Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Tour de France 2020: SMT Powers the Ticker From Across the Atlantic

16/09/2020

Tour de France 2020: SMT Powers the Ticker From Across the Atlantic Facility in North Carolina inserts AR, tracking and results graphics By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - 1:50 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

The Tour de France is under way, and the world's best sports event for anyone with a case of unfulfilled wanderlust is being produced in a completely new way by rightsholders and their production partners around the globe.

Lee Brinson at work inserting graphics for the Tour de France from SMT's Durham, NC office.

Over the years, SMT has become a big part of NBC Sports' Tour de France effort, which traditionally would involve three mobile units onsite: a main production unit, an edit unit, and a truck for the studio show. Those three vehicles would be part of the Tour de France circus, rolling from town to town, stage to stage.

In a typical year, Lee Brinson, director, special events, SMT, would be part of that cavalcade along with SMT staffers. SMT powers the tickers as well as any insert or key graphic that has any type of data on it.

Whether it's stage results, sprint results, speeds in the group, any insert graphics are ours, says Brinson. There is a [character generator] at NBC Sports that does more of the editorial things. We also do the iso tracking pointer on the rider.

This year, Brinson's forgoing the food and wine of France for home-cooked meals in North Carolina and a daily commute to the office (albeit at very unusual commuting times).

Being on the Tour itself can be a bit like Groundhog Day, says Brinson: You wake up in your hotel, check out, figure out how to navigate the traffic, park, prep, and go through your normal day. Then you pack up the truck, get on the road, get to a new hotel, and start the whole thing over again.

COVID-19 has changed that (although it still can feel like Groundhog Day). This year, NBC has only a satellite truck, traveling from finish line to finish line to send video to Stamford, CT. All of the augmented reality and tracking graphics are inserted at SMT's broadcast facility in Durham, NC.

We are connected to NBC in Stamford via the internet, Brinson explains. Basically, NBC receives their video, patches that up, and sends it down to us.

What's interesting, he adds, is that the SMT machines are physically in Stamford and the operators are in Durham. Over the internet, we get our KVMs to our machines so we can control them. We also get all the returns so we can tie everything to the broadcast.

Data comes in directly from TVData, a Belgian company that has provided all the data for the Tour de France for a number of years. The results and peloton data are delivered to viewers, and the dimension data, for things like real-time gradient and speed, is integrated separately.

The group data goes directly from the TVData truck at the finish line to Durham, says Brinson, and we pipe it up to Stamford and our machines.

One of the challenges is bringing together multiple pieces of data from multiple providers and combining them into one.

Historically, operations on the Tour de France are a fairly tight affair in terms of spacing. But this year, says Brinson, two SMT production staffers are located in a space that normally holds upwards of 16 people. And the challenge for the team back home is that they can't just look and easily see what the producer and director are looking at.

You really have to follow them and listen to their voice to know where they are going, and then you also need to pay attention to the announcers, says Brinson. It's about knowing where they are going and anticipating what they're going to talk about. Hopefully, we have the same reaction time that we would if we were there in person.

That need to listen is all the more important because it isn't possible to have access to 20 video feeds that are available at a glance in the production truck on the Tour.

The Tour de France is part of a super-busy slate of activity for the SMT Durham facility (as well as its Jacksonville, FL, operation). The company is still doing NASCAR and also did the Kentucky Derby, NHL playoffs, and football.

The Tour de France is such a unique race because there are so many different competitions within the race itself, adds Brinson. We can take the data and isolate each one of those races in a way that the common fan can know what is happening. There's the King of the Mountain race and a sprint race and a young-rider race. And we can explain that all with data.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/09/15/tour-de-france-2020-smt-powers-...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

21/05/2026

Study: Nearly Half of U.S. Viewers Watch Video With Captions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

Apple TV to Capture MLS Game Entirely on iPhone 17 Pro

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

MPTS 2026 Draws Record Numbers for Landmark 10th Annivers...

The UK's leading event for the creative industries united thousands of professionals for two days of networking, debate, industry insight and getting hands-...

21/05/2026

Recreating Doug Trumbull's Slitscan VFX - After Effects Mastery

Recreating Doug Trumbull's Slitscan VFX - After Effects Mastery Graham Quince May 21, 2026 0 Comments In this After Effects tutorial, I'm divi...

21/05/2026

Cavalry: An Array of Fun Stuff

Cavalry: An Array of Fun Stuff Simon Ubsdell May 21, 2026 0 Comments Arrays are a really powerful feature of Cavalry and here we'll go over some o...

21/05/2026

Chyron Launches PRIME Scorebug

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

Watch Brasil Selects Bitmovin to Improve Streaming Perfor...

Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, has announced that streaming service provider, Watch Brasil, has replaced its legacy systems with Bit...

21/05/2026

OWC Launches Dads and Grads Promotion with Exclusive Savings

OWC Launches Dads and Grads Promotion with Exclusive Savings Brie Clayton May 21, 2026 0 Comments The gifts they'll actually use - save on cutting...

21/05/2026

Spectrum Launches New California News Networks

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

Vivid Unease Ashley Barron ACS Lights Netflixs How to Get...

For cinematographer Ashley Barron ACS ( Rivals , Dangerous Liaisons , Disney's Doctor Who ), setting the look of Netflix's How to Get to Heaven from ...

21/05/2026

Hensgens Pairs Airglow and LiteMat on Cannes 2026 Premier...

Jean-Fran ois Hensgens, AFC, SBC, (Tueurs, Six Days in Spring, Le Fil) brings his signature visual approach to Cannes 2026 premiering biopic L'Affaire Marie...

21/05/2026

2026 delegation for Partner with Australia (UK) initiative announced

2026 delegation for Partner with Australia (UK) initiative announced 21 May 2026 Screen Australia and Ausfilm have today announced the delegation for the 2026 ...

21/05/2026

Beeble launches Canvas, a node-based AI compositor for VFX and Virtual Production pipelines

Beeble launches Canvas, a node-based AI compositor for VFX and Virtual Productio...

21/05/2026

Shelly Johnson Elected President of American Society of Cinematographers

Shelly Johnson Elected President of American Society of Cinematographers Brie Clayton May 20, 2026 0 Comments The American Society of Cinematographers...

21/05/2026

ARRI expands Management Board to accelerate next phase of growth and innovation

ARRI expands Management Board to accelerate next phase of growth and innovation Brie Clayton May 20, 2026 0 Comments ARRI expands its Management Board...

21/05/2026

RT 2FM announces winner of nationwide search for next superstar DJ

Dublin DJ RKM333 wins 2FM competition and a coveted slot at this year's Forbidden Fruit Festival 2FM's search for the next big Irish DJ concluded this ...

21/05/2026

License to Stream: 007 First Light' Coming to GeForce NOW With an Ultimate Bundle

The mission begins now. GeForce NOW is dialing up the action with a blockbuster...

20/05/2026

New Nissan Stadium Is First NFL Venue With Permanent Built-In Music Stage

True to the Music City theme, the Tennessee Titans plan to make live music a prominent fixture on game days at the new venue Reflecting the continuing converge...

20/05/2026

NHL Taps Honeywell To Make Arenas, Facilities More Energy-Efficient

The long-term goal is innovation for the next generation of hockey rinks at both the professional and the community level The National Hockey League (NHL) toda...

20/05/2026

A Look Into the Future: What It Takes To Power the Next Generation of Sports Stadiums

End-users and vendors alike work toward cost-effective yet high-quality solution...

20/05/2026

Nasvhvilles New Nissan Stadium To Host Super Bowl LXIV in 2030

The National Football League has announced that Nashville will host Super Bowl LXIV in 2030 at the new Nissan Stadium. The announcement was made at the NFL Spri...

20/05/2026

NFL Awards Minnesota as Host Site of 2028 NFL Draft

The NFL has announced that the 2028 NFL Draft presented by Bud Light will take place in Minnesota, uniting fans from around the world to celebrate one of the mo...

20/05/2026

Lawo Highlights Edge One at InfoComm 2026

As professional AV workflows continue to evolve, expectations around audio, video, networking, and control are rising rapidly. At InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas, La...

20/05/2026

Haivision to Showcase Video Wall, IPTV, and Ultra-Low Latency Video Innovations at InfoComm 2026

Haivision will showcase its latest innovations at InfoComm 2026, taking place fr...

20/05/2026

Spotify House Returns to CMA Fest With 3 Days of Nonstop Country Music

For the seventh year, Spotify is returning to CMA Fest with Spotify House, the festival's premiere destination for fans. We're taking over downtown Nash...

20/05/2026

Aero 2 from Acustica Audio

Amp-simulation software expanded Acustica Audio's latest release greatly expands on their amp-simulation platform, turning it into a complete amplifica...

20/05/2026

Arturia update the KeyLab Mk3

MainStage integration, Analog Lab improvements & more Arturia have just announced the release of an update that brings an assortment of new features to thei...

20/05/2026

SGL Carbon holds successful Annual General Meeting with strong approval of proposed resolutions

At the Annual General Meeting held on May 20, 2026, the shareholders of SGL Carb...

20/05/2026

From Gulkula to the nation: Yothu Yindi Foundation and NITV deepen national access to Garma Festival

From Gulkula to the nation: Yothu Yindi Foundation and NITV deepen national acce...

20/05/2026

SBS appoints David Fernandez as National Manager, Digital & TV Sales

SBS appoints David Fernandez as National Manager, Digital & TV Sales 20 May, 2026 Media releases SBS has appointed David Fernandez as National Manager, Dig...

20/05/2026

Rohde & Schwarz and INFOZAHYST: A strategic alliance set to redefine modern defense

Rohde & Schwarz and INFOZAHYST: A strategic alliance set to redefine modern defe...

20/05/2026

L3Harris Achieves Major Milestones With Latest Series of Rotating Detonation Engine Tests

A Rotating Detonation Engine being hot fire tested at Purdue University's Zu...

20/05/2026

VAMPIRE Confirms Integrated Capability During Live Exercises

A U.S. Army VAMPIRE system, assigned to Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 51st Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 7th Infantry Division/Multi-Domain Command - Pacific ...

20/05/2026

NCAA Tournaments Spark March Madness for Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery in Nielsen's The Gauge

Cable Captures Only Monthly Increase Among Viewing Categories in March, Earns it...

20/05/2026

The Gauge: Poland | April 2026

April brought a symbolic decrease in the overall time spent in front of television screens. On average, Poles watched video content for 3 hours and 51 minutes a...

20/05/2026

DirecTV Asks FCC to Block Scripps' INYO Acquisition

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/05/2026

RTS Technology Centre Launches the RTS Technology Awards...

The Royal Television Society Technology Centre today announces the launch of the RTS Technology Awards 2026, celebrating excellence, innovation and achievement ...

20/05/2026

Lightware powers immersive video spectacle for The Hunger...

In the heart of London's financial district, the new purpose-built Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre invites audiences to experience Suzanne Collins' inte...

20/05/2026

New LiveU LU900Q Powers Record Breaking Broadcast of the...

LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, today announced that production powerhouse BCC Live successfully deployed the new LU900Q intelligent production un...

20/05/2026

Nella Mente di Narciso Docuseries Uses Blackmagic Design Workflow

Nella Mente di Narciso Docuseries Uses Blackmagic Design Workflow Brie Clayton May 19, 2026 0 Comments PYXIS 6K full frame camera and DaVinci Resolve ...

20/05/2026

Beeble launches Canvas, a node-based AI compositor for VFX and Virtual Production pipelinesx

Beeble launches Canvas, a node-based AI compositor for VFX and Virtual Productio...

20/05/2026

DSPolitical and FreeWheel Partner on Political CTV Ads

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/05/2026

Amazon, Netflix and Google to Capture Half of CTV Ad Market by 2030

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/05/2026

Roku Introduces 'Creator Hub

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

20/05/2026

First Nations Factual Co-production Development Fund launched to elevate Indigenous storytelling in global markets

First Nations Factual Co-production Development Fund launched to elevate Indigen...

20/05/2026

TLC Announces All-Star Comedy Line-Up for Mock the Week: Summer Specials' on TLC

TLC Announces All-Star Comedy Line-Up for Mock the Week: Summer Specials' o...