
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!
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
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...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...