Varsity 4: REMI Kickoff Return

The high-energy environment of a high school football game makes for an exhilarating and rewarding broadcast experience for us and the audience—no matter where the crew is positioned, or where the audience is watching!

This past high school football season, WJXT called on Gemstone Media to produce a weekly feature game.  “We wanted to showcase the talented teams in our area and were able to do that each Friday night through the high school football season,” explained Justin Barney, WJXT sports editor.  “The quality of production was top notch. Gemstone allowed us to bring a professional feel to the high school game each week.”

The resulting 11-week Varsity 4 series on the station’s streaming platform, News4Jax+, was a REMI (Remote Integration) production.

First, Gemstone sent camera operators with intercoms and bonded cellular encoders to the host stadium.

Back at the Gemstone Media office, we decoded the signals, switched cameras, inserted graphics, added slow-motion replays, and mixed audio.

Then, Justin Barney and Cole Pepper at the TV station watched and added commentary, with their audio coming back to Gemstone and the final product being streamed to viewers on News4Jax+.

While this configuration isn’t unique in sports broadcasting, it is technically challenging.  One goal was to allow Justin Barney to be able to walk out of the station’s podcasting room following the post-game wrap, and take his position for The 10 O’Clock News.

“I can’t even tell you how many compliments we received from local fans and even those who were out of state who thanked us for streaming a game of the week in 2024,” Barney concluded.

Watch this fall 2025 for another slate of top high school football matchups, as Gemstone Media produces Varsity 4 again!