Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

EMG UK Chairman Barry Johnstone Dead at 76

24/06/2022

EMG UK Chairman Barry Johnstone Dead at 76 In 2013, Johnstone became the first European inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Friday, June 24, 2022 - 11:21 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Barry Johnstone, chairman of EMG's UK companies, co-founder of CTV in 1980, and a key industry figure in the UK and global sports production marketplace for more than 40 years, died of a heart attack last night at the age of 77. He is survived by his son Adam, Ben, and Lucy.

Barry Johnstone, co-founder of CTV and chairman of EMG UK

Johnstone was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2013 and in his Hall of Fame biography he said he was proud of only having three jobs during his long career. Born and educated in New Zealand, he arrived in the UK in 1970 and from 1971 to 1980 he was International Director at Magnet Records. In 1980 he co-founded a small post production facility which was acquired by Carlton Communications, and the company was rebranded Carlton Television Facilities (CTV). In 1981, Barry was appointed CEO and broadened its services in the mid 80s to include studios, OBs and transmission / playout. For more than 40 years Johnstone would remain at the center of one of Europe's leading mobile-production-truck providers. Since beginning work at age 15, Johnstone has had some remarkable adventures, but OB trucks were his love and business passion.

Since the 1980s, he was a mainstay in sports and music production in Europe and has also developed a reputation among U.S. and world broadcasters as someone who could be relied on year after year. For example, for more than 35 years CTV OB has played a key role in helping ABC Sports, ESPN, NBC Sports, and Sky Sports deliver the British Open to viewers. And during the London Olympics, CTV OB was at the center of the TV production of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, one of the most complex ceremony productions ever.

Tasked with developing Carlton's mobile-production-unit business in the 1980s, he soon found that mobile units were to become the love of his life. Johnstone would later serve as COO of Euro Media Group between 2007 and 2010 and as International Director between 2010 and 2019 prior to becoming Chairman of EMG UK.

I got the opportunity to join a group of people that wanted to build a mobile-edit suite, he said in 2013. It was quite unique. One-inch-tape machines had just been introduced into England. We decided that, if we bought these machines and put them into a truck, we could go around to all the network television stations and edit 10 times faster on 1-inch as opposed to what they did on 2-inch.

As Carlton grew, opportunity again knocked. Carlton agreed to sell Johnstone the editing studio and postproduction assets but not the OB vans, so, when Johnstone started his new company - Corinthian Television (CTV) - in 1995, he had a company with postproduction and a studio but no mobile-production units.

Within a year, that all changed, he said, and my life changed with it.

The success at the Open nearly 40 years ago created a domino effect that made CTV OB the primary force in golf coverage in Europe. In 1990, the company took over technical facilities for the Senior Open, another TWI event. Then, in 1992, European Tour Productions was launched as a joint venture between the European Tour and TWI. CTV OB was again involved in a major European golf production and, in 1997, was awarded a five-year contract for ETP, allowing a fleet of OB units to be built specifically for golf coverage.

Over the years, CTV OB has accomplished many impressive technical feats as part of its technical contract for the Open. Going all digital, going all HD, and expanding the coverage to fully unilateral production are just a few of the notable milestones. And now as part of EMG the company's legacy continues to evolve as the combination with Telegenic has transformed both companies.

Johnstone also served on the SVG Europe advisory board and in 2018 was presented with the SVG Europe Outstanding Contribution to European Sports Broadcasting Award. SVG and SVG Europe will have additional details regarding services in the coming days.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/06/24/emg-uk-chairman-barry-johnstone...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

08/05/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundaries With XR/AR

SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundarie...

08/05/2025

Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta Horizon, and Beyond

Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta...

08/05/2025

PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are Elevating Live Golf Coverage

PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are...

08/05/2025

Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Production

Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Produ...

07/05/2025

Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 1 - Chasing the Fan Experience

Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 1 - Chasing the Fan Experience Balancing audio quality and noise is a constant struggle By Dan Daley, Audio Editor Wednesday, M...

07/05/2025

Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 2 - For Multi-Use Spaces, the Gear Makes the Difference

Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 2 - For Multi-Use Spaces, the Gear Makes the Diffe...

07/05/2025

Snow Sports Offer Opportunity for Edgy and Aggressive' Audio

Snow Sports Offer Opportunity for Edgy and Aggressive' Audio Natural Selection Tour, Shawn White's The Snow Leagues emphasize athlete sound By Dan Da...

06/05/2025

SVG India Summit Draws 140 for a Day of Learning, Networking

SVG India Summit Draws 140 for a Day of Learning, Networking Global perspectives coupled with India perspectives made for informative discussions By SVG Staff ...

06/05/2025

The CW Benefits From NASCAR's New XR and Volumetric Studio at North Carolina Production Facility

The CW Benefits From NASCAR's New XR and Volumetric Studio at North Carolina...

06/05/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Blackmagic Design's Dan May on the Company's Wide Range of Products and Customers

SVG Sit-Down: Blackmagic Design's Dan May on the Company's Wide Range of...

06/05/2025

The FAST Factor: What's Happening in Sports' Latest Streaming Party

The FAST Factor: What's Happening in Sports' Latest Streaming Party Leaders from the NBA, NBC Sports, and Amagi discuss the latest trends in free ad-sup...

05/05/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Kiloview's Judy Zuo on Ensuring Reliable AV Over IP Services

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Kiloview's Judy Zuo on Ensuring Reliable AV Over ...

05/05/2025

In NAB 2025 Afterglow, Grass Valley Touts New Imagers, Production Switchers, AI Capabilities

In NAB 2025 Afterglow, Grass Valley Touts New Imagers, Production Switchers, AI ...

05/05/2025

Inside ATP Media's Remote Revolution in Tennis Broadcasting

Inside ATP Media's remote revolution in tennis broadcasting By George Bevir Friday, May 2, 2025 - 13:50 Print This Story From a single London hub, ATP...

02/05/2025

Ratings Roundup: 2025 NFL Draft Viewership Slots Event at Second Most-Watched Ever

Ratings Roundup: 2025 NFL Draft Viewership Slots Event at Second Most-Watched Ev...

02/05/2025

SVG Esports Production Summit Examines Impact of Remote, Cloud-Based Workflows on the Live Gaming Environment

SVG Esports Production Summit Examines Impact of Remote, Cloud-Based Workflows o...

02/05/2025

Alternative Broadcasts With the Bucs: SportsNet Pittsburgh Provides Unobstructed Views' for Pirates Fans

Alternative Broadcasts With the Bucs: SportsNet Pittsburgh Provides Unobstructe...

02/05/2025

How Momentum Broadcast Teamed Up With Carr-Hughes Productions to Land the Grand Slam Track Production Contract

New possibilities: Creating a new production company with a difference at Moment...

01/05/2025

Telling the Story: Extensive Technical Setup Delivers Comprehensive Special Olympics Coverage

Telling the story: Extensive technical set-up delivers comprehensive Special Oly...

01/05/2025

Just Around the Bend: Olympic Broadcasting Services Readies for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

Just Around the Bend: Olympic Broadcasting Services Readies for the Milano-Corti...

01/05/2025

Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance Gets Going With Lobbying To Ensure RF Access

Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance Gets Going With Lobbying To Ensure RF Acce...

30/04/2025

With Back-to-Back PBR, UFC, and WWE Events in KC, TKO Takeover' Proves To Be a Heavyweight Production

With Back-to-Back PBR, UFC, and WWE Events in KC, TKO Takeover' Proves To B...

29/04/2025

Behind the Scenes With Grand Slam Track: Momentum Broadcast and Carr Hughes Productions Team Up

Fascinating characters: Behind the Grand Slam Track partnership of Momentum Broa...

29/04/2025

Behind the Scenes With Grand Slam Track: Groundbreaking AR for Live Athletics Headlines Inaugural Season

Big package: Groundbreaking AR for live athletics comes to Grand Slam Track By ...

29/04/2025

Behind the Scenes With Grand Slam Track: New League Heads Stateside After Jamaica Debut

High benchmark: Inside the inaugural Grand Slam Track production from Jamaica B...

29/04/2025

Engagement in the Live Stream: The New Age of Delivering the Game

Engagement in the Live Stream: The New Age of Delivering the Game A conversation of streaming leaders dissects the feature sets that are winning in live sports ...

29/04/2025

Conveying Emotion: BBC Sport on Bringing the 45th London Marathon to Viewers

Conveying emotion: BBC Sport on bringing the 45th London Marathon to viewers By Heather McLean Monday, April 28, 2025 - 14:35 Print This Story BBC Sport l...

28/04/2025

Joe Cohen Inducted into Cable Hall of Fame

Joe Cohen Inducted into Cable Hall of Fame By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Monday, April 28, 2025 - 5:19 pm Print This Story | Subscribe Story H...

28/04/2025

LiveU Inks Deal to Acquire Actus Digital, Boost Video Monitoring and Analytics Capabilities

LiveU Inks Deal to Acquire Actus Digital, Boost Video Monitoring and Analytics C...

28/04/2025

Small Van, Big Story: Changing the Game in Sports Broadcasting with Obvious C

Small Van, Big Story: Changing the Game in Sports Broadcasting with Obvious C By SVG Staff Monday, April 28, 2025 - 10:51 am Print This Story | Subscribe ...

28/04/2025

SVG Sit-Down: ESPN's Chris Calcinari on New Flagship Mobile Unit, Cloud and REMI Production, Early Prep for Super Bowl LXI

SVG Sit-Down: ESPN's Chris Calcinari on New Flagship Mobile Unit, Cloud and ...

28/04/2025

A Swiss Soccer Summer: Previewing UEFA Women's Euros 2025 with BBC Sport and Sunset+Vine

A Swiss Soccer Summer: Previewing UEFA Women's Euros 2025 with BBC Sport and...

25/04/2025

Super Bowl Streaming Success: A Conversation with Tubi's Chief Product & Technology Officer Mike Bidgoli

Super Bowl Streaming Success: A Conversation with Tubi's Chief Product & Tec...

25/04/2025

Tariff Turmoil: Trump's Trade Policy Sparks Uncertainty at NAB and Increases Focus on Software Adoption

Tariff Turmoil: Trump's Trade Policy Sparks Uncertainty at NAB and Increases...

24/04/2025

Live From NFL Draft 2025: NFL Media Splits Sprawling Production Between Green Bay and L.A.

Live From NFL Draft 2025: NFL Media Splits Sprawling Production Between Green Ba...

24/04/2025

Live From NFL Draft 2025: Van Wagner Turns Titletown Into Center of Fan Entertainment Outside Lambeau Field

Live From NFL Draft 2025: Van Wagner Turns Titletown Into Center of Fan Entertai...

24/04/2025

Live From the NFL Draft: NFL Media Splits Massive Production Between Green Bay and L.A.

Live From the NFL Draft: NFL Media Splits Massive Production Between Green Bay a...

24/04/2025

Comcast Fills SpinCo Sports Executive Ranks With Matt Hong as President, Jeff Behnke as SVP of Production

Comcast Fills SpinCo Sports Executive Ranks With Matt Hong as President, Jeff Be...

23/04/2025

Audio Helps Chess.com Checkmate Cheating

Audio Helps Chess.com Checkmate Cheating Matches are produced using REMI workflows By Dan Daley, Audio Editor Wednesday, April 23, 2025 - 7:00 am Print Th...

23/04/2025

Tech Focus: Intercoms, Part 1 - Key to Onsite, REMI, Hybrid Operations

Tech Focus: Intercoms, Part 1 - Key to Onsite, REMI, Hybrid Operations Intercoms keep increasingly disparate production locations together By Dan Daley, Audio ...

23/04/2025

Speaking My Language: Bringing AI to the Fore With Real Time Audio Translation for French football

Speaking my language: Bringing AI to the fore with real time audio translation f...

22/04/2025

Pushing the Game: Growing the Popularity of the 2025 Women's Six Nations Through Collaboration and Ever More Broadcast Coverage

Pushing the game: Growing the popularity of the 2025 Women's Six Nations thr...

22/04/2025

New Sponsor Spotlight: RedFlag AI CEO Max Eisendrath on Creating a One-Stop Shop for Sports Content Protection

New Sponsor Spotlight: RedFlag AI CEO Max Eisendrath on Creating a One-Stop Shop...

22/04/2025

Live From The Crucible: BBC Sport's Phil Bigwood Discusses Transitioning the Triple Crown of Snooker to Sunset+Vine

Live from The Crucible: BBC Sport's Phil Bigwood discusses transitioning the...

22/04/2025

You Are There': FOX Sports, Sony, Hawk-Eye Innovations Break Down the Latest Trends in NFL Camera Coverage

You Are There': FOX Sports, Sony, Hawk-Eye Innovations Break Down the Latest...