Signature Sound Helps Broadcasters Stand Out Among March Madness Tournaments With fans, bands, and cheerleaders, managing ambiance is key By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, March 23, 2023 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
One thing that makes March Madness unique is that the array of tournaments spans multiple broadcasters. This year, CBS Sports is airing 24 games, including the Final Four Semifinals and the National Championship, as well as multiple First Round, Second Round, Sweet 16, and Elite 8 games. Meanwhile, Warner Brothers Discovery Sports is televising 18 games across the First and Second Rounds, Sweet 16, and Elite 8; WBD Sports-owned truTV will air 13 First Four and First and Second Round games.
With many of the same technology platforms and even the same gear deployed for this annual D-Day-level enterprise, one way broadcasters differentiate themselves while maintaining continuity among broadcast channels is to develop a signature sound.
Emphasis on Ambience WBD Sports Senior Audio Supervisor, Remote Operations, Dave Grundtvig says he focuses on the games themselves but also on the arenas and their crowds and entertainment.
WBD Sports' Dave Grundtvig aboard Game Creek Celtic during First and Second Round games of March Madness 2023 in Des Moines
Each game, he points out, has the same x number of cameras and x number of tape machines, and you'll get a pretty consistent experience network to network. The individuality and flavor of the broadcast comes through the director and others managing the broadcast: how they cut the game and how and when they choose to show replays. The audio people play the same kind of role in that, in what we choose to focus on and emphasize that can capture the essence of the arena and the action on the court.
Grundtvig's palette comprises the ambience of the arena itself - the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA, where he oversaw WBD Sports' audio for as many as four games a day, implemented a 94-element Electro-Voice XLD291 system in 2020 at a reported $1.7 million - as well as the 16,000-plus fans in the stands, the school bands, and the cheerleaders. NCAA basketball games can roar as loud as 109 dB, so there's a lot of acoustical clutter to cut through.
Like most A1s, Grundtvig started out engineering music recordings, and those skills come into play for sports. To capture the bands, he sets up a pair of Shure VP88 stereo condenser microphones in a mid-side configuration, combined with a Neumann KM194 small-diaphragm condenser microphone.
The M-S mics provide the stereo spread and let me vary that width as necessary during the course of the game, he explains. The 184 is the spot' mic, which creates the center focus for the music. It all brings the music across nicely and lets it sound distinct while sitting in the crowd noise and part of the overall sound of the game.
Grundtvig, who is working with audio-assist Dave Bjornson and Victor Victoria managing the production's RF, notes that director Andrew Greathouse gives him wide latitude in how he captures and mixes March Madness.
He wants me to be aggressive and capture everything, he says, but he also lets me do my thing. It's all about great storytelling, following the announcers calling the game and then having the audio and video match that. Let what happens in front of you dictate what's going on but take in the entire space. There are narratives taking place [on the court], and that's what the show is all about. But the action around that, in the stands - the fans, the bands - is also part of the narrative. How you get that across organically is a big part of making each network's signature.
North America Stories
14/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
14/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
14/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
NHL Situation Room 2.0: How Sony Hawk-Eye Powers Centralized Officiating, Player...
13/01/2026
NBC Sports Ices the Audio for the 2026 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championship...
13/01/2026
DMF and MXL in practice: Which vendors are adopting it, and how fast is the ecos...
13/01/2026
CES 2026: Five Important Sports-Tech BuzzwordsThe terms highlight innovations for sports production at the showBy Daniel Frankel, SVG Contributor
Tuesday, Jan...
13/01/2026
For TGL Season 2, Unity 6 Boosts Virtual-Graphic Quality; COSM 360 Cameras Impro...
13/01/2026
Resetting Expectations? The State of the Sports Industry with Devoncroft's J...
13/01/2026
Top Row L-R: Ana Katz, Natalia Almada, Bao Nguyen, Tatiana Maslany, A.V. Rockwell, Dr. Heather Berlin
Second Row L-R: Sophie Barthes, Azazel Jacobs, Janicza Br...
13/01/2026
DoW to invest $1B in planned independently traded Missile Solutions business...
13/01/2026
L3Harris Chairman and CEO Christopher Kubasik and Under Secretary of War for Acq...
13/01/2026
Singapore - January 13, 2026 - Nielsen today announced the appointment of Matty Lin to its Commercial Organization as APAC regional sales leader.
Based in Sing...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Nine-week performance series brings music, dance, theatre, and storytelling to downtown Durham, January - March 2026 (Durham, NC) The Chamber Orchestra of the T...
13/01/2026
Berklee Launches AIMS, an Artist-Centered Summit on Music and AI Hosted by the Berklee Emerging Artistic Technology Lab (BEATL), the event will focus on the i...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
NVIDIA and Lilly are putting together a blueprint for what is possible in the f...
13/01/2026
viztrick AiDi, Provided by Nippon TV and FOR-A, Powers Automatic 9:16 Cropping with Auto-Tracking and Intuitive Operation for Dynamic Streaming Content
Targ...
12/01/2026
Sports and Music Unite: A Look Back at the Operationally Ambitious FIFA Club Wor...
12/01/2026
Nielsen Panel Discussion Highlights World Cup Impact for FOX, Telemundo, MetLife...
12/01/2026
FIFA President Infantino Highlights How AI Will Impact 2026 FIFA World Cup and B...
12/01/2026
Baltimore Ravens' Jack Dana on Telling a Better Story With Media Management ...
12/01/2026
FOX Sports' Brad Cheney on Spectrum Debate's Impact on the Sports-Produc...
12/01/2026
Australia and New Zealand VP Alan Clements shares L3Harris' leadership insig...
12/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
12/01/2026
Berklee International Folk Festival Celebrates 40 Years Featuring Grammy-winning alumna Arooj Aftab, the milestone concert and weeklong festival marks four de...
12/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
12/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
12/01/2026
Back to All News
Kento Nakajima To Star in Netflix Manga Adaptation S&X', ...
12/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Celebrates Partnership and Progress at Fort Monmouth Closing Ceremony
Governor Phil Murphy, Netflix co-CEO, and Governor-elect Mikie ...
12/01/2026
Back to All News
WWE By the Numbers: Celebrating One Year on Netflix
From left to right: Rey Mysterio, Intercontinental Champion John Cena and Sheamus celebr...
10/01/2026
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
10/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
10/01/2026
Back to All News
Connection and Youth Defined: The Ramparts of Ice Brings a Hea...
09/01/2026
Rock-It Sports' Deron Brown & Laura Rowlands on Launching a New Brand, Suppl...
09/01/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery's Chris Brown on the Broadcaster's First French O...
09/01/2026
NFL Playoffs 2026: CBS Sports Travels to Jacksonville With Packed Arsenal of Pro...
09/01/2026
NFL Playoffs 2026: NBC Sports Is Set To Roll Out New Scorebar, Insert Graphics T...
09/01/2026
NFL Playoffs 2026: Prime Video Production Team Caps Historic Season With Iconic ...
09/01/2026
NFL Playoffs 2026: FOX Sports Kicks Off Postseason Slate With Two-Game Wild Card...
09/01/2026
NFL Playoffs 2026: ESPN's Run Brings Monday Night Football' Flagship Op...
Signature Sound Helps Broadcasters Stand Out Among March Madness Tournaments With fans, bands, and cheerleaders, managing ambiance is key By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
