150th Kentucky Derby: NBC Rolls Out Skycam and New Set at Churchill Downs' Lavish New Paddock NBC will produce the Derby in 1080p HDR for first time By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Friday, May 3, 2024 - 2:43 pm
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With a spectacular new $200 million paddock and plenty of drama on tap for the historic 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, NBC Sports Group is amping up its production firepower at Churchill Downs this year. In addition to deploying a new studio set and a Skycam four-point cabled system in the paddock area, NBC will produce the broadcast in 1080p HDR for the first time.
NBC's operations and technical managers for the Kentucky Derby: (from left) Tim DeKime, Keith Kice, John Roche, Brett Fifield, and Ethan Balcer
Our whole team at NBC absolutely adores covering this event, says Senior Producer Lindsay Schanzer, working her 13th Derby for NBC Sports and leading the production team for the third time. The Derby is a thrill and an honor to put on every year, but we expect this to be bigger and better than ever. There's a lot more excitement [for the 150th anniversary].
NBC Takes Viewers Inside New Paddock With Studio Set, Skycam The new paddock marks a significant moment for the oldest continuously held major sports event in the U.S. (dating back to 1875). With that in mind, NBC has put it at the center of the pre-race broadcast, erecting a new set location overlooking the renovated paddock, as well as enlisting a Skycam system to fly overhead.
NBC has deployed a new set on the third floor of the paddock area.
Part of [the paddock's impact on the broadcast] is just the visuals, says Schanzer. It does look drastically different. A lot of that will help build the drama of it. We'll showcase it throughout the event. The Skycam will give us the best opportunity to do that from a visual standpoint.
NBC has deployed a Skycam to cover the action at the paddock.
The sprawling paddock now features a stadium-like layout and horseshoe design offering clear views of Churchill Downs' iconic Twin Spires. The overall paddock area was expanded from 5,100 to 12,000 sq. ft., has more than doubled capacity (from 1,000 to 2,400 people), and includes 3,600 new seats and standing room for 3,200. Schanzer says the coliseum-like environment is similar to paddocks often seen in Europe and marks a major improvement for fans as they arrive onsite.
Now you walk in, notes Schanzer, and it's this sprawling horseshoe-shaped behemoth with the Twin Spires front and center and the horse stalls in a horseshoe beneath them. It gives you that breathtaking, jaw-dropping experience when you first walk in. We'll start in that paddock set, so we'll have that as the backdrop to begin things. We're excited to see it in play for Derby Day.
NBC's new set is located on Level 3 in Paddock and is fully enclosed to avoid weather-related issues; rain is currently in the forecast. As the broadcast progresses, NBC's on-air team led by Mike Tirico will segue to a second set, located at the first turn with the iconic Churchill Downs grandstand, Twin Spires, the infield, and the track in the background.
It lends itself well to the anticipation that builds towards the race, says Schazner, and, of course, the walkover is a dramatic moment in the coverage: all the Derby connections and the horses themselves make their way over from the barn to the front side. They pass right by our desk. I think it gives the guys at the desk a feeling of being right in the middle of it. They're able to see the horses. I think the move from the paddock to the front side at that point works very well with the crescendo of the day.
Robbie Earle (left), Rebecca Lowe (center), and Robbie Mustoe will host Premier League Live onsite from Churchill Downs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday across NBC, USA Network, and Peacock.
In addition to the primary broadcast, Premier League Live is onsite from the Churchill Downs paddock Thursday-Saturday (across NBC, USA Network, and Peacock), adding another element to NBC's colossal production in Louisville. NBC Sports is also providing ancillary programming and technical support for other NBCUniversal properties, including The Today Show, The Tonight Show, The Matthew Berry Show, NBC News, and Telemundo.
Cameras and the Compound: NBC Rolls Out New Truck, Plenty of Tech Toys In all, NBC Sports Group has deployed 57 of its own cameras (along with six ENG cameras) and is utilizing 12 track-camera feeds throughout Churchill Downs.
In addition to the Skycam system, NBC will have a BatCam wired aerial system flying alongside the horses as they race down the backstretch.
Fletcher Sports is providing Antelope Nucleus cameras on finish lines (not track official) for both the dirt and turf tracks to provide unique super-slo-mo looks at photo finishes. The systems run at 240 fps in 4K or 480 fps in HDR with real-time digital PTZ in either format.
BSI is once again on hand to manage all RF cameras and microphones.
Key specialty cameras include an RF Phantom handheld super-slo-mo capable of running more than 1,000 fps (depending on light levels), a live drone, two live jockey-cam systems, and a POV camera in the stewards room.
A 360 Glam Cam is also on hand at the red carpet, where celebrities show off their Derby Day outfits and make their race picks.
For replay, NBC has 11 EVS XT-VIA servers, one Sony 4K server, and one Nucleus server at its disposal throughout the action at Churchill Downs.
NBC has opted for a hybrid live-production model to produce 15 races over two days: today's five hours of Kentucky Oats coverage, along with other broadcasts appearing on USA Network, are produced remotely out of NBC Sports Group's Stamford, CT, broadcast center; Saturday's produc
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150th Kentucky Derby: NBC Rolls Out Skycam and New Set at Churchill Downs' Lavish New Paddock NBC will produce the Derby in 1080p HDR for first time By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
