Resources

At the 2025 SVG Remote Production forum, SVG Director of Digital Brandon Costa sat down with Ben Grafchik, VP, business development, BitFire, the title sponsor, to explore how cloud-based production is reshaping live sports-production workflows.

These new workflows are touching everything from how sports broadcasters and production teams are increasingly embracing cloud-based tools to streamline remote operations, reduce onsite footprints, and deliver content faster than ever. From cost-efficiencies to scalability and creative flexibility, the discussion highlights why cloud solutions are no longer just an alternative; they’re becoming the industry standard for sports broadcasting and live event production.

‍

‍

BitFire, a leader in software-defined live production and IP transmission, and HBS LLC, the U.S. subsidiary of Host Broadcast Services (HBS), the world-renowned benchmark in host broadcast, are partnering to offer top-level
innovative production workflows powered by BitFire’s cloud production and transport platform.

Together, HBS and BitFire aim to cost-effectively raise the bar on live event production for
domestic leagues and organizations looking to elevate their product without an impact on their
budgets for live content creation, non-live workflows, and archiving.

HBS has already started implementing the BitFire cloud platform in the delivery of live soccer
events in the U.S. Jose “Platao” Rocha, managing director of HBS LLC, commented: “We have
been working with BitFire for some time to improve the workflows, especially in soccer
coverage, which demands a lot from the cloud environment. As such, we are fully confident in
the platform.”

“BitFire complements well our own tools for multifeed generation in the cloud and archiving. We
are excited to be working on live cloud production in the U.S. with BitFire,” added, Johannes
Franken, HBS digital director.

Andy Hansen, executive vice president of BitFire, added: “This partnership represents a shared
commitment to innovation, creativity, and technical excellence. We are combining world-class
broadcast expertise and cutting-edge technology to serve clients at the highest level. We look
forward to a very productive relationship.”

Both companies will work together on the roll out of the new workflows with clients, and to offer
the combined product in the domestic market.

BitFire (bitfire.tv), a leader in software-defined live production and IP transmission, today announced the addition of cloud-based live master control capabilities to the BitFire Platform for live production and distribution. Built into BitFire’s Spark™ Production Environments, the new master control interface offers a familiar control room experience with professional-grade finishing tools — including captioning, as well as graphic / bug insertion, ad breaks, and SCTE — for live events of any scale. This advance makes full-scale master control more accessible to smaller operations while empowering larger media organizations to roll out high-volume live services, such as alternate broadcasts or streams tailored for different regions and languages.

“With these new capabilities, the BitFire Platform closes a critical gap in the transition to live production in the cloud,” said Jim Akimchuk, President and CEO at BitFire. “Whether producing one event or many simultaneously, production teams can now add a sophisticated layer of control and presentation — including live captioning, squeeze-back advertising, and playlist-driven break playout — without the cost or limitations of traditional master control rooms.”

BitFire’s live master control interface allows users to finish and master live shows without relying on downstream facilities. Accessible via an on-demand, cloud-based environment that allows for unlimited scalability, it brings professional orchestration and control to use cases in which traditional master control isn’t practical or economically viable. 

From a single cloud-based interface, operators can insert closed captions using iCap-compatible workflows with EEG/AI-Media to meet established broadcast standards, as well as trigger SCTE-104/35 markers for downstream dynamic or server-side ad insertion. The system can automate break playout and playlist execution using standardized BXF files or manual triggers, execute advanced ad formats such as squeeze-back and picture-in-picture using Spark’s powerful switcher engine, and deliver finished, broadcast-quality transport streams with embedded captions, SCTE triggers, and metadata for either SDI or IP distribution.

By leveraging the BitFire Transmission Network from contribution to distribution, real-time, synchronized delivery of multiple versions of a broadcast becomes simple and scalable, whether you’re delivering to one destination or hundreds. Because the BitFire Platform brings full-scale master control to the cloud, operators can configure redundant transmission with multiple paths into and out of the cloud, eliminating reliance on a single feed.

“With the addition of live master control to the BitFire Platform, we’re giving users even greater confidence that they can move forward with cloud-native workflows while maintaining quality, reliability, and control,” added Akimchuk. “Representing the first truly scalable, broadcast-quality master control solution in the cloud, this capability is already being used on national and international broadcasts of high-profile live sports, where it’s being leveraged to manage redundant feeds, HDR conversions, captioning, and SCTE ad triggers.”

BitFire’s Live Master Control is now part of a comprehensive suite of cloud-based production tools including switchers, replay, audio mixing, multiviewers, intercom, and IP transmission. Always backed by BitFire’s world-class TechOps™ engineering support team, you can be confident in your ability to design, use, and scale reliable solutions that improve your workflows.

‍