CBS Sports, GOLF Channel, PGA TOUR LIVE Innovate for Return of Tournament Golf Social Distancing requires new philosopy; live drone, player micing, Inside the Ropes to debut By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, June 9, 2020 - 2:00 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
CBS Sports, the GOLF Channel, and PGA TOUR LIVE are finalizing plans for the return of live PGA TOUR golf this weekend as the Charles Schwab Challenge begins on Thursday at Colonial Golf Course in Ft. Worth, TX. And challenge is the right word as the efforts are the results of two months of solid planning that has created a new production philosophy driven by social distancing and the need to minimize on-site production staff.
This is the most complicated production I have ever been involved with, including Super Bowls and Final Fours, says Sean McManus, CBS Sports, chairman. When we started two months ago first and foremost was a production that is safe for everyone on site with fewer people and social distancing. Then it became about how can we produce the coverage with things like graphics and shading in another location. It's incredibly complicated and then you put the layer on top of that with screening, testing, and quarantining for the safety of employees. We've dealt with things we never have before.
CBS Sports and GOLF Channel will present a unified, linear broadcast production. The same production and announce team during Saturday and Sunday's coverage on CBS also will work Thursday and Friday's coverage on GOLF Channel - allowing for fewer than half of the normal contingent on site for a typical PGA TOUR production. The team in Fort Worth will be joined by team members working at GOLF Channel studios in Orlando, Los Angeles, New York, Stamford, CT, and New Zealand as the ARL Virtual Eye production team will operate from Dunedin on the South Island. Many of the production elements, including the scoring graphics, remote editing, video shading, multiple replay devices - including the new multichannel Hawkeye system - and editorial support, will come from these remote locations.
All told 59 hours of live golf will be delivered to fans in a completely new way via 23 cameras, including 10 hard cameras, six mini RF cameras, plus robotic cameras and live drone coverage if final testing goes well.
The use of the drone looks pretty good right now, says McManus.
The challenge of learning how to reinvent production for arguably the most difficult sport to cover given all of the simultaneous play didn't stop innovation. Along with some of the now-standard innovations like Toptracer, Toptracer RF, ARL Virtual Eye, and Swingvision will be a new ARL Virtual Signage offering. Augmented Reality technology will be utilized to virtually place statistics, player information and sponsorship partners on the course with full trackable camera moves so that the images appear to be actually on the course.
Also, for the first time ever, Hawkeye replay technology is integrated into the linear broadcast with an operator controlling every camera angle remotely from home and contributing with real time replays from action on the course. Graphics and replay will be operated out of a facility in Los Angeles, a large part of the production will be done in New York at CBS, and a mobile unit in Stamford outside of the GOLF Channel will also be in use while the NEP truck on site has also been modified to comply with social distancing.
We reconfigured the truck which usually holds 22 people to now have only nine people and there are more mobile units on site, says McManus.
For all four days Jim Nantz will anchor coverage from the 18th Tower by himself and a robotic camera instead of five or six people and analyst Nick Faldo at his side. Nantz will be joined on site by on-course reporters Dottie Pepper and Mark Immelman. Lead Analyst Nick Faldo, Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo will offer analysis remotely from the GOLF Channel in Orlando and Amanda Balionis will contribute reports from her home.
Nantz says the game plan that has come together is incredible and that there are so many new wrinkles, like his inability to enter the compound or the clubhouse.
We can't get together as we normally would to have an on-site production meeting, he says.
One of the wrinkles will be avoiding cross talk between Nantz and Faldo as Nantz says they won't be able to see when the other has put a period on a thought like they can when they are on site together.
We're usually shoulder to shoulder and face to face having a conversation so it is another one of those nuances we will have to figure out, he says.
One new feature Nantz and McManus are excited about is called Inside the Ropes. A small tent will be located after one of the holes on the course (still to be determined) with a camera. Players can enter the tent, pick up a card with a question, and then answer the question via an unmanned camera that will be set up so that players can simply start talking.
I think it can make a big difference and we need the players help, says Nantz.
Questions could range from how is the course playing to what does a golfer need to do on the back nine to win. A quick 20-second answer could be played live or played back later and Nantz says he thinks the concept could be a great fit for other sports as well.
It's something that could be standard operating procedure and could actually cross over in to other arenas, says Nantz. Guy hauls in a 60-yard touchdown pass and can walk over and give a soundbite about how they got free and it can be in the broadcast.
But, for now, he says, it is a wonderful opportunity for the game of golf and the PGA Tour to be part of what he sees as a tremendous addition to the coverage.
We have a sports-starved nation, so this is a chance to create a w
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
20/09/2025
LOS ANGELES A coalition of media companies, streaming services and other firms have launched the Automotive Streaming Council (ASC). This new group said it aims...
20/09/2025
NEW YORK The MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 7 set a record for the most-viewed and engaged VMAs in history with more than 5.5 million viewers watching on C...
19/09/2025
Laver Cup 2025: Tennis Channel Serves Up First-Ball-to-Last-Ball Coverage, Debut...
19/09/2025
SVG Sit-Down: EVS CCO Nicolas Bourdon on Telemetrics, XD Motion Deals, and What ...
19/09/2025
New WWE, ESPN Partnership Kicks Off With First-Ever WWE-Branded WrestlepaloozaFive-year deal makes ESPN the exclusive U.S. destination for WWE premium live even...
19/09/2025
Pace of Change: Gainbridge Fieldhouse Goes ST 2110 to Maximize the In-Venue Expe...
19/09/2025
Laver Cup 2025: Tennis Australia Take Over Chase Center; AR Set To Shine for 108...
19/09/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Pixellot's Rob DeSlavo on the Automated-Production Revolution ...
19/09/2025
SBS introduces bold new series with ADHD, obesity, ageing and menopause as the h...
19/09/2025
Berklee Alumni Nominated for the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards A total of 14 alumni, including Miguel Zen n, Elsa y Elmar, Lewis Pickett, and Nicole Zignago, earne...
19/09/2025
Philo has announced that its free TV lineup continues to expand, with the addition of five new channels from Lionsgate and one from QVC Group, boosting the free...
19/09/2025
Keepit, the market leader in SaaS data protection, recovery and cyber resilience, today announced the appointment of Jan Ursi as Vice President of Global Channe...
19/09/2025
Hornets Tech is delighted to announce that Director Alistair Horne has been recognised with the IABM Technology Catalyst Award at the 2025 IABM Awards. This cel...
19/09/2025
Lightware, a global leader in signal management, is expanding its partnership with NETGEAR through a new agreement which integrates both manufacturers' e-le...
19/09/2025
Friday 19 September 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies...
19/09/2025
Fast walking lanes trialled in two major cities for the first time Friday 19 Sep...
19/09/2025
Back to All News
Manny Pacquiao, Robert Whittaker, and More: Netflix Announces ...
19/09/2025
AI is no longer solely a back-office tool. It's a strategic partner that can...
19/09/2025
RT SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2025: SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED
WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED AS PART OF AN RT RADIO 1 ARENA SPECIAL ON FRIDAY 24TH OCTOBER
LIVE FROM THE PA...
18/09/2025
NWSL Brings on Victory as Rightsholder, Expands Deals With CBS and ESPN for 202...
18/09/2025
CBS Sports Travels to Far Reaches of Europe To Tell Clubs' Stories During 20...
18/09/2025
The Great Integration: How Sports Media Leaders Are Making MAM, Storage, and Clo...
18/09/2025
Amazon launches Prime Vision for Champions League coverage By George Bevir
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 18:28
Print This Story
Amazon is rolling out its ...
18/09/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Canon USA's Rich Eilers, Yuji Tanaka Talk Novel' Feature,...
18/09/2025
NBC Sports Will Deploy a Pair of Dedicated Analysts On the Bench' for Peaco...
18/09/2025
Editor's Note:
The loss of our founder and friend Robert Redford, leaves us...
18/09/2025
Editor's Note:
The loss of our founder and friend Robert Redford, leaves us...
18/09/2025
Robert Redford talks with Lab fellows at the 1981 Directors Lab | 1981 Unknown for Sundance Institute
Editor's Note:
The loss of our founder and friend ...
18/09/2025
Forget just hearing a new album; last night, London lived one. Together with Spo...
18/09/2025
Spotify and Sony Music Group today announced an extension and expansion of their long-standing, successful global partnership. As part of their ongoing collabor...
18/09/2025
SBS Audio podcast helps new Australians keep their Head Above Water
17 September, 2025
Media releases
As Australia heads toward summer, comedians and good ...
18/09/2025
Football fans to watch the inaugural Australian Championship on SBS
18 September, 2025
Media releases
Images here
SBS and Football Australia are delighted...
18/09/2025
L3Harris's advanced large solid rocket motor eSR-73 is hot fire tested at the company's Camden, Arkansas site....
18/09/2025
August, the last month of the summer vacation, brought stability to the amount of time spent in front of the TV screen. The data shows that Polish viewers watch...
18/09/2025
WASHINGTON The controversy over ABC's decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel, continues to heat up, with FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez blasting ABCs decision to ...
18/09/2025
FOR-A America named Jo Aun as Senior Manager of Product Management and Engineering, reporting directly to Satoshi Kanemura, President and COO. In this new posit...
18/09/2025
MASV (massive.io), the fastest and most reliable large file transfer platform for media professionals and an IDC Innovator 2025 for Media & Entertainment*, toda...
18/09/2025
ThinkAnalytics, the global leader in video content discovery and persaonalization, today announced that Dish TV India, the leading content distribution company,...
18/09/2025
DirecTV continues to expand its women's sports offerings by adding Sports Fanatics' and Whoopi Goldberg's Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) All Wo...
18/09/2025
WASHINGTON NextGen TV viewers are beginning to see what high dynamic range (HDR) brings to their football enjoyment with the launch of the sport's fall seas...
18/09/2025
WASHINGTON After issuing audit letters seeking Equal Employment Opportunity data from a randomly selected group of TV and radio stations in August, the Federal ...
18/09/2025
NEW YORK Warner Bros. Discovery and Nielsen have signed a new, long-term, multi-year deal that covers measurement for all Warner Bros. Discovery platforms acros...
18/09/2025
NEW YORK As part of its ongoing efforts to develop better measurement solutions, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) announced the launch of t...
18/09/2025
IRVING, Texas Following threats from the Federal Communications Commission and the announcement that the nations largest station group, Nexstar Media Group, wou...
18/09/2025
Jim Armstrong Named Senior Director of Sales for U.S. & Canada
Search
Cleveland, Ohio (September 18, 2025) - Telos Alliance , trusted global leader in broa...
18/09/2025
Back to All News
Three Wishes and a Deadly Bet: Main Trailer Drops for Genie, M...
18/09/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Premieres the Documentary Mar Branca: The Surreal Sto...
CBS Sports, GOLF Channel, PGA TOUR LIVE Innovate for Return of Tournament Golf Social Distancing requires new philosopy; live drone, player micing, Inside the Ropes to debut By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
