
Indy 500: NBC Sports Is Back in Full Force at The Speedway, Adds Peacock-Exclusive Pre-Race Show 120+ cameras will cover the 107th edition of the iconic race By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, May 26, 2023 - 11:58 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
NBC Sports is pulling out all the stops at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) for its coverage of the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. More than 120 cameras will be deployed to cover the race itself on NBC, and an exclusive two-hour pre-race show will stream on Peacock at 9 a.m. and a 1 -hour pre-race show simulcast on NBC at 11 a.m.
The race itself is obviously one of a kind, says NBC Sports producer Rene Hatelid, who will be at the front bench for the third consecutive year. But it's all the pomp and circumstance leading up to the start that makes this different from any other race of the year. The bagpipers walking out, the jet flyovers - the entire scene is just amazing. We want our pictures to make everybody watching wish they were there in person. We've been planning with the track as far back as November of last year to make sure we have everything covered for all the pre-race ceremonies. It's going to be a very special day.
Pre-Race Coverage: Peacock Spreads Its Wings in Lead-Up to the Green Flag In all, NBC Sports Group will deliver seven hours of live race-day programming from IMS as part of more than 60 hours of total IndyCar coverage during May. NBC and Peacock have been covering all practice, qualifying, and warm-up sessions since May 16, and Peacock will provide exclusive coverage of Carb Day, the Indy 500 Parade, and Victory Celebration during race weekend. It all culminates this Sunday with The Greatest Spectacle in Racing in front of 300,000 fans in the stands and millions more watching at home on NBC and Peacock.
The additional 9:00-11:00 a.m. programming on Peacock will allow NBC Sports to showcase the Peacock Pit Box (which is outfitted with two robotic cameras and a mini jib), the Snake Pit, and the overall build-up of excitement leading into the event. Host Mike Tirico and studio analyst and former IndyCar driver Danica Patrick will be on hand at the Peacock Pit Box, and motorsports analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. and NASCAR analyst Steve Letarte will be reporting from Snake Pit and throughout IMS.
We pride ourselves on moving all our [on-air talent] around throughout the event and finding interesting new locations to go live from, says Hatelid. If you were to show up at any point in time, we want to make sure we're exactly where the action is at that moment. We'll have Danica and Mike bringing in a rolling group of guests in the Pit Box and Junior and Steve moving all around. We're just making sure we are where the action is happening.
120+ Cameras: In-Car Cams, Drones, Specialty Jibs, and More In terms of cameras, the Indy 500 is always among the biggest - if not the biggest - live production on the annual sports calendar. This year's complement of 120+ cameras scattered across IMS includes 60 in-car cameras across 15 cars, both a heavy lift and a small drone from Beverly Hills Aerial, two Steadicams, an 80-ft. StradaCrane jib, a TechnoCrane, two standard jibs, eight roving RF handhelds, eight super-slo-mo cameras (including an ultra-high-speed start/finish line-cam from Fletcher), and 10 panning robos from IMS Productions (IMSP).
The two drones were a big hit last year, notes Hatelid. We're excited to have them back again. Nearly half the field has onboard cameras this year, which is pretty impressive. But it all comes down to the way that our director Sean Owens uses them, and the pictures he's able to create are amazing.
As it does every year, NBC Sports is working closely with IMS Productions, sharing production resources and facilities. IMSP trucks HD-5, B1, C1, Ops 1, Net Ops, and TX- 4 will be in the compound. NBC also has Lyon 18 serving its pre-race coverage and in-race EVS and Spotter needs. Two BSI units provide RF support in the compound, along with BSI Blue in the infield. Four office trailers are on hand for production support, and all power is provided by Cat Entertainment Services' 500-kW twin-pack generators as well as a 100-kW tow pack.
The Speedway has also been an amazing partner, says NBC Sports Tech Manager Matt Hogencamp, [and] the most vital partner with NBC for this event is IMSP.
He describes IMSP President Kevin Sublette; Director, Broadcast Operations, Ken Ferguson, and Technical Managers Wright Hugus and Alex Milton as the dream team. They do IndyCar week in and week out at an amazing level. Their sense of teamwork and dedication to a quality production is unmatched. Their engineering team, lead by [Director, Engineering,] Jason King and [Supervising Engineer/EIC] Steve Dixon, is the definition of professionalism.
In the booth, play-by-play caller Leigh Diffey and analyst Townsend Bell will be calling their fifth consecutive Indy 500 and commentator James Hinchcliffe his second. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee, Dave Burns, and Dillon Welch will serve as pit reporters, and Tirico, Patrick, Earnhardt Jr., and Letarte will contribute to the broadcast throughout the race.
Everyone put their heart and soul into these past couple of weeks leading up to the race, says Hatelid. The team that we have put together is hands down the best in the business in my opinion. It's an honor and a privilege to work with them. I know how much they care, and we all look forward to what happens on Sunday because it truly is The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
More from Sports Video Group
08/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundarie...
08/05/2025
Creating Alternative Brand Experiences: Live Sports in the Age of Fortnite, Meta...
08/05/2025
PGA TOUR's David Piccolo: Advanced Graphics and Virtual Production Tools are...
08/05/2025
Tech Focus: Advancing Immersion in Sports Broadcasting with AR and Virtual Produ...
07/05/2025
Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 1 - Chasing the Fan Experience Balancing audio quality and noise is a constant struggle By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, M...
07/05/2025
Tech Focus: Venue Sound, Part 2 - For Multi-Use Spaces, the Gear Makes the Diffe...
07/05/2025
Snow Sports Offer Opportunity for Edgy and Aggressive' Audio Natural Selection Tour, Shawn White's The Snow Leagues emphasize athlete sound By Dan Da...
06/05/2025
SVG India Summit Draws 140 for a Day of Learning, Networking Global perspectives coupled with India perspectives made for informative discussions By SVG Staff ...
06/05/2025
The CW Benefits From NASCAR's New XR and Volumetric Studio at North Carolina...
06/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Blackmagic Design's Dan May on the Company's Wide Range of...
06/05/2025
The FAST Factor: What's Happening in Sports' Latest Streaming Party Leaders from the NBA, NBC Sports, and Amagi discuss the latest trends in free ad-sup...
05/05/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Kiloview's Judy Zuo on Ensuring Reliable AV Over ...
05/05/2025
In NAB 2025 Afterglow, Grass Valley Touts New Imagers, Production Switchers, AI ...
05/05/2025
Inside ATP Media's remote revolution in tennis broadcasting By George Bevir
Friday, May 2, 2025 - 13:50
Print This Story
From a single London hub, ATP...
02/05/2025
Ratings Roundup: 2025 NFL Draft Viewership Slots Event at Second Most-Watched Ev...
02/05/2025
Behind the Mic: MSG Networks' Joe Micheletti Set to Retire; NBA on NBC'...
02/05/2025
SVG Esports Production Summit Examines Impact of Remote, Cloud-Based Workflows o...
02/05/2025
Alternative Broadcasts With the Bucs: SportsNet Pittsburgh Provides Unobstructe...
02/05/2025
New possibilities: Creating a new production company with a difference at Moment...
02/05/2025
NBC's 25th Kentucky Derby Production Features Two Live Drones, RED Cine-Broa...
01/05/2025
Telling the story: Extensive technical set-up delivers comprehensive Special Oly...
01/05/2025
Just Around the Bend: Olympic Broadcasting Services Readies for the Milano-Corti...
01/05/2025
Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance Gets Going With Lobbying To Ensure RF Acce...
30/04/2025
With Back-to-Back PBR, UFC, and WWE Events in KC, TKO Takeover' Proves To B...
29/04/2025
Fascinating characters: Behind the Grand Slam Track partnership of Momentum Broa...
29/04/2025
Big package: Groundbreaking AR for live athletics comes to Grand Slam Track By ...
29/04/2025
High benchmark: Inside the inaugural Grand Slam Track production from Jamaica B...
29/04/2025
Engagement in the Live Stream: The New Age of Delivering the Game A conversation of streaming leaders dissects the feature sets that are winning in live sports ...
29/04/2025
Conveying emotion: BBC Sport on bringing the 45th London Marathon to viewers By Heather McLean
Monday, April 28, 2025 - 14:35
Print This Story
BBC Sport l...
28/04/2025
Joe Cohen Inducted into Cable Hall of Fame By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Monday, April 28, 2025 - 5:19 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story H...
28/04/2025
LiveU Inks Deal to Acquire Actus Digital, Boost Video Monitoring and Analytics C...
28/04/2025
Small Van, Big Story: Changing the Game in Sports Broadcasting with Obvious C By SVG Staff
Monday, April 28, 2025 - 10:51 am
Print This Story | Subscribe ...
28/04/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ESPN's Chris Calcinari on New Flagship Mobile Unit, Cloud and ...
28/04/2025
A Swiss Soccer Summer: Previewing UEFA Women's Euros 2025 with BBC Sport and...
25/04/2025
Super Bowl Streaming Success: A Conversation with Tubi's Chief Product & Tec...
25/04/2025
Tariff Turmoil: Trump's Trade Policy Sparks Uncertainty at NAB and Increases...
24/04/2025
Live From NFL Draft 2025: NFL Media Splits Sprawling Production Between Green Ba...
24/04/2025
Live From NFL Draft 2025: Van Wagner Turns Titletown Into Center of Fan Entertai...
24/04/2025
Live From the NFL Draft: NFL Media Splits Massive Production Between Green Bay a...
24/04/2025
Comcast Fills SpinCo Sports Executive Ranks With Matt Hong as President, Jeff Be...
23/04/2025
Audio Helps Chess.com Checkmate Cheating Matches are produced using REMI workflows By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 - 7:00 am
Print Th...
23/04/2025
Tech Focus: Intercoms, Part 1 - Key to Onsite, REMI, Hybrid Operations Intercoms keep increasingly disparate production locations together By Dan Daley, Audio ...
23/04/2025
Speaking my language: Bringing AI to the fore with real time audio translation f...
22/04/2025
Pushing the game: Growing the popularity of the 2025 Women's Six Nations thr...
22/04/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: RedFlag AI CEO Max Eisendrath on Creating a One-Stop Shop...
22/04/2025
Live from The Crucible: BBC Sport's Phil Bigwood discusses transitioning the...
22/04/2025
Live from The Crucible: Sunset Vine makes the first subtle changes of many for i...
22/04/2025
You Are There': FOX Sports, Sony, Hawk-Eye Innovations Break Down the Latest...