How the Suns are pulling off remote game broadcasts

With Talking Stick Resort Arena under construction, the TV and radio crews created a makeshift broadcast setup inside the Steward Health Center.

A peek inside the Suns’ broadcast truck ahead of Phoenix's win over the Pacers. (Photo by Gina Mizell)

As Tom Leander and Tom Chambers wait for their cue to open a 12:30 p.m. pregame show, an iconic voice sweeps through the Steward Health Center just east of Talking Stick Resort Arena. 

“It’s time for Suns basketball!” 

It’s Al McCoy beginning a radio broadcast of his own, while seated in front of a monitor up a flight of stairs easily visible from the Fox Sports Arizona desk. Also upstairs, in a different corner, sideline reporter Lindsey Smith prepares to host a second screen show, with guest interviews and trivia to complement the on-court action. To the left of Leander and Chambers, in a small room marked “therapy,” is where Kevin Ray and Eddie Johnson will call Phoenix’s upcoming game against Indiana. Just outside is an orange Suns banner, creating a socially distanced way for Johnson to join the pregame show’s first segment. 

Welcome to the world of remote broadcasting during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the team this crew covers is across the country inside the Walt Disney World “bubble.” 

It’s a complicated operation that takes one group in Orlando and another at home to pull off. It’s a challenge all local team broadcasts are facing, as none of them are on-site. But it’s even more difficult for the Suns’ staff, because it cannot use arena space due to ongoing renovation construction.

“All things considered, what they’ve set up for us has been nothing short of remarkable,” Ray said. “ … In a lot of ways, it’s like everybody in society is today. We’ve just had to adapt, and you roll with what you got.” 

The makeshift setup is the brainchild of Dan Siekmann, the Suns’ vice president of broadcast productions. And it all came together within a matter of weeks. 

Siekmann and executive producer/director Bob Adlhoch walked the Steward Center countless times to figure out how to best optimize the space. They asked announcers what additional equipment they needed. They calculated how many union freelance workers, such as camera operators and sound technicians, would be required to produce a quality broadcast without compromising health and safety protocols. Temperatures are taken upon entering the building, and masks are worn unless talking on the air.

Ray and Johnson are practically shoulder-to-shoulder while calling the game, but separated by a panel of plexiglass. One big monitor and two smaller screens display the action, with one always on the traditional 10-player view in case a replay or ad read runs long. 

Before Phoenix’s July 23 scrimmage against Utah, Ray said he spent two weeks practicing calling games off a television in order to regain his rhythm. He most misses being able to observe bench interactions during timeouts, taking in the entire scope of the arena and gathering information from courtside before the game. 

“I prep right up until tipoff, because you’re always talking to somebody,” Ray said. “ … When you’ve done it like that every time, and now you’re relying on a TV screen, (it’s bizarre).” 

Play-by-play announcers Kevin Ray and Eddie Johnson are set up in a small room in the Steward Center, and separated by plexiglass. (Photo by Gina Mizell)

The Suns moved their production truck into a new, shaded spot inside the arena parking garage, where it will not overheat in scorching summer temperatures. Siekmann bought $3,400 worth of pipe to protect the cables that snake two blocks down Jackson Street and into a side door of the Steward Center. 

To create more social distancing inside the truck, the graphics department has been moved to a nearby Mobile Mini portable storage unit. A technician also installed an air filtration system, so those working inside the truck are not “breathing each other’s exhale all day,” Adlhoch said. 

As Thursday’s tipoff neared, one could hear the Orlando crew counting down — and making a playful bet on if Devin Booker or T.J. Warren will score more points.  

“I love T.J. Warren, but Booker is filthy,” the disembodied voice said.  

A TNT or ESPN crew produces and directs each game on-site, even if it is not being broadcast on that particular network. The feed from the Orlando hub then runs through the NBA’s master transmission center in Secaucus, N.J., then out to the truck at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns team then adds their graphics, music and other details to provide the familiar feel of a Fox Sports Arizona broadcast. Adlhoch has control of only one on-site camera.

Even though the connection setup in Phoenix never changes, that the Suns will play in three venues over the course of the restart means constant testing is required. Something as simple as the camera setup for the postgame player interview can take an hour, and several phone calls, to fix because of audio and visual troubles.

“There are a lot of links in the chain, so it only takes one (that’s broken) for you to not have something,” Adlhoch said. “ …  If you consider all of those, and the chance that any one of them going wrong could impact what people see at home on their TV sets, it’s pretty amazing how clean everything has been.”

Still, it’s impossible to plan for every scenario. For the first 2 1/2 scrimmages, for example, the 24-second shot clock was either too small or too pixilated for Ray to decipher. When the NBA introduced virtual floor signage, players’ shorts sometimes disappeared when they ran over that spot. 

That’s why Adlhoch said “relief would be an understatement” when asked to describe how it felt to get through the first scrimmage broadcast. After Tuesday’s game against the Clippers, he said “it feels like we finally have our arms wrapped around everything.” He wishes he could have rolled out multiple camera angles for Booker’s buzzer-beater, but commended the way the TNT crew captured the moment and celebration.  

Gina Mizell @ginamizell

I’ll be on the @FOXSPORTSAZ pregame show at 12:30ish. Impressive remote setup in the old Steward building next to the arena. Kevin Ray and Eddie Johnson are set up in that far room, and radio crew is upstairs. #Suns

Meanwhile, the Steward Center has become an entertaining place to watch a game because of the (socially distanced) proximity of everyone involved. 

When Cam Payne buried a deep 3-pointer during Thursday’s 21-0 run, Ray’s and McCoy’s voices skyrocketed in unison. The crew from the pregame, halftime and postgame shows gathered with Leander and Chambers around the desk to watch the action on a giant monitor. Chambers and Johnson engaged in banter about a nickname for Ricky Rubio, with Johnson dead set on Ricky-3BO (a nod to the “Star Wars” character and Rubio’s newfound 3-point accuracy) and Chambers hollering “Ricky-diculous!” 

The Suns’ surprising 4-0 start, of course, makes everything more collegial. 

At 3:21 p.m., the postgame show begins. The walk-off interview with Payne runs smoothly. Leander blows soap bubbles in honor of “bubble-double-doubles” for Booker, Deandre Ayton and Cam Johnson. 

Thirty-three minutes later, Leander and Chambers sign off. Chambers joins Ray, who has cracked open a beer to celebrate the completion of another strange, successful remote broadcast.  

“It’s been pretty impressive,” Ray said, “everybody grabbing the rope and dealing with the challenges.”