January 2007 marked the eleventh edition of the Winter X Games, ESPN's premier action sport series held this year in Aspen, Colorado. For the first time, the entire program production workflow was tapeless, as ESPN utilized EVS IP Directors furnished by Bexel Broadcast Services for live event coverage, their on-site Sports Center show, and ESPN New Media Group's web-based content delivered to the ESPN 360 site.

Beginning late last year, Bexel, ESPN and EVS began exploring how they could transition this year's event to a tapeless workflow. Recording camera and program ISO's to tape, logging each feed, and managing tapes across fifteen venues was a difficult task that ESPN's Operations and Technical Management teams had mastered over years of producing the X Games.

By utilizing their experience with EVS' already proven tapeless workflow technology, a Bexel team headed by lead engineer Greg Blanton devised an integrated system for ESPN that met this project's complex challenges.