Three is the magic number: How FilmNova and the PTO covered The Collins Cup, triathlon's biggest challenge By Michael Burns
Monday, September 27, 2021 - 10:30
Print This Story
The Collins Cup, the main event in the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) calendar, took place in Slovakia at the end of August and was shown live in over 100 countries. In this article, we take a look back at the massive effort, multiple challenges and military involvement behind broadcasting coverage of the event.
It's great when a plan comes together. It's even better when it works out far better than expected.
When we started, we felt that we might be streaming live, but we weren't sure about what the appetite would be for linear broadcast, says Martin Turner, executive producer of The Collins Cup coverage.
In the end, we broadcast live in over 100 territories for the whole event. It was quite extraordinary. The main coverage was 55 territories in Eurosport as well as Japan, America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, all the main countries that have an interest in triathlon. We're waiting for our full analysis of ratings, but the feedback from all the broadcasters has been fantastic.
amor n in Slovakia was the field of play for the Collins Cup, with 36 pro triathletes making up three teams of six men and six women, representing the USA, Europe and Internationals. Individual matches saw three athletes slug it out from each team, offering fans twelve separate races in all.
You've potentially got [to cover] 36 locations at any one time, and you've got to get to them all fairly seamlessly, says Turner.
When you cover golf, you've got stories happening on each of the 18 holes, you've got static cameras and moveable cameras but you've essentially got every hole covered and each separate story comes to you. Whereas at our event, we had to go to each match, we had to follow each athlete. The RF challenge was immense.
We had to get special dispensation from the Slovakian military government to allow us to use military frequencies.
Of course, this is television, not CCTV, so there's a story to tell too. From a narrative perspective, it's essentially one story: the USA versus Europe versus the Internationals, but it's cut up into 12 different events, says Turner.
It's also complicated by the fact that you don't only get points for finishing, you get points for finishing by winning a match by a certain amount or losing a match by a certain amount. You have to follow the story and know wherever you are at any one time, who's leading, what's going to change and explain the jeopardy. You're also telling individual stories, and keeping people up to date with the flow of the seven-hour event.
A state-of-the-art timing system was used for the first time, while specialist cameras enhanced the coverage and helped to explain who the athletes were.
It was a massive task we gave ourselves and we took on a lot of new challenges, says Turner. We tried a lot of new things and by and large, most of them worked.
Managing frequencies
The production company was FilmNova, with director Matthew Coliandris and programme producer Jim Bentley leading the world feed coverage.
Our background is in complicated OB, but when we saw the footprint we were faced with in amor n, that was a challenge above anything we've done before, says FilmNova managing director Phil Sibson.
When we took it to NEP, they said it was the most amount of RF frequencies they've ever had to request for a single job. We had to get special dispensation from the Slovakian military government to allow us to use military frequencies.
NEP The Netherlands deployed a 100-man crew, 12 motorbikes with each match group and a Quadbike to capture race finishes. A Wirecam, suspended by 20m towers with 16 tonnes of ballast acting as counterweights, provided coverage of transitions.
There were 30 cameras in total, including Steadicams, mobile and handheld RF cameras, Jibs, a Helitele and several specialist cameras, all linked by a fixed-wing relay plane. The graphics were supplied by AE Live.
It was a logistical headache for NEP in that when they couldn't cover a group by RF that they had to have a strong enough 4G signal to bring back pictures.
Although the production had a fixed-wing plane flying at altitude for RF signals, Sibson says this usually only covers around 10km, while the footprint for the whole course was about 30km.
The format of the competition was such that we knew that we would have athletes spread out over the extremities of the course, so we couldn't just position the plane over one part, says Sibson. So it was backed up by 4G as well.
Each of the motorbikes was equipped with both Vislink RF and Mobile Viewpoint WMT 4G encoders. From the off, we realised the only way that we could keep track of everyone on the course was by having a moto with every group, he adds. We needed those motos to stick with each group and move around with them.
It was a logistical headache for NEP in that when they couldn't cover a group by RF that they had to have a strong enough 4G signal to bring back pictures. There were also black spots on the course where there was no 4G coverage. NEP did an amazing job of making sure that when we didn't have 4G the RF was there and when we didn't have RF we had 4G.
So the fact that the signals were so solid throughout the whole seven hours is just staggering and a real achievement.
Weathering the storm
The main scanners, the edit and the highlight scanner and the replay scanner and the directing gallery were all on-site in expandable NEP trucks. The graphics operation for AE Live was in a fly case but that was on-site, says Turner.
The audio was challenging, as was the weat
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...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
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 ...
Three is the magic number: How FilmNova and the PTO covered The Collins Cup, triathlon's biggest challenge By Michael Burns 
