University of Tennessee Athletics
A Studio For The Future
November 21, 2014 | General
By Brian Rice KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
UTSports.com
The studio, 18 months in the building, but decades in the making, shoots Tennessee to the forefront of on-campus studio space and video production.
The digital studio is actually comprised of two large studio areas, one on the north side of the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center, the other on the south side of the Anderson Training Center. Both studios can be configured in multiple ways to produce a variety of programming for the SEC Network, the Vol Network and other in-house productions.
The control rooms in the facility will allow UT to produce multiple events simultaneously for the SEC Network and its on-line arm, SEC Network+, while also producing the in-house feeds for fans attending events.
"This says that broadcasting, content creation and storytelling is a priority at the University of Tennessee," said senior associate athletics director for external operations Chris Fuller, who led the planning and development of the studio space.
The Times Square component comes from the giant video boards in each studio, which are visible to fans from the outside of both venues. Via the large windows, reminiscent of those of New York TV studios, fans will also be able to watch events produced in the studios as well as athlete interviews conducted throughout the week.
UT has long put a priority on high-quality video production to showcase the talents and tell the stories of its student-athletes and to train the next generation of on-air and behind-the-scenes television talent. Products of Tennessee program are now in a variety of positions at virtually every national network, sports and otherwise.
The opportunity to do something to benefit athletes in every sport at UT as well as general students with an interest in broadcasting is a big reason why Ray and Lucy Hand, made the gift that made the studio that bears their name.
"My wife and I wanted something that would affect all student-athletes and students at-large," Ray Hand said. "This looked like the perfect opportunity. We had been waiting a long time because we didn't want to do something just for one sport. We wanted student-athletes and students as a whole to come out ahead. We were fortunate enough to be able to do this and the community made it possible and the rest is history."
Two of the products of the UT broadcasting legacy, Link Hudson and Barry Rice have stayed here all along to lead UT's program into the future. A future made brighter by the gleaming new production facility that they now oversee.
"It means a lot because that's how I got where I am," said Rice, UT's assistant athletics director for broadcasting. "I was the kid back in 1985 wishing I could just hold a cable for a cameraman. Now, we get to take the next generation, it's neat to be full-circle."
Hudson, the senior director of broadcasting, said telling the story of Volunteer athletes has always been the focus, one that will only expand in the new facility.
"It's absolutely incredible," Hudson said. "It was a lot of long meetings, long nights, a lot of planning, a lot of decision making. But to see this facility come to fruition, to see and know what it's going to mean to so many people is incredible. We know how important it is to tell the story of the Tennessee athlete, they all have a story to tell, and that's why we're here."
Now that the studio is dedicated, it's time to put it to use, something they did not waste any time doing. Though the control room and the north studio have been utilized in the little less than a month since they came online, the first production following the dedication was Friday night's Lady Vol basketball game. A game that was itself an example of the broadcasting legacy at Tennessee, called by three UT graduates, Bob Kesling, Brittany Jackson and Whitney Haworth.
"I've been saying it's a dream come true, and it is," Rice said. "But what you realize is that all the people that go into making all this happen, the people that were involved an the dedication that was involved, it just blows your mind. I'm so proud."
