NBC Sports' Tour de France Coverage Embraces SNG; Access to Team Radios Is a Hit Production is primarily remote, with the largest onsite presence since the pandemic By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, July 7, 2023 - 10:30 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The Tour de France wrapped up Stage 7 of 21 today. and NBC Sports Tour de France Co-ordinating Producer Joel Felicio and much of the team are once again working remotely from Stamford, CT. The good news is that the remote workflows are working well and the onsite NBC Sports presence is the largest it has been since the pandemic (now up to 18).
We're creeping it back up, Felicio says. There is a little bit more of a footprint and then different tools and new ideas like the access to the team radios, which I am really excited about. That was something I have been discussing with the Tour for a long time as it has always been a fascination of mine to see the riders talking on the radio and then imagining what they are saying. And I think there are going to be some nuggets in there.
The use of team radios has become the norm for NASCAR or F1 broadcasts. For NBC Sports and rightsholders around the globe, the ability to listen in to communications between the cyclists and their support teams will provide much more emotion and insight into strategy, course conditions, and more. The audio for the Tour de France isn't live (for competitive and strategic reasons), but it is already making a difference. (To hear the difference it can make in storytelling, check out the Netflix documentary Unchained.)
Once it's cleared to go out, we'll play it out, says Felicio. The Tour is managing all those signals as they made the deals with the teams to make this possible. At the end of the day, it gives us a chance to go back for the best bits.
An NEP-supplied SNG unit in France allows the NBC Sports production team in Stamford much more control over the Tour de France production.
Woods Communications is once again providing technical facilities in France with a full-size mobile production unit as well as a new SNG truck (from NEP) and a bespoke mobile studio. Those personnel on site for NBC's coverage work out of NEP's HD 11 production unit while the SNG truck gives the NBC Sports team in the Stamford control room access to more video and audio signals.
We don't want to just take a line cut of the world feed as we're telling our own stories, says Felicio of the new SNG truck. We can have 12 signals come into the SNG truck [in France] and a small switcher there send back three paths, including a multiviewer so we can see all the signals. That allows [those of us here in Stamford] to tell somebody in the truck [in France] to put a moto on a path or a heli shot on another. It's like being onsite.
NBC Sports is always looking to up its game, notes Woods Communications President Tommy Woods. Although at-home production plays a major part, Peacock is continuing to make all the necessary moves to showcase the Tour from end to end with talent onsite. NBC continues to deliver a sense of place with best-in-class coverage to the U.S. cycling audience.
One change in terms of on-air talent is that Christian Vande Velde, a retired professional cyclist, has shifted out of the studio and onto a motorbike and will be riding along with the competitors.
He has become a really good asset for us, says Felicio. We're using him as more of a third guy in the booth, even though he is on the course. He can hit a button and chime into the conversation whenever he wants without having any clunky throws.
Having the talent onsite has been crucial because they can maintain their contacts with the teams, says NBC Sports producer David Michaels. Having access to people and being able to talk to them after the stage is over and being part of the ambiance is important: they can see where the final turns are and assess the whole finish [for a stage. The difference when they are there versus not there is like night and day.
Also onsite this year is the SMT graphics operator, who provides the very important pointer to identify riders. During the first year of the pandemic, the SMT operator was in North Carolina and then shifted to Stamford.
It allows him to be more integrated with the timing, he adds, because he can have all of the feeds in front of him at all times.
As for other technology, LiveU units are being used at the start line of each stage to provide a sense of place for the studio show, which is in Stamford.
The LiveUs are magical and just part of a TV production that is, literally, like building and taking down a little city every day in two locations, Felicio explains. The [Tour] builds a little city at the start, and then they build a giant one at the finish, which has thousands of people and trucks. They are literally painting the logos on the finish line an hour before the guys come through. Then, 30 minutes after it's over, the finish line comes down, and it's like it was never there.
Michaels, who works on the Tour de France remotely from his home in California, is on the phone with the team in France as well as with the team in Stamford, arranging a hit list of interview subjects for post-race coverage. It can get a bit chaotic, but he considers that just part of an event that is arguably the most challenging TV production on the planet.
I've done just about every sporting event there is to do, he says, and, after 40 years of doing this, I am still amazed. The French production is incredible.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
NBC Sports' Tour de France Coverage Embraces SNG; Access to Team Radios Is a Hit Production is primarily remote, with the largest onsite presence since the pandemic By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
