A broadcast control room, also called a production control room or PCR, is the room where a live show comes together: the director calls the show, the technical director cuts the switcher, the audio engineer mixes, replay operators build packages and graphics operators run the CG. Every camera feed goes into the control room, and the finished program comes out of it.
Everything else about control rooms is a variation on that one function. The switcher may be a Ross Acuity or something else. The room may be in a building, in a trailer, or producing an event four states away. What does not change is that the room, and the people in it, turn a set of camera feeds into a directed, broadcast-ready program.
What is a REMI control room?
A REMI control room is a fixed production control room that receives camera, audio and data feeds from a distant venue over IP and cuts the live show from the REMI location instead of from a truck parked outside the event.
The crew who would normally travel — director, technical director, A1, replay operators, graphics — work together in the REMI control room and produce the show remotely. At the venue you have cameras, audio capture, comms and the transport path for the feed. Everything downstream of the encoder happens at the REMI control room.
Live Media Group operates two REMI control rooms at TNDV in Nashville, Tennessee, built specifically for remote integration rather than converted from a studio gallery. Learn more about them on the Nashville control room facility page.
Fixed, mobile and remote control rooms
There are three kinds of production control room, and the difference between them is only where the room physically sits relative to the event.
Fixed control room: A permanent production control room inside a building. Switchers, audio console, replay, graphics and routing are installed and stay installed. Fixed control rooms are traditionally paired with a studio in the same facility.
Mobile control room: A remote production truck is a mobile control room. The same positions, the same signal chain and the same discipline as a fixed room, built into a trailer and driven to the venue. Live Media Group operates more than 30 mobile production units, plus dedicated support vehicles.
REMI control room: A fixed control room that produces events happening at a different location — down the street or across the country. Audio and video feeds arrive over IP from the venue, the show is cut, mixed, replayed and graphics-treated in the REMI room, and the finished program is handed to the network or broadcast partner from there.
The distinction that matters is not a fixed control room versus a mobile unit. The difference is how many crew members have to travel to get to the event. A mobile control unit brings the unit to the event. A REMI control unit brings the event back to the control room, saving time, space onsite, and resources for everyone.
REMI control room vs. production truck vs. fixed studio
Use a REMI control room when you are producing multiple events across different venues on a repeating schedule. Use a production truck when the event is a large, one-off, or the venue cannot deliver reliable connectivity.
Compare the drawbacks and benefits of the three production models:
| REMI control room | Production truck | Fixed studio gallery | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the crew works | Central facility | On site, at the venue | Attached studio |
| On-site footprint | Cameras, audio, comms, transport | Full crew and full truck | Not applicable |
| Travel cost | Low — a small venue team | High — crew, per diem, lodging | None |
| Events per day, per room | Multiple, across venues | One | Multiple, same building |
| Depends on venue connectivity | Yes — this is the constraint | No | No |
| Best for | Season-long schedules, conference and league play, high event volume | Tentpole events, complex shows, difficult venues | Studio programming, news, in-house shows |
| Scales by | Adding rooms and transport paths | Adding trucks and crew | Adding studio time |
Most schedules end up hybrid. A sports conference will put production vehicles on the weekend’s marquee game and run the rest of the week’s games through a control room. This combination is the most efficient workflow for an uneven production schedule.
Live Media Group’s REMI control rooms
Live Media Group operates two REMI production control rooms at TNDV in Nashville: PCR 1, the primary room, with isolated replay and audio suites adjacent; and PCR 2, a second room configured to take overflow and simultaneous shows.
PCR 1 is built around a Ross Ultrix Acuity production switcher with Ross XPression graphics and a Ross Ultrix router handling routing and processing. Replay and audio have their own rooms off the main gallery, which keeps the A1 and the EVS operators out of the director’s talkback — one of the practical advantages a purpose-built REMI room has over a repurposed studio gallery.
Feeds come in over IP. The room is provisioned for 20 inbound feeds on Haivision Makito encoders and 8 more on LiveU bonded cellular, on redundant dedicated ISP circuits.
PCR 1 — Nashville
Production switcher — Ross Ultrix Acuity — 2 Acuity M/Es, 6 keyers per M/E, 14 DVEs per M/E, 4 video/key media stores per M/E
Control panel — Ross TouchDrive TD2S
Routing — 192×192 Ross Ultrix 3G/HD router with 3072×3072 audio embed / de-embed
Audio — Calrec Brio 36 Medley — 36 faders, 96 DSP inputs, 24×16 analog, 16×16 AES, 64×64 MADI, 64×64 Dante. Isolated audio room.
Replay — (3) EVS XT2+ 6-channel, (1) EVS XT2+ 4-channel Spotbox, (1) EVS XFile 3. Isolated replay room.
Graphics — Ross XPression, dual channel
Record — AJA Ki Pro Ultra Plus, Blackmagic H.264 recorder
Intercom — RTS ODIN digital intercom frame
Monitoring — (10) configurable integrated multiviewer outputs
Contribution in — (20) inbound feeds via Haivision Makito; (8) inbound feeds via LiveU
Connectivity — Redundant dedicated ISP; (8) VoIP lines
Who books a REMI control room?
Organizations with more events than travel budget, such as conference and league networks, women’s sports properties, streaming platforms with a full season to cover, and entertainment producers running a series of shows out of one venue.
The Nashville rooms went into service on a series of professional women’s softball games for Athletes Unlimited, which distributes to platforms including ESPN. This is the workload a REMI room is built for — a repeating schedule with consistent production requirements, where sending a truck and a full crew to every game would not be within the budget.
Entertainment and music work runs through the same rooms. TNDV’s history is in live music, awards and specials, and a control room that can cut a softball doubleheader on Tuesday can cut a concert broadcast on Friday.
For the full remote workflow — what goes at the venue, what the contribution path needs, and how a REMI schedule is planned — see our guide to REMI production.
Control room FAQ
Who works in a production control room?
A typical live show has a director calling the show, a technical director cutting the switcher, an audio engineer mixing, replay operators building packages and highlights, a graphics operator running the CG, and a producer overseeing the broadcast. On a REMI show, all of those positions can work from a central control room instead of traveling to the venue.
Is a production truck the same thing as a control room?
In most cases, yes. A remote production truck is a mobile control room. It holds the same positions and the same signal chain as a fixed room, but it is built into a trailer so it can be driven to the venue. The difference is location, not function.
What makes a control room a REMI control room?
A REMI control room produces events that are happening somewhere else. Camera and audio feeds are encoded at the venue and sent over IP to the room, and the show is cut, mixed and finished there. A conventional fixed control room produces the studio it is attached to.
Where are Live Media Group’s REMI control rooms?
Nashville, Tennessee, at TNDV. There are two rooms: PCR 1, the primary room with isolated replay and audio suites, and PCR 2 for overflow and simultaneous shows.
How many feeds can the Nashville control room take?
PCR 1 is provisioned for 28 inbound contribution feeds: 20 on Haivision Makito encoders and 8 on LiveU bonded cellular, over redundant dedicated ISP circuits.
Can one control room produce two events at once?
One room produces one show at a time, and two rooms produce two. The volume advantage of REMI comes from turning a room around between events on the same day rather than moving a truck and crew between cities.
Does REMI production replace mobile production trucks?
No. It changes what the truck is for. Cameras, audio and transport still have to be at the venue, and large or complex events are still better served by a full on-site truck. Live Media Group runs more than 30 mobile production units, plus dedicated support vehicles, alongside the Nashville rooms so the model can be chosen event by event.
What happens if the connection to the venue drops?
Redundancy is planned in from the start: a primary circuit, a diverse backup path, and bonded cellular under both. Transport design is the first conversation on any REMI show.