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
13/01/2026
NHL Situation Room 2.0: How Sony Hawk-Eye Powers Centralized Officiating, Player...
13/01/2026
NBC Sports Ices the Audio for the 2026 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championship...
13/01/2026
DMF and MXL in practice: Which vendors are adopting it, and how fast is the ecos...
13/01/2026
CES 2026: Five Important Sports-Tech BuzzwordsThe terms highlight innovations for sports production at the showBy Daniel Frankel, SVG Contributor
Tuesday, Jan...
13/01/2026
For TGL Season 2, Unity 6 Boosts Virtual-Graphic Quality; COSM 360 Cameras Impro...
13/01/2026
Resetting Expectations? The State of the Sports Industry with Devoncroft's J...
13/01/2026
Top Row L-R: Ana Katz, Natalia Almada, Bao Nguyen, Tatiana Maslany, A.V. Rockwell, Dr. Heather Berlin
Second Row L-R: Sophie Barthes, Azazel Jacobs, Janicza Br...
13/01/2026
DoW to invest $1B in planned independently traded Missile Solutions business...
13/01/2026
L3Harris Chairman and CEO Christopher Kubasik and Under Secretary of War for Acq...
13/01/2026
Singapore - January 13, 2026 - Nielsen today announced the appointment of Matty Lin to its Commercial Organization as APAC regional sales leader.
Based in Sing...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Nine-week performance series brings music, dance, theatre, and storytelling to downtown Durham, January - March 2026 (Durham, NC) The Chamber Orchestra of the T...
13/01/2026
Berklee Launches AIMS, an Artist-Centered Summit on Music and AI Hosted by the Berklee Emerging Artistic Technology Lab (BEATL), the event will focus on the i...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
13/01/2026
viztrick AiDi, Provided by Nippon TV and FOR-A, Powers Automatic 9:16 Cropping with Auto-Tracking and Intuitive Operation for Dynamic Streaming Content
Targ...
12/01/2026
Sports and Music Unite: A Look Back at the Operationally Ambitious FIFA Club Wor...
12/01/2026
Nielsen Panel Discussion Highlights World Cup Impact for FOX, Telemundo, MetLife...
12/01/2026
FIFA President Infantino Highlights How AI Will Impact 2026 FIFA World Cup and B...
12/01/2026
Baltimore Ravens' Jack Dana on Telling a Better Story With Media Management ...
12/01/2026
FOX Sports' Brad Cheney on Spectrum Debate's Impact on the Sports-Produc...
12/01/2026
Australia and New Zealand VP Alan Clements shares L3Harris' leadership insig...
12/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
12/01/2026
Berklee International Folk Festival Celebrates 40 Years Featuring Grammy-winning alumna Arooj Aftab, the milestone concert and weeklong festival marks four de...
12/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
12/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
12/01/2026
Back to All News
Kento Nakajima To Star in Netflix Manga Adaptation S&X', ...
12/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Celebrates Partnership and Progress at Fort Monmouth Closing Ceremony
Governor Phil Murphy, Netflix co-CEO, and Governor-elect Mikie ...
12/01/2026
Back to All News
WWE By the Numbers: Celebrating One Year on Netflix
From left to right: Rey Mysterio, Intercontinental Champion John Cena and Sheamus celebr...
10/01/2026
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
10/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
10/01/2026
Back to All News
Connection and Youth Defined: The Ramparts of Ice Brings a Hea...
09/01/2026
Rock-It Sports' Deron Brown & Laura Rowlands on Launching a New Brand, Suppl...
09/01/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery's Chris Brown on the Broadcaster's First French O...
09/01/2026
NFL Playoffs 2026: CBS Sports Travels to Jacksonville With Packed Arsenal of Pro...
09/01/2026
NFL Playoffs 2026: NBC Sports Is Set To Roll Out New Scorebar, Insert Graphics T...
09/01/2026
NFL Playoffs 2026: Prime Video Production Team Caps Historic Season With Iconic ...
09/01/2026
NFL Playoffs 2026: FOX Sports Kicks Off Postseason Slate With Two-Game Wild Card...
09/01/2026
NFL Playoffs 2026: ESPN's Run Brings Monday Night Football' Flagship Op...
09/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
09/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
09/01/2026
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, today introduced the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning...
09/01/2026
Globecast, the leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, today announced the appointment of Chris Pulis as Group Chief Technology...
NEP battles weather to keep the going good for Grand National coverage By Adrian Pennington 
