NESCom students run professional-grade live broadcast using CMSI’s cloud-based workflow on April 18
On April 18, students from the New England School of Communications (NESCom) at Husson University teamed up with CMSI to produce two live softball broadcasts in a way these college students don’t usually get to experience: Without the school’s own production truck. Instead, they ran the show through CMSI’s private cloud, the same infrastructure trusted by top-tier sports broadcasters.
Over the course of both games, approximately a dozen NESCom students operated graphics, replay, and switching—remotely and in real time—from classrooms across campus, effectively functioning as “At-Home” remote (REMI) operators. The results? A huge success, and only a few mishit softballs.
Hands-On Experience with Next-Gen Technology and Workflows
Students worked with CMSI’s Remote Point of Capture (RPOC) hardware, Riedel’s Simplylive Platform, and Ross’s XPression—the same gear deployed to professional sports productions and venues—giving them meaningful exposure to different types of environments that they’ll encounter after graduation. The RPOC platform, already in use on NBA, NHL, and NFL productions, was leveraged to facilitate this next-gen workflow.
Despite receiving only minimal training before the games began, the students quickly adapted to the workflow and performed at a high level. By working with the same tools used by major live sports networks, students gained resume-worthy experience on industry-standard platforms.
The students’ adaptability speaks volumes about the system’s ease of use and scalability. “The students jumped right in and showed how easy it can be to onboard a new team using this system,” said Ryan Carignan, CMSI’s Director of Innovation, who was onsite during the event. “That’s a huge advantage for any live production team looking to scale quickly and leverage both traditional REMI and at-home REMI productions.”
Preparing New Professionals for Live Media Environments
Educators at NESCom see the value of this partnership extending well beyond any singular event. Rodney Verrill, the Director of Operations at NESCom, was also on-site during the broadcast and shared his perspective: “Partnering experiential learning with the next generation of industry standards provides our students with a valuable educational experience within the safety of the learning environment. Our students, who are already adept at broadcasting and streaming live events through our extensive Husson University fiber network, can now add REMI broadcasting to their resumes.”
Katie Benson, a NESCom student, currently serves as an Intern at CMSI and has been instrumental in helping coordinate the event. Her involvement is a testament to the strong and growing relationship between the two organizations.
Real-World Performance with Low Latency
One of the standout achievements of the broadcast was the system’s low latency. Operators ran with just a tenth of a second of total delay—matching what you’d require in a professional sports environment. This ultra-low latency ensured seamless communication and real-time responsiveness across all roles, proving that CMSI’s private cloud infrastructure can deliver the speed and precision required at every level of live production.
Built to Scale
The success of this NESCom event proves that CMSI’s cloud-based workflow can scale. Whether you’re running a college-level doubleheader or producing a national broadcast, the environment can easily adapt to meet the needs of any size operation.
From the classroom to the cloud, this collaboration between CMSI and NESCom shows what’s possible when innovation meets education. The standard of growth in our young professionals as they enter the working world is defined by the way these two organizations come together, and the bar will continue to lift as long as they keep hitting it out of the park.
