Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

NBC Sports Rolls Out 70 Cameras for U.S. Open Coverage; Producer Tommy Roy Says Graphics Play Big Part

13/06/2024

NBC Sports Rolls Out 70 Cameras for U.S. Open Coverage; Producer Tommy Roy Says Graphics Play Big Part Two drones provide aerial support; tracers, graphics reveal challenge of domed greens By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Thursday, June 13, 2024 - 12:03 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

The 2024 U.S. Open calls the Pinehurst No. 2 course in Pinehurst, NC, home, one of the true legendary tracks in the U.S. and a true challenge for the golfers. One of the challenges for the NBC team is to make clear to viewers just how challenging the course is for the world's best golfers.

To do that, 70 cameras are being deployed, and the production team uses graphics to give viewers a real sense of the greens, many of which are like an upside-down cereal bowl.

Tiger Woods is the biggest draw for fans and viewers on Day 1 of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.

It's going to be crucial for us to help the people at home understand what the golfer faces trying to land a golf ball on these greens from long distances away, said Tommy Roy, lead producer, NBC Golf, prior to the start of the tournament. We will have significant graphics to show that, not only setting it up before the golf ball is hit but also while the ball is in the air.

The NBC Sports golf production team is working out of NEP's ND2 A, B, C, and D units as well as Supershooter 4's A, B, and C units (the USGA is producing the world feed out of Supershooter 8).

As for high-flying drones, NBC Sports has two drones: one at the first tee, putting range, and clubhouse area; the other following the leaders on the course.

At the Phoenix Open earlier this year, said Roy, we had a second drone that we added in the area [around the 16th hole], where in the past we've had a Flycam. It allowed us to get many more unique angles, and we repeated that at THE PLAYERS at the 16th- and 17th-hole area. We will continue that at the Open.

Key to making sure everyone - golfers, caddies, fans, tournament officials - is comfortable with the drones is to use small drones, which make less noise than the large ones.

Ben McClung [owner, Sky Realty Productions] is the drone operator, said Roy. He uses a much smaller drone that is also quieter. He played golf at Vanderbilt with Brandt Snedeker, so he's very familiar with the game. We have never had any issues with players' being distracted by the drones. You just have to be very careful about when they fly and make sure that they're out of eyesight of the players; if they're quiet, you can do that.

Among other tech toys, tracers are used on every hole, but, at 4 and 14, where the tee shots are downhill, the tracers look down on the tee shot, allowing the viewer to see where the ball is headed in the distance.

Bunker cams are used at Holes 6 and 13. In addition, a Jita tracer at Holes 8 and 18 not only tracks the ball in flight but also zooms with the ball, which Roy described as quite a cool effect.

He also noted a rail cam at the 17th green, which is a pretty crazy green, lengthy with a lot of undulation. This rail cam will be able to show that from a really cool angle.

Viewers can expect 47 hours of tournament coverage on NBC and upwards of 300 hours of content available via NBC, Golf Channel, and Peacock over the week.

We have 19 announcers, Roy pointed out. The goal is that, when we get to Sunday afternoon, when everything is on the line, our top guys are fresh and ready to call the dramatic finish that we hope we get.

This year's U.S. Open is the first to reflect a new philosophy in managing the talent. We've gone to this odd-even method, where there's a play-by-play paired with an analyst, says Sam Flood, executive producer/president, production, NBC Sports. For the prime hours from the U.S. Open, [play-by-play announcer] Dan Hicks is paired with [analyst] Brandel Chamblee, and [play-by-play announcer] Mike Tirico is paired with [analyst] Brad Faxon. That system has worked very well, the concept being that Dan and Mike take care of context and what is going on the course, giving historical perspective; why the golfer is being successful or what they're thinking about on the shot gets handled by the analysts.

The big news with respect to on-course reporting is the return of Jim Bones Mackay. We're thrilled that Bones is back with the team here, says Flood. He will be part of NBC Sports for years to come; we're going to partner for a long time with him. Two other adds to our group are Roger Maltbie and Gary Koch: Roger will be walking the course, and Gary will be in the tower in an earlier shift.

Another personnel addition is Mark Loomis, who was producer of golf coverage for FOX Sports. He will be joining us as the producer of the morning coverage this time around, said Roy. I'm in the afternoon, so you've got the two guys that have produced every single U.S. Open since 1995 doing the shows, which I think is pretty cool.

In fact, he added, several team members are marking their 25th U.S. Open. For me and Dan Hicks, this will be our 25th U.S. Open, going all the way back to 1995, when we started. Tom Randolph, my co-producer, and Greg Katz, our editorial guy, and about a dozen of our technicians have done every single U.S. Open that [NBC has broadcast] during that time.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/06/13/nbc-sports-rolls-out-70-cameras...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

14/05/2026

Sweetwater and Airstream Unveil Mobile Dolby Atmos Recording Studio

Sweetwater and Airstream have announced a custom-built Dolby Atmos mobile recording studio inside an Airstream trailer, set to tour music festivals, schools, tr...

14/05/2026

American Association of Professional Baseball Expands Broadcast Distribution for 2026 Season

The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has announced a new par...

14/05/2026

ESPN to Establish Week-Long Super Bowl LXI Broadcast Center on Santa Monica Beach

ESPN has announced plans to transform Santa Monica Beach into a broadcast hub du...

14/05/2026

Amagi Announces Major Upgrade to CLOUDPORT Cloud Broadcast Platform

Amagi has announced a significant update to Amagi CLOUDPORT, its cloud-based broadcast playout platform. The update includes 250-plus features shipped in FY25-2...

14/05/2026

Clear-Com to Showcase New Products and Platform Updates at InfoComm 2026

Clear-Com will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7005, June 17-19, Las Vegas Convention Center), introducing a new product that builds on Arcadia Central Station...

14/05/2026

Ikegami to Exhibit at BroadcastAsia 2026 with Two New Viewfinder Premieres

Ikegami will exhibit at BroadcastAsia 2026 (Stand 5D3-1, Singapore Expo, May 20-22), introducing two new viewfinders alongside its existing camera, control, and...

14/05/2026

dB Broadcast Delivers IP-Based OB Trucks for Cloudbass Featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Cameras

Grass Valley has announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside ...

14/05/2026

NAGRAVISION and WPBSA Launch Play Snooker Digital Platform

NAGRAVISION, a Kudelski Group company, has announced a partnership with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) to launch Play Snooker,...

14/05/2026

Belden To Acquire RUCKUS Networks for Approximately $1.85 Billion

Belden Inc. has announced a definitive agreement to acquire RUCKUS Networks from Vistance Networks for approximately $1.85 billion. The transaction has been app...

14/05/2026

NVIDIA Releases Content Localization Blueprint for AI-Assisted Dubbing and Speech Translation

NVIDIA has released the Content Localization Blueprint, a modular reference arch...

14/05/2026

Disney+ To Stream Banana Bowl Championship Live This October

Disney has announced that Disney will be the exclusive U.S. streaming home of the Banana Bowl, the Banana Ball league season championship, streaming live this ...

14/05/2026

Arkona and Manifold To Exhibit on Magna Systems Stand at BroadcastAsia 2026

Arkona technologies and technology partner manifold will demonstrate their production solutions on the Magna Systems and Engineering stand (Booth 5D1-1) at Broa...

14/05/2026

Haivision Webinar: New Broadcast Contribution Products Featuring Minor League Baseball Case Study

Haivision will host a webinar on Thursday, May 21 at 10 a.m. ET / 4 p.m. CET cov...

14/05/2026

The CW Network and ESPN Announce ACC Sublicense Agreement Through 2030-31 Season

The CW Network and ESPN have announced a sublicense broadcast agreement for The CW to televise ACC football and men's and women's college basketball gam...

14/05/2026

Detroit Pistons Ink Local Media Rights Deal With Scripps Sports

The agreement marks Scripps Sports' first NBA local rights deal...

14/05/2026

Report: Broadcasting Among Hardest-Hit Industries as AI Reshapes the Workforce

A new report from education-technology company Wiingy testing post-ChatGPT predictions against three years of real-world data has identified broadcasting as one...

14/05/2026

Madonna, Shakira, and BTS to Headline First-Ever FIFA World Cup Final Halftime Show

Global Citizen and FIFA have announced that Madonna, Shakira, and BTS will headl...

14/05/2026

Sundance Institute Names 2026 Episodic Lab Fellows

LOS ANGELES, CA, May 14, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the cohort selected for the 2026 Episodic Lab program, taking place at Dunaway ...

14/05/2026

The Wraith Shield Advantage: Transforming L3Harris Radios into AI-Enabled Counter-UAS Sensors

Soldiers equipped with Falcon IV radios will soon gain a sense-and-protect capa...

14/05/2026

Getting into the Space Nuclear Power Game with Next-Generation Technology

Artists concept of the L3Harris Next Gen RTG in flight configuration, designed to provide 250 watts of reliable power for decades-long missions in deep space....

14/05/2026

Nielsen data shows NZ vehicle advertisers are shifting gears as fuel pressures make EVs and hybrids an increasingly attractive option

Car ad spend rises sharply in March as more auto buyers turn to electric, hybrid...

14/05/2026

Is This the Year for Agentic AI's Breakout in Broadcast?

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

CBS LA, Los Angeles Rams Ink New TV Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

CueScripts CueiT 4 0 Wins Futures Best of Show Award Pres...

CueScript's CueiT 4.0 Wins Future's Best of Show Award, Presented at 2026 NAB Show by TV Tech CueScript, a leading international developer of professio...

14/05/2026

Expert-Led Education Sessions and Development of Online T...

Expert-Led Education Sessions and Development of Online Training Program Accelerate IPMX Adoption and Deployment The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) to...

14/05/2026

Klvr rechargeable battery launches in the USA to cut cost...

Klvr is launching in the United States with a professional-grade rechargeable battery solution that cuts costs and improves performance across live entertainmen...

14/05/2026

Shooting into the depths of Bedlam with URSA Cine 17K 65

Shooting into the depths of Bedlam with URSA Cine 17K 65 Brie Clayton May 14, 2026 0 Comments Indie feature film paired digital 65mm capture with a Bl...

14/05/2026

WeMakeColor expands with Baselight, becoming hybrid color facility

WeMakeColor expands with Baselight, becoming hybrid color facility Caroline Shawley May 14, 2026 0 Comments Boutique Mexican-based studio integrates B...

14/05/2026

Berklee's Summer in the City Returns with Free Concerts Throughout Boston Area

Berklee's Summer in the City Returns with Free Concerts Throughout Boston Ar...

14/05/2026

Chelsey Green Named to Billboard's 2026 Women in Music List

Chelsey Green Named to Billboard's 2026 Women in Music List The Berklee professor and chair of the Recording Academy Board of Trustees joins other high-pr...

14/05/2026

Parks: Tubi, Roku Channel Are Top U.S. FAST Platforms

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

Study: Downstream Fiber Usage Outpaces Cable Broadband

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

NABLF to Honor Kidde With Corporate Leadership Award

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

LABF Awards Four 2026 Preservation Grants

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

Netflix Expands NFL Deal to Five Games

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

Scripps Seals Local Broadcast Deal with Detroit Pistons

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

Glensound marks 60 years of audio innovation at Broadcast...

Six decades of products built around the people who use them...

14/05/2026

Vivid Broadcast builds agile remote production network ar...

Designed to embrace multiple production processes and deliver high-end live broadcast workflows, Vivid Broadcast has combined Calrec True Control 2.0 enabled co...

14/05/2026

Jigsaw24 and EVS Partner to Strengthen Future Proof UK Li...

Today, Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, announces a new partnership with EVS, a global leader in live video techn...

14/05/2026

Berklee Convenes Leaders in AI, Music for Inaugural AIMS Symposium

Berklee Convenes Leaders in AI, Music for Inaugural AIMS Symposium The three-day event puts musicians at the center of the future of music creation, ethics, a...

14/05/2026

The Last Laugh: NIAJ Fest Wraps Another Successful Los Angeles Takeover

Back to All News The Last Laugh: NIAJ Fest Wraps Another Successful Los Angeles Takeover Entertainment 14 May 2026 GlobalUnited States Link copied to clipb...

14/05/2026

May 13, 2026

Scripps Research establishes endowed chair honoring renowned structural biologist Ian Wilson Keren Lasker to be inaugural chair holder May 13, 2026 LA JOLLA ...

14/05/2026

Sea You in the Cloud: Subnautica 2' Early Access Dives Onto GeForce NOW

Dive masks on - Subnautica 2 is making a splash on GeForce NOW day-and-date with launch, so members can plunge into the title's brand-new alien ocean from a...

13/05/2026

New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs

New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs Joel Pennington May 13, 2026 0 Comments New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...

13/05/2026

dB Broadcast Delivers New IP-based Cloudbass Sports OB Tr...

Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...

13/05/2026

Ikegami Announces its Broadcast Asia 2026 Innovations

Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...

13/05/2026

XRSA and FISE Partner to Deliver Immersive Action Sports...

FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...

13/05/2026

Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Built-In Power Zoom Lens

Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...

13/05/2026

Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Commencement Ceremony

Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...

13/05/2026

CBS Boston to Air CCBL Baseball

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...