K-Frame CXP production switchers and Korona control panels, in keeping with the same ecosystem as the rest of the building’s GV switchers. For the studio shows, production ran out of two identical medium control rooms – PCR 203 and 205, built side by side so crews could walk between them. Those rooms added Mod I/O boards for extra SDI capacity to the Kayenne 4-stripe 35 source select panels and K-Frame XP video processing engines, needed because the AR stage introduces a real time delay whenever a presenter or video image appears in the LED wall, and the audio has to be delayed right along with it.

Stage B, FOX’s XR studio, ran on Grass Valley LDX 150 cameras that have now shot three consecutive World Cups. “The cameras on Stage B traveled the world since 2022,” Callahan said. “They were with us in Qatar, they were with us in Australia, and then they got installed here on Stage B.” FOX had purchased around 40 LDX 150 cameras, with 12 deployed on Stage B. 

Those cameras were chosen for what FOX calls GhostFrame. The LED volume is fed by four different images layered on top of each other, so a phone camera catching behind the scenes footage sees a slightly doubled, soft background. The broadcast cameras don’t. “The way the cameras are set up with their shutter, they only see their own background,” Callahan explains. “So, it sees a perfectly clear image. That’s one of those differentiators that, as far as I know, to this point, no one else is doing yet.” 

Across the tournament’s 16 venues, FOX built seven permanent sets. In addition, BRISK, short for Broadcast Remote IP Studio Kit, was used to cover 12 venues with six mobile ST 2110 flypacks that traveled the country, met up with each venue, put cameras and equipment on a stage, and sent everything back to Pico using JPEG XS. That was the infrastructure behind the broadcast.  

What made this World Cup different for Callahan personally came down to something smaller. This World Cup also gave Callahan a personal first: he’d never actually seen Pico’s 18-foot countdown clock hit zero. 

“This was the first time I’ve ever been in our building where the countdown clock hit zero,” he says. “Usually I’m out on the remote, wherever the event is happening, an IBC, a football game, a Super Bowl. This time I was actually in the building when it hit zero.” 

“Within 45 minutes, we had four different desks, none of which were on the stage making TV,” Callahan says of FOX’s first day on air. “We were live from Venice Beach, we were in LA, we were in Mexico City, both inside and outside the stadium.” Looking back, that stretch is the moment he points to first. “What we do is take what is incredibly complex and try to make it look easy. And we succeeded in that.” 

That same push showed up in the watch parties too, part of what made the coverage feel big. FOX pulled in reaction footage from international rights holders and ran it through Grass Valley Alchemist for frame rate conversion so it could drop straight into FOX’s production. The Alchemist is staying in the building for good. “In terms of workflows, we wanted to make sure that what we put in place for the World Cup is something that we can also build upon,” Callahan says. FOX has a college football game in London coming up in about two months, and a college basketball game in Rome later this year. “The international thing is certainly staying with us.” 

Anyone in the U.S. who wanted to watch a match they weren’t attending in person had two options: FOX, or Telemundo. “You have a responsibility for the game and the event to make sure that you pull it off extremely well, because that’s what people were looking at,” Callahan says. “That’s what people saw as the World Cup if you came to America. So that was a special responsibility.” 

Asked where this ranks against everything else, he’s worked on, Callahan says: “I think this is the top. When you do a Super Bowl, it’s one day. It is a big, massive event for one day.” What put it there, for him, wasn’t just the scale of it. It was watching the tournament’s reach play out in public. “Seeing on the news and seeing on social media what this became in this country is something special,” he says. 

“We helped shape that World Cup experience for people throughout the world,” he says.

What stuck with him most, though, wasn’t statistical; it was the fans. Callahan is a lifelong New York Rangers fan who was in the building the night they won the Cup in 1994, and he says it doesn’t compare. FOX’s security team used to escorting athletes like Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez through crowds, told him about the scene outside the opening match at LA Stadium was unlike anything they’d handled before. After a quarterfinal involving France, around 5,000 fans waited 45 minutes behind FOX’s set hoping to see the talent leave, and FOX had to work with FIFA to walk them out through the stands and onto the pitch just to clear the area. 

“You couldn’t sit there and figure out, pick any sport you want in America, pick whatever the most passionate fan base is for that team; you don’t have anything like that,” Callahan says. “Fans spent large sums of money between flights, tickets, and lodging to follow their team. And it’s not just one; it’s hundreds and thousands of fans doing that.” 

After three years of planning the biggest broadcast days of his career, Callahan still came home most nights to the same short list. “My wife was still expecting me to walk the dog and take out the trash,” he says. “World Cup or not, some things don’t get a pass.” 

K-Frame and Maverik X innovations extend familiar production control into AMPP, alongside new replay, audio, commentary and communications capabilities

MONTREAL, CANADA – AUGUST 26, 2026 – At IBC2026, Grass Valley will demonstrate an integrated live production environment that brings dedicated hardware, software-based applications and partner technologies together within a unified media operation.

Aligned with Grass Valley’s Dynamic Media Facility strategy, the showcase combines K-Frame, Maverik X, LiveTouch X and new AMPP applications across switching, replay, audio, commentary and communications. Production teams can introduce software-defined capabilities while retaining the control surfaces, workflows and performance they rely on for live production.

“Live production does not leave room for hesitation,” said Greg Huttie, VP Live Production Solutions at Grass Valley. “Operators need immediate control, predictable performance and the confidence to make decisions in the moment. At IBC, we are showing how K-Frame continues to provide that trusted live core, while extending its reach across software-based production, replay, venues and distributed teams.”

Extending Familiar Control into AMPP
K-Frame remains the dedicated production core for demanding live productions, with true suites operation allowing multiple productions to share processing and I/O resources while retaining independent control. At IBC, Grass Valley will demonstrate expanded UltraMatch format conversion, additional programmable outputs and integration with Daktronics LED mapping, supporting broadcast feeds and in-venue displays from the same production. Integration with CUEZ Automate adds automation
for planned and repeatable sequences while operators retain control of editorial decisions.

K-Frame control panels now extend into AMPP, allowing operators to use familiar tactile surfaces and workflows with Maverik X. The software-based production switcher also supports Maverik modular panels, Korona, Stream Deck and Skaarhoj surfaces, giving customers a choice of control options across on-premises, edge and cloud deployments.

New Maverik X capabilities include luma keying, WYSIWYG DVE control and timeline sequence automation. Operators can build and trigger timed actions for opening sequences, transitions and recurring production elements, with sequences able to trigger actions across AMPP and connected Grass Valley Alliance applications.

“Software production should expand what a production team can do, not force it to relearn how to work,” said Jonathan Lyth, Product Director for Live Applications and Enterprise Media at Grass Valley. “By extending familiar control into AMPP and making the user experience customizable, we can reduce technical complexity and give each operator the controls they need for the production in front of them.”

Replay, Audio and Distributed Production
LiveTouch X enhancements extend sports replay within the same production environment. New multi-camera controls support angle selection and switching during highlights, alongside expanded audio monitoring, faster navigation and clearer on-air feedback. Direct integration with Grass Valley’s triple-speed LDX cameras connects acquisition and replay, while Production Replay X brings replay, clip playback and highlight creation into AMPP for hybrid and distributed productions.

Calrec ImPulseV brings broadcast audio control into the AMPP environment, connecting virtualized DSP and familiar operator surfaces with the wider production workflow. Grass Valley and partner technologies can operate within the same environment, with Zoom ISOcloud bringing remote participants into AMPP as individual production sources, NDI expanding connectivity, and MXMZ and Flowics providing graphics integration.

Grass Valley will also introduce AMPP Commentator, a browser-based application for professional commentary from venues, remote locations or temporary production setups. Commentators can receive program video and audio, manage monitoring, microphone and talkback, and return broadcast-quality audio directly into AMPP.

The newly released Audio Cart application further provides playout of music, stings, audience effects and other short-form audio elements used during live production.

AMPP Intercom, announced at NAB 2026, extends production communications across facilities and remote locations. It can operate independently or connect with existing facility intercom environments, keeping communications between operators and contributors within the same distributed production architecture.

Extending the Production Environment
The same production foundation supports Broadcast AV and Enterprise Media applications through Event Producer X and Framelight X. Event Producer X provides a streamlined production environment for town halls, leadership communications and corporate events, with interfaces that can be tailored to the operator and production. Framelight X connects live output with media management, browser-based editing, review and distribution.

LayerCake provides the infrastructure, AMPP applications and resources required for each production, while Slide Relay integrates PowerPoint presentation control and contribution. Together, these capabilities allow organizations to simplify operation for less-specialist users while retaining access to the production and content tools required for professional output.

Grass Valley’s IBC showcase demonstrates how Dynamic Media Facility principles can be applied across live production, connecting established hardware, software-defined applications and partner technologies without requiring production teams to abandon familiar ways of working. Customers can select and deploy resources according to each production while extending existing workflows across facilities, remote locations and software-based environments.

“Hybrid production is not about choosing hardware or software,” added Lyth. “It is about bringing the right resources together for each production and making them simple for people to operate. That is how AMPP helps customers unify media operations while putting the principles of the Dynamic Media Facility into practice today.”

Visitors can experience Grass Valley’s integrated live production portfolio at Booth 9.A01 during IBC2026, September 11–14, at RAI Amsterdam.

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About Grass Valley
Grass Valley empowers over 90% of the world’s top media brands to create and deliver compelling stories that captivate audiences. At the heart of its solutions is the GV Media Universe (GVMU), combining advanced hardware solutions, with the agility, elasticity, and adaptability of the AMPP Media Operating System. Together, they form a seamless, scalable ecosystem for efficient and innovative workflows.

With a portfolio spanning from camera to consumer, Grass Valley provides the flexibility to build solutions for every need – from a single creative harnessing immense production power to globally distributed teams collaborating seamlessly. This breadth of capability enables customers to craft efficient workflows that inspire and engage their audiences.

With over 65 years of expertise, Grass Valley has consistently driven the evolution of live content creation and storytelling. Headquartered in Montreal and supported by Black Dragon Capital, the company remains dedicated to shaping and leading the media revolution.

Leading North American mobile production facility provider standardizes on Grass Valley’s fully IP-native K-Frame production switchers for its fleet of next-generation trucks   

MONTREAL, CANADA – July 09, 2026 – Game Creek Video, one of North America’s largest mobile production providers, has reached an agreement with Grass Valley to purchase 10 fully configured K-Frame production switchers as part of a two-year fleet expansion program. 

Game Creek serves major professional sports leagues and premium live event productions across the United States, and the agreement continues a long-standing relationship between the two companies. Two K-Frame systems have already been delivered, with the remaining eight scheduled over the next two years.  

“We have always invested in technology that gives our clients the flexibility and performance they need for the most demanding productions,” said Pat Sullivan, President and Founder, Game Creek Video. “The K-Frame platform and its fully IP-native configuration reflects our commitment to serve our demanding customers by building customers by building a fleet of trucks ready for modern live production workflows.”  

Each K-Frame system will be deployed with a Kayenne 4ME control surface and configured identically, featuring nine MEs and a fully loaded 192×96 IP-architecture. The common specification provides Game Creek with a consistent operational framework across its fleet to support high-end sports and entertainment productions. 

“The combination of scale, reliability and IP capabilities made K-Frame the right fit for our next generation of trucks,” said Jason Taubman, SVP, Technology, Game Creek Video. “Standardizing on a common architecture gives our engineering and production teams the same unique capabilities, regardless of which truck is on-site.” 

The project continues a relationship that spans multiple generations of Game Creek production trucks and further expands the presence of K-Frame in the North American mobile production market. “Game Creek is known for being ahead of the curve with technology investments and setting an exceptionally high bar for production standards,” said Greg Doggett, Vice president of Sales, NAM Sports at Grass Valley. “This commitment reflects the strength of our relationship and the confidence the industry has in K-Frame as Game Creek continues to advance the capabilities of their respected fleet.” 

Grass Valley will showcase its latest live production solutions, including the K-Frame production switcher family, at Booth 219 at the 44th Annual IDEA Conference, taking place 12–15 July at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, Cincinnati, OH.

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About Grass Valley 

Grass Valley empowers over 90% of the world’s top media brands to create and deliver compelling stories that captivate audiences. At the heart of its solutions is the GV Media Universe (GVMU), combining advanced hardware solutions, with the agility, elasticity, and adaptability of the AMPP Media Operating System. Together, they form a seamless, scalable ecosystem for efficient and innovative workflows. 

With a portfolio spanning from camera to consumer, Grass Valley provides the flexibility to build solutions for every need – from a single creative harnessing immense production power to globally distributed teams collaborating seamlessly. This breadth of capability enables customers to craft efficient workflows that inspire and engage their audiences. 

With over 65 years of expertise, Grass Valley has consistently driven the evolution of live content creation and storytelling. Headquartered in Montreal and supported by Black Dragon Capital, the company remains dedicated to shaping and leading the media revolution.

How IMS Productions and FOX Sports scaled coverage of the 109th Indianapolis 500.

The last lap of this year’s Indianapolis 500 delivered the kind of ending broadcasters pray for and viewers remember for a lifetime. A dramatic final straightaway pass settled the closest race finish ever, record-breaking 0.0233 seconds and most competitive races in recent memory, capping another exhilarating month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

For IMS Productions and FOX Sports, the race also represented one of the largest and most technically demanding productions of the year, with more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds, extensive replay resources and an expanding graphics package feeding into the live programme.

The race itself is one of the marquee events in motorsport and enjoys an iconic status in America. “It is a spectacular event,” says Jason King, Director of Engineering for IMS Productions. “There’s a lot of history and storytelling that goes behind it. It’s still, in large part, capturing the spirit of Memorial Day weekend. I can’t usually express to people how intense it is to hear 350,000 people when that Taps horn is playing through the facility and echoing across the grounds.”

The speedway’s grounds sit at a vast 559 acres, with the action taking place on a 2.5-mile rectangular oval racetrack featuring shallow banked turns and massive straights. “This year, we were just tipping just over 100 cameras for the show,” explains King. “Then you have all the replay channels and all of the onboards. We had 16 onboard cameras with dual paths simultaneously pulling two video signals. That gives us 32 feeds before you even start looking at clean and dirty versions.”

Managing all of those cameras and feeds, plus replay systems, graphics, telemetry and dozens of race-specific feeds is an expansive team operation; and a successful one, which King apportions to the burgeoning relationship between IMS and Fox Sports.

“The last two years with FOX being our partner, it really has felt different than any other network relationship I’ve ever had,” he says. “You can see their passion in what we’re doing.”

Bringing viewers into the car

That investment has been most visible in the way the race is presented on screen. Steve Dixon, Supervising Engineer and Engineer in Charge for IMS Productions, says that innovations introduced for this year’s race added a new level of immersion for viewers. “FOX brought in a lot of additional graphics packages this year, mainly to do with the onboard cameras, and it looked spectacular. The fans loved it.”

One system automatically tracks camera movement and adjusts graphics overlays as the onboard camera pans around the cockpit. “FOX has come up with a system that automatically keys in the “HUD” Graphic over the Roll Hoop camera as it pans. It makes it look like the graphic is actually there and part of the car,” he explains. “That ‘Top Gun’ look, or the driver’s-eye view, is really cool and everybody loves it.”

For King, developments such as these are fundamentally changing how audiences are now enjoying the sport. “You’ve never been closer to the action. Moving the camera down in the cockpit a little lower than it used to be, adding those graphics and bringing in more telemetry from the cars has changed how you experience racing. It really is taking you into the cockpit with the driver.”

Managing the growing workload

For many years, Grass Valley production switchers have been at the center of IMS Productions’ live production workflow. Indeed, King says that in all the years he has been involved on the broadcast side, Grass Valley has been the only car in the race. “We’ve never considered another switcher. It’s what our company trusts and it’s what our network partners trust.”

As the production has expanded, so too have the demands placed on the equipment  supporting it. “We buy the biggest thing the Grass Valley guys make and we still suffer,” King jokes. “A lot of stick-and-ball sports fit perfectly within the available resources. Auto racing is different because we have so many unique sources.”

For the Indy 500, IMS Productions utilized its Kayenne K-Frame SXP-I system and asked for an additional loaner video processing frame. Grass Valley deployed a K-Frame VXP switcher to support sub-switching workflows during the event, something King suggests they may end up installing permanently.

“The sub-compact VXP came in and took care of all our replay switching and worked really well,” adds Dixon. “It allowed the main show TD to keep everything onboard-based in the switcher while the Tape Release TD handled replay resources separately.” 

Even with those additional resources, the team was operating close to capacity. “Even with the VXP, they maxed out all 48 inputs,” Dixon continues. “Every onboard and replay is recorded, and we’re recording both clean and dirty feeds.

Kings adds that the technical directors want access to all available feeds, quickly. “They want everything at their fingertips: all the clean feeds, all the dirty feeds, all the replay resources. We can’t always give them everything, so we have to be smart about how we share those resources.”

The need for speed

The Indianapolis 500 may be decided in a matter of hours, but the production effort begins weeks before race day. Mobile units, replay systems, routing infrastructure and control facilities all need to be assembled and integrated within a tight operational window.

This year, FOX Sports set up a dedicated central engineering facility designed to streamline those workflows across the compound.

“It really is a game changer,” says King. “No more throwing things into belly bays and running cables across the compound. We were largely ready to go before they arrived because so much of the infrastructure was already connected.”

Looking ahead, Brad Cheney of FOX Sports sees IP workflows playing an increasingly important role in supporting future growth.

“Being able to have multiple Grass Valley switchers tied together and working cohesively in an environment that allows us to speed up production to meet the speed of racing is hugely important,” he says. “As we’ve embarked on this new IP world, we’ve done so knowing that we have a lot of opportunities over the next couple of years to really push forward with connectivity, flexibility and the creative capabilities we’ve been looking for.”

King puts it simply. “We’re moving fast. We’re growing fast. The sport’s growing fast,” he says. “We need our equipment to be right there with us and Grass is in for the ride.”

Singapore-based broadcast services provider has deployed Grass Valley cameras, switchers and hybrid workflow infrastructure across sports and entertainment productions

MONTREAL, CANADA – May 19, 2026 – Grass Valley has entered into a three-year enterprise agreement with Phoenix Broadcast Solutions as the Singapore-based company expands its live production operations across APAC and the Middle East. 

The agreement includes the deployment of Grass Valley LDX Series cameras, K-Frame production switchers and Densité/XIP infrastructure to support OB, REMI and hybrid production workflows across sports and entertainment projects. 

Phoenix Broadcast Solutions provides live production services across international sports and multi-event productions, specializing in OB, REMI and hybrid workflows for major sporting events and broadcasters across APAC and the Middle East. As part of the revamp of its operations, the company sought a scalable production ecosystem capable of supporting rapid deployment across multiple geographies and varied production environments. 

“We were looking for a production infrastructure that could scale with the type of projects we are delivering across different markets,” said Siddhartha Tyagi, Founder & Managing Director, Phoenix Broadcast Solutions.  

“That meant improving workflow flexibility and interoperability, supporting UHD and 4K production requirements, enabling REMI and distributed workflows, and maintaining reliability across large-scale multi-venue sports productions. We also wanted the flexibility to work across both IP and baseband environments depending on the operational and regional requirements of each project.” 

The deployment includes LDX 150 and LDX 98 cameras for live sports production, alongside K-Frame switchers with Kayenne and Karrera control surfaces for multi-camera productions across OB and REMI environments. Densité and XIP infrastructure will support a combination of IP and baseband workflows, allowing Phoenix to adapt systems according to venue, project and regional requirements. 

Systems are being deployed in phases in line with Phoenix’s production schedule across APAC and the Middle East, with the Grass Valley and Phoenix engineering teams collaborating on configuration and integration across a range of third-party audio, communications and transmission systems. 

“Grass Valley’s solutions give us the flexibility and reliability we need to deliver at the highest level across multiple markets,” Tyagi added. “This partnership is an important step in building a future-ready broadcast infrastructure.” 

The systems are already in use across Phoenix’s major international productions, improving operational flexibility across projects while enabling faster deployment between regions and greater consistency across workflows. 

For Grass Valley, the agreement strengthens its position within growing live production markets across APAC and the Middle East. 

“Phoenix Broadcast Solutions represents a new generation of broadcast companies: agile, ambitious, and built on deep industry expertise,” says Evan Boyd, Senior Vice President, Sales APAC, Grass Valley. “We are proud to support their journey with solutions that enable both performance and flexibility at scale.” 

The partnership is expected to expand further as Phoenix Broadcast Solutions continues to grow its operations across sports and live event production. 

Visit the Grass Valley booth (5C2-7) at Broadcast Asia 2026, taking place 20–22 May at Singapore EXPO, to find out how the company is supporting media providers across APAC and the Middle East with scalable live production, distributed operations and next-generation broadcast infrastructure. 

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About Grass Valley 

Grass Valley empowers over 90% of the world’s top media brands to create and deliver compelling stories that captivate audiences. At the heart of its solutions is the GV Media Universe (GVMU), combining advanced hardware solutions, with the agility, elasticity, and adaptability of the AMPP Media Operating System. Together, they form a seamless, scalable ecosystem for efficient and innovative workflows. 

With a portfolio spanning from camera to consumer, Grass Valley provides the flexibility to build solutions for every need – from a single creative harnessing immense production power to globally distributed teams collaborating seamlessly. This breadth of capability enables customers to craft efficient workflows that inspire and engage their audiences. 

With over 65 years of expertise, Grass Valley has consistently driven the evolution of live content creation and storytelling. Headquartered in Montreal and supported by Black Dragon Capital, the company remains dedicated to shaping and leading the media revolution.

New initiative combines scholarships, hands-on learning, and access to Grass Valley technology to help universities develop industry-ready talent for live sports production

MONTREAL, CANADA – April 6, 2026 – Grass Valley today announced the launch of its Future Playmakers Program, a new global initiative designed to support and develop the next generation of professionals in sports production and media technology. 

Timed ahead of NAB Show, the program reflects Grass Valley’s continued investment in education, workforce development, and long-term industry growth. It is built to help students gain practical experience while enabling higher education institutions to strengthen their production programs with access to professional-grade tools and workflows. 

The Future Playmakers Program combines scholarships, hands-on learning, technology access, and institutional collaboration. It is designed to create a sustainable pipeline of talent trained on industry-standard solutions used across live sports and event production. 

“Developing the next generation of talent is critical to the future of our industry,” said Jon Wilson, CEO of Grass Valley. “The Future Playmakers Program is about giving students real access to the tools, workflows, and experiences that define modern live production, while strengthening our partnerships with the institutions shaping that future workforce.” 

Through the program, Grass Valley will select up to 10 students annually from participating partner institutions. Selected students will receive financial support alongside access to experiential learning opportunities designed to bridge the gap between academic study and real-world production environments. 

A central component of the program is the Grass Valley Montreal Technology Experience, where students will engage directly with the company’s technology and teams. The experience includes a factory tour, hands-on product demonstrations across cameras, production switchers, AMPP, and orchestration solutions, as well as live production workflow sessions and access to industry experts. 

“The industry is evolving quickly, and there is a clear need for talent that understands both production and technology,” said Greg Doggett, Vice President of Sales, NAM Sports, Grass Valley. “This program is designed to give students that exposure early, while helping higher education institutions build programs that reflect how live production operates today and gaining important exposure to where the industry is headed.” 

Participating institutions benefit from scholarship opportunities, increased industry visibility, and closer collaboration with Grass Valley through technology alignment and program engagement. The initiative is open to higher education institutions and production programs investing in next-generation broadcast and live production workflows. 

By connecting students, educators, and industry professionals, the Future Playmakers Program aims to deliver long-term value across the media ecosystem. It supports the development of operators, engineers, and production specialists equipped to work in increasingly complex, IP-based, and software-defined environments. 

Grass Valley will share additional updates on participating institutions as the program expands. 

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About Grass Valley 

Grass Valley empowers over 90% of the world’s top media brands to create and deliver compelling stories that captivate audiences. At the heart of its solutions is the GV Media Universe (GVMU), combining advanced hardware solutions, with the agility, elasticity, and adaptability of the AMPP Media Operating System. Together, they form a seamless, scalable ecosystem for efficient and innovative workflows. 

With a portfolio spanning from camera to consumer, Grass Valley provides the flexibility to build solutions for every need – from a single creative harnessing immense production power to globally distributed teams collaborating seamlessly. This breadth of capability enables customers to craft efficient workflows that inspire and engage their audiences. 

With over 65 years of expertise, Grass Valley has consistently driven the evolution of live content creation and storytelling. Headquartered in Montreal and supported by Black Dragon Capital, the company remains dedicated to shaping and leading the media revolution. 

John Howard is one of the most experienced Technical Directors in live sports, working week in and week out on NBC’s Sunday Night Football and contributing to 10 Super Bowl broadcasts over the last 20 years. Here, he shares his perspective on the craft behind live production and why the role of the switcher is often overlooked.

When people talk about big championships, everyone talks about the cameras. The new angles, the pylons, everything they added this year. That’s all great. I love that side of it, but that’s not what makes the show work.

The vehicle that ultimately tells the visual story is the switcher. And nobody really talks about that.

And the job itself is often misunderstood. It’s not just cutting cameras. A Technical Director is involved throughout the entire planning PROCESS, not just building the show and setting it all up, but making sure everything works to plan before it ever goes to air.

I’ve been doing this a long time. Sunday Night Football on NBC, week in and week out, that’s my office. I’ve also worked on 10 Super Bowls. The scale is enormous, but that’s not really the challenge.

On this year’s show, we had three fully loaded K-Frame XPs in the compound. One dedicated to pre-game, one I used to cut the live game, and another in a separate unit handling replays and additional elements. All of them were essentially full.

You think 192 inputs is a lot. On a show like that, it’s not. You need that and then some.

What experience teaches over time is how to structure it. What stays close, what moves elsewhere, how everything is organized so it works when the show is live. That’s the job.

“Elegance is the standard. Not flash. Not complexity for its own sake. Elegance.”

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the real challenge isn’t the technology. It’s not overthinking it.

There’s a lot of firepower available. A lot of options. And it’s very easy to go too far. It’s easy to over-plan, to overbuild, to try to account for everything. But that complexity comes back in the moment when things get busy.

Most of the work is muscle memory. Sitting at a panel, everything needs to be exactly where it is expected to be. No searching, no hesitation.

That only works if it has been built properly beforehand.

That’s where discipline comes in. If something doesn’t need to be complicated, it shouldn’t be.

A lot of it also comes down to the relationship with the director. There’s an understanding there. Sometimes a call comes in, and holding a shot just a fraction longer helps the moment. That kind of communication isn’t written down anywhere, but it’s critical.

Every show is different. A football show is not built the same way as a golf show. The layout changes, the priorities change, the approach changes.

The system has to adapt to that. The setup needs to follow the show, not the other way around.

On Sunday Night Football, I try something every week. It might be small. It might not even make air. But the goal is always to make something better.

Over time, that becomes a creative back-and-forth. A transition, a look, something subtle that fits naturally into the show.

Not everything needs to be used. If something doesn’t add to the story, it doesn’t belong there.

That’s really what it comes down to.

Sunday Night Football goes up against prime-time entertainment. It’s not just a game. It’s a show. And the audience is broader than people think.

So the question always comes back to the same thing. If the show is watched with no sound, does it still make sense? Does the story come across just from the pictures?

If the answer is yes, then it’s working.

I don’t think we talk about this enough.

Grass Valley, the name alone, it means television. It means broadcast. But what matters is that it keeps moving forward.

The company continues to evolve, continues to innovate, and does it at every level, not just at the very top end. That matters.

And it works because it’s not one-way.

There’s a constant exchange. Feedback goes back to the engineers. Ideas come from real use. Nothing is built in isolation.

A lot of the time, what is needed is actually simpler. It just has a clear purpose.

That’s the relationship. It works both ways.

Every live frame of NFL football in the United States, CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN, AMAZON PRIME, every single one goes through a Grass Valley switcher.

Think about that.

Seventeen years, across every broadcast, at that level.

That doesn’t happen by accident.

It happens because the product keeps evolving, and because the people using it are part of that process.

And that’s what keeps us all moving forward.

Together with integration partner Tab M Solutions, Grass Valley has delivered an IP upgrade to power more than 150 annual live events across ACC competition

MONTREAL, CANADA – March 18, 2026 – Grass Valley has expanded its long-term partnership with University of Pittsburgh Athletics by completing a major upgrade of its production infrastructure, transitioning the department’s broadcast facilities to a SMPTE ST 2110 IP backbone. 

Pitt Athletics supports 19 NCAA Division I programs in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and produces more than 150 live events annually for broadcast, streaming, videoboards, and internal distribution. The IP upgrade, carried out in partnership with integrator Tab M Solutions, sought to modernize and future-proof Pitt’s live production infrastructure with its original 2018 SDI-based backend approaching end-of-life on several critical components.  

“With more than 150 events produced annually, our production demands continue to grow across both broadcast and in-venue platforms,” explained Patrick O’Shea, Director of Operations and Strategy, University of Pittsburgh Athletics “The original LDX 86 installation allowed us to operate in 1080p from day one, and this upgrade now positions us for IP, HDR, and expanded slow-motion capabilities. Working with Tab M Solutions and Grass Valley allowed us to modernize in a way that protects our existing investments while giving us the flexibility to scale well into the future.” 

The original 2018 installation included 14 Grass Valley LDX 86 cameras including two wireless units that were seamlessly integrated into the new ST 2110 IP backbone.  

The upgrade replaced three V-Series K-Frame switcher frames and three Korona panels with two full-size K-Frame XP frames and three Kayenne panels. Fully populated with SMPTE ST 2110 IP cards, the dual K-Frame XP architecture now powers six switcher suites across five existing PCRs and one new control room, delivering expanded ME capacity, shared processing, simultaneous broadcast and videoboard workflows, and enhanced system resilience. 

Despite coordinating more than a dozen vendors, Tab M Solutions completed the rip-and-replace without disrupting Pitt’s production schedule. 

“Pitt needed a scalable production backbone that could support expansion across multiple control rooms while increasing flexibility and resilience,” said Kevin Tucker, Partner & CTO, Tab M Solutions. “By leveraging Grass Valley’s K-Frame XP ecosystem within a full 2110 architecture, we centralized resources, increased capacity, and created a clear path toward HDR and expanded super slow-motion workflows.” 

Tab M Solutions CEO, Joe Wire, added: “Our relationship with Pitt Athletics has always been centered on long-term strategy. From the original 1080p deployment to this full IP transformation, the goal has been to keep Pitt at the forefront of collegiate production technology. By building on a scalable Grass Valley ecosystem, we’re ensuring that their production capabilities continue to evolve alongside the demands of the ACC, national broadcasters, and emerging content platforms.” 

The project also showcases Grass Valley’s continued growth in collegiate and venue production, demonstrating seamless migration from SDI to IP while preserving long-term camera investments. 

“We’re proud of our long-standing partnership with Pitt and Tab M and the innovations we’re bringing to the collegiate production market,” concluded Greg Doggett, VP of Sales, NAM Sports at Grass Valley.  “This project highlights the longevity of the LDX 86 platform, seamless migration from SDI to 2110 IP, scalability of the K-Frame XP architecture, and a clear path toward HDR and expanded SSMO capabilities.” 

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About Grass Valley 

Grass Valley empowers over 90% of the world’s top media brands to create and deliver compelling stories that captivate audiences. At the heart of its solutions is the GV Media Universe (GVMU), combining advanced hardware solutions, with the agility, elasticity, and adaptability of the AMPP Media Operating System. Together, they form a seamless, scalable ecosystem for efficient and innovative workflows. 

With a portfolio spanning from camera to consumer, Grass Valley provides the flexibility to build solutions for every need – from a single creative harnessing immense production power to globally distributed teams collaborating seamlessly. This breadth of capability enables customers to craft efficient workflows that inspire and engage their audiences. 

With over 65 years of expertise, Grass Valley has consistently driven the evolution of live content creation and storytelling. Headquartered in Montreal and supported by Black Dragon Capital, the company remains dedicated to shaping and leading the media revolution.