
NEP battles weather to keep the going good for Grand National coverage By Adrian Pennington
Monday, April 15, 2024 - 11:48
Print This Story
The 2024 Grand National is NEP's eighth with ITV Racing
The 177th running of the Grand National is NEP's eighth with ITV Racing and this year they've had considerable weather challenges during the build, with high winds, wet weather and soft ground to contend with.
Regardless, the NEP technical teams got to work, with three days to build the multiple commentary and camera positions across the four-mile, 514-yard race course.
During these builds there are always logistical challenges to deal with as well, as the race courses are preparing their course for their flagship event, explains Jon Harris, technical projects manager at NEP. For example, moving technical kit to remote places such as the famous Canal Turn' can be challenging and time consuming, as it's the furthest distance from the OB trucks.
Coverage of the racing action is pulled together from more than 50 camera sources plus 19 radio links including shared camera feeds from RaceTech (horse racing's integrity coverage supplier), in addition to the multicamera presentation studio, on-course interviews and reports which take place during the show.
Every year, we continue to refine our setup and rig, Harris says. Our years of experience in delivering this complex event, combined with our continuity in our crewing, means we have the top specialists when it comes to horse racing broadcast.
NEP crew hard at work on the Grand National 2024
Throughout the calendar, NEP provide NEP Equinox as the main HD baseband broadcast truck for ITV Racing and many of the specific racing requirements can remain setup within the truck, meaning more efficient build and rigging times.
For events such as the Grand National we are able to scale the operation to meet specific technical requirements, meaning we retain the same work space for the production team and still have the benefit of having the core setup installed in the truck, Harris says.
By and large the camera set up and presentation is the same as 2023. This includes a pair of depth of field cameras (used extensively on earlier Six Nations coverage) for, lovely emotion shots of winning jockeys and crowd, says ITV Sport programme director Paul McNamara.
The experiment putting augmented reality (AR) graphics onto drone footage last year did not prove as successful. It took such a long time for us to get it into the pre-record so we're not doing that this time, explains Tony Cahalane, technical director, ITV Sport.
However, ITV Sport is deploying AR graphics more extensively from a feed captured by the main wire-cam that runs 730 metres across the course. This Camcat Colibri wire-cam is supplied by specialist camera partner ACS with broadcast graphics partner AE Live producing the graphics as it does across the show's whole output.
Two tracking vehicles, also supplied by ACS, keep pace with the riders travelling at 40mph with a Cineflex on a jib and a Sony F55 for 3 x high motion. Another super-slo is positioned on the finish line.
Four minicams are built into fences. At Fence One, for example, a minicam in the middle of the fence takes shots towards the grandstand of the runners.
It's a really impressive shot with the runners all coming towards the fence and jumping it, says Harris.
With all the current industry excitement about whether the promise of 5G network slicing might finally be about to be fulfilled, it is something that has been on ITV's radar for some time but still might not be appropriate for a large race meet like the Grand National.
Explains Cahalane: Effectively there are two reasons why it doesn't help us. At Aintree we really need a guaranteed 5G network and that doesn't happen without cost and the cost is quite extreme. Added to which at this moment there isn't enough 5G infrastructure in the immediate area. We would need more Towers.
But it's also a question of control. Radio frequencies are in our control completely whereas that's not necessarily the case with a 5G network where you are beholden to a telecom provider. The Grand National is one of those situations where we know what we need to do in order to get the best pictures and so we want to maintain RF spectrum to be absolutely in control.
News coverage is a different matter however. I do understand 5G's advantage for pop-up news stories especially in places which aren't necessarily populated with a hundred thousand fans who are all on their mobile phones, Cahalane says.
5G definitely has uses but not yet in large-scale events like the Grand National. It's not only cost prohibitive, it's easier for us to do it with digital radio camera technology.
The average viewing figure for last year's Grand National programme, aired on ITV's main channel, was 4.4 million, which was up from 4.1 million in 2022. The team are hoping to have matched or exceeded that this time around.
The Grand National was won this year by I Am Maximus', the 7/1 joint favourite.
North America Stories
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/04/2026
A flexible monitoring platform designed to simplify ST 2110 operations, consolidate vendor tools, and support modern live production environments. See it at NAB...
30/04/2026
Sundance-premiering Run Amok is an expressive, unconventional take on today's teen experience, replete with musical numbers. When cinematographer Shachar ...
30/04/2026
JACKSONVILLE, AL, APRIL 29, 2026 Jacksonville State University, known as Jax State and a proud NCAA Division I member of Conference USA, has transformed its a...
30/04/2026
Transforming viewer and content data into real-time intelligence to deliver relevant streaming experiences at scale
ThinkAnalytics, the global leader in AI-pow...
30/04/2026
Sports Production, Delivery is Big Biz at NAB
Andy Marken April 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image source: NAB
One of the neat things about trade shows i...
30/04/2026
Scripps Research ranks third in 2026 Cure Innovation Index
April 29, 2026
LA JOLLA, CA Scripps Research ranked third in the inaugural 2026 Cure Innovation In...
29/04/2026
It was a delicate job in a 150-year-old venue laden with traditions. Begun at th...
29/04/2026
In annual event, the league gives startup companies the opportunity to prove the...
29/04/2026
Panel discussions, networking, and a facility tour will take place in the renova...
29/04/2026
(L-R) Derek Drescher, Coss Marte, and Syretta Wright have each other's backs. (Micheal Hurcomb/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
By Veronika Lee Cla...
29/04/2026
Some people stumble into their passion. Julissa Padilla walked straight into a film vault. For her, entertainment was never just about the movies themselves. It...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live, expanding their ...
29/04/2026
nxtedition is bringing its range of consolidated production tools to MPTS 2026, with new developments spanning transcription, editing, graphics and AI-assisted ...
29/04/2026
Quortex Switch to boost the streaming experience for Telxius customers, reaching millions of viewers worldwide
Synamedia and Telxius, the leading global connec...
29/04/2026
freispace, the leading ERP-as-a-Service platform for media and entertainment production, and Projective, a leading provider of post-production collaboration tec...
29/04/2026
DHD reports strong interest in its broadcast audio product range, exhibited at the April 19th-22nd NAB Show in Las Vegas. The event attracted a claimed 58,000 a...
29/04/2026
Student Spotlight: Alan Catz The Argentine film and game composer talks about working on League of Legends, receiving Berklee's BMI Award, and the lifelon...
29/04/2026
Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen The supervising sound designer behind A Minecraft Movie, The Meg, Letters from Iwo Jima, and dozens of other...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Back to All News
SUPERNOVA: GENESIS Reached a Peak Audience of More Than 6.5 Mi...
29/04/2026
Jin-Quan Yu elected to the National Academy of Sciences Yu is recognized for his pioneering work in synthetic organic chemistry.
April 28, 2026
LA JOLLA, CA S...
28/04/2026
The audio team for the entertainment event must blend speech intelligibility with full-range music reproduction while considering the broadcast
Last week's...
28/04/2026
The Pac-12 Conference has released an updated primary mark and logo as the starting point of the new league's brand identity. The mark was soft-launched acr...
28/04/2026
The DP World Tour and Amazon Leo have signed an agreement making Amazon's lo...
28/04/2026
Pixellot and HELIOS have announced an integration that automatically converts full-game hockey video into individualized shift videos for each athlete, without ...
28/04/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the Asheville Tourists to manufacture and install a new LED video display. The installation was completed in late 2025 and is now ...
28/04/2026
Eutelsat has announced the renewal of its partnership with PCTV, a content aggregation and distribution company in Mexico and part of Megacable Holdings, for co...
28/04/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to install a new LED video display at U.S. Steel Yard, replacing the previous Daktronics display inst...
28/04/2026
Telos Alliance and the College Radio Foundation have announced that WWSU-FM of W...
28/04/2026
Golf viewership is growing. The 2025 Ryder Cup drew five million viewers in the UK, a 45% increase over the 2023 event. The US Open was the most streamed golf e...
28/04/2026
The CW Network and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), have announced t...
28/04/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced that the Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) suite of standards and specifications has been named...
28/04/2026
The 2026 NAB Show is in the books and the show once again served up a cavalcade ...
28/04/2026
Gray Media and RAJ Sports have announced Rose City SportsNet (RCSN), a new netwo...
28/04/2026
Triton Digital's Podcast Metrics Demos+ Data Integration Enables Comprehensi...
28/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/04/2026
TAG Video Systems, the leading IP-native Realtime Media Platform, today announced that Lens, its visual service health interface for broadcast operations, recei...
28/04/2026
Open AV-over-IP Standard Recognized in IT Networking/Infrastructure and Security Category
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) today announced that the ...
28/04/2026
VFX History: Slit Scan
Graham Quince April 28, 2026
0 Comments
How did 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, Doctor Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation...