Maglia rosa: EMG Italy on managing the logistics and technicalities of the 2024 Giro d'Italia By Heather McLean
Friday, May 17, 2024 - 09:00
Print This Story
Tadej Pogacar from UAE Team Emirates at the finish line of Prati di Tivo stage 8 at the 2024 Giro d'Italia [Photographer Marco Alpozzi]
At this very minute, over 150 men in lycra are pedalling furiously through the stunning Italian countryside in an attempt to win the 2024 Giro d'Italia. Known as the maglia rosa - or pink jersey - this race is taking competitors through olive groves and up mountain ranges, with only the strongest and most tactical riders making it to the final stages.
The Giro, which started on 3 May and will finish on 26 May in Rome, is a complex production for organiser RCS and its host broadcaster, EMG Italy.
Three years ago RCS began to self-produce the Giro, with EMG Italy bringing its knowhow into the pink race'. Comments Davide Furlan, EMG Italy's director of outdoor productions, and Giro d'Italia production director: Since then every year there has been continuous improvement, even in the technical choices to provide more and more content. This year the most obvious innovative implementation is the graphics with tracking; it is a system that uses pixel tracking technology that we have used on many other occasions and in other sports with excellent results.
Notes Furlan: The entire technical infrastructure of people and means for the production of the international signal is from EMG/Gravity Media. This production is really a great work of the group, with five different languages spoken at the TV compound.
The experience gained over the years producing all the major cycling races allows us to design more and more reliable and quality systems, and I believe that by seeing the product on air you can understand what I'm talking about
In the TV compound there are 15 trucks for the host broadcast, and the same number again, says Furlan, for right holders and broadcasters who are integrating the international feed with their own cameras, with a strong presence from RAI . RAI is additionally the only rights holder with a mobile stage set up on site, which it uses as a TV studio with five cameras.
EMG Italy is working across Europe with other parts of the group to bring the broadcast of Giro d'Italia 2024 to life
The EMG/Gravity team is made up of 123 people who prepare the entire set up at the various locations planned for the day's stage every morning. Furlan explains: At the start are the riders and camera operators, at the intermediate reception are the technicians, at the GPM [Gran Premio della Montagn, or Mountain Grand Prix] location are the technicians and camera operators of the Intergiro, and finally the other technicians and camera operators at the finish.
Behind each stage, which the spectator can enjoy at home from the comfort of his or her seat, there is an enormous amount of preparation and logistics work, a huge circus' that moves every day; more than 100 people who have to travel, sleep, eat and of course work safely.
On how the group is contributing to this production, there is:
EMG Italy responsible for the entire production plus OB vans
EMG Connectivity RF and motorcyclists
EMG Belgium motorcycle coordination
EMG Netherlands satellite broadcasting
Boost graphics and timing
High standards
EMG Italy works on two production standards for its major cycling races: Standard B with a live time of around two hours; and Standard A, of which the Giro d'Italia, with its high profile and all-day racing, is obviously a part.
Furlan notes: Live time varies depending on the length of the stage and how long it takes the athletes if the weather conditions get tricky, so let's say it varies between six and seven hours a day on average.
A constant technical challenge is to make everything that is not connected by cable or fibre with the OB van to appear as if it were. To be able to manage all the parameters of the cameras as if we were in a studio or in a stadium is really stimulating
The Giro d'Italia is a production of 21 days plus set up days, continues Furlan. The Giro d'Italia is a world event and cycling has many fans all over the world. The live media coverage is really impressive. We who produce the host broadcast signal start producing half an hour before the start and finish about 45 minutes after the arrival of the daily stage, after all the award ceremonies that see the five classification jerseys awarded every day.
Highlights are also an integral part of the production that takes place within EMG Italy's technical media. It uses two Avid editing stations connected to the EVS network to produce a 23 minute daily highlight show for Eurosport and a 26 minute weekly show for RCS and IMG.
The 2024 Giro d'Italia route through Italy
Complex event
Comments Furlan on the challenges this year: The television production of such complex events poses many challenges. First of all the technology with which we manage all the RF signals is proprietary to EMG. The experience gained over the years producing all the major cycling races allows us to design more and more reliable and quality systems, and I believe that by seeing the product on air you can understand what I'm talking about.
With the race stretching with speed across the countryside, EMG Italy is challenged by the transmission requirements of this race. Says Furlan: The technical infrastructure for the RF signals is very complex. All the signals of the 10 motorbikes and the two helicopters pass through a two-repeaters plane which, following the ride at an altitude of about 6,500 metres, receives and retransmits each video and audio signal to an intermediate point. All ASI RF signals are encapsulated and transmitted with an encr
North America Stories
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
21/07/2026
In a time of disarray in regional sports broadcasting, the league will provide c...
21/07/2026
When NEP designed one of its largest recurring mobile production unit fleets for PGA TOUR
coverage, the leading media services provider faced a familiar challe...
21/07/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery's unbroken lead is interrupted as sports and live mus...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Across the TV and streaming ecosystem, industry players face mounting pressure to do more with less. They must simplify operations, protect premium content and ...
21/07/2026
Tuxera, a leading prover of quality-assured file systems and networking technologies, is bringing its latest advances in connectivity performance to the media w...
21/07/2026
COW Jobs: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP Rigged Graphics Package
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
HIRING: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP ...
21/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will use its presence at IBC2026 (stand 7.A01, Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September) to...
21/07/2026
Calrec will be located in Hall 8, on Stand C47
Beyond bigger
For years, broadcast facilities were built around one assumption: provision for the biggest pro...
21/07/2026
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, will discuss its future-facing developments for the new generation of medi...
21/07/2026
nxtedition returns to IBC2026 with its consolidated production platform, showing how scripting, editing, graphics, AI-assisted tools and automation can work wit...
21/07/2026
C2PA content signing helps broadcasters, public institutions, and publishers give audiences a verifiable record of where their video content came from and how i...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Maglia rosa: EMG Italy on managing the logistics and technicalities of the 2024 Giro d'Italia By Heather McLean 
