LIGHTS, CAMERAS, ACCTION

THE ACC NETWORK DEBUTED IN IMPRESSIVE FASHION DURING THE PAST YEAR AND WAKE FOREST ATHLETICS DID ITS PART

By John Justus

Photos by Bruce Chapman

After years of speculation mixed with some uncertainty, much planning and preparation along with building excitement, the highly anticipated ACC Network launched last August.

The subscription channel, which is owned and operated by ESPN in partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference, is self-proclaimed “all things ACC” and immediately became the antidote for millions of ACC fans who could never get enough news, live events, historic documentaries and other programming about their favorite school and its teams.

This included Wake Forest, of course, and the investment that the university and department of athletics made as part of this endeavor has been not only significant but truly impressive. More on that in a minute. Consider what the ACC Network (ACCN) brought its viewers in this inaugural season – 336 live events, including 41 football games, 110 men’s basketball games and 60 women’s basketball games. Over seven months, before being halted by the cessation of college sports due to the coronavirus, ACC fans had access to more than 1,300 hours of live programming. The number of live sports broadcasts was on course to reach 460 before the spring sports seasons were ended prematurely.

According to ESPN, the network was available in two-thirds of U.S. households with a total of more than 70 million potential viewers.

“We were delighted (with the first year),” Stacie McCollum, ESPN vice-president, says of the ACC Network’s inaugural season. “To have the success we had from a distribution and quality of content standpoint, we were extremely pleased.”

ACCN is well-positioned to continue at a high level of success, too, with multi-year agreements in place with nearly every regional cable television provider currently on its roster. The content will only get better, too, McCollum projects.

“We always knew the backbone of the network would be live event programming,” she says, “and that includes the amount of exposure we were able to provide other sports (in addition to football and basketball). “That was a point of pride for us as well as for the conference.”

Pride in what’s been achieved is also plentiful at Wake Forest where many months, even years, of non-stop effort by numerous individuals was necessary for Demon Deacon sports to become part of this massive undertaking.

James Overstreet, Assistant Athletic Director for Multimedia & Broadcast Operations, has been the central figure in Wake Athletics’ preparation and implementation of all things ACC Network.

“We started our planning early in 2016, even before the official announcement (which came in July of that year),” Overstreet says. “Our intention was to launch our control room in 2018, which would give us a full year to produce digital content (on ACC Network Extra) to get ready for the linear (television) production.”

James Overstreet led the team that prepared Wake Forest to be an integral part of the ACC Network. His “Deacon Vision” group continues to seek ways to promote Demon Deacon sports through this ACC partnership with ESPN.

The first important decision then became the location of a control room. After consideration of a number of areas, it was determined to use the former baseball clubhouse at Couch Ballpark. The space was available, of course, following the construction of the Chris Hurd Player Development Center prior to the 2017 season.

The old clubhouse had to be gutted, but provided space for the current operations center as well as room for future expansion. Additionally, camera locations and broadcast talent positions had to be constructed at every campus venue. Fiber optic cable had to be installed underground connecting each venue to the control headquarters, too.

“It was a major undertaking and an expensive endeavor,” Overstreet states.

Wake Forest did have satellite control rooms available already at BB&T Field and Joel Coliseum for the video board operations at those two sites. In addition to upgrading those facilities, the school had invested earlier in a mobile production truck that can support digital quality programming. A generator for the primary control room, to be used in the event an independent power source was needed, was also purchased.

A staff also had to be hired. Overstreet now oversees a team of five full-time employees who wear a variety of hats in making sure that all Wake Forest produced events are of the highest quality.

“It all took a great deal of time and a lot of planning,” Overstreet says, “and I had lots of help.

“Every school is different. Every venue is different. Budget decisions were also very important to consider, while keeping in mind the level of quality we wanted to provide.”

The ACC did have the advantage of not being the first to launch a conference network, of course. ESPN had already been operating the SEC Network since 2014. That experience and lessons learned along the five years leading up to the debut of the ACCN proved invaluable, Overstreet notes.

“We visited Georgia and South Carolina and had conversations with lots of schools,” he recalls. “Plus, within the ACC, we all shared information about equipment, technology and other details. We had great cooperation from many people.”

Overstreet’s goal of having the Wake Forest control room ready by summer of 2018 was met, but he couldn’t have anticipated – or actually he did – what happened with the initial digital production of a live event from the facility.

All systems were “go” for a broadcast of a Deacon soccer contest that was part of a “six box” of games airing simultaneously when a typical August thunderstorm swept through Winston-Salem. Whether it was wind or lightning no one is sure, but a power outage struck the area around BB&T Field and the new ready-for-action production control room outside the right field wall of Couch Ballpark.

Fortunately, Wake’s ACCN team had the foresight to purchase that aforementioned generator months before. Access to power was retained and the first ACC Network Extra digital event from the new control room went off without a problem.

Wake Forest was later selected to produce two men’s basketball games and a baseball game in early 2019. All three events aired live on ESPNU, still months before the first actual ACCN broadcast. Those opportunities told Overstreet that Wake Forest’s countless hours of preparation and hard work had not gone unnoticed and they were ready for the linear level production to begin.

When he first came to Wake Forest in January 2000, Overstreet could not have imagined he would be filling the role he is today. He started on the academic side of campus, working in classroom multimedia operations, then first became involved with athletics as a part-time video coordinator on Skip Prosser’s basketball staff.

With the construction of McCreary Tower at BB&T Field in 2007 and all the video and multimedia aspects of that project, Overstreet joined the athletic department staff full time. Now, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“When I first came to Wake Forest, I had no idea I’d ever be doing what I am now,” Overstreet says. “It’s a lot of hours, a lot of weekend work, but if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t do it. “I truly love what I do. And I love Wake Forest.” The immediate future for the Wake Forest production team and the ACC Network is on hold at the present, of course, as plans for fall sports throughout the country remain uncertain.

A second control room is an eventual probability and would offer the opportunity for even more content to be created on Demon Deacon sports for either ACCN or the Network Extra digital programming.

At ESPN, McCollum and her staff are eager for a second year.

“We are making plans for football season and a fall schedule,” she says. “When the appropriate time comes, we’re ready to jump back in with the same gusto we had before everything stopped.”

ACC Network viewers, including Wake Forest fans, can’t wait.

(Persons interested in learning more about the ACC Network should visit www.GetACCN.com)