Giro d'Italia 2024: Behind the scenes of EMG Italy's TV production By Roberto Landini, Italian Correspondent Tuesday, June 4, 2024 - 08:40
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Part of the Grand Tour of cycling, together with the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espa a, the Giro d'Italia is known as a beautiful but challenging event. And, like the race itself, the operation that brings the Giro d'Italia to television viewers around the world each year is both complex and imposing.
The entire technical apparatus of people and equipment needed to produce the international signal for the broadcast of the Giro, which stretches for 3,404.8km across Italy in 21 stages, is put in place by EMG/Gravity Media. The race began on 4 May, concluding in Rome on 26 May.
For the third consecutive year, event organiser RCS entrusted EMG Italy with the entire TV production. In addition to the live international race signal, the clean signal for the national broadcaster (Rai), and the clean clean signal for Eurosport distribution, daily highlights and the news feed, a weekly magazine and social media content were also produced.
The production itself faces numerous challenges, starting with managing a crew of over 120 people who travel daily from stage to stage, and moving the TV compound, which consists of regia vehicles and support vehicles for graphics and connectivity.
Read more: Pink race: Graphics gold for EMG Italy with a peloton's-worth of innovations for the 2024 Giro d'Italia
Daily live broadcasts
The duration of the live broadcast, which varies in length depending on the stage and weather conditions, averages six to seven hours each day.
The international feed produced by EMG begins 30 minutes before the race start and continues for 45 minutes after the stage winner's arrival; it includes the daily jersey award ceremonies.
A major challenge is ensuring seamless coverage for areas not directly connected via cable or fibre. For this, state-of-the-art and proprietary wireless transmission systems are used.
Once the live broadcast is over, EMG Italy also plays an important role in the production of highlights, using two Avid editing stations connected to the EVS network to create daily clips and a weekly magazine.
Read more: Maglia rosa: EMG Italy on managing the logistics and technicalities of the 2024 Giro d'Italia
Andrea Basso, head of TV productions and media rights for RCS, says: This year we chose a Dutch director and assistant director, Koen van Mourik and Tjarko Stikkers, who we know well because we have already produced some editions of the Tour of the Emirates with them.
They are used to working together, they are very synchronised and they have an even fresher and more dynamic vision of the race. In their narration of the Giro, they used the new graphics package created by Boost Graphics much more than in the past.
For its part, RCS Sport has also invested heavily in the storytelling of the territory, selecting points of interest that are regularly provided to the team of aerial camera operators and enhanced during each stage.
The voice from the director's booth
It was a very exciting job! begins van Mourik enthusiastically. The Giro is definitely a great show and it's not for nothing that it's called the toughest race in the world, in the most beautiful country in the world'. It was a great opportunity to work with Tjarko Stikkers and the international team that EMG has made available.
Overall, the event was very well planned from the beginning of the season and then, at each stage, a camera plan was used that we confirmed on site each day before the start. Obviously, there are always small operational aspects that we cannot foresee before each stage and we are forced to make changes at the last minute, he adds.
For example, we are often not sure if we will have the space we want for camera placement and sometimes we have to mediate and adapt to the actual conditions, solving problems by making small changes to the original plan.
In general, we always have a big pre-production meeting where we explain to the operators what we want to achieve and what we expect from them. Then we discuss the small daily adjustments to the story and underline the focus we want to tell before each stage and on that specific day.
EMG at the Giro d'Italia
EMG Italy:
Manages the entire production and all logistics, and provides the main OB mobile vehicles
Is responsible for television direction, guaranteeing coverage of each stage
Coordinates and has relations with MIMIT for radio frequency licenses
Coordinates and carries out satellite booking for all contribution transmissions
EMG Connectivity:
Coordinates the activities of moving images during the stages and provides the necessary personnel and technology
Ensures the wireless transmission of images and data from the race to the HB's OB van
EMG Belgium + EMG France:
Coordinate the operations of helicopters and airplanes during the stages
Guarantee the safety and integration of the shots taken from the motorcycles
EMG Netherlands:
Manages satellite transmission
Distributes the Giro d'Italia video signal to broadcasters around the world
Boost Graphics:
Developed the race graphics package and provides timing and data processing services
Enriches the television production with informative and engaging visual elements in real time
Aerial Camera Systems (ACS):
Provides the gyro-stabilised cameras positioned on the helicopters for coverage of the action from above
From a technological point of view, continues van Mourik, we have extended the use of drones following the trend in other cycling races where aerial shots undoubtedly allow for greater spectacle, especially in some of the most difficult stages to follow.
The use of drones had already been inaugurated by EMG I
