A horse and their rider at the 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
Overview
The 2025 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs marked the sport’s 151st year anniversary, and it also marks the 25th year that the broadcast has been produced by NBC Sports. This year, NBC Sports planned to elevate production quality with RED’s newly advanced cine-broadcast cameras—marking the first time that traditionally cine-type files (which normally get recorded, exported, and sent to post) will be sent directly to the cloud for instant post-production access.
This new endeavor would require a solution to a long-standing problem in live sports broadcasting: the need to quickly and reliably upload high-bitrate video in congested environments for real-time editorial use.
By leveraging Prism Mobile as a reliable bonded encoding workhorse, and AT&T’s Global Video Solutions private 5G network for high-throughput, low latency connectivity, NBC was able to do just that.
A RED camera operator using Prism Mobile for 5G private wireless contribution.
The Challenge
NBC Sports has long sought to take live productions to the next level, with higher-quality cinematic-style shots. But higher quality means larger file sizes, which compromise editorial agility — especially with thousands of spectators present.
And large venues like Churchill Downs create a major roadblock: congested public cellular networks. When tens of thousands of fans flood a venue, bandwidth becomes scarce—crippling camera-to-cloud workflows and delaying post-production for highlights, bumpers, and replays.
NBC’s new workflow would require far faster upload speeds than their typical 10–16 Mbps proxies, which public LTE/5G networks often failed to sustain. For the Derby, NBC aimed to triple their typical bitrate—targeting an HEVC bitrate of 40 Mbps— delivering a similar visual quality as the RED camera footage straight from the track in Louisville, KY to the studio in Stamford, CT via the cloud. Enabling near-instant access to 4K files for remote editors working on rapid-turnaround content.
To meet this goal, Teradek and AT&T collaborated to create a dynamically bonded, 5G private network solution. This enabled the mezzanine quality files to reach a global VMS cloud infrastructure over a clear, uncongested private cellular network with over 145,000 people in attendance.
As crowds flood the stands, public networks congest and bandwidth becomes scarce.
The Solution
AT&T implemented their Global Video Solutions (GVS) Private 5G Network, a lightweight and quickly deployable private cellular node, purpose-built for video contribution. This setup provided dedicated, interference-free uplinks, bypassing the congested public networks overwhelmed by over 145,000 spectators. On the ground, Teradek’s Prism Mobile delivered the encoding power to transmit high-bitrate RED camera’s footage directly to a secure Amazon S3 bucket in the cloud. From there, the NBC Sports Group’s remote post-production team in Stamford, CT could immediately access and begin editing the content—almost as if the footage had been shot in-studio.
The RED camera footage was encoded by Prism Mobile, streaming high bitrate camera proxies to NBC’s Amazon S3 storage bucket.
Key components:
- RED cameras were connected to Prism Mobile
- AT&T GVS private 5G network provided the uplink path
- Video files uploaded directly to NBC’s Amazon S3 storage bucket
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Editors could use the RED camera’s footage to assemble high-impact segments: social posts, interstitials, and commercial break bumpers
The Results
This pilot deployment proved that a high-bitrate, broadcast-ready camera-to-cloud workflow over private 5G is not just theoretical—it’s practical and production-ready.
- High bitrate (40Mbps) mezzanine files were able to be captured and sent offsite to a cloud VMS.
- Enabled editors to access and cut cinematic quality footage in near real-time, directly from the cloud.
- Established a new model for remote post-production, scaling easily to large live events.
Conclusion
The Kentucky Derby 2025 pilot marks a major shift in live broadcast infrastructure: Teradek Prism Mobile and AT&T GVS together enabled NBC Sports to push high bitrate footage to the cloud as fast as it was shot—unlocking real-time storytelling with uncompromised quality.
For broadcasters racing to keep up with the demands of digital content, this test showcases what’s possible when private 5G meets camera-to-cloud workflows. Faster uploads, cleaner footage, and remote editorial freedom are no longer future ambitions—they're happening now.
Contact live@teradek.com to implement 5G private wireless contribution for your next live event.