French Open 2025: TNT Sports Takes the Production Reins To Cover All Matches at Roland-Garros Coverage includes qualifying on Max, daily matches on TNT, whiparound show on truTV By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor Tuesday, May 27, 2025 - 11:51 am
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A new broadcaster has entered the French capital for one of tennis's most prestigious events: TNT Sports at the French Open. In the first year of a 10-year media-rights deal with the F d ration Fran aise de Tennis (FFT), the broadcaster, a Warner Bros. Discovery brand, is spicing up coverage of the sport through both linear and digital initiatives, including all qualifying matches on Max, nearly 300 hours of on-court action and studio programming on TNT, and The Rally at Roland-Garros whiparound show on truTV.
This has been an internal collaboration between our technology, operations, and production teams, says Chris Brown, VP, technology and operations, TNT Sports. It has been fun trying to figure out how we can help [the FFT] reach these audiences in a new way.
Tech Basics: Whisper-Produced World Feed, SMT Automated Scoring, Unilateral Cams As with many international sports events, TNT Sports is relying on a world feed in stitching together its live coverage of the entire tournament. Whisper, which has been selected by the FFT to produce the world feed through 2029, is in the driver's seat of one of the sport's four Grand Slams. The world feed is essential in coverage of the tournament proper, but, during qualifying, the expansive camera coverage used to composite the world feed provided non-stop viewing on Max. In addition, SMT's automated scoring data keeps track of the numerous courts and creates a cohesive graphics package without clogging up the works for the onsite staff.
At Roland-Garros, the main studio desk is the centerpiece of TNT Sports' programming.
A lot of testing and development went into this, notes Brown. We opted to lean into SMT's expertise around tennis. We wanted a graphics package that combined automation with manual intervention to score every single match.
Along with the world feed, TNT Sports has control over unilateral cameras on the major courts at Roland-Garros: Court Philippe Chatrier, Court Suzanne Lenglen, and Court Simonne Mathieu. Among them, three RF cameras enable the broadcaster to mobilize production and tell deeper stories by allowing reporters to roam the grounds amongst the fans.
A Nucleus camera is deployed at both Court Philippe Chatrier and Court Suzanne Lenglen to capture plays on the service line.
Three pan bar robotic cameras supplied by NEP Specialty Capture (formerly Fletcher) are deployed: two on Court Philippe Chatrier, one on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Supplementing them are a Nucleus camera on each service line of the two courts; Hawk-Eye, controlled by three operators, at each of those two courts; three hard cameras - two on Court Philippe Chatrier, one at Court Suzane Lenglen; and a super-slow-motion camera on Court Philippe Chatrier.
TNT Sports' studio facility is situated in the heart of Roland-Garros.
On the audio front, miked players warming up on practice courts are interviewed. In addition, an announce booth at each major court allows the talent to call matches from wherever they are played.
We don't always get to control where the talent are located and where the players they want to follow are playing, Brown explains. If a player is on an outside court, we can put talent in one of these booths to call the match.
One area of the studio has a large LED screen for stand-ups.
TNT Sports has a deep lineup of personalities to break down and analyze the matches in Paris. On the broadcast, play-by-play announcers Brian Anderson, Alex Faust, Mark Petchey, and Patrick McEnroe are joined by analysts John McEnroe, Lindsay Davenport, Jim Courier, Chris Evert, Caroline Wozniacki, Sam Querrey, and Darren Cahill. Venus Willams, Mary Joe Fernandez, and Jon Wertheim contribute as well.
A Place in Paris: EMG/Gravity Media Supports Three-Control-Room Facility Given the cramped quarters at Roland-Garros, the broadcaster needed to find space to execute the shows. Unable to deploy a traditional onsite mobile unit, TNT Sports tapped EMG/Gravity Media to assemble a temporary production facility housing three control rooms on the grounds.
All of our control rooms had to be built in a flypack style, notes Brown. We had to do this to answer production's need for a completely integrated facility.
EVS Cerebrum powers the onsite production facility.
Powered by EVS Cerebrum, the production spaces feature Grass Valley Kayenne K-Frame production switchers, Ross Video XPressions graphics, and Calrec Artemis audio consoles. The goal was to construct control rooms that mimic the broadcaster's home setup in Atlanta's Techwood.
Inclement weather and prolonged play on any court could create a logjam of sorts in these newly constructed areas. Those instances could cause some stacking, which could ultimately shift our production or content philosophy, says Brown. We needed to make sure that all of the facilities were interconnected.
Shared Space: Eurosport Joins U.S.-Based Colleagues at AR-Capable Studio TNT Sports' daily studio programming emanates from a prominent spot on the Roland-Garros campus. As NBC Olympics did with live studio coverage from the 2024 Paris Olympics, the broadcaster is tapping into broadcast and operations personnel from both sides of the Atlantic. The studio, which will be shared with the crew at Eurosport, is a single building comprising various positions for content, including a main set with a desk and a stand-up location with a large LED screen. Both sets are equipped with a mini jib camera. TNT Sports also has a 30-ft. jib position on the outside to capture b
