Live From Wimbledon: Game, Set and Match to WBS With Second Championships as Host Broadcaster
10/07/2019
Tuesday, July 9, 2019 - 10:13
Print This Story
One year on from Wimbledon Broadcast Services' (WBS) successful debut as host broadcaster for the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) annual Championships and the atmosphere is far more relaxed.
After taking over from the BBC's 90-year run as host last year, WBS has settled comfortably into its role after the mammoth project that saw a multi-million-pound rebuild of the broadcast centre and update of all services for the 2018 Championships, working with technical partner NEP.
Speaking to SVG Europe, head of broadcast and production, Paul Davies, said: We're evolving the whole time; it's evolution not revolution. What we did last year was pretty groundbreaking and we were very confident we could deliver it, but we didn't try to overdeliver. We knew we were starting this year from a very good template in terms of doing the 18 court coverage, and 4K on Centre Court.
For 2019, the goal has been to refine the core of what was implemented last year, noted Davies.
There's no need to innovate for innovation's sake; we've got a really good, robust system now and it's about tweaking it and adding little things, subtle things, just to enhance it for the broadcasters.
The basics were in place and we're clearly going to keep those, but we looked at every other aspect in review; we have this famous thing called the list', where every element of the production is looked at from the smallest detail to the biggest one, and for all the broadcasters, not just the host output; for everybody around the world, [the question is] how can we improve their coverage?
The WBS team, Paul Davies, Bethan Evans and Tom Giles in the quality control room of the broadcast centre, AELTC
So we start from our perspective thinking what can we give to them to improve that, and that's based on feedback from [the broadcasters themselves].
Commented broadcast technical manager, Tom Giles: We did so much last year that most of the changes this year and most of what we've been doing are internal, making processes smoother for rights holders, and making the communication strategy better.
Giles went on: There's no need to innovate for innovation's sake; we've got a really good, robust system now and it's about tweaking it and adding little things, subtle things, just to enhance it for the broadcasters.
Giles said that this year, he was far more relaxed about the start of the Championships following last year's launch of WBS as host broadcaster.
On the technology side, you've done all the hard work. You've proved it works, obviously, and you've got that consistency of the engineering teams of NEP, you've got the consistency of us at WBS operations, so from my side it's pretty comfortable in terms of getting on air.
However, he added: There's always nuances and stuff that stress you out and there are always things you want to improve on.
Birds eye view
Wirecam supplied by ACS in action
The big technical story this year at the Championships has been one of those improvements of coverage for broadcasters; a wirecam from ACS. Davies said that even 10 years ago, when he and Evans were at the BBC and Giles was at NEP, there's always been the aspiration to have a wirecam at Wimbledon .
He went on: We're always very respectful of not interfering with the play, so we would never put a Spidercam on Centre Court, in the way that the other Grand Slams have. The Australian Open and the US Open, they have a Spidercam on their main show courts. We feel that interferes too much with play and the spectators' experience, so whilst we wouldn't do that, we always knew that a wirecam either across the grounds or adjacent to would offer these incredible images.
It was just incredible that we got the green light on the practicalities of doing it, then for the Club and the Board to agree to the aesthetics of it and actually doing it, it was rewarding, Davies went on.
The narrow walkways are packed with spectators as soon as play starts, and the wirecam brings some of that atmosphere to viewers at home
Getting that green light from AELTC to erect the wirecam was a challenge, Davies stated: The ACS wirecam at 381 metres long is the big headline for us this year, in many ways, first in terms of getting Club approval to erect [the] two 33 metre towers. The view from the Royal Balcony from the Clubhouse is a very protected vista and whilst we have the 72 metre hoist which was to the right as you looked out, we have moved that, which cleans up that look from that balcony but by its nature we had to put that pylon [for the wirecam] somewhere so we put it [and its fellow] on the golfcourse.
The hoist moved this year from the north of the grounds to the south, which has not only meant broadcasters have access to a more open view of the entire geography of the grounds, but they also get stunning shots at sunset with spectacular light and shadow.
AELTC acquired the golfcourse opposite in December last year. However, it is continuing to operate as a golfcourse until 31 December 2021, and so there were still many checks and permissions needed in order to erect the pylons for the wirecam, including checking the density of the soil to ensure the pylons did not subside.
Giles said the surveys for the wirecam towers were in-depth and out of his usual work remit. He explained: I've never spent so much time interested in soil. [For the towers] there had to be ground surveys to know how much force you can put down on the soil and how much weight you can put on the ballasts to keep the towers up.
I almost had a little party when we got the numbers ba
LINK: | https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/live-from-wimbledon-game-set-... |
See more stories from svg |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
08/05/2024
Aerojet Rocketdyne Selected by DoD to Demonstrate Powder-in, Engine-out Hypersonic Propulsion Manufacturing
Aerojet Rocketdyne delivers a broad range of capabilities to support hypersonic ...
08/05/2024
L3Harris is Advancing the Future Fleet by Delivering Integrated Solutions
Selected by Fincantieri Marinette Marine, L3Harris is the shipboard design integrator and a key partner on the Fincantieri team for delivering critical subsyste...
08/05/2024
EditShare Goes Beyond Storage at MPTS
EditShare Goes Beyond Storage at MPTS Workflow, server and delivery solutions from storyboard to screen Stand D40, London Olympia, May 15-16, 2024 - EditShar...
08/05/2024
Tegna, Indiana Fever Expand Broadcast Distribution to 11 Additional Markets
TYSONS, Va. Tegna Inc. and the Indiana Fever have announced they have expanded the broadcast distribution of 17 Fever WNBA games to 11 additional markets....
08/05/2024
Comcast Business Boosts Internet Speeds
PHILADELPHIA Comcast Business has increased Internet speeds for customers, nationwide, at no additional cost and has introduced its fastest Internet plans yet ...
08/05/2024
Clear-Com to Showcase Cutting-Edge Communication Solution...
Clear-Com , a renowned provider of professional real-time communication solutions, is thrilled to announce its participation at InfoComm 2024, the largest profe...
08/05/2024
MRMC Achieves its Second Kings Award for Enterprise
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC), a Nikon company, is one of the 252 organisations recognised with a prestigious King's Award for Enterprise. Announced to...
08/05/2024
EditShare goes beyond storage at MPTS
EditShare, the technology leader that enables storytellers to create and manage collaborative workflows at every stage from storyboard to screen, is exhibiting ...
08/05/2024
Magnifi and Linius Fuse Live and Archive Content to Redef...
Magnifi by VideoVerse an AI-driven video technology company and powerful video-editing SaaS platform is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Linius ...
08/05/2024
NVIDIA RTX GPU Connects DaVinci Resolve to Power
NVIDIA RTX GPU Connects DaVinci Resolve to Power Brie Clayton May 8, 2024 0 Comments Two of the most important questions that the Creative COW audienc...
08/05/2024
Q&A with Visiting Artist Lei Liang
Q&A with Visiting Artist Lei Liang The acclaimed composer discusses his collaboration with Boston Conservatory, his work as a research artist, and what it mea...
08/05/2024
More Stations in San Antonio Launch NextGen TV Broadcasts
A second group of stations has begun broadcasting NextGen TV signals in San Antonio, Texas....
08/05/2024
NBC Orders More Deal or No Deal Island'
NBC has ordered a second season of unscripted Deal or No Deal Island. Joe Manganiello hosts, and executive produces alongside Howie Mandel. Manganiello will ret...
08/05/2024
Tegna Names Greg Retsinas GM At KGW, Portland, Oregon
Tegna said it named Greg Retsinas as president and general manager of KGW, the NBC affiliate in Portland, Oregon, effective June 3....
08/05/2024
Measurement Company Comscore Posts $5.2 Million Loss in 1st Quarter
Comscore lost money in the first quarter as weak linear ad sales impacted its cross-platform measurement business....
08/05/2024
Funny Business as NBC Orders Happy's Place,' Renews Lopez vs. Lopez'
NBC said it bolstered its comedy slate by renewing Lopez vs. Lopez and ordering Happy's Place, starring Reba McEntire....
08/05/2024
Knuckles' Knocks Fallout' From Top of TVision Power Score Rankings
Paramount Plus's Knuckles knocked Amazon Prime Video's Fallout out of the top spot in TVision's Power Score ranking of the top show on connected TV ...
08/05/2024
Tegna Adds 11 Markets To Lineup for Indiana Fever Games
Tegna, which made a deal to broadcast 17 Indiana Fever games featuring top WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark, said it made deals that will put the games on stations...
08/05/2024
EchoStar Loses 348,000 Pay TV Subs in 1st Quarter
EchoStar said it lost another 348,000 pay TV subscribers so far this year, closing the first quarter with 8.18 million subscribers. That total includes 6.26 mil...
08/05/2024
Fox Has Net Income of $666 Million in 3rd Quarter
Fox reported a profit for its fiscal third quarter....
08/05/2024
IPG's Kinesso Unit Adds Senior Executives to Lineup
Kinesso, the centralized tech and data unit at media agency IPG Mediabrands, named Tom Amies-Cull as global chief operating officer and Amie Owen as global chie...
08/05/2024
Post production houses adopt Cleanfeed Cinema solution
The solutions in-browser stream focuses on low latency, making it suited to low bandwidth scenarios By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, 2024 The solutio...
08/05/2024
TAG unveils subtitling language detection feature
Driven by algorithms, the solution performs a quality analysis informed by language-specific dictionaries By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, 2024 Drive...
08/05/2024
Mobilelinks acquires 2 SAT Europe to increase SNG truck fleet
The increase in fleet size will reduce travel distances, aligning with sustainability goals, said Mobilelinks By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, 2024 T...
08/05/2024
Arqiva adds Caroline Cardozo and James Lelyveld to technology team
The company said the new arrivals would drive collaboration and technological transformation across key business units By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 8, ...
08/05/2024
Actus Digital Set to Shine at CABSAT and Broadcast Asia
Following a successful NAB Las Vegas 2024 and winning a Best of Show Award, Actus Digital, a leading provider of Intelligent Monitoring Platforms, will bring it...
08/05/2024
TAG Revolutionizes Closed Captions and Subtitles Quality...
TAG Video Systems, a leading force in video monitoring solutions, has developed a new Language Detection feature set to transform how operators ensure quality a...
08/05/2024
Pliant Technologies Unveils New SmartBoom LITE Headset at...
Pliant Technologies, a leading provider of professional wireless intercom solutions,presents its new SmartBoom LITE Headset at InfoComm 2024 (Booth C5116). The ...
08/05/2024
Prism Sound Showcases High-Quality Audio Conversion at MP...
At the Media Production & Technology Show 2024, Prism Sound will showcase high-quality audio conversion products designed to suit the demands of professional us...
08/05/2024
Julian Day Joins FooEngine
Soho stalwart Julian Day has joined FooEngine as Business Development Director after 13 years at ZOO Digital. Julian has been at the heart of the London post pr...
08/05/2024
Cleanfeed Cinema Redefines Audio Post Production Workflow...
Following its successful launch at NAB 2024, Cleanfeed Cinema - the latest remote recording innovation from Emmy Award-winning Cleanfeed - is already helping au...
08/05/2024
DHD to Showcase New Product Line-up at MPTS 2024
DHD's range of digital broadcast equipment, systems and related software will be promoted on stand D22 at the Media Production & Technology Show by UK-regio...
08/05/2024
MSP CloudReso selects Cubbit hyper-resilient DS3 distribu...
Cubbit, the innovator behind Europe's first distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced that CloudReso, a France-based distributor of MSP security so...
08/05/2024
MwareTV boosts Americas presence with Daniel Conde Coto
MwareTV, a prominent cloud-based multi-tenant platform provider, has attracted Daniel Conde Coto to join the company as director, sales operations. This is a si...
08/05/2024
LiveU Demonstrates its Efficient IP-Video Workflows for L...
In a year set to see record-breaking IP-video adoption, with over 70 elections and global sports events, LiveU heads to Broadcast Asia 2024 with a focus on its ...
08/05/2024
nxtedition Showcases a Fully Automated AR Studio Gallery...
Pioneers in microservices-based production environments, nxtedition, will demonstrate the latest advances in storytelling technology at the Media Production & T...
08/05/2024
MPTS 2024 - Leader and PHABRIX to showcase multiple new T...
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, has announced that it will again exhibit at The Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), which tak...
08/05/2024
Livepeer Studio cuts the cost of live streaming and trans...
Livepeer Studio unveils a revolutionary video streaming platform offering an unprecedented combination of quality and cost-efficiency to content creators, media...
08/05/2024
Ikegami to Demonstrate Complete Broadcast Media Productio...
Ikegami Electronics (Europe) will demonstrate a complete broadcast media production system on stand S1-A15 at CABSAT 2024 in Dubai, Tuesday May 21 through Thurs...
08/05/2024
Experience Commerce Bags Digital Agency Mandate for SAVSO...
Experience Commerce (EC), a leading digital agency within the Cheil Network, is pleased to announce that it has won the digital mandate for SAVSOL, the flagship...
08/05/2024
Global Telecom & Pay TV Services Market to Slowdown in 2024
NEEDHAM, Mass. The International Data Corporation is predicting that worldwide spending on telecom services and pay TV services will increase by 1.4% in 2024 to...
08/05/2024
Apple Unveils New iPad Live Multicam Production Studio
CUPERTINO, Calif. In a notable development for news and live video production, Apple has unveiled a number of significant upgrades to its Final Cut Pro software...
08/05/2024
Pliant Technologies to Showcase New Smartboom Lite Headset at InfoComm 2024
Pliant Technologies has announced that it will be presenting its new SmartBoom LITE Headset at InfoComm 2024 (Booth C5116). The latest updates include enhanceme...
08/05/2024
Tubi Launches 'Stubios' to Encourage Aspiring Filmmakers
SAN FRANCISCO Fox's ad-supported streaming service Tubi has launched Stubios, a fan-fueled studio for aspiring filmmakers and their fans that the company sa...
08/05/2024
Five More Stations Launch NextGen TV In San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO, Texas Five more stations have launched NextGen TV service, bringing to nine the number of local TV services on-air with ATSC 3.0....
08/05/2024
Tegna Names Greg Retsinas President & GM of KGW in Portland
TYSONS, Va. Tegna Inc. has announced that Greg Retsinas has been named president and general manager at KGW, Tegna's NBC affiliate serving the Portland area...
08/05/2024
Olivia Colman and John Lithgow Star in Sophie Hyde's New Project JIMPA
08 05 2024 - Media release Olivia Colman and John Lithgow Star in Sophie Hyde's New Project JIMPA Olivia Coleman and John Lithgow in JIMPA. Photo credit: ...
08/05/2024
OpenDrives Joins AWS Partner Network
OpenDrives Joins AWS Partner Network Brie Clayton May 7, 2024 0 Comments Atlas software-defined platform now available via AWS trusted partner network...