In conversation with Tagboard: How the best live productions often go unnoticed
The invisible craft of live production
Viewers remember the goal, the interview or the breaking news.
They rarely remember the graphics.
That’s exactly the point.
The best live graphics aren’t designed to steal the spotlight. They’re there to help audiences follow the story, reinforce a broadcaster’s brand, create commercial opportunities and make every live production feel richer without ever distracting from the action itself.
When everything works seamlessly, viewers barely notice they’re there.
Behind the scenes, however, that’s a very different story.
Graphics have evolved from static overlays into dynamic, real-time production elements that need to work alongside live video, multiple camera feeds, sponsor integrations, social platforms and increasingly, platform-specific experiences such as vertical video.
It’s a challenge that’s changing the way live productions are built.
That’s exactly why we recently sat down with the team at Tagboard.
Why we wanted to have this conversation
Grabyo and Tagboard have worked together for several years, helping broadcasters, sports organisations and publishers build richer cloud production workflows.
Most recently, our partnership played a key role in the Phoenix AM production, where Transition Productions delivered simultaneous horizontal and vertical live experiences from a single source feed.
What made that project particularly interesting wasn’t simply the technology behind it. It was the thinking.
Rather than treating graphics, production and platform adaptation as separate workflows, the production brought them together into a single connected operation. AI-assisted reframing, live graphics and cloud production worked together to create experiences that felt native to each audience, rather than simply repurposing the same broadcast for every destination.
With IBC just around the corner, where Grabyo and Tagboard will once again be demonstrating our technologies together, it felt like the perfect opportunity to step back and discuss why these workflows are becoming increasingly important, and where we believe live production is heading next.
Graphics have become part of the production
For a long time, graphics were often thought of as one of the final stages of a live broadcast.
Today, they’re woven into almost every part of the viewing experience.
From live statistics and sponsor activations to audience interaction, branding and platform-specific layouts, graphics help shape how stories are experienced across broadcast, streaming and social media alike.
Viewers don’t separate the graphics from the production.
They simply experience the programme.
That means graphics can no longer be treated as an isolated production discipline. They need to move at the same speed as the live event itself, adapting in real time while remaining editorially appropriate and visually consistent across every platform.
Great graphics still need a connected workflow
Of course, creating engaging graphics is only half the challenge.
Production teams are also expected to create live broadcasts, vertical streams, highlight clips, social content and sponsor assets simultaneously, often with leaner teams and tighter deadlines than ever before.
The more disconnected those workflows become, the more difficult it is to maintain quality without sacrificing speed.
That’s where partnerships like Grabyo and Tagboard become particularly valuable.
Tagboard enables production teams to build dynamic, data-driven graphic experiences that enhance storytelling and audience engagement.
Grabyo provides the cloud-native production environment that allows those graphics to sit naturally alongside live switching, remote contributors, clipping, editing and multi-platform publishing.
Together, the goal isn’t to introduce more technology into the workflow.
It’s to make increasingly sophisticated productions feel simpler to produce.
Producing for every audience
The Phoenix AM production demonstrated something we believe will become increasingly common across the industry.
Creating a vertical experience isn’t simply about cropping a horizontal broadcast.
Different platforms require different creative decisions. Graphics need to be designed for the format. Framing needs to reflect how audiences consume content. Commercial opportunities need to translate naturally across every destination.
The same production should be capable of delivering multiple experiences, each feeling purpose-built rather than adapted as an afterthought.
As audiences continue to fragment across broadcast, OTT and social platforms, connected workflows like these will only become more important.
Watch the conversation
In the video above, our teams discuss the evolving role of graphics in live production, why connected cloud workflows matter and how Grabyo and Tagboard continue to work together to help broadcasters, sports organisations and publishers create richer experiences for every audience.
We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed filming it, and if you’re heading to IBC this September, we’d love to continue the conversation in perso
