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High technology on wheels: TNDV’s truck drives top-quality live TV productions

TNDV has launched its Modulation truck to broadcast live high school football games aired by WUXP-TV, the local MyTV affiliate in Nashville.

 

The Friday Night Rivals series, produced together with sister company GameTime Productions—responsible for crew hiring and logistics—brings viewers matchups from across Middle Tennessee under the management of WUXP itself.

 

The series also highlights the strength of TNDV’s commitment to local education. TNDV Founder Nic Dugger and TNDV President Rob Devlin—like many TNDV employees—are graduates of Middle State Tennessee University (MTSU).

 

This project is special because we’re getting high school students to manage booth stats and other entry-level positions through our affiliation with GameTime, which handles staffing for Friday Night Rivals. TNDV has always believed in blending real-world training with professional broadcasts, and there is no better way than to work on the truck, ask questions, run the equipment and learn how to fix technical issues, said Devlin.

 

TNDV GameTime 1 HI

Two recent MTSU graduates, Jordan Camosy and Joshua Goad, have already made notable impacts on the creative decisions of this year’s season, which kicked off August 21 with three big games including Pearl-Cohn High School at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville. Both joined TNDV full-time as junior engineers in 2023. For the initial broadcasts, Camosy has served as Engineer-in-Charge (EIC) while Goad has discovered an affinity for video shading.

“This is actually my first opportunity in live football production, and I am learning how to adjust video shading strategies on the fly since no two venues are lit the same”, said Goad. “I’ve always had a knack for mixing colors, and I’ve found that innate desire translates to shading cameras. And that’s the beauty of learning with TNDV—they don’t prevent us from experimenting and learning the engineering process. Instead, they help and they nurture”.

The 2025 season continues every Friday through Thanksgiving, with playoffs potentially in the mix. Every matchup is produced entirely from Modulation, a versatile 26-foot KU uplink/HD production truck designed for live event production and uplink transmission. Inside the truck, TNDV crews work with a flexible five-camera system built around Sony HDC Hybrid Fiber Cameras, paired with a mix of Fujinon EFP and wide-angle lenses to capture everything from tight shots to expansive views. The truck is wired for up to six CCUs and equipped with handheld and studio viewfinders to adapt easily to different production needs. The Friday Night Rivals package also travels with Shure wireless audio, allowing wireless communication with sideline talent and enabling the crew to listen to the head referee’s calls from the field.

 

Modulation is perfect for shows like Friday Night Rivals. The truck is small enough to move easily from school to school and still loaded with the right gear package for a full-on multi-camera sports production. We can staff it very lean, with crew doubling up on roles, but the result is something you’d expect from a much bigger truck, said Devlin. 

 

TNDV GameTime 2 HI

That makes Camosy’s EIC role all the more interesting, especially as the direct connection to WUXP’s engineering team and the key stakeholder responsible for both troubleshooting and success. “My role is to precisely understand everyone’s production responsibility on the truck, the issues that require fixing and their levels of urgency, and ultimately make sure the final product being sent to air is the best it can be”, he said. “I learned a lot about how to correctly diagnose and troubleshoot issues both as a TNDV student apprentice and working with senior engineers since joining the staff. The experience gained through my time here is invaluable”.

 

Devlin added that working closely with GameTime to bring in seasoned directors, replay operators, and camera crews also ensures consistency from week to week.

 

“Between the tech we’ve packed into Modulation and the support and leadership from GameTime, we can keep every game running smoothly, on time, and without going over budget. It’s a formula we’ve fine-tuned over years of doing live sports, and it’s proving itself once again”.

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