Springtime in London: EMG on bringing the London Marathon 2023 home for the BBC By Heather McLean
Wednesday, April 12, 2023 - 13:14
Print This Story
One of the EMG-supplied electric motorbikes filming Elite women runners on Tower Bridge at the London Marathon 2022
Finally back to its springtime slot after three years of being raced in the autumn, the 2023 London Marathon is to be the 43rd running of the annual event.
Taking place on 23 April, fans at home are ready to watch the full array of humanity sweating across the 26.219 miles of the course, from the Elites that will include British distance running stars Sir Mo Farah and Eilish McColgan, to the heavily costumed runners making thousands of pounds for charities.
EMG is all set to bring those pictures to people at home who will be glued to BBC One for full live coverage on the day. The technical services provider's OB fleet for the race are based at Blackheath, Cutty Sark, Limehouse, Blackfriars, and Canada Gate at the end of the race. Most of the OBs include presentation and RF except at Blackheath, where there is no RF other than from the bikes that come in from Blackheath.
Long range plans
On the long range cameras being used for the London Marathon, Chris Brandrick , UK and group commercial director for EMG Connectivity says there will be two live camera helicopters covering the entire course for the Elite races. The aerial coordination and equipment supply is courtesy of Aerial Camera Systems (ACS).
He notes: The helicopters will be AS355 twin engine helicopters, fitted with a gyro stabilised aerial camera system. RF equipment is fitted to the aircraft to either transmit up to the plane or down to the OB (once the relay aircraft has completed its mission). The helicopters will be relocated to deploy on the morning of the race to avoid heavy weather, which is common to early starts on the South Downs.
There will also be six live electric camera bikes that are covering the entire course for the Elite races. Each bike is installed with EMG's Livetools RF equipment. In the past two London Marathon events EMG Connectivity has seen significant improvements in its connectivity for coverage by deploying Livetools equipment for the long range RF camera sources.
Livetools is a manufacturer of RF technology exclusive to EMG. The technology was designed for long range RF applications where robustness is very demanding, and has been used on events such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and many other international sports events.
The Livetools Fusion transmitters and receivers are equipped with the XPRO modulation which is the most robust COFDM modulation of them all, according to Brandrick. All the Livetools products are fully monitorable via IP networks and/or RF links through its control software. The equipment comes with built in GPS transceivers and camera control for Sony, Grass Valley GVG and Panasonic cameras.
Brandrick comments: The Livetools switchers can seamlessly switch between out-of-time sources from aerial and ground terrestrial relays. This is something else completely unique to the Livetools equipment that EMG uses.
An interesting feature on the equipment is the LAN bridge; we can establish a full IP broadband link from any of our sources, which means we can bring broadband comms to the bike pilots and camera operators, deploy RF monitors under the aircrafts footprint, or even a simple Teams or WhatsApp meeting with your colleagues anywhere on the course, he adds.
BBC Sport worked with EMG to capture the 2022 London Marathon, and is looking forward to doing the same this year
Getting the signal home
Brandrick adds on the electric motorbikes being used to capture the excitement of the Elite races: Our bikes are customised and have the ability to sit the camera operator forwards or backwards with special modifications for camera and RF operations. We have the ability to mount the transmit antenna behind the rear facing camera operators, providing them with a 180 degree unobstructed field of view.
Power is taken from batteries mounted in the bike's pannier. These independent batteries have the capability of powering the RF transmission system and camera for the duration of the event, without the need to draw any power from the bikes.
Cameras are supplied with image stabilisers and the stabilised lenses we supply have a built-in optical image stabilization system that employs Canon's patented Vari-Angle Prism Image Stabiliser (VAP-IS).
All bikes have a GPS system for tracking and mapping, he goes on. This allows us to monitor the location of the bikes and facilitates the tracking antennas in the relay aircraft to follow the bikes ensuring the most effective RF camera coverage. Full duplex comms is supplied for bike pilots and camera operators with independent talkback between the two.
We're ready for this year's London Marathon; it's going to be another great day come rain, hail or sun and we will deliver those pictures to the people at home, from the air and on the ground
Additionally for the long range camera plan, there will be one B200 pressurised RF relay aircraft that will be relaying all video, data and comms signals, plus one RF reception site located at Canada Gate which will be feeding all mobile sources to the OB.
Broadcast RFs premium fixed wing aircraft partner is Aerosotravia, an operator that specialises in broadcast aerial work. The advantage of Aerosotravia is its fleet capacity and stand by service during operational aerial work.
All aircraft deployed are pressurised Beechcraft King Air types (E90 or B200). Currently we can deploy six aircraft, all identical and equipped with tracking systems, meaning full backup is available if required, notes Brandrick. The endurance of these E90's or B200's airplanes is up to eight hours 30
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...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
Springtime in London: EMG on bringing the London Marathon 2023 home for the BBC By Heather McLean 
