
Next-generation technology: EMG Italy completes extensive San Siro infrastructure overhaul By Roberto Landini, Italian Correspondent
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - 08:45
Print This Story
The Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, named after the legendary Italian footballer, also known as the San Siro due to the Milan district where it stands, is the largest sports facility in Italy and one of the largest in Europe by capacity.
Inaugurated in 1926, it is owned by the Municipality of Milan and managed by the M-I Stadio. Today it boasts 75,923 seats and is home to two teams, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
In addition to Serie A football, the venue also regularly hosts concerts and religious events, as well as Coppa Italia, Italian Super Cup, Champions League, Europa League, World Cup and European Championship matches.
Infrastructure renewal
Following an intensive design and construction period, EMG Italy has recently renewed the outdated audio, video and data infrastructure of the San Siro.
The work began at the conclusion of the 2022/23 Serie A football season and took more than five months, culminating in the successful testing of the solution in mid-November last year.
The new and advanced technological infrastructure was first utilised on 2 December 2023, for the television production of the Serie A match between AC Milan and Frosinone.
We have redesigned the entire infrastructure, says Francesco Donato, CTO of EMG Italy. This project involved not only updating the cabling to current technological standards, but also considering new shooting formats that necessitate a different and more up-to-date configuration of the camera positions. The focus of modern storytelling is undoubtedly on maximising the spectacle of sporting events. Therefore, we have implemented new solutions and positions previously only achievable through additional temporary systems.
This project involved not only updating the cabling to current technological standards, but also considering new shooting formats that necessitate a different and more up-to-date configuration of the camera positions
Furthermore, to facilitate connection with the shooting equipment located in the TV compound, we designed and installed all necessary terminations and active equipment within a designated container, ensuring optimal connectivity to and from the stadium. We have also implemented control solutions to verify the functionality of both the active and passive components that comprise the system infrastructure.
He continues: The new solution allows for the production of significant events from a narrative and technological complexity standpoint, while also enabling a rapid installation process for the camera positions and all necessary equipment for interviews.
New setup
The setup incorporates 23 brand new internal camera positions within the stadium, along with an additional cabling termination point housed within a container located in the TV compound.
The cabling for the camera positions utilises SMPTE cables and dark fibre for all locations. Additionally, active devices for transporting video and audio signals were installed in specific positions. Finally, for a select few positions, copper connections were also created, to be used exclusively as a backup system.
The TV compound
The system is designed with a high degree of scalability to accommodate potential temporary expansions should the need arise for large-scale shooting configurations.
There's more, adds Donato. The new infrastructure has been designed to enable the future implementation of television production in reverse' mode. This would essentially allow for two simultaneous productions to be carried out if required, significantly increasing the commercial benefits due to doubled sponsor visibility.
Project execution
EMG Italy, acting as the main contractor, oversaw all aspects of the engineering project and monitored the physical implementation by CRV Sistemi. Professional Show also played a crucial role by supplying the system's active components.
Technical specifications
30km of cable (SMPTE and dark fibre)
60 SMPTE camera points
200 dark fibre connections
82 SDI-to-fibre and fibre-to-SDI video trunks
210 audio-to-fibre and fibre-to-audio trunks
30 trunks with media converters
Double security
One of the fundamental objectives of this project, emphasises Simone Sofia, technical resources manager at EMG Italy, who personally oversaw the construction, was to guarantee absolute security for the system, which essentially meant achieving complete redundancy. This involved meticulously planning the cable routes between the shelter and wall boxes, ensuring dedicated pathways and avoiding any intersection with old conduits. Additionally, particular emphasis was placed on the redundancy of the electricity supply to ensure uninterrupted service for any event.
Simone Sofia, technical resources manager at EMG Italy
The power supply is duplicated and feeds the shelter and wall boxes from both the stadium's protected grid and a backup generator unit employed during events. The same principles apply to preventing malfunctions caused by excessively high temperatures.
The shelter housing all connections, located in the TV compound, operates at a constant, controlled temperature and humidity. All wall boxes are also equipped with internal ventilation that manages and maintains a consistent temperature when necessary, safeguarding the contained equipment even under direct sunlight and preventing potential equipment failures due to excessive heat.
EMG handles both the maintenance and daily management of the system, entrusting a technical supervisor with the responsibility of assisting broadcasters in setting up events, coordinating all active components of the system from a dedicated control station.
Reliability and rapid setup
Th
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
16/11/2025
L3Harris to deliver advanced electronic warfare systems quickly for worldwide F-16 programs...
16/11/2025
Upgrading your Apogee Symphony MKII from TB2 to TB3: Need to Knows Upgrading your Apogee interface to Thunderbolt 3 isn't difficult - but it's not a cas...
16/11/2025
Apogee Electronics Acquired by Dirk Ulrich's Rockforce Tech Holding, Parent ...
15/11/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The Walt Disney Company and YouTube TV have reached a new multi-year distribution agreement, ending a carriage dispute that had blacked out ABC,...
15/11/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wis. A group of about 20 TV technology vendors supporting NextGen TV are wrapping up their ATSC 3.0 Interop here at Heartland Video Systems headquarte...
15/11/2025
NEW YORK NBCUniversal has announced that it will be launching NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), a 24/7 linear network featuring a wide range of marquee sporting event...
15/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released an updated agenda for its Open Meeting on Thursday, November 20, 2025, which is scheduled to comme...
15/11/2025
JERSEY CITY, N.J. OpenVault has released new data showing that DOCSIS 3.1 and higher services are driving significant across-the-board increases in speed and co...
15/11/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has concluded an agreement with the Ohio Valley Conference ( OVC ) to broadcast OVC college basketball games across 20 Gray markets in five s...
15/11/2025
NEW BERN, N.C. Wheatstone has named company veteran Darrin Paley vice president of business accounts, effective immediately....
15/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Serves Up the Trailer for Dining with the Kapoors'...
14/11/2025
Op-Ed: The Automation Imperative - Why AI Is the Only Scalable Defense Against L...
14/11/2025
FutureSPORT 2025: Caretta Research on why streaming won't save broadcasters By Jo Ruddock
Monday, November 10, 2025 - 14:37
Print This Story
Caretta R...
14/11/2025
Daneysse Daniels, Emmy-Winning Production Manager and Beloved Teammate at TNT Sp...
14/11/2025
The NBA 2K League Returns as an Immersive Entertainment Ecosystem' With Non...
14/11/2025
Inaugural SVG LIVE! Conference Brings 250 Top Sports and Entertainment Producti...
14/11/2025
(L-R) Suzette Quintanilla, Isabel Castro, and Chris P rez attend the 2025 Sundan...
14/11/2025
This week, Casa Spotify lit up Las Vegas with an unforgettable celebration of Latin music and culture ahead of the 26th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Hosted at th...
14/11/2025
Boston Conservatory Orchestra to Perform at Carnegie Hall for United Nations Gen...
14/11/2025
Berklee Alum Lewis Pickett Wins Record of the Year at Latin Grammy Awards Pickett, a 2009 graduate, was nominated six times across three categories at this ye...
14/11/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wisc. A group of about 20 TV technology vendors supporting NextGen TV are wrapping up their ATSC 3.0 Interop here at Heartland Video Services headquar...
14/11/2025
What if your idle operations centers, inactive cloud time, staff or you as a freelancer could start generating revenue tomorrow?
NECF Corporation today announc...
14/11/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, today announced that it has been recognized as a Major Player in the IDC MarketS...
14/11/2025
The recent ADAC RAVENOL 24h Race at Germany's legendary N rburgring circuit marked a milestone for live broadcast production, and Clear-Com played a pivota...
14/11/2025
Streaming tech companies M2A Media and Unified Streaming provided key software components that enabled the world's leading sports entertainment platform, DA...
14/11/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management solutions, is strengthening its commitment to sustainability through a series of people-focused ESG (Environm...
14/11/2025
WASHINGTON As the federal government shut down comes to an end, the Federal Communications Commission has further extended some filing deadlines and issued some...
14/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. In the run-up to being spun off from Comcast, Versant has announced that USA Sports will be the new brand and division name for the company'...
14/11/2025
Friday 14 November 2025
Documentary short, Children No More, comes to Sky this December
Following its world premiere at DOC NYC yesterday, Sky today announces...
14/11/2025
Friday 14 November 2025
Sky to remain the home of Ryder Cup and DP World Tour through 2029
Sky and the DP World Tour have today announced a four-year partners...
14/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz redefines border security with comprehensive signals intelligenc...
14/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz, together with Samsung, first to validate 3GPP NR-NTN conformanc...
14/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Trailer of City of Shadows
Entertainment
14 November 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
PREMIERING ON NETFLIX ...
14/11/2025
Today's AI workloads are data-intensive, requiring more scalable and afforda...
14/11/2025
The Late Late Toy Show blasts off!
RT launches The Late Late Toy Show's of...
14/11/2025
Scripps Research study reveals how uterine contractions are regulated by stretch and pressure during childbirth Molecular insights could lead to improved labor ...
13/11/2025
Versant Announces USA Sports as New Brand for Sports PortfolioBy SVG Staff
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 6:15 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highli...
13/11/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Mike Szlamowicz, Assistant Athletics Director, Sport an...
13/11/2025
REMI Realities: Finding Success in Switching, Replay, Graphics, Commentary, and ...
13/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: E1's Laurence Boyd Shares the Tech Challenges of the 2025 Race...
13/11/2025
Versant's USA Sports Inks Five-Year Rights Deal With New Pac-12 ConferencePac-12 Enterprises will produce all USA Network games in partnership with USA Spor...
13/11/2025
NBCU To Launch New NBC Sports Network on Nov. 17By SVG Staff
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 10:40 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
NBCUniv...
13/11/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Glenn Adamo, Artist of StorytellingBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 11:29 am
Pri...
13/11/2025
(L-R) Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen, Ryan White, Megan Falley, and A...
13/11/2025
By Roni Jo Draper
My father was born and raised in the Yurok village of Weitpus, in what is now considered Northern California. There at the fork of the Klamat...
13/11/2025
At Spotify, we're always working to help creators earn, grow, and connect wi...
13/11/2025
This year, Spotify has introduced even more ways for users to take control of their listening experience. Whether you're refreshing your Discover Weekly wit...
13/11/2025
Today, Spotify is beginning to roll out a powerful new feature designed to help listeners jump back into stories they've put down, whether it's after a ...
13/11/2025
NASA and L3Harris conducted a full-duration RS-25 hot fire test Nov. 12 on the Fred Haise Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, ma...