
Heads Up on BT Sport's remote production of the FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Chelsea By Heather McLean, Editor
Thursday, July 30, 2020 - 17:20
Print This Story
Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates with the Emirates FA Cup and his team mates on Saturday 1 August after beating Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley
The Heads Up FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Chelsea, which took place last weekend (Saturday 1 August) and saw the Gunners defeat their London rivals 2-1, was produced remotely by BT Sport.
BT Sport was the host broadcaster for Saturday's match, which was dedicated to the nation's mental health.
The competition was also broadcast by BBC Sport, which reported that the match delivered its viewing record for the 2019-20 season with 8.2 million viewers, a 46.1% audience share. This beats the 7.3 million recorded for BBC Sport last month on the semi-final at Wembley between Manchester United and Chelsea.
Jamie Hindhaugh, BT Sport's chief operating officer, told SVG Europe that the production for the FA Cup Final was carried out remotely, using the model the broadcaster has been using since the beginning of lockdown.
Early on in April, BT Sport took the radical step of moving its entire production operation out of its studios at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East London, and in just three weeks turned it into a decentralised remote operation following the lockdown of the UK.
BT Sport moved quickly to be able to run the entirety of its channel output with just five people on location at its studios in Stratford, while every other member of staff worked from their respective homes.
Since then, in June it said that lockdown had accelerated its remote production ambitions' it revealed it has moved permanently to a fully remote, distributed production workflow for more of its content, including coverage of the Premier League. This brings forward its vision to go fully remote by 2023.
On the Heads Up FA Cup Final, Hindhaugh said: We are producing remotely from High Wycombe, with presentation live from Wembley Stadium, plus a remote gallery from the BT Sport studio.
Hindhaugh added: We will be making dynamic crowd noise available around the fixture, as well as broadcasting the game in 4K UHD with HDR and Dolby Atmos.
Following the semi-finals earlier this month, when Arsenal beat Manchester City and Chelsea saw off Manchester United, last Saturday's competition was a London derby at Wembley Stadium and a repeat of the 2017 Final, which was also edged by the Gunners.
This year's Final kicked off at 5.30pm BST in the UK and was shown live on both BBC One and BT Sport.
The Final was the culmination of The FA and Heads Together's season-long Heads Up campaign. Spearheaded by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, Heads Up aims to harness the influence and popularity of football to encourage more people to feel comfortable talking about, and take action to improve, their mental health.
In recognition of the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the fixture the first FA Cup Final to be held behind-closed-doors - the theme was the #SoundOfSupport. While Wembley Stadium was silent, the conversation around mental health was louder than ever, with fans urged to show the sound of support' - and to make sure it's heard by those who need it.
Ahead of kick-off, there was a powerful 60 second #SoundOfSupport moment dedicated to Heads Up. Unique artificial crowd noise was played in the stadium, created from a soundscape of real mental health conversations with fans and players. The crowd noise was introduced to the players and fans by a rallying spoken word piece from poet and mental health champion Hussain Manawer.
The FA Cup's historic anthem Abide with Me was performed by Brit and BET award winning artist Emeli Sand from the roof of Wembley Stadium connected by EE. The performance was pre-recorded and played within the stadium bowl and to the global television audience ahead of kick-off.
There was no presentation party and the post-match trophy presentation took place on the pitch.
For more news and content from the Heads Up campaign visit TheFA.com/HeadsUp and headstogether.org.uk/heads-up.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
15/07/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a big deal for DAZN, which has distribution rights in three markets: Italy, Spain, and Japan. Each requires a different editorial app...
15/07/2026
As sports-media organizations manage rapidly growing content libraries and incre...
15/07/2026
HBS director of digital Johannes Franken talks SVG Europe through the operation built to serve FIFA World Cup 2026 rights holders remotely from Stratford, east ...
15/07/2026
IBC has unveiled the conference program for IBC2026, with this year's event ...
15/07/2026
Software-defined wideband RF platform supports 96-kHz monitoring, streamlined fr...
15/07/2026
New AI-powered module enables broadcasters and content owners to extract dialogu...
15/07/2026
Weeklong gathering at EBU headquarters will test new IPMX capabilities and expand certified product ecosystem...
15/07/2026
Force Tech has announced the appointment of Bryan Adams, CTS, as Vice President of Integration. Adams will oversee AV and broadcast integration project delivery...
15/07/2026
USA Sports has announced an exclusive English-language agreement with the Bundes...
15/07/2026
ITV Sport's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage has been produced from one of the m...
15/07/2026
Program will provide professional camera kits, training, and technical support to participating local newsrooms...
15/07/2026
San Francisco church becomes first U.S. deployment of the 2 M/E production switcher...
15/07/2026
Former ESPN and NFL Network executive to advise startup league on media, distribution, technology, and fan engagement...
15/07/2026
The Houston-based RSN is the live-game home of the Astros and Rockets...
15/07/2026
Launched alongside new FreqSoft installer
Designed to bridge the gap between hardware and software, Freqport's FreqInOut FO1 unit provides a simple way ...
15/07/2026
Save up to 55% on software until 23 July 2026
Expressive E have just launched their Summer Offer sale, with discounts of up to 55% now applied across their ...
15/07/2026
Real-time stem-separation tool updated
zplane have recently released a new and improved version of their real-time stem-separation plug-in which they say ma...
15/07/2026
A new benchmark in bass enhancement
Described as a new benchmark in bass enhancement , Baby Audio's latest release has been designed to augment the lo...
15/07/2026
DMC Production's AR 1 and AR 2 units reverse the conventional OB workflow, keeping all production-critical processing at the venue while operators work remo...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
GigaCloud, a leading Ukrainian cloud service provider, and Cubbit, the first geo-distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced a new Business Alliance Part...
15/07/2026
SMPTE, the global society for media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has announced the launch of the SMPTE 110th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising...
15/07/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, unveils the new StudioComm Model 762 Stereo Level Control, ...
15/07/2026
COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried
Brie Clayton July 15, 2026
0 Comments
Producer, Virtual Events (Hybrid | Full-time | ...
15/07/2026
Brazilian media organization builds nationwide CDN with Broadpeak's high-performance software for low-latency streaming and new content distribution service...
15/07/2026
DHD announces a new utility designed to increase the efficiency of its audio mixing systems during initial installation and subsequent configuration.
Anyone w...
15/07/2026
BCNEXXT Brings Next-Generation Vipe to IBC2026, Breaking the 1:1 Channel-to-Server Ratio New innovations liberate broadcasters from legacy playout infrastructur...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/07/2026
Wednesday 15 July 2026
Screeners and press pack now available: Gomorrah: The Or...
15/07/2026
Trinity's Treasures features Ruth Negga, Eleanor McEvoy, and David Norris, a...
15/07/2026
Join geographer Dr Susan Hegarty, Engineer Tim Joyce and Architect Orla Murphy a...
15/07/2026
Home to leading manufacturers, robotics pioneers, infrastructure builders and gaming, of course, Japan is one of the world's centers of AI - building across...
14/07/2026
South end zone videoboard, cloud-based control system will be ready for 2026 football season...
14/07/2026
Redesigned website, enhanced mobile app unify content, ticketing, and personalized fan engagement...
14/07/2026
Agreement spans sponsorship sales, digital monetization, radio production, and new practice facility naming rights...
14/07/2026
Independent league adds 14 regional sports network affiliates, growing distribut...
14/07/2026
New strategy aims to unify competitions, content, fan engagement, and commercial...
14/07/2026
ESPN and Disney+ become exclusive home of PFL events in key international MMA market...
14/07/2026
Gill will oversee engineering, technology, and sports operations across the company's 64 local television stations...
14/07/2026
Submitted by North American Broadcasters Association (NABA)
As broadcasters con...
14/07/2026
Modernized mobile unit combines HOME Apps, mc 56 console, and IP infrastructure ...
14/07/2026
Every match of the 32-team tournament will air across ION and Scripps Sports platforms in English and Spanish...
14/07/2026
FloHockey to stream every game of the annual international tournament under four...