Nippon TV Wins 2025 ITE Technical Progress Award for Automated Unmanned Baseball Broadcast System
Nippon TV has received the 53rd (2025) Technical Progress Award (Progress & Development Prize – Field Operations Division), presented by the Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers (ITE), for the “Development of a Fully Automated, Unmanned Baseball Broadcast Production System that Reproduces Directorial Intent through Scene Recognition,” powered by its intuitive on-device AI solution, viztrick AiDi. An award ceremony was held on May 29, 2026.
Related Links (Japanese only):
★Nippon TV Press Release
★List of Technical Progress Award Recipients
The ITE Technical Progress Award is presented annually to individuals and organizations that have made outstanding achievements in research and development related to image information media. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in Japan’s video technology field. With this latest recognition, Nippon TV has achieved the remarkable milestone of winning the award for ten consecutive years, reflecting sustained excellence in technological innovation.
For more information about the ITE, please visit:
👉https://www.ite.or.jp/content/message-from-ite-president/
Fully Automated, Unmanned Baseball Broadcast Production System Using Scene Recognition to Reproduce Directorial Intent
Technical Overview
To address the challenges that many games—such as minor league (farm team) matchups and amateur competitions—have been difficult to broadcast despite clear demand, due to the costs associated with personnel and outside broadcast vans in conventional sports production, Nippon TV developed a new system by leveraging its long-cultivated expertise in production direction and technical capabilities.
Despite being fully automated and unmanned, this system enables content production that appropriately reflects the progression and context of the game. In addition to cost efficiency, it offers the following operational and performance advantages:
- Autonomous interpretation of game context
→ The system independently understands the situation and flow of the game - Optimal automated control
→ Automatically executes optimal camera work and video switching - Automatic CG generation and insertion
→Dynamically generates and inserts graphics linked to game events
Through this system, previously underrepresented and hard-to-produce content can now be brought to the screen, significantly contributing to the expansion of the sports media landscape.
Use Cases
This technology has already been deployed in live streaming, where it has supported extended hours of operation. Despite being fully unmanned, it delivers highly engaging content.
We hope that, by enabling cost-efficient production across a wide range of broadcast scenarios, the system will help reach new audiences and contribute to the continued growth of sports culture.
Nippon TV will continue to advance technological development, building on the innovations recognized by this award. We remain committed to delivering new viewing experiences to audiences not only across Japan but around the world, while contributing to the continued growth of the broadcasting industry as a whole.
