Match day broadcast and camera readiness checklist
Problem
Before a broadcast goes live, someone walks the compound checking that every camera position is manned and pointed correctly, the encoder feed is live, the backup recording device is running, and the crew on site hold valid credentials. That check happens on a printed checklist clipped to a board, or gets called in over a messaging group where photos of the rig sit alongside everything else sent that day. Nothing ties a specific photo to a specific camera or a specific time. When a camera drops out mid-match, or a sponsor later disputes that their board was in shot, nobody can produce evidence that the check was done, only a producer's memory of walking past it an hour earlier.
Product idea
A mobile checklist built for the compound walk before broadcast start. Camera positions, encoder feeds, backup recording and crew credentials each get their own line item, with a photo attached to that item rather than dropped into a chat. A failed or missing check raises an issue with a severity flag that goes straight to the broadcast producer, not into a queue nobody watches. The coordinator signs off by name with a timestamp, and a single readiness status (ready, ready with issues, not ready) is visible to the head of content and producer without a phone call. It works offline, because compounds and outside broadcast trucks often sit at the edge of stadium signal, and every completed round exports as a PDF that stands as the record when something is questioned later.
Who it is for
Media operations coordinators doing the pre-broadcast walk, broadcast producers who need a readiness call before air, and the head of content who sponsors it to have evidence when a camera or sponsor placement is later questioned.
Possible first version
A mobile web app with a configurable checklist template per venue or broadcast setup, offline capture with a photo attached to each item, an issue list with severity and assignee, and a single readiness view showing green, amber or red before broadcast start. Completed checklists export as PDF. Version one has no integration with the live capture and replay system or the digital asset management platform: issues are raised and exported for someone to act on, not written automatically into another system.
- Build classification
- Workflow application
- Rough effort
- 2-4 week first release
- Roles involved
- Media operations coordinator, Broadcast producer, Head of content
- Relevant to
- Professional club, League office, Women's league, Collegiate athletics
- Systems in play
- Paper checklists, Messaging apps, Live capture and replay systems, Digital asset management
- Product framing
- Verify or inspect
Questions we get asked
What do we need in place before this is usable on day one?
A checklist template for each venue or standard broadcast setup: the camera positions you run, the feeds you expect live, and who counts as a valid crew credential on your production. That template is a spreadsheet exercise your media operations coordinator can do in an afternoon, not a data migration. There is no dependency on your live capture system or your digital asset management platform to start; the tool works from the template and the phone in the coordinator's hand.
We already run a live capture and replay system. Does this replace that?
No. The live capture and replay system handles the feed itself, what gets recorded and replayed during the match. This handles the check that happens before any of that starts: is the camera actually where it should be, is the feed live, is the backup recording running. Version one does not write into your capture system or your digital asset management platform. It produces a readiness record and an issue list that a person acts on.
Our crew already run a printed checklist that works fine on match day. Why change it?
A printed checklist works fine until someone asks for proof it was completed, which is exactly when it fails: the sheet is filed somewhere, and the photos anyone took live in a messaging group with everything else sent that week. The test for this tool is the same one the paper form has to pass, whether completing it is faster on the phone than on the clipboard. If it is not, it will not survive week one, and it should not.
What happens if a check fails five minutes before we go live?
The severity flag on that item raises an issue straight to the broadcast producer rather than sitting in a checklist nobody reopens. The readiness status changes to reflect it immediately, so the producer is making the call on live information, not on an assumption that the walk went fine. The tool does not make the go or no-go decision. It puts the right information in front of the person who does, in time to act on it.
Is this your workflow?
Tell us one sports workflow that still runs on paper, spreadsheets, WhatsApp or an outdated system. We will map it and show you what a simpler product looks like.
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