Long before the opening tip in front of a packed house at Scotiabank Arena, John Hunter is diligently preparing for the NBA broadcast in a 53-foot transport truck outfitted with all of the technology and, soon enough, talent, needed to bring a Toronto Raptors game to life.
Hunter, who grew up in Stratford, is head of audio for the Raptors' broadcasts on TSN and Sportsnet, 'mixing' home and away games. At a Friday night game against the Atlanta Hawks, Hunter arrived before the lunch hour to get everything set up and start the process of ensuring a world-class experience for viewers.
"It's probably the pinnacle of sports audio jobs," Hunter explained in the midst of preparations in the truck.
Indeed, Hunter's 'A1' position is vital to the flow of a large team of audio and visual professionals, as many as 35 on any given night, piecing together a professional broadcast.
The above video was provided courtesy of TSN
Each individual brings something to the collective, including the sound team's 'A2's that assist Hunter over the course of the day, to camera operators, production personnel, and the announcing team that includes Matt Devlin working play-by-play alongside analyst Jack Armstrong.
Closer to the game, Hunter is at his work station and starts communicating with a team in another part of the truck. In front of him are hundreds of controls, carefully marked. There is a main television to his left and a speaker that will allow him to hear the voice of director Chris Phillips. To his right is another monitor with a dozen camera views from all over the court and a speaker with the voice of producer Dave Leiter.
Hunter describes Phillips' role as coordinating what is "happening immediately", while Leiter coordinates what is "happening in the future." The team engages in what appears, to an outsider, to be a lightning-fast cadence of communication and implementation.
Hunter moves between sound controls with his left and right hands, eyes following television screens, ears in tune to instruction and questions from his colleagues.
"Anyone who has worked in a broadcast truck can probably tell you when you first start, your head is spinning, everything is moving a mile-a-minute, a mile-a-second, but the more games you do there is a natural rhythm and flow to it," said Leiter, who has 10 years of experience in broadcasting.
Before the microphones and cameras were set up throughout the arena, everything was changed around from the Toronto Maple Leafs game a night earlier. Luckily the truck sat overnight, but what seems like a thousand connector cables had to be taken out and replaced for the basketball game, in a room near the truck.
"It is a totally different set-up from hockey," Hunter said.
Hunter said there are seven microphones around the court including at the nets. He also has six 'crowd microphones' throughout the arena, plus some other feeds from the building, which pick up effects, or sounds of the game, contributing to the broadcast.
"I have them placed so that pretty much wherever someone is dribbling on the court, you can hear the ball."
He is also listening to the on-air talent, a large group compared to regional broadcasts, that includes host Kate Beirness, studio analysts Leo Rautins and Kia Nurse and courtside reporter Kayla Grey.
On the visual side, there is a main game camera, slash cameras and a tight camera, a couple of handhelds and two robo cameras. As Phillips explains, some of those team members will focus in on specific aspects of the game - fouls, substitutions, different angles (slash) or a "hero play", when someone makes a good pass, for example.
"Anticipation is the key for the position," Phillips said.
The slam cam, and the slam microphone, are easily recognizable for viewers at home, and they pick-up the swishes, slam dunks, "and one's" and player banter in the low post that everyone watching the broadcast comes to expect.
Hunter has every corner of the arena scouted out and included in his workflow, Leiter noted.
"John certainly knows all of the nooks and crannies around the court to make everything sound as spectacular as it does," Leiter said.
Humble beginnings to a championship ring
After graduating from the University of Toronto, Hunter started working as an audio technician at Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Arena) for the Raptors in-game presentation. He also mixed some pre-game shows for the Maple Leafs.
In 2010, he became a full-time broadcast audio engineer for Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), working on countless Raptors, Leafs and TFC broadcasts across North America.
Since 2013, Hunter has mixed every Raptors home game on TSN and Sportsnet and travelled with the production team to work every playoff game, including the 2019 NBA finals, when the Raptors won the NBA championship over the Golden State Warriors.
"I was in San Francisco the night they won the title," Hunter said. "It was the highlight of my career."
Hunter was presented with a championship team ring as a part of the organization.
In July of 2019, Hunter started working as a freelance 'A1' for Dome Productions. Last season, he started travelling with the team for regular season away games to ensure cohesion between home and away broadcasts.
It helps that he is on the plane with the players, and charter flights cut down on waiting around for flights, as road games can get gruelling. The group arrive the day before the game, getting a chance sometimes to try different restaurants and get in small visits to cities across the U.S.
Working on different trucks can be challenging on road games due to differences with the Dome trucks that the Toronto crew are accustomed to.
"It is like a 1,000-piece puzzle that needs to be solved," Hunter said.
Leiter said life on the road can be tough. A core group of the production team travel together.
"It’s pretty tireless over the course of an 82-game season," offered Leiter. "It's a lot of games...we spend more time with each other than we do our families sometimes, but it is a great group."
Friday night in downtown Toronto
With moments to go until the pregame show begins at 7 p.m., Leiter starts a countdown to a Beirness intro. The Raptors are hosting the Hawks for a second time in two days, a rarity in the regular season, and coming off a comfortable 135-128 win. Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 33 points and Scottie Barnes added 27 as Toronto won their 10th game.
The pregame is a mixture of packaged or pre-taped and live material.
"It's Friday night in downtown Toronto," Beirness tells the audience as the pregame shows begins.
Beirness, Rautins and Nurse provide insight, discussion and opinion on all things Raptors before, during and after the game.
During the game, Devlin and Armstrong, a veteran duo well-loved by Raptors fans, keep the audience informed, as the Hawks find another gear, and take it to the Raptors with some hot shooting, led by Trae Young.
Hunter watches the game intently. He admits to being a fan of the game, "but it doesn't interfere with the job."
Every time the Raptors cut the lead, Atlanta hits another big shot. The crowd wants to explode, but the visiting Hawks are keeping them at bay.
"The hardest part and what has taken the longest to learn is the sound of the crowd," Hunter said.
Devlin and Armstrong lament the cold-shooting Raptors, but Armstrong, ever affable, is keeping the audience educated with his insight, and entertained with the occasional Christmas song leading into commercial breaks.
Devlin has a penchant for naming Canadian cities and towns when a Raptor hits a three-point shot.
Case and point: "Gary Trent Jr. from Stratford," Devlin proclaims after a swish from behind the arc.
The broadcast duo alert their audience to a media member at the game profiling Hunter.
"He's the best in the business," Devlin said.
"We love him," Armstrong replies, before breaking out into Jingle Bells before a commercial break.
Hunter describes the production as a lot of moving pieces. He is quick to praise his co-workers, having worked his way up from an 'A2' role, he knows the demands of the job. Senior staff have worked in various positions to get where they are, which helps them understand the role of everyone on the team, he said.
When the final buzzer goes, the Raptors, outplayed and outshot, fall 125-104 to the Hawks.
It's a rare weekend off for Hunter, who will be back for Monday night's home game against the Charlotte Hornets. After the game, it's a quick 20-minute subway ride to his condo in Toronto.
There are no big plans, and no arena full of fans. Just a chance to spend the time relaxing with his wife, Carissa, and their new puppy, Fuji.
