Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

SMT Back in the Saddle for NBC s Triple Crown Coverage

02/07/2013

SMT is no stranger to the horseracing game, having provided data-driven graphics and other technology to NBC's Triple Crown coverage since 2007. But, when NBC reacquired the rights to all three Triple Crown races in 2011, SMT was suddenly thrust into the spotlight as the Peacock network made amping up the real-time graphics in its coverage a top priority.

The expanded use of data-driven real-time graphics has proved a resounding success in the years since, helping to not only present the up-to-the-second odds and running order but also illustrate many of the sport's subtleties to viewers that are often horseracing novices.

I think more information is always good, and these kinds of [graphics] elements give viewers at home the necessary context, says Don Tupper, VP of business development, SMT. During the prerace, every single graphic NBC has on the air includes a live update of the racing odds. Then, during the race, you have 15-18 glorious animals out there, and it is a requirement of the fan to get an accurate order of the horses, which [our graphics] are able to do. They are dynamic and change on the fly, so it allows the fan to feel like they are actually there before, during, and after the race.

NBC deploys several SMT products for its horseracing coverage: the Live Leaderboard System, ISO Track System, Autograph Ticker, SMART System, Track Map System, and Data Matrix (DMX) Switchboard. NBC rolls out the full suite of technologies for the Kentucky Derby but sometimes scales back for the Belmont and Preakness depending on whether a Triple Crown is in play. SMT also supplies these products for the Breeders Cup in November.

DMX and Autograph Get Social

Much of SMT's work at Triple Crown races is driven by DMX Switchboard, which absorbs, collates, and synchronizes live data feeds into SMT's proprietary Live Horse Racing database. It provides up to 16 separate channels for integrating live data and timecode-synchronized data into a mix of on-air and off-air graphics displays both in real-time and replay modes, enhancing NBC's live race presentation and pre- and post-race analysis.

The Autograph Ticker, which produces an on-air display of real-time odds and bet payouts using live data from the Tote provider (in-house wagering system). This year, NBC also ramped up the use of the ticker as a social-media tool, curating and visually displaying social-media feeds from viewers, broadcast-team members, and jockeys.

SMT's Social Media DMX module integrates live Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram feeds into the overall DMX workflow and interfaces directly with NBC's Chyron character generator to create on-air graphics. NBC's social-media coordinator curated this content from the production truck and fed it into the DMX system, which fed it to the ticker, the on-air talent's monitors, and producer Rob Hyland's monitor.

NBC had put social media on the air in the past but never at this level and never with our Social Media DMX, says Tupper. It is a nice complementary piece, especially on a big show like this, where the interfaces can't change. We are not going to introduce another connection to the [Chyron] Duet. We want it all to come through the same central distribution system. It needs to be able to flow into the production seamlessly. That's the trick; you can't add significant headcount or travel costs.

SMT also added a trending feature into the workflow for all three Triple Crown races this year, tracking a predefined list of hashtags to see what topics were trending. NBC placed a graphic to visually display this info on the far right above the ticker, just outside the 4 3 safe frame to provide bonus content to HD viewers.

It was very well received, notes Tupper, adding, It's something that we're looking to bring to all of [NBC's] programming moving forward.

Wire-to-Wire Graphics on the Track

DMX also drives many of the SMT elements once the horses leap out of the gate and the race begins.

SMT's Live Leaderboard System highlights the running order of the top six horses, using positional data updated 30 times per second per horse. Meanwhile, the SMART System visually inserts distance to the finish indicators along the track surface to alert viewers when horses are at the 300-yard, 200-yard, and 100-yard points and the finish line. And the Track Map System gives viewers a sense of the lead horse's real-time position and split times for the lead horse via an on-screen graphic.

Weathering the Storm for ISO Track

Another weapon at NBC's disposal is the ISO Track System, which allows on-air talent to identify, point to, and visually track two horses live and in replay. The system also enables real-time data on a particular horse to appear when that horse is displayed in the ISO Track System.

Ordinarily, this system collects visual data from the blimp camera. However, a litany of weather issues made for a more complicated setup at the Kentucky Derby this year.

In Kentucky at the Derby, the weather was so bad that they couldn't fly the blimp, so they put a fixed-wing plane up, which still puts out pretty pictures but is obviously running at a much higher rate of speed than the blimp, notes Tupper. So we had to adjust on the fly with ISO Track to account for the new fixed-wing aircraft. That was a fun, last-minute project that was something we had never seen before. But, ultimately, the on-air product was flawless and well received. The frames change quickly when the plane is moving that fast, so it is a different challenge.

It was more of the same in Baltimore at the Preakness, when weather issues prevented NBC's flying any aircraft at all, but SMT was able to work on the fly.

We did ISO track over a high-hard camera instead, says Tupper. That was a different application, but, than
LINK: http://sportsvideo.org/main/blog/2013/07/02/smt-back-in-the-saddle-for...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

30/08/2025

FCC Slightly Raises Regulatory Fees for TV Stations

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...

29/08/2025

Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight against Modern Slavery

Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...

29/08/2025

Call for entries is now open for the 19th Annual South African Film & Television Awards (SAFTAs19)

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...

29/08/2025

L3Harris Launches Counter-Unmanned Systems Initiative

L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...

29/08/2025

The CW Network Extends Pac-12 Deal Through 2030-31 Season

BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...

29/08/2025

Global FAST Channel Count Continues to Spike

NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...

29/08/2025

Harmonic Unveils New Capabilities for Its Live Sports Streaming Solution

SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...

29/08/2025

Youtube TV, Fox Settle Differences, Renew Carriage Agreement

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...

29/08/2025

Lightware MTR integration brings advanced flexibility and...

Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...

29/08/2025

Frequency Launches Studio Live - a Unified Platform to Br...

Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...

29/08/2025

Scality Day 2025 Celebrating 10 years of global innovatio...

In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...

29/08/2025

Disguise Drives New Immersive Racing Experience - F1 Box

Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+ Technology solu...

29/08/2025

Disguise Supports Fellow Entertainment Tech Leaders at IB...

Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show Disguise, the industry-leading tech...

29/08/2025

Accedo to Highlight Compose AI-Agent Enhanced Orchestration Layer

STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...

29/08/2025

Cineverse Launches Streaming Apps for In-Vehicle Video Streaming

LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...

29/08/2025

Gray Media to Simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL Games

DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...

29/08/2025

Comcast NBCU and Amazon Ink New Distribution Agreements

NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...

29/08/2025

RED Digital Cinema To Highlight Cine-Broadcast Module At IBC2025

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...

29/08/2025

Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and Highlighting Ukraine's Investment Case

29 Aug 2025 Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...

29/08/2025

Sky Sports to show more NFL games than ever as part of new rights agreement

More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025 Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...

29/08/2025

'RIV4LRIES': The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino Only on Netflix October 1

Back to All News RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...

29/08/2025

Steps ahead: RT to air inspiring documentary on 12-year-old Irish dance star

Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...

29/08/2025

TODAY WITH DAVID MCCULLAGH TO AIR ON RT RADIO 1 WEEKDAYS AT 10AM

RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...

28/08/2025

Meet the 2025 Sundance Institute Documentary Edit Residency Artists

By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...

28/08/2025

Watch These 9 Sundance Institute-Supported Documentaries That Spotlight Workers' Rights

Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...

28/08/2025

Motivational Corridos: The New Sound of Resilience in Msica Mexicana

Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...

28/08/2025

Corridos Motivadores: El Nuevo Sonido de la Resiliencia en Mxico

Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...

28/08/2025

Verano Forever Brings Myke Towers, Bele, Elena Rose, and More to Miami for an Unforgettable Latin Summer Celebration

Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...

28/08/2025

Poland Selects L3Harris Electronic Warfare System for F-16 Fleet

L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....

28/08/2025

AgileTV consolidates its technological leadership with the development of Lowi TV in Spain

Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...

28/08/2025

Craft Interview: Ken Wilkinson, Audio Engineer

Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...

28/08/2025

Fubo to Launch Fubo Sports Skinny Bundle for $56 Per Month

NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....

28/08/2025

Telestream to Launch 'Global Ingest Workflow at IBC2025

NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...

28/08/2025

Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Education

Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...

28/08/2025

TAG Strengthens Regional Presence with Appointment of Oli...

TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...

28/08/2025

DHD to Demonstrate AI-Based Voice Enhancement at IBC 2025

AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...

28/08/2025

Telefonica Servicios Audiovisuales Hit the Back of the Ne...

Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...

28/08/2025

Optical Media Anchors LiveU IQ into its On site Productio...

To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...

28/08/2025

WNED Adopts Calrec Type R console to weather any storm an...

Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...

28/08/2025

Cleeng unveils first ever free D2C subscription platform...

Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...

28/08/2025

Zixi and OKAST Partner to Power Scalable Global FAST Chan...

Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...

28/08/2025

Nixer to unveil CV1 AoIP monitoring tool to address evolv...

Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering Nixer Pro Au...

28/08/2025

Cinegy Announces Strategic Partnership with One Touch Pro...

Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...

28/08/2025

Telestream Global Ingest Workflow Powered by Vantage Open...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...

28/08/2025

Telenor partners with Broadpeak for multi-country content...

Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...

28/08/2025

24 Frames Digital goes live with Synamedia Quortex Play f...

Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...

28/08/2025

VisualOn at IBC 2025 - Whats Next in AI Powered Video Str...

Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...