34 TVBEurope Summer of Sport
Sky tees up its Ryder Cup plans
This issue, we continue our summer of sport focus by looking at two key events on the sporting calendar: The Ryder Cup, and Wimbledon. Before running the rule over this year’s output from SW19, Philip Stevens examines the requirements of providing comprehensive coverage of the biggest event in golf
Interior of the 3D scanner used at the last Ryder Cup in the UK at Celtic Manor
or in pubs and golf clubs. We’ll do everything we can to draw people in to watch because it’s one of those unmissable events.”
Covering the course The area of the golf course and the distances involved, along with the environment, set the biggest challenges when it comes to covering a prestigious golfing event. There is, of course, a considerable amount of fibre that needs to be deployed right across the venue. In the case of Gleneagles, for example, the distance from the TV compound to the first tee is around a kilometre. “Once you multiply this by all the broadcasters’ needs and the scale of the course, you soon have a very large temporary installation to manage.” For Sky Sports’ HD broadcast, 14 cameras, including four RF cameras will be deployed. In addition, Sky will be providing 3D coverage. “We will be using 35 cameras for the 3D course coverage, comprising 25 rigs: mirror and side-by-side, one Hi-motion, a Polecam, four RF hand-held, three mini cameras and one for the commentary booth. The positions are different to the normal HD coverage, as the call for lower and closer to the course views means alternative positions need to be identified in the planning stage. The fixed cameras are fibred backed to truck. Most of the cameras are SMPTE-based, but we generally use single mode fibre with convertors as this is easier to deploy, with the distances involved.”
EVERY TWO years, The Ryder Cup is contested between the best golf professionals from Europe and the United States. The tournament traces its history back to the 1920s when a seed merchant, Samuel Ryder, became so enthralled by a match at Wentworth that he donated a trophy for future contests between Great Britain (later expanded to Europe) and the USA. The crowd at subsequent Ryder Cup matches has always been substantial, but today the audience can be measured in millions through the use of television. This year’s battle – the 40th – will take place at the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles, Scotland in September.
“We’ll do everything we can to draw people in to watch because it’s one of those unmissable events” Keith Lane, Sky Sports
Since 1995, Sky Sports has covered the tournament – and that arrangement continues this year. Although exact timings are not yet confirmed, Sky Sports typically shows 12 hours a day of live coverage. “We’ll be live from Gleneagles all week on Sky Sports and Sky Sports News,” states Keith Lane, head of Sky Sports. “We will be showing the opening ceremony on Wednesday, and
then all the matches until Sunday. But the weather sometimes changes our plans. At Celtic Manor in 2010, for example, we showed an extra day because of the bad weather.”
Lane says that it’s impossible to give an accurate figure when it comes to viewership, although it is one of the most eagerly anticipated events to be shown on Sky Sports.
Keith Lane, head of Sky Sports
“It’s one of those occasions like The Ashes, Premier League title deciders and big boxing events that transcend sport; it attracts viewers that wouldn’t normally watch golf. Also, with events like these, people watch in groups at someone else’s home,
There is also a full 3D graphics set up which comprises three Vizrt systems. Two are used for the presentation, while the third is used for shot graphics and is linked into the on-course data feed provided by MST Systems. Lane emphasises that integrating data is key to making the graphic content accurate. “Sky Sports has a long relationship with MST Systems and, through a close working relationship with our own internal design team, we have a really good quality stable system.”
Comprehensive facilities Telegenic will be providing all of the facilities for both HD and 3D broadcasts. In all, three scanners will be used – one for the HD presentation and two for the 3D programming. “We will use edit facilities supplied by Telegenic in a purpose built edit container,” reveals Lane. “Within the edit container there is a comprehensive media management, feed logging, and
www.tvbeurope.com August 2014
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