Tennis Australia, Gravity Media Efforts at Australian Open Embrace Virtual Advertising With 165 cameras and 1080i, 1080p, and UHD coverage, rightsholders can deliver all the angles By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, January 26, 2023 - 12:28 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The Australian Open is heading into its Championship weekend, and, for Gravity Media, it's the conclusion of another busy tennis season in Australia: besides the Open, the production-services provider handled the United Cup in Brisbane, Sydney, and Perth and the Adelaide International. This is the ninth year that the company has been the broadcast and technology partner for the happy slam.
In 2005, we provided our first total technical-facility solution for the host broadcast of the Australian Open, says Kevin Moorhouse, advisor, Gravity Media. Our role and the requirements for Tennis Australia have evolved dramatically over the past 19 years, and this year's event is the biggest and most complex operation we have undertaken.
The production-control room for Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open
Melbourne Park is home to the Open, the first major of the season, and 165 cameras are deployed across the entire precinct, including Sony HDC-3500/4300 cameras and various robotic solutions using Sony P43, Hitachi DKH 200, and Panasonic cameras with Mark Roberts PTZF heads. Receive sites allow 16 roving RF cameras to work anywhere within the venue, and two remote RF robotic cameras deliver broader views of Melbourne.
All audio and video signals are delivered to a central apparatus room connected via 500 meters of fiber to the production facility at Tennis Australia headquarters, providing coverage of the 10 outside courts as well as Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, and John Cain Arena. Three formats are offered to rightsholders: 1080i, 1080p, and 4K.
We did the whole event in 1080p/50 and the main court coverage in Rod Laver Arena in UHD, says Moorhouse. But many of the unilateral rightsholders onsite still want 1080i program and iso camera splits, so we [converted] 1080p to 1080i for all 165 camera signals.
The robotics-control area for the Australian Open
It's a complex undertaking, Moorhouse points out, adding that successful deployment of a high-quality and reliable infrastructure is testament to the Gravity Media crew: They are extremely talented and hardworking, and I want to thank them, as well as Tennis Australia for once again entrusting us with the delivery of the broadcast and technology undertakings for the Australian Open.
To achieve system connectivity, Gravity Media deploys an IP-based large fly-away system with a level of baseband systems to provide what is effectively a 3,900 3,500 video router. An audio solution integrating Audio Live and Calrec cores allows more than 2,500 audio signals to be routed within the facility.
The production facility has seven production galleries using Kahuna Maverick panels and six audio-control rooms featuring Calrec Artemis consoles. Gravity Media is also deploying 10 Simplylive ViBox vision-mixer systems.
The logging area for the Australian Open
All slow-motion replays, plus archiving and media management, are handled with 25 EVS servers, 52 EVS IPDirectors, 16 EVS XT Access units for real-time transfers and transcoding, three EVS XFiles, and four DBServers, which are SQL servers that host the IPDirector database. During any day's play, Gravity Media delivers 25-45 streams to the 900 Tb of storage onsite, allowing all the action to be accessed by the host and unilateral broadcasters.
For viewers, one of the can't miss it items is the use of augmented-reality graphics in a way that breaks the mold compared with the other three tennis majors.
Tennis Australia use Girraphic as GFX provider, and we also have virtual GFX cameras on the top three courts, says Moorhouse. On Rod Laver Arena, we have Camera 1, the Spidercam, and Camera 44G as virtual cameras; on [Margaret Court] and [John Cain], we have Cam 44G as a virtual camera. These are used for things like break point, weather, player profiles, and more.
There are also virtual-advertising elements on the three main courts, and, according to Moorhouse, the efforts are handled by Australia-based Broadcast Virtual. The results are targeted ads sent to five regions: Australia/New Zealand, Europe/MENA/India, Japan, Asia, and North America and Latin America.
They generate specific targeted adverts for numerous regions in 1080i, 1080p, and UHD, says Moorhouse. That means we have 15 different 1080i PGM feeds, seven different 1080p PGM feeds and three different UHD PGM feeds.
The addition of virtual advertising introduced some timing issues with unilaterals onsite.
That was an additional technical issue we needed to overcome, he explains. For example, ESPN sends their feeds back to Bristol and is cutting their show from Bristol, but the virtual advertisements are added to the program feed, which means those feeds are delayed 1.5 seconds from the camera iso splits [taken] onsite in Melbourne. We have to delay the 30 iso splits by 1.5 seconds so that they are in time with the programming feeds leaving Melbourne.
Ahead of the Main Event In the lead-up to the Australian Open, Gravity Media supported Tennis Australia in providing facilities for the inaugural United Cup mixed-teams tournament, as well as the Adelaide International.
For the United Cup, Gravity Media provided production trucks and facilities in Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney, with 28 cameras and multiple EVS replay and edit-suite facilities at each site, along with the Xeebra replay system for use by teams and players.
Additional bespoke Gravity Media fly-away production systems were implemented in Sydney to draw together coverage from multiple cities to create a complete
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Deepens Partnership with Taiwan's 62nd Golden Hors...
25/11/2025
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, an investigative journalist from Kenya is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2025.
The 26-year-old-sele...
25/11/2025
SVG All-Stars: Blayke Scheer, Senior Director, Creative Content, YES NetworkThe Indiana alum has turned storytelling into an artform for more than two decadesBy...
25/11/2025
Op-Ed: With FCC's C-Band Auction on the Horizon, Broadcasters Need Proven, C...
25/11/2025
Analysis: Is Baller League really the future of sport? By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
With KSI on...
25/11/2025
Platinum Whitepaper: The Growth of Broadcast in the World of Major Large Scale E...
25/11/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: SVG Women's Sports WorkshopBy Samantha Gabay
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 - 10:27 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlig...
25/11/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: CacheFly's Matt Levine on the Evolving Role of th...
25/11/2025
Peacock's EA SPORTS Madden NFL Cast Levels Up on Thanksgiving With SkyCam as...
25/11/2025
Mathias Broe attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Sauna at Library Center Theatre. (Photo by Michael Hurcomb/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Fes...
25/11/2025
The best playlists, podcasts, and audiobooks bring a little extra magic to your daily routine. With new features and offerings, Spotify Premium delivers even mo...
25/11/2025
Comprehensive new research confirms what we already knew: Australian music fans love the quality, quantity, and access they have to new and local music on strea...
25/11/2025
Applicable Products
Objectives The purpose of this application note is to give a brief background on 5G (NR) wireless communication an explain the reason a SN...
25/11/2025
Nielsen will now measure both Lionsgate's FAST channel MovieSphere and Movie...
Tennis Australia, Gravity Media Efforts at Australian Open Embrace Virtual Advertising With 165 cameras and 1080i, 1080p, and UHD coverage, rightsholders can deliver all the angles By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
