Launched in 2011, financial media network tastylive broadcasts 10+ hours of engaging financial media and educational programming on US options, stock, and futures markets every day, producing over 100 original segments and featuring over 20 on-air traders. Providing viewers with important contextual information on investment strategies and the stock market, tastylive is the go-to source for knowledge on options trading.
With a wealth of financial expertise and live market and trading information, tastylive distills complex figures into digestible insights for audiences. As the fastest growing financial news network, tastylive always strives to keep ahead of the curve to keep viewers satisfied and remain at the forefront of financial insight.
With a desire to remain agile, 2024 saw tastylive’s operations move to a brand-new studio in Chicago, US, marking the perfect time to revitalize the technology driving its programming. By adopting a new IP-based infrastructure and tools including Vizrt’s enterprise-grade 4K software-defined production switcher TriCaster Vectar, and powerful graphics control tool Viz Trio, tastylive’s shows are supercharged by a wealth of new creative storytelling possibilities.
Unlocking new possibilities with NDI
Like many broadcasters, tastylive previously relied on SDI infrastructure and legacy production switchers to underpin their content output, including for its eponymous flagship show hosted by Tom Sosnoff. Producers were limited in terms of camera viewpoints and graphics combinations on screen, only able to incorporate standard graphics combinations and a small selection of camera sources to convey information to those tuning in.
tastylive’s new studio in Chicago brought the opportunity of a brand-new set up, yet it was before the move that the appetite for a truly flexible workflow grew. Intrigued by the possibilities of IP production, the tastylive team built a sandbox replica of their entire on-air workflow in a separate NDI set up. What started as an experiment soon became a fully-fledged, 100% NDI IP workflow, ready to plug and play into tastylive’s new studio.
In March 2024, tastylive made the big move to its new offices, next door to its partner company tastytrade, after months of construction and rigorous testing. The move was completed in one weekend by the tastylive crew, with Vizrt’s Graphics and Live Production teams on site to facilitate the transition as soon as the Friday evening broadcast concluded. With its new, flexible NDI-based IP workflow ready to go after installation on the Saturday and extensive testing and rehearsing on the Sunday, the tastylive team was ready for standard broadcasting to recommence at 6am on Monday with the Vizrt team on standby for support.
Without the need for masses of cabling and having recognized the ease of a new simplified workflow, tastylive knew the opportunity to access new creative possibilities was huge. Production teams engaged with a range of courses via Viz University to discover additional graphics capabilities of Viz Engine and Viz Trio, deepening the understanding of how tastylive’s programming can be further transformed.
Driving creativity with Vizrt
With production streamlined, tastylive wanted to broaden the depth of its storytelling, giving viewers more information in digestible formats – whether it be on-screen graphics combinations, tickers, or incorporating different presenters to converse live on air.
“With Vizrt, we’ve been able to create a workflow that allows us to seamlessly connect remote talent from around the world with in-studio talent. At tastylive, we were hitting limitations with our previous gear, but with the TriCaster Vectar, we’ve only begun to explore the full range of possibilities. With our entire infrastructure running on NDI, we can quickly adapt to show our on- air talent exactly what they need to see.” – Garrett Roodbergen, Director of Broadcast Technology and Operations, tastylive.
Processing masses of complex information into digestible bitesize chunks for audiences, tastylive naturally has a graphics heavy workflow. From feeding stock tickers to continuously changing graphics displaying stock market information, tastylive leverages Viz Trio to enable the effortless controlling of the data-driven real-time graphics.
And with TriCaster Vectar, tastylive has vastly increased its number of available video inputs. Having moved from a hardware-based switcher with only two mix effects to TriCaster Vectar with NDI-enabled workflows, the tastylive team benefits from eight mix effects to build engaging segments that can incorporate multiple camera streams at once, each with complex graphics features.
With TriCaster Vectar, tastylive’s new mix effects are also far more powerful and intuitive than before, moving from three layers to up to eight layers on a single mix effect. Capabilities that were once accessed via five different systems are now seamlessly integrated into production via one powerful product, consolidating the entire workflow into one, easy to use IP-based set up without compromising on production capabilities.
“NDI and TriCaster Vectar have also enabled us to design a versatile 4-stage studio setup, where each stage can operate independently, creating live-to-tape content or seamlessly integrating any of the stages into the live show with minimal adjustments—no patching or cumbersome cable runs required,” adds Roodbergen. “By producing all of our live and recorded content in-house, tastylive can maintain its agile, fast-paced workflow, allowing us to deliver more creative, engaging projects while consistently running live shows from 1 AM CST to 7 PM CST.”
“Thanks to the exceptional supportive team at Vizrt, we’ve been able to overcome many challenges while training a brand-new team on such an advanced suite of products. Whether it was building out graphics with Viz Artist or rethinking our entire live show workflow, we could always count on the Vizrt team. They served as an invaluable sounding board, helping us refine advanced ideas to create a more efficient workflow and set the stage for future growth—especially as we begin expanding to the larger IG brand in London with NDI Bridge.”
“Tastylive is a great example of a customer with the vision to make the most of what NDI and an all-IP workflow have to offer,” shares Dave Lanton, Senior Broadcast Solutions Architect, Vizrt. “By incorporating TriCaster Vectar and Viz Trio graphics with NDI, Tastylive has greatly increased its production capabilities while also simplifying its operational workflow. A single operator can now control video switching, audio inputs, PTZ cameras, and more.”
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