Broadcasters, Tech Vendors Serve Up Perfection at US Open

CBS Sports Serves Up US Open Coverage; Ikegami Arc-Net Has Expanded Role

by Ken Kerschbaumer

CBS Sports began serving up its own US Open tennis broadcasts on CBS as well as CBS Sports Network on Saturday but the technical team of more than 250 people has been on site for more than a week producing the world feed and helping serve up tennis action domestically through ESPN and the Tennis Channel.

Broadcasters Rely on F&F Productions for Major Court Coverage

by Karen Hogan

On the court, the US Open may be every man for himself, but not so in the truck compound. Located just outside Arthur Ashe Stadium, F&F Productions' GTX-16, GTX-14, and an accompanying B unit provide resources for CBS, ESPN, and Tennis Channel, while sharing resources with fellow mobile-production providers to ensure that every network gets a smooth show.

Big Screen Networks Makes US Open Debut

by Ken Kerschbaumer

This year's US Open tennis tournament has not seen a lot of changes and new twists in broadcast and video-related technologies, but new production partner Big Screen Networks best known for producing the in-venue video services for the Super Bowl (next year's game will mark 30 consecutive years), the Final Four, the Olympics, and more has brought its talents to the Billie Jean King Tennis Center and the bowels of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

ESPN Stays Focused on Task at Hand While Eying 2015 Transition

by Jason Dachman

It may be a full two years before ESPN takes over as exclusive rightsholder and world-feed provider of the US Open tennis tournament, but preparations are already well under way. With an 11-year, reportedly $770 million deal to take over the full US Open rights from CBS in 2015, ESPN's production and operations teams are looking to make the transition as seamless as possible.

Graphics Key to Tennis Channel's Enhanced Coverage

by Brandon Costa

It's a crowded production compound outside USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and it can be tough to stand out. Tennis Channel is doing just that, thanks to some sharp graphics technologies it's using for this year's US Open coverage. According to Bob Whyley, SVP of production/executive producer, Tennis Channel, the addition of Viz Libero (formerly LiberoVision before Vizrt acquired the technology this year) and a second Sony Hawkeye system has changed the complexion of the Tennis Channel broadcast.

NEP SS18 Is Central to Sky Sports' US Open Coverage

by Ken Kerschbaumer

The UK's Sky Sports is once again calling NEP's SS18 OB unit home to Chris Sandeman, US Open tennis production manager and his team. Sky has more than a 20 year relationship with the tournament, which it has been broadcasting since 1991. The primary coverage relies on signals from the world feed, which is handled by CBS Sports as the US network has domestic over-the-air rights and handles host broadcast feeds of the courts.

ESPN ITV Upgrades Internal Audio Comms

by Brandon Costa

One of the thrills of visiting the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis and attending the US Open is roaming the grounds and hopping from court to court, taking in a variety of different matches. It's a tennis junkie's dream. Again this year, DIRECTV's US Open Experience brings viewers the US Open Mix Channel, a six-screen mosaic providing live network coverage plus five outer-court matches simultaneously.

CBS and ESPN Split Two-Story Truck' for US Open Audio

by Dan Daley

Upstairs in the truck, Bill Baggett and Jay Willis mix the audio from the two main courts at the 2013 US Open tennis tournament. Downstairs in the truck actually a two-story, iron-framed building covered in corrugated metal and intended to be temporary CBS Sports and ESPN take the feeds from two Lawo mc256 Mk II consoles and embed them for distribution for their respective networks and to the international feeds. It's a shared infrastructure that's smoothing the way for ESPN, which currently broadcasts the weekday matches, including the men's and women's singles finals, to also take over the prime weekend games in 2015 in an 11-year deal.

NEP Provides Nerve Center for Broadcast Compound

by Karen Hogan

Two weeks of play across 17 courts and three major networks is a daunting feat accomplished every year at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing, NY. Once again, NEP's ESU serves as the brains of the operation, transmitting video and audio signals where they need to go. After laying the cable in early August, NEP parks ESU approximately a week and a half prior to play. The distribution and transmission facility is there when every mobile unit covering the US Open arrives about a week later.

Aerial Video Systems Handles RF With Ease at US Open

by Karen Hogan

Although shocking upsets have become the norm at this year's US Open, in an office nestled within Arthur Ashe Stadium, the two weeks of competition have been smooth sailing for Aerial Video Systems (AVS). AVS is providing RF handheld cameras, wireless announcer microphones, IFBs, and RFPLs for CBS, which are also used by ESPN and Tennis Channel. The company also has a separate contract with Sky Sports, providing the British broadcaster with wireless cameras, microphones, IFBs, and RFPLs.

LINK:	http://sportsvideo.org/main/blog/2013/12/broadcasters-tech-vendors-ser...
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