SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Head of Tennis Sarah Milburn on the Importance of a Good Team and Good Partners WTA Medias Head of Production leads a production team who manage the delivery of more than 50 International tournaments each year By SVG Staff
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 - 1:39 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
As the sport of tennis has surged in popularity, more professional tournaments are being produced for television and streaming all around the globe.
Since 2017, the Women's Tennis Association has driven production under the moniker of WTA Media, following a partnership with Perform Group. That deal which was for 10 years and is the most financially lucrative media rights deal in the history of women's sports has seen WTA Media deliver thousands of matches.
That outfit is led by Sarah Milburn, the Head of Tennis for DAZN and the Head of Production for WTA Media. SVG spoke with Milburn about her career, how she got started, her advice for the next generation, and why working with good people and reliable partners is crucial in live sports production.
How did you get into sports broadcast?
I started out as a runner at Sky Sports bringing my love of sport and media, and combining the two. After making the teas for a while, I found myself carrying out multiple roles across many different sports, before taking up a full-time position on the Tennis production team. Working my way up the production team (it was so long ago content was still on tapes!), I ended up producing the ATP Tour coverage and US Open within Sky Sports galleries and on-site, before taking to the road with ATP Media managing their content output and learning about on-site live operations. Wanting to see more of what the industry had to offer, I set up as a freelancer, before taking on a Head of Production role at Perform/DAZN (which was still within tennis). I just can't seem to get away from it!
What have been some of the challenges in your role over the years?
Managing an international OB production during the Covid Pandemic was a game changer. As the whole world stopped, people and the industry still wanted to watch and play tennis. Making sure operational standards were met and the teams travelled safely for 2-3 years was, extremely difficult. We had partnered with AE Live at the start of the 2020 season, so they had about 5 events before Covid hit. Their calmness, support and understanding of our needs during the next few years whilst the world settled down again, providing us with remote solutions and always being available to contact with new challenges we faced, has been imperative to the ongoing success of this project.
How have production technologies and techniques changed over your career?
Thankfully, and rather fortuitously, we had already looked at remote production solutions and streaming our production operation on-site before Covid. This helped immeasurably, not only to keep costs down, but also operations going with fewer people. WTA Media now delivers in full via SRT and we use remote working production solutions in GFX (with AE Live) and for post production. 75% of our commentary output (over 2000 matches per season) is delivered remotely direct from commentators' homes.
What have been the highlights of your career?
I'm very proud to have run an OB operation of more than 30+ Host Broadcasts each season, which can often change and we have to react very last minute. We have built a great work ethic and dynamic at WTA Media, where everyone is a joy to work with; you don't get that everywhere.
What advice would you give to anyone looking to follow in your path?
Think about what could be done, not about what is already being done. There are far cleverer people than me working in all areas of technology and creativity who can support your ideas. Don't be a silo, work as a team and support everyone you come across.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/06/2026
Tennis Channel has completed a transition from satellite-based distribution to a...
02/06/2026
Daktronics has announced the 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day educational event for high school educators and student production teams, taking place Jun...
02/06/2026
Fandango will bring Telemundo's live Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA W...
02/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) has announced the live television schedule...
02/06/2026
Spalk, a cloud-based multilingual commentary and production platform, has announced three new partnerships: Ligue 1 (English and Portuguese highlights), Eurolea...
02/06/2026
NHL Network's 2026 Stanley Cup Final coverage began June 1 with NHL Tonight: Stanley Cup Final Media Day from the Carolina Hurricanes' Lenovo Center at ...
02/06/2026
Matrox Video has announced the Maevex MGX Series, a lineup of IPMX-ready video e...
02/06/2026
Marshall Electronics will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7521), showcasing a lineup of 4K and HD compact POV cameras for corporate, education, hospitality, wo...
02/06/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated have...
02/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C50...
02/06/2026
Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced the promotion of Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO. In his new role, Marchitto will oversee system design across ...
02/06/2026
The NHL has announced that Brothers Osborne will headline a free outdoor concert...
02/06/2026
CP Communications has announced the appointment of its first two female executives in the company's 40-year history. Tabitha Coleman has been named Vice Pre...
02/06/2026
The Lighting Design Group (LDG) has announced the completion of Studio C at Yahoo's headquarters at 770 Broadway in Manhattan. The studio launched April 24 ...
02/06/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (Z) has announced a partnership with FIFA to broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA World Cup 2030, FIFA Women's World Cup 2...
02/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
02/06/2026
The department is broadcasting NCAA Baseball Super Regionals at Plainsman Park this weekend
Broadcast and production crews at Division I institutions are busy ...
02/06/2026
The initiative is extends beyond the league's arenas to team training rinks,...
02/06/2026
Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Pen lope Cruz, and Edward Norton appear in The Invite by Olivia Wilde, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Co...
02/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
02/06/2026
Powerful new vocal-production tool announced
Described as a vocal performance station , Klevgrand's latest plug-in combines pitch-correction with harmo...
02/06/2026
Launched alongside Go Green sale extension
McDSP have just released the latest addition to their APB line-up, DC-2 Dual Compressor, and have also announced ...
02/06/2026
Create custom tools for Ableton Live 12 Suite
Ableton have just introduced a new open JavaScript toolkit that allows anyone to create their own custom tools...
02/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
02/06/2026
Plus UAD Half Yearly Sale now live
The latest arrival to the Universal Audio range delivers a new native pitch-correction plug-in that's capable of deli...
02/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to present comprehensive performance, conformance and spectrum-m...
02/06/2026
BTL Laboratory becomes Taiwan's first test house with a CTIA Certification c...
02/06/2026
blueCORE standalone processors headline solutions designed to simplify the trans...
02/06/2026
If you've kept up with this article series, you know by now where to start w...
02/06/2026
With new DSP configurations and flexible licensing options, Calrec is removing the barriers to virtualised audio, giving broadcasters the freedom to scale produ...
02/06/2026
The TV agency was one of the earliest adopters of Nielsen's local television...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Grass Valley today announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP to transform its newsroom produc...
02/06/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, announces its new Model 385 Mic/Intercom Beltpack. The Mode...
02/06/2026
The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 2...
02/06/2026
More signals, higher quality, and outstanding ingest and streaming flexibility deliver professional results in a small, all-in-one footprint...
02/06/2026
farmerswife will be featured on the Modena Media & Entertainment stand at this year's Mediatech Africa 2026, giving visitors an opportunity to explore the l...
02/06/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17 19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Praise for series three:
The Times - sun-dappled pleasure
The Daily Mail - The Homes Counties' Charlie's Angels
The Sun - 4* this [is an] enjoya...
02/06/2026
Wuppertal June 2, 2026
Gudrun Scharler Appointed CEO of Riedel Networks The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel N...
02/06/2026
Back to All News
Discover Your Next Book-to-Screen Obsession With Our New Dedicated Hub
Product
02 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Dear most vor...
02/06/2026
New LinkedIn Data: 90% of C-Suite Leaders are Continuously Building Skills to Lead in the AI Era Published on Jun 2, 2026 Categories: Data and insights
Lin...
SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Head of Tennis Sarah Milburn on the Importance of a Good Team and Good Partners WTA Medias Head of Production leads a production team who manage the delivery of more than 50 International tournaments each year By SVG Staff 
