
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Following an intensive design and construction period, EMG Italy has recently renewed the outdated audio, video and data infrastructure of the San Siro.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
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
11/09/2026
Calrec will introduce two new products at IBC2026 (Stand 8.C47, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14): the Type RT broadcast production console and the Apex M6 Modula...
11/09/2026
Grass Valley has announced AVORA, a standalone all-in-one live production solution launching at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01 and IBC Future Tech Zone, Stand 14.C49, Sep...
11/09/2026
CAMB.AI is introducing its Streaming SDK and Streaming Dashboard at IBC2026, wit...
11/09/2026
EVS has announced XT-S, a software-defined server platform that runs multiple live production applications on a common hardware foundation. The platform debuts ...
11/09/2026
EKT is demonstrating a new Linux-based ATSC 3.0 set-top box at IBC2026. The second-generation product moves away from Android to reduce memory costs, with Linux...
11/09/2026
The Sennheiser Group will exhibit at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Booth D50, September 11-14...
11/09/2026
ESPN's Monday Night Football will open its 2026-27 season with a new renditi...
11/09/2026
Dalet has announced an integration of NVIDIA's Synthetic Video Detector AI model into Dalet Flex, enabling media organizations to identify potentially AI-ge...
11/09/2026
The Media Coding Industry Forum (MC-IF) will demonstrate Versatile Video Coding (VVC) capabilities at IBC2026 (Hall 2, Stand 2.B13), as the codec moves toward c...
11/09/2026
Sony will exhibit at IBC2026 (Hall 13, September 11-14), demonstrating products across live production, news, cinema, and immersive and spatial content workflow...
11/09/2026
Wave Central, a Domo Broadcast Company, has been named a recipient of a 2026 Tec...
11/09/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) is bringing a pair of workflow updates to IBC2026...
11/09/2026
iodyne will co-exhibit with Hedge at IBC2026 (Booth 7.A36, September 11-14) and appear across three additional partner booths, marking the first public demonstr...
11/09/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
11/09/2026
The network will phase in HDR crew by crew while expanding Next Gen Stats integration, SkyDry availability, and onsite studio shows...
11/09/2026
CAMB.AI is introducing its new Streaming SDK and Streaming Dashboard at IBC2026,...
11/09/2026
Massive host operation at Melbourne Cricket Ground featured 54 cameras, 25,000 ST 2110 flows, REMI studio production in Stamford, and global distribution to mor...
11/09/2026
Production Anywhere Remote Kit (PARK) & AR-fueled Stage B are two key pieces to ...
11/09/2026
By Ramona Flume and Lucy Spicer
There's a particular kind of magic that hap...
11/09/2026
By Jessica Herndon
The fall film season is kicking off, and Sundance Institute-...
11/09/2026
Spark series gains compact modelling stompbox
Positive Grid's Spark amps have become a popular part of the company's line-up, offering a convenient ...
11/09/2026
New flagship sequencing plug-in revealed
Rapid Flow have just launched a new 16-track sequencer plug-in which they say has been designed for total rhythmic...
11/09/2026
Rohde & Schwarz unveils the air-cooled R&S TM1 medium-power UHF transmitter at I...
11/09/2026
FIFA World Cup 2026 and Peacock's Love Island USA' Power NBCU-Versant ...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Lightware has announced the launch of LARA (Lightware Advanced Room Automation) 2.0, a major upgrade to its built-in room automation platform, introducing impro...
11/09/2026
10 September 2026 - MusiMap, the B2B music intelligence company that is transforming how companies can harness the emotional power of music to reach consumers a...
11/09/2026
Matrox Video today announced an integration between Matrox ORIGIN and NVIDIA Holoscan for Media, enabling Matrox ORIGIN media services to be provisioned, config...
11/09/2026
Net Insight today announced that its cloud-native live media orchestration is now available through Oracle Cloud Marketplace, providing broadcasters, production...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Version 1.8 will bring advanced routing control, new workflow tools, boosted control panel flexibility and ease of integration into IP networks...
11/09/2026
Ikegami announces four additions its UNICAM XE range of 4K-UHD cameras with the introduction of the UHK-X700VN, UHK-X750VN, UHK-X600VN and UHK-X650VN. Developed...
11/09/2026
DHD.audio has chosen IBC2026 as the launch venue for a major new addition to its broadcast sound production platform: the MX3 console range. MX3 retains the mod...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/09/2026
New standalone solution gives production teams everything they need to create, produce and deliver live content from one flexible system.
Grass Valley today an...
11/09/2026
Recognition honors the development of FPV drone camera systems for live sports broadcast coverage
Wave Central, a Domo Broadcast Company that develops advanced...
11/09/2026
Teradek, the industry leader in zero-delay wireless video solutions, announced the launch of Bolt 7, which now includes a unified wireless video and data system...
11/09/2026
The ACT Entertainment tvONE and Green Hippo Pixel Academy has released its autumn course schedule, with hands-on training dates in September, October and Novemb...
11/09/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Transthyretin amyloid disease (ATTR) is a progressive, life-threatening condition caused when the protein transthyretin (TTR) breaks apart and aggr...