UNC is now preparing for construction of a new $10 million studio building on south campus. The university Board of Trustees approved the project’s design, which will replace the street side of Koury Natatorium, directly beside the Dean Smith Center.

The production center will be used to broadcast games and create digital content on the upcoming ACC television channel. It will house control rooms, studios and offices to completely produce and air games on-site.

UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said the facility will help manage what fans at games are seeing too.

“Now, we’ll be able to do multiple events and run the scoreboards and run all of the in-game commercials at all of our events at the same time,” said Cunningham.

Other ACC schools have built similar communication studios in preparation for the channel since it was announced in 2016. Carolina’s will begin construction this summer, replacing athletics’ offices connected to the natatorium. The building’s design features floor-to-ceiling windows facing the street to allow pedestrians to actively see the studio at work and a video board on the exterior to display content.

Cunningham expects the studio to be put to work quickly.

“I think we’re looking at 140 to 160 live events a year,” he said. “Some of those will be digital, some of those will be linear for the channel, and I imagine that 50-60 of those will be linear on the channel.”

The ACC Network, in partnership with ESPN, is expected to launch in August 2019.

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