Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Open Championship Returns as CTV Rolls in New IP Truck; Hawk-Eye Replay Debuts

14/07/2021

Open Championship Returns as CTV Rolls in New IP Truck; Hawk-Eye Replay Debuts By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Wednesday, July 14, 2021 - 12:54 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

The 149th Open Championship has been in pause mode since last July, but the world's best golfers will finally take to the tee boxes at Royal St. George's in Kent, England on July q5. And for Hamish Greig, CTV OB, CEO, and the rest of the team from CTV, European Tour Productions, and the R&A it's great to be back on site. Everyone's so happy that it is back, he says. I was just driving around last night past the 16th hole which is such an impressive killer par three and it was great to see all the stands and the flags up.

The Open Championship compound at Royal St. George.

While there will be 32,000 fans a day coming out to the course, there are less rights holders on site due to COVID-19 protocols, the Olympics (NBC is producing the golf world feed for the Games), and simply new ways of working (Sky and TV Asahi are producing it remotely).

The compound has a smaller footprint but there's still a fair number of staff here from NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, he says.

This year's camera count is around 145 (typically that number is between 175 and 190) including roughly 27 wireless cameras which include three wireless Xmos super slo-mo cameras and a plane for aerial coverage. With respect to specialty cameras, ACS will once again provide 10 bunker cameras and several rail cams and robo cameras. Broadcast RF and CTV's Golf RF inventory is handling wireless needs with 27 radio cameras, 90 radio mics, 64 Duplex and IFB channels, and around 600 walkie talkies.

CTV's European Tour Productions fleet is onsite en masse for the Open Championship.

CTV, as part of EMG, is using all the power of the group, with six CTV scanners plus two flypacks, two Telegenic scanners, specialty cameras from ACS, and BRF looking after 21 of the 27 RF cameras.

Communications wise all the trucks are connected via RVON to make a huge master frame but giving the ability for any production stream to easily communicate with any other, irrespective of whichever truck they're working from, says Greig.

As for new technology, this is the first Open Championship that will use Hawk-Eye for the super ISO needs.

Super Iso ensures every every hole is covered and makes sure we don't miss a thing says Greig. We have 70 channels of record and two onsite stations with four operators to supplement our Red, Blue, Brown and Gold Live sub mix area and then 12 Hawkeye operators are working remotely from Basingstoke, and one station for NBC operating from the USA

The super ISO efforts this year echo what the PGA Tour has done for The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in the US. Those efforts were the backbone of every shot live service that was produced primarily out of Basingstoke.

The Production Hub

At the core of the production facilities is a broadcast centre that is home to just the world feed this year. The world feed is produced out of a main production gallery, a main sub mix area, and a super-iso/replay room. OSCAR (Outside Source Central Apparatus Room) and QC are the heart of the technical operation.

Next door to the super-iso/replay area is the main replay-sub mix area, where two directors and four EVS operators create features and additional replay packages via four EVS replay servers. The teams in both iso-relay areas work hard to ensure that all the storylines on the course are covered properly.

The third component in the broadcast centre, the main production gallery, features a Grass Valley Kayenne production switcher with 5M/E and 10 DPMs.The freed-up NBC space has been populated by MST with 6 Channels of GFX for World, plus 2 channels each for Marquee Groups 1 and 2 and 3 Hole UHD GDR coverage, plus a large onsite Top Tracer operation supplemented by a remote TT service from Sweden.

CTV OB has more trucks on hand this year as OB 12 A and B, our new fully IP-based golf trucks, will be on hand alongside the other trucks and the production cabin, says Greig. That gives us a new triple and double expando that we didn't have in previous years.

Some of the production team will be working remotely, including ARL which handles augmented reality graphics out of New Zealand and TopTracer which will be operated out of Sweden.

It's still a major show with 12 different production streams, says Greig. And the course is a links course so it will be a challenge to get anywhere with all the people. And then on top of that there are the different bubbles: the spectators coming in, our bubble, and then the players and officials' bubble.

COVID protocols are still very much in place with social distancing, plexiglass screens, and masks required inside and outside unless social distancing is more than two meters, and a plexiglass screen is in place. COVID flow tests are held every 48 hours and for those arriving in from out of the UK a PCR test is administered.

If you have had double vaccine then you don't have to take the test every 48 hours, says Greig. That's the only relaxing of protocols we have had.

One of the challenges from a production standpoint is that the crew can find it challenging to get near the players.

If you're not in the player's bubble you cannot be near them he says.

There is also backup crew on call to give the team the flexibility to deal with someone testing positive.

The Rights Holders

Historically rights holders like the BBC, Sky Sports, NBC Sports, and TV Asahi have had a robust on-site presence but this year only the BBC is on site fully and working as they normally do.

We have OB9 one of our triple expando scanners looking after NBC Sports and the Golf Channel elements as we have 16 outgo
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/07/14/open-championship-returns-as-ct...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

13/03/2025

TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring for VOS360 Streaming Workflows at the 2025 NAB Show

TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring ...

13/03/2025

DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage Platform that Empowers Video Teams to Scale Effortlessly

DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage P...

13/03/2025

FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Life at NAB 2025 Exhibition

FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Lif...

13/03/2025

Ajit Pai Appointed President of CTIA

CTIA, the wireless industry association, has named former FCC Chairman Aji Pai as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. He replaces Mere...

13/03/2025

NAB: FCC's 60 Minutes Investigation Is Unconstitutional, Invalid

he National Association of Broadcasters is urging the FCC to end its investigation of that controversial CBS interview with Kamala Harris stating there is no ...

13/03/2025

CBS Miami to Launch AR Coverage of Weather and Sports for March Madness

MIAMI CBS News & Stations continues to expand its use of augmented and virtual reality technologies with the planned launch of an augmented reality/virtual real...

13/03/2025

Meet the co-founder and chief customer success & innovation officer

Srividhya Srinivasan, co-founder and chief customer success & innovation Officer at Amagi, tells TVBEurope how staying ahead of the latest trends is essential f...

13/03/2025

FCC Chairman Carr Launches Massive Deregulation Initiative

WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...

13/03/2025

SDVI Integrates Rally With Spectra Vail

SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...

13/03/2025

FCC Approves Gray's Acquisition of KXLT

ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...

13/03/2025

NAB Show 2025 Exhibitor Insight: Blackmagic Design

TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...

13/03/2025

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions. ...

13/03/2025

Italia 90 Republic of Ireland Squad, Riverdance, Cian Ducrot & B*Witched on Friday's Late Late Show

Here is your host, Patrick Kielty! Shake your Shamrocks, Patrick Kielty will be...

13/03/2025

RT Celebrating all things Irish this St. Patrick's Weekend

This St. Patrick's weekend, RT invites you to celebrate all things Irish, showcasing the very best of Irish sport, entertainment and live coverage from the...

13/03/2025

GTC 2025 - Announcements and Live Updates

What's next in AI is at GTC 2025. Not only the technology, but the people and ideas that are pushing AI forward - creating new opportunities, novel solution...

13/03/2025

T-Mobile, Thales and SIMPL ease IoT deployments with a flexible and secure connectivity solution

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn By combining T-Mobile's robust network, Thal...

13/03/2025

Relive the Magic as GeForce NOW Brings More Blizzard Gaming to the Cloud

Bundle up - GeForce NOW is bringing a flurry of Blizzard titles to its ever-expanding library. Prepare to weather epic gameplay in the cloud, tackling the genr...

13/03/2025

Gaming Goodness: NVIDIA Reveals Latest Neural Rendering and AI Advancements Supercharging Game Development at GDC 2025

AI is leveling up the world's most beloved games, as the latest advancements...

13/03/2025

Drop It Like It's Mod: Breathing New Life Into Classic Games With AI in NVIDIA RTX Remix

PC game modding is massive, with over 5 billion mods downloaded annually. Mods p...

12/03/2025

Como o Impacto Cultural e Financeiro da Indstria Musical Define Seu Sucesso em 2025

O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...

12/03/2025

Cmo el impacto cultural y financiero de la industria musical define su xito en 2025

Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...

12/03/2025

Nourish Mind, Body, and Soul This Ramadan With Spotify

Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...

12/03/2025

How the Music Industry's Cultural and Financial Impact Define Its Success in 2025

Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...

12/03/2025

FAST now transcends back catalog content

More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...

12/03/2025

Viamedia Adopts ShowSeeker Pilot To Streamline Ad Workflows

GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...

12/03/2025

Mediagenix Appoints Wael Yasin as Sales Director Central Europe

BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....

12/03/2025

Omdia: Global Online Consumer Expenditure to Hit $6.6 Trillion by 2029

LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...

12/03/2025

Comcast Technology Solutions Upgrades to Interra Systems BATON Version 9

CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....

12/03/2025

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments High-capacity switch enhances existi...

12/03/2025

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...

12/03/2025

SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally Sweden 2025

SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally...

12/03/2025

Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations

Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations A total of $17,000 will be distributed among the Boston-based nonprofits. By Madd...

12/03/2025

Offering a broad umbrella for IP standards

TVBEuropes Jenny Priestley sits down with new SMPTE president Richard Welsh to discuss his aims for the organisation going forward, its efforts to attract a you...

12/03/2025

Warner Bros Belgium takes a new approach to its post production workflows

The new process has significantly enhanced operational efficiencies, with automation freeing up creators to concentrate on higher value tasks By Matthew Corrig...

12/03/2025

Another VFX company suspends operations

Jellyfish Pictures, which has offices in London and Sheffield, said it has been battling hard in the face of strong headwinds over the last 12 months By Jenny ...

12/03/2025

Bitcentral to Showcase AI-Powered Innovations for Smarter...

Visit Booth #W2213 to Experience the Latest in AI-Driven Content Discovery and Workflow Automation Bitcentral, a leader in media workflow solutions, is set to ...

12/03/2025

Jeff Lilly Named WGN-TV Director Of Technology

CHICAGO Jeff Lilly has been named WGN-TV director of technology effective March 17, 2025, according to Ric Harris, WGN-TV vice president and general manager....

12/03/2025

Survey: Consumers Want More Shoppable TV Experiences

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. A new study from LG Ad Solutions indicates that consumers want more features that would allow them to shop for products on the connected T...

12/03/2025

IP Showcase To Focus On IP, Broadcast Tech Convergence at 2025 NAB Show

BOTHELL, Wash. The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) will once again present...

12/03/2025

Comcast Boosts Internet Speeds for More Than 20 Million Customers

PHILADELPHIA Comcast announced that it has upgraded Xfinity Internet speeds for more than 20 million customers for no additional cost....

12/03/2025

Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14

Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14 Brie Clayton March 11, 2025 0 Comments Makin' Waffles with Elly Wade During Marc...

12/03/2025

Ross Video Strengthens Cloud Leadership with Appointment of Aaron Tunnell

Ottawa, Canada - March 12, 2025 - Ross Video is pleased to announce the appointment of Aaron Tunnell as Business Development Director, Cloud Solutions, reinforc...

12/03/2025

VEON to release 4Q 2024 trading update on 20 March 2025

12 Mar 2025 VEON to release 4Q 2024 trading update on 20 March 2025 Dubai, 12 March 2025 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator, today confirms ...

12/03/2025

Getting Set for the Winter Olympics: Inside SVT's Ongoing Software-Based Production Evolution

Getting set for the Winter Olympics: Inside SVT's ongoing software-based pro...

12/03/2025

Seamless SMPTE 2110: A Discussion on Making the Move to IP Less Painful

Seamless SMPTE 2110: A Discussion on Making the Move to IP Less Painful Leaders from Netflix, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, LinkedI, and Megapixel address ...

12/03/2025

Opening Doors of Perception: Meta's Ajit Ninan on Rethinking AR/MR Perceptual Displays

Opening Doors of Perception: Meta's Ajit Ninan on Rethinking AR/MR Perceptua...

12/03/2025

Sky Sports Unveils Exciting Plans for 2025 Formula 1 Coverage

With the 2025 Formula 1 season set to begin in Melbourne on March 16, Sky Sports is gearing up to deliver its most comprehensive F1 coverage yet. Following a th...

12/03/2025

Unicanal and Trece TV revolutionize Digital TV in Paraguay with Rohde & Schwarz transmission solutions

Unicanal and Trece TV revolutionize Digital TV in Paraguay with Rohde & Schwarz ...

12/03/2025

Honoring Service, Celebrating Sport: Rohde & Schwarz UK Sponsors NavyFit Rugby Double-Header

Honoring Service, Celebrating Sport: Rohde & Schwarz UK Sponsors NavyFit Rugby D...