Live From the Open Championship: EMG's Hamish Greig Highlights Group-Wide Effort Operation comprises about 700 staffers, large compound to serve global rightsholders By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, July 21, 2023 - 10:15 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
EMG is once again at the center of the Open Championship, and this weekend's Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club caps off a busy two-week period for the company. Last week, the broadcast-services provider was at the center of another big golf show: the Scottish Open. The two events are the largest golf productions the company does, and, according to EMG Director, Golf Operations, Hamish Greig, about 90% of the team that worked last weekend are hard at work this weekend as well.
They've done very well and have been absolutely brilliant, he says. Some of the people did the setup for the Scottish Open and then came down here while others worked through that event and are now here.
EMG's Hamish Greig: We're like a big golf family. NBC, Sky, and ETP all work across the same events.
The Scottish Open production was based on EMG's Nova 112A and TSV12 for the main golf coverage and Nova 112B, Nova 132, and Nova 121 for unilateral coverage by Sky Sports, CBS Sports, and PGA TOUR. On Sunday night, the trucks were packed up and driven to within two hour's drive of Royal Liverpool so that they could be onsite Monday morning. They were folded into a fleet of EMG mobile production units that work closely with the Open's main broadcast building, which is home to OSCAR (Outside Source Central Apparatus Room) and to main production facilities for the Open world feed and NBC Sports coverage.
All told, there are around 700 people roaming the course and compounds for the various rightsholders. Many of them also tend to work on the same major events as well as plenty of smaller ones. We're like a big golf family, says Greig. NBC, Sky, and ETP all work across the same events.
For the Open Championship, EMG has provided some 160 cameras, spread across the world feed, Sky Sports, NBC, Golf Channel, and TV Asahi. Thirty-five of those cameras are RF (two in UHD HDR for coverage of Holes 13 and 17) operating in the 2G, 5G, and 7G bands, and 22 receive sites are scattered throughout the course. There is also a Sony shallow-depth-of-field camera with a Ronin gimbal.
We're amazed that we've actually managed to tweak it so it actually matches the other cameras, says Greig. Sometimes, when you see it on other shows, it can be a bit jarring.
The Compound The heart of the production for the Open Championship is the large IBC building comprising production-control rooms, replay areas, and audio rooms (and equipment racks) that allow the NBC Sports team and the world-feed-production teams to work at maximum efficiency. The building is part of a large compound housing EMG mobile units and portable cabins and facilities.
The main production gallery for the world feed inside the Open IBC
Greig says getting the compound built is a bit like playing Jenga but with massive OB units, smaller portable cabins and trucks, and the large broadcast center in the middle.
On one side of the compound is the world-feed operation; on the other are the unilaterals. Greig says Nova 125 is the first truck to turn up for the host-feed buildup, serving as the main communications hub for the ETP and world-feed team. On the unilateral side of the compound are two trucks: one for NBC Sports, one for Sky Sports.
Nova 125 handles all the comms panels and is the interface to the IBC for the rest of the compound, says Greig. When the other trucks arrive, they are all trunked together and become one big comms system with audio, video, the whole lot. And then we do the same thing for NBC when OB9 comes in. When NBC's Newbert flypack comes in, it gets connected to Stamford and away we go. Then Nova 119 comes in and is home to Sky Sports comms and Sky facilities. When those three are up, you have the host, NBC/Golf Channel, and Sky in early and working on their infrastructure.
The other trucks handle various aspects of Marquee Group coverage, Featured Hole coverage, and more. Nova 303 does sound, graphics, and commentary for Marquee Group 1 (which also gives it the firepower to be a backup facility for OSCAR). Top Tracer cameras are also in that truck. A third redundancy is via OB12B, which houses Marquee Group 2's main production area, an EVS area, main sound mix, and commentators.
OB 12B is a third redundancy [in case] anything happens, notes Greig.
UHD HDR coverage for Holes 13 and 17 is produced in Nova 118. The holes are both par-3s and are covered by a green camera with a big lens and a radio camera plus access to all other feeds. The UHD HDR camera signals pass into Nova 118, are shaded using SDR monitors, and are then available in UHD HDR as well as in 1080p SDR for the regular shows.
Nova 54 runs on hydrogen fuel.
Also on that side of the compound is Nova 54, which represents an innovation in truck design and is being used to rack 20 world-feed cameras. Says Greig, Nova 54 is a new remote-truck concept, which includes running on hydrogen fuel as we want more sustainable trucks.
The unilateral side of the compound includes Nova 131, which handles the Live at the Range show for IMG, which is on-air at 9 a.m.-noon and 2-6 p.m. every day. That truck also did a celebrity challenge last Sunday with six RF cameras, mics, and three on-course commentators.
Japan's TV Asahi is onsite with a new workflow this year.
We are giving TV Asahi all router panels and multiviewers so they can see and access every camera, says Greig. They have a mixer here, [who selects] which 12 feeds to send back, and a couple of EVS units so they can iso some other feeds and send them back as well.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
Live From the Open Championship: EMG's Hamish Greig Highlights Group-Wide Effort Operation comprises about 700 staffers, large compound to serve global rightsholders By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
