FOX Sports Vertical-Video Control Room Allows Euro, Copa América TikTok Studio Show Coverage To Shine

The days of simply putting a horizontal feed into a vertical video experience may be ending

The Euros and Copa América soccer tournaments are under way, giving FOX Sports the opportunity to lean into vertical production in a big way as it looks to tap into the TikTok generation. Delivering live studio content on that platform allows the FOX Sports TikTok feed to get more exposure to TikTok users and drive them to the main broadcast or simply turn them into followers. The trick, however, is to produce a single studio show for two distinct aspect ratios: widescreen 16:9 or vertical 9:16. For FOX Sports, the answer isn’t automated technology but a second control room, good old-fashioned communication between two production crews, and new approaches to blocking talent and show elements.

Having two control rooms allows FOX Sports to deliver this experience to viewers on TikTok. Shown in the photo below is the same video in the horizontal format.

“We know that people consume content now in tall [aspect ratios] and we can’t serve that fan very well if we just put a horizontal presentation into it,” says Michael Bucklin, SVP, digital, FOX Sports. “So we thought, Why don’t we produce it like an original production for a vertical consumer?”

The solution involves a smaller control room housing a four-person production team led by director Kevin Palys. Sitting in the vertical control room, Palys wears a headset that enables him to communicate with the 16:9 production team creating the feed at the center of the FOX Sports, FS1, and FS2 offerings.

“He is listening to the other control room’s countdowns, the producers talking about what is coming up next, as well as the director positioning the cameras,” says Bucklin. “Kevin’s goal is to anticipate, and it has been fun because we’re inventing new processes. Even our graphics package has been redone so the scorebug supports a vertical presentation.”

Having two sets of graphics ensures that each side of the production is buttoned up for its respective format. “Our graphics team uses Tagboard so it’s the same in both control rooms,” notes Bucklin. “The biggest difference is that, in the vertical control room, there are, candidly, less graphics.”

Most of the learning has been around having the two teams work together to develop camera framing for a single group of cameras that can serve the needs of both formats. “In some cases,” he says, “that means we stay a little wider so that one can punch in for one show while the other one doesn’t. We also have the camera people listening only to the broadcast director, so they aren’t hearing two sets of orders.”

The trick, says Bucklin, is making sure the vertical director doesn’t get caught on a shot that doesn’t work well for the vertical space. Although there are some production tools that can automate, for example, a vertical cutout, the manual process allows the entire team to learn and, ultimately, make the on-air product better.

“We are learning something every day,” he says. “As we figure out what it is we want, we can enlist some technology to help us get there a little faster and more efficiently.”

Some of the early learnings include understanding how to show things like talent’s reaction to what others might say or how to show in a vertical space a group bracket designed for horizontal display.

“You have to plan your shots more effectively because you can’t be as reactive,” Bucklin explains. “Right now, the camera people are learning how to have a mental safety bar on the left and the right [of the vertical frame]. We’re all going by feel, and I think it will be that way until this format is so normal that most technologies have adapted to it.”

The good news is that, because the TikTok world embraces quick cuts, it’s effective to do things like cutting from one talent holding up a team’s performance grade to the next versus a wide shot showing them all holding up the grades. “The vertical world likes faster cuts,” he says, “so, as long as the talent is holding up the cards, we can cut — boom, boom, boom — and hit them all.”

For the future, Bucklin envisions using a higher-definition camera to allow punching into either format natively or turning a camera on its side so that the shooting can be done in 9:16 vs. 16:9. The goal, he says, is ultimately to turn TikTok users into TV viewers, with a slate displayed after five minutes telling them to continue watching on FOX, FS1, or the FOX Sports app.

“What’s great about going live on TikTok,” he adds, “is that it moves the content to the front of the line, setting it apart from the millions of brands and influencers and users who are there. We can cut through for those who follow FOX soccer, ask them if they want to join the live experience, and serve them in a natively vertical format, which hopefully surprises them and makes them happy.

“In our first 24 hours [with the format],” he continues, “we gained 20,000 new followers, who will tune into the next live show. It will just snowball from there as the more people that engage, the longer they watch, and the more people we reach. This has been a cool project for both innovation and fan discovery.”