instant replay

television

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Last updated

June 29, 2026

Quick Summary

Instant replay is a video recording of an action, such as a play in sports, that can be played back immediately after the event occurs. This technique was first introduced in sports telecasting. A magnetic recording is made at the same time as the live broadcast. When a significant moment happens, the live coverage is paused, and the recording is shown, often from a different camera angle, before returning to the live action. Variations of this include slow-motion and stop-action techniques, which also utilize magnetic recording, typically on rotating discs. In British English, this is often referred to as "action replay".123

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Bud Selig
…oversaw the implementation of limited instant replay—the process whereby umpires consult a video monitor to review the previous play—in order to analyze disputed home runs. The instant replay process was expanded in 2014 to allow managers to challenge one umpire’s ruling per game (plus a second if the first challenge…
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…oversaw the implementation of limited instant replay—the process whereby umpires consult a video monitor to review the previous play—in order to analyze disputed home runs. The instant replay process was expanded in 2014 to allow managers to challenge one umpire’s ruling per game (plus a second if the first challenge…
Read More

magnetic recording
Magnetic disk devices.
…improved a method known as “instant replay” that is widely used in live telecasts, especially of sports events. This method involves the immediate re-showing of, for example, a crucial play in a football game during a live-action broadcast. Videotape recorders were initially used for instant replay, but they proved too…
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…improved a method known as “instant replay” that is widely used in live telecasts, especially of sports events. This method involves the immediate re-showing of, for example, a crucial play in a football game during a live-action broadcast. Videotape recorders were initially used for instant replay, but they proved too…
Read More

television
Special techniques
…be introduced was the “instant replay” method, in which a magnetic recording is made simultaneously with the live-action pickup. When a noteworthy episode occurs, the live coverage is interrupted and the recording is broadcast, followed by a switch back to live action. Often the recording is made from a…
Read More
…be introduced was the “instant replay” method, in which a magnetic recording is made simultaneously with the live-action pickup. When a noteworthy episode occurs, the live coverage is interrupted and the recording is broadcast, followed by a switch back to live action. Often the recording is made from a…
Read More