Sky Sports director of golf Jason Wessely talks to TVBEurope about the broadcasters coverage of this years event
By Jenny Priestley
Published: September 23, 2021
Sky Sports' director of golf Jason Wessely talks to TVBEurope about the broadcaster's coverage of this year's event
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
After a year's postponement, the 2020 Ryder Cup between the United States and Europe tees off in Haven, Wisconsin on Friday.
Once again, Sky Sports will be bringing fans all the action with 68 hours of live preview coverage on the dedicated Sky Sports Ryder Cup channel.
For the first time this will involve a unified output with Golf Channel's Live From The Ryder Cup in the days before the event, as well as two-hour build-ups to live coverage each day. The collaboration will involve Sky's talent linking to NBC talent in Haven.
Then, 20 minutes before the first tee shot, Sky's coverage will move to a bespoke team of commentators including Nick Dougherty, Ewen Murray, Laura Davies, Butch Harmon, Paul McGinley, Rob Lee and Rich Beem.
Andrew Coltart, Rich Beem, Wayne Riley, Tim Barter and Henni Koyack will be on the course with the matches. UK viewers will also see the Ryder Cup Brunch discussion and highlights show on Saturday and Sunday mornings presented by Sarah Stirk with Beef Johnston and David Howell.
Covering all of the different foursomes and singles across the three days is no mean feat. Fans will be able to watch a featured group' stream on SkySports.com and the red button which follows a group for each of the five sessions. This is also available on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube Channel for the first two days.
In terms of the actual pictures, Sky will be taking a European Tour world feed, which in turn utilises the main NBC coverage and adds extra shots from NBC camera feeds and separate cameras, Sky's director of golf Jason Wessely tells TVBEurope. NBC will share the wire cam, drone shots, jib moves and virtual course graphics. Sky and NBC follow a protocol for post-match interviews, sharing when necessary.
Both captains will hope to have their hands on the trophy come Sunday evening Among the broadcaster's technological innovations for the tournament is Trackmen Players, which enables it to show 3D images of the players that will appear in the studio as if they were real. These are all filmed against green screen on site at the Ryder Cup with all 24 players and two captains and brings the player pairings to life in an engaging way. There is also a touchscreen in the Sky Studio which activates video clips, graphics, stats and course fly-overs, adds Wessely.
The biggest difference in terms of the production for this year's event compared to 2016's Ryder Cup in Minnesota is the huge reduction in Sky's production team flying to the United States. The main production gallery is back at Sky in the UK, says Wessely. Commentary is split between remote booths in the UK and on site. There is a production hub truck on site which feeds over 40 signals back to the UK gallery which then cuts the master coverage, adding our own commentary, graphics and inserts. Most talent are on site but there are two remote commentators in London and Butch Harmon is in his Las Vegas home.
The Ryder Cup is an albert Certified production, he adds. In previous years, Sky has flown over 150 personnel to Ryder Cup OBs, but this year it is just 20 transatlantic flights and a utilisation of more American-based personnel. Sky Studios is the main production facility for the Ryder Cup coverage and is a carbon neutral building.
Asked what he thinks is the most exciting aspect of Sky's coverage of the Ryder Cup 2021, Wessely says it's the fact that the commentary team are mostly on site for the first time this year, with on-course commentators following each group. You cannot substitute for our team being on site, talking to players, walking the course, feeling the conditions, researching stories and insights first-hand, he adds.
And who will win? I'll leave that to our experts to predict, laughs Wessely. But I am hoping for a European win 14.5 to 13.5, with Shane Lowry holing the winning putt on the final hole in the final match. Although just saying that is making me very nervous and excited!
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
26/08/2026
For large media companies, the content archive is a gold mine. There are thousands of hours of existing, high-value assets just waiting to be tapped for highlig...
26/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced a new integrated newsroom experience with Agence France-Presse (A...
26/08/2026
As RT marks 100 years of public service broadcasting in Ireland, today we announce a season of fresh, original content, while preparing to move into a second c...
25/08/2026
Auction Part 3 running until 9 September 2026
Soundgas have announced that the latest stage of their John Paul Jones Gear Auction is now live, and that bids...
25/08/2026
Over 60 award-winning artists, songwriters, producers, engineers
The MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo SF), San Francisco's premier event for m...
25/08/2026
All three versions receive firmware upgrade
Groove Synthesis have just launched a free firmware update that kits the 3rd Wave out with two major new feature...
25/08/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
25/08/2026
Siena Kelly, Connor Swindells and Sophie Wilde join Boyle in the eight-part series from Working Title Television and Story Films, directed by Emmy and BAFTA nom...
25/08/2026
The critically acclaimed thriller will return to Sky in NovemberTuesday 25 Augus...
25/08/2026
Wuppertal August 25, 2026
Scottish Rugby Expands Managed Coach Communications Partnership With RiedelRiedel Communications today announced the continued expan...
25/08/2026
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today debuted M6 in the new Mac mini and M5 Ultra in...
25/08/2026
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced the new Mac mini with the all-new M6...
25/08/2026
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced the new Mac Studio, featuring M5 Max...
25/08/2026
The new series begins Tuesday 1 September at 7pm on RT One and RT Player
The search for Ireland's hidden housing gems is back as Cheap Irish Homes return...
24/08/2026
Human-played drum fills on demand
Sample library developers Yurt Rock have announced the launch of a new plug-in that's dedicated to creating drum fill...
24/08/2026
Debut plug-in in new Professional Series
Black Rooster Audio's latest plug-in delivers an all-in-one vocal-processing tool, and is the debut release in ...
24/08/2026
Rohde & Schwarz addresses operational efficiency and infrastructure resilience a...
24/08/2026
The Handel Scandal and Dangerous Debussy will both air on Sky Arts this AutumnMo...
24/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, w...
24/08/2026
Arvato Systems Becomes a Service Partner of HANDELSVERBAND.swiss
Zurich - Arvato Systems Switzerland has been a service partner of HANDELSVERBAND.swiss since ...
24/08/2026
We Only Want the Earth: The Life & Ideas of James Connolly airs
Wednesday 26 August on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
RT is to air the compelling documenta...
23/08/2026
Offers up to 10 bands of compression
Parish Audio's latest release allows users to place individual compressors anywhere in the frequency range, but tak...
21/08/2026
Hardware-style timing shifts for software instruments
Following on from the release of Omniclock, Rapid Flow have launched a new sequencer plug-in that can ...
21/08/2026
Highly anticipated synthesizer ships in October 2026
Iceland-based Love Synthesizers have announced that their highly anticipated synthesizer is now availab...
21/08/2026
Masterpiece PBS The Forsytes has expanded its cast as its begins production in ...
21/08/2026
The BBC has unveiled first-look pictures from The Witch Farm, a new ghost story and mystery set in the Welsh countryside, coming soon to BBC iPlayer and BBC One...
21/08/2026
The BBC and BritBox have revealed the first look of Edward Bluemel as Hercule Poirot in the forthcoming six-part series Hercule from Mammoth Screen and Agatha C...
21/08/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
21/08/2026
** MEDIA ALERT **
VIZ Media Takes Over Anime NYC with BLEACH, BLACK TORCH, M...
21/08/2026
Tell us a little bit about your job I'm a Marketing Manager and work across a mix of clients and projects. No two days are ever quite the same, which defini...
21/08/2026
Beat The Lotto dives into the plot behind the 1980s National Lottery scandal
24 August 2026 at 9:35pm on RT One and RT Player
Beat The Lotto is the story o...
21/08/2026
The countdown to the most wonderful night of the year has officially begun!
Host Patrick Kielty is gearing up for another unforgettable Late Late Toy Show nig...
21/08/2026
Meet puppet duo Bellie and Whizz, who are about to explore all the big feelings ...
20/08/2026
Set up your own private remote collaboration infrastructure
SoundBridge have recently put together a tutorial video that provides users with a step-by-step ...
20/08/2026
New V-Control Pro features restore basic functionality
Neyrinck's V-Control software has long been keeping older Avid control surfaces compatible with n...
20/08/2026
TV, BritBox and Mammoth Screen have announced that filming is now underway on th...
20/08/2026
Thursday 20 August 2026
Nina Sosanya, Rizzle Kicks, Roman Kemp and Paul Whiteho...
20/08/2026
Wuppertal August 20, 2026
Transformation Church Elevates Production Communicat...
20/08/2026
The music between the notes Coming together In the middle of 2026, as conversations around artificial intelligence continue to raise questions about how musi...
20/08/2026
Arvato Systems Brings Together Digital Transformation Leaders in the Manufacturi...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head back into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
Sky Sports director of golf Jason Wessely talks to TVBEurope about the broadcasters coverage of this years event
