America's Cup Event Authority Boosts Host Broadcast With Real-Time Biotmetric Data, Parrot Cam ACEA enhances AC LiveLine, first introduced in 2013, and gets creative with additional data and camera positions for the 2017 race. By Karen Hogan Ketchum, Senior Editor
Friday, June 23, 2017 - 11:11 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The 35th America's Cup is underway in Bermuda and, once again, the America's Cup Event Authority is manning the ACTV host broadcast duties for the prestigious match race.
With a history that dates back to 1851 - predating the modern Olympic Games - the America's Cup has seen many changes over its long life; most recently, the introduction of the much faster AC72 wing-sail catamarans in 2013 (50-ft. catamarans will be used in 2017). At that 2013 race, which was contested in San Francisco, ACEA looked to reflect the changing racing style with a fresh take on the ACTV television broadcast. Thus, AC LiveLine was born.
AC LiveLine, developed by Stan Honey and Sportvision (now a division of SMT), overlays geo-positioned virtual lines and data streams onto the live helicopter feed, which enables ACEA to show the boundary of the course and where the yachts are in relation to one another.
One of the things that's always been a challenge in yacht racing is to know where the boats are on the race course who's leading, who isn't leading, says Executive Producer Denis Harvey. You don't have a field of play like a stadium, you don't know where the boundaries are because your cameras aren't in fixed positions and moving around. It's very hard to tell who's ahead and who's behind.
For the 2017 race, ACEA has added commercial ad insertion opportunities around the course, creating a virtual billboard for sponsor logos. Real-time biometric data, like competitor heart rates, will also be collected for the first time and added to the television broadcast. And external factors that affect the race, like wind speed, will continue to be monitored and shown on screen. However, Harvey is careful not to overwhelm the viewer with too much information.
The key thing for me always is how does it tell the story? says Harvey. If we use a piece of data, what is it telling the viewer to enhance their understanding? My motto is always we only add a graphic or an element if it improves the storytelling. There's no point in putting up a graphic just for graphics' sake.
ACEA will deploy two helicopters with gyro-stabilized cameras, cameras on the chase boat and on a drone, and eight cameras on both of the competing yachts: four fully agile PTZ cameras, three super wide angle POV cameras (one under the dashboard and one on either side of the hull), and - new this year a parrot cam on the shoulder of the helmsman. ACEA is able to take four video paths off each boat at once, and an additional drone boat will communicate with a nanotransmitter on the drone and relay its signal back to shore.
Unlike in San Francisco, where ACEA built an entire control room and production infrastructure inside Pier 23, the host broadcaster opted to ship an NEP mobile unit from Sweden to Bermuda. The helicopters were shipped in from Chicago.
There's very limited broadcast infrastructure in Bermuda, explains Harvey. If you're in a city like San Francisco, you can [rely] on local facilities. Here, everything had to be brought in. We're using standard broadcast facilities [for the 2017 America's Cup], but we just have to ship them to Bermuda and ship them back afterwards.
Harvey's team began work on the 35th America's Cup approximately one year after the conclusion of the 34th, and Harvey himself has been on site in Bermuda since April to prepare for the race. The team is responsible for the production and distribution of the America's Cup television broadcast. While some broadcasters, like NBC Sports and BT Sport, opt to have their own on-site presence, others have the option of taking ACEA's feed, which includes optional commentary, and playing it as is on their respective networks.
We're particularly proud of how we are able to capture [the race] and turn that into a what is now a pretty attractive television program for the viewer, says Harvey. With the graphics, with the cameras, with the audio, we've made it a really exciting and enjoyable television-watching experience for people who probably aren't sailors. Now, you can sit down and put your feet up on the couch and you can know nothing about sailing and you can watch it, understand it, and enjoy it.
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
21/10/2025
Globecast, the leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, has announced the appointment of G Morgan as Executive Vice President of...
21/10/2025
Visual Data announces the appointment of Maz Al-Jumaili as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Localization, to advance client engagement, strategic partnerships, ...
21/10/2025
As Amazon's Prime Video prepares to launch its coverage of NBA basketball under a major new deal, Grup Mediapro has announced that it is working with the st...
21/10/2025
ATLANTA Good news for consumers using an Atlanta DTH receiver to watch ATSC 3.0: with a new software update, they will be able to blanket their homes with Wi-Fi...
21/10/2025
While recent news has been heavily focused on Hispanic migration into the U.S., The 2025 Hispanic Market Report from Claritas highlights the fact that this gr...
21/10/2025
MAIDENHEAD, UK RWS has hired Michael Wayne as its head of media and entertainment in Los Angeles where he will lead the company's media localization busines...
21/10/2025
Imagine Communications and Rohde & Schwarz today announced a definitive agreement under which Imagine will acquire Pixel Power Limited, a wholly owned subsidiar...
21/10/2025
Atlanta DTH (ADTH) today announced a major update that will expand the functionality of its NEXTGEN TV receiver by enabling gateway capabilities allowing viewer...
21/10/2025
Heartland Video Systems, Inc. (HVS), a premier video systems integration, consulting, and expert ATSC 3.0 implementation firm announces that it has partnered wi...
21/10/2025
QuickLink, the leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest integration solutions, today announced the appointment of Austin Hinton as it...
21/10/2025
nternet connectivity startup Miri Technologies Inc. will use this week's NAB Show New York as the launch pad for its latest ground-breaking innovation, the ...
20/10/2025
Inside TAMS: How Time-Addressable Media Stores could redefine sports workflows By Paul Markham
Friday, October 17, 2025 - 08:57
Print This Story
A penalty...
20/10/2025
Transformational production: Inside TVN's remote production push for the DFL...
20/10/2025
How NBC Sports Transitioned Stamford Facility to One Format: 1080p HDRMulti-year plan harmonizes workflows, simplifies operationsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial ...
20/10/2025
NBA on NBC' Studio Production Team Is Ready for Tip-Off With Coast-to-Coast...
20/10/2025
Under pressure: TVN CEO Markus Osthaus considers the German sports broadcasting ...
20/10/2025
(L-R) Maria Dizzia, Carmen Emmi, and Russell Tovey attend the Plainclothes pre...
20/10/2025
In March, we launched Concerts Near You to help listeners find concerts from their favorite artists. Since then, more than 3 million people have used it to disc...
20/10/2025
Em diversas cidades do Brasil, um movimento tem se fortalecido para celebrar o poder, a beleza e a profundidade da criatividade negra. O Dia AMPLIFIKA, agora em...
20/10/2025
In cities across Brazil, a movement is growing that celebrates the power, beauty, and depth of Black creativity. AMPLIFIKA Day, now in its fifth edition, return...
20/10/2025
Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft rendering...
20/10/2025
DENVER and MUNICH Imagine Communications today announced its plans to acquire Pixel Power Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rohde & Schwarz. Financial terms of...
20/10/2025
LOS ANGELES G Morgan has joined Globecast, a provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, as executive vice president of sales, Globecast Am...
20/10/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wisc. Heartland Video Systems and Zixi have partnered to enable broadcast-quality live video delivery over any IP network....
20/10/2025
A. R. Rahman on Facing Fear and Finding the Divine In an interview with Berklee President Jim Lucchese, the Oscar-winning composer reflects on how courage and...
20/10/2025
Monday 20 October 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. ...
20/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz transfers Pixel Power to Imagine Communications Companies work collaboratively to ensure continuity and ongoing support for existing customers...
20/10/2025
RT 's Prime Time is set to host the final Presidential Election Debate this Tuesday night, October 21, providing an opportunity to hear directly from Irelan...
20/10/2025
NVIDIA and Google Cloud are expanding access to accelerated computing to transform the full spectrum of enterprise workloads, from visual computing to agentic a...
19/10/2025
Back to All News
Sins of Kujo' Comes to Life in New Live-Action Series Set for Spring 2026
Entertainment
19 October 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to cl...
18/10/2025
New England Sports Network (NESN) has chosen Harmonic, working with Astound Business Solutions, as its enterprise technology partner to transform primary distri...
18/10/2025
NEW ORLEANS, La. In the run-up to the start of the NBA season, WVUE-TV and Gray Local Media have announced a deal with DirecTV that will greatly expand access t...
18/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates 40 Years of the Fall Together Concert Faculty composers Bob Pilkington and Greg Hopkins are among the featured artists for this year's ...
17/10/2025
NEP Group Receives New Equity Investment From 26North Partners LP, Co-InvestorsCarlyle remains the largest shareholder as the company prepares for the futureBy ...
17/10/2025
Apple Lands Five-Year Deal for F1 Distribution in the U.S.Besides airing on Apple TV, the sport will be amplified on other Apple servicesBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Ed...
17/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Marshall Electronics' Bernie Keach on the Future of PTZ Camera...
17/10/2025
L2 Productions' REMI Facility in Austin Can Produce Content From AnywhereMusic festivals, sports events are produced via flypacks and remote control roomsBy...
17/10/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
17/10/2025
(L-R) Christopher Meyer, Addison Timlin, Cooper Raiff, Lili Reinhart, Alyah Chan...
17/10/2025
M sica e arte se uniram em uma noite especial na semana passada na ZIV Gallery, ...
17/10/2025
Music and art came together for one special night last week at ZIV Gallery, an i...
17/10/2025
Spotify and FC Barcelona are extending our partnership through 2030, continuing a collaboration that's redefining how fans, players, and artists connect. Th...
17/10/2025
MURRIETA, Calif. The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC) has deployed DigitalGlue's creative.space storage platform to streamline video production by centrali...
17/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. Football continued to cement its reputation as a bulwark of TV advertising in Q3 2025 with new data from iSpot that showed both the NFL and coll...
17/10/2025
The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC), the premier competitive saltwater fishing series, has transformed its production workflow by adopting creative.space, the...
17/10/2025
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning multi-camera video productions and remote contribution solutions, announces the release of StudioPro Version 4, ...
17/10/2025
Although the annual Grammy Awards celebration is best known for recognizing achievements in the recording industry, the show often proves a visual spectacle as ...
17/10/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leading provider of software-defined data storage and data services, has promoted Alex Dunfey to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from his for...
America's Cup Event Authority Boosts Host Broadcast With Real-Time Biotmetric Data, Parrot Cam ACEA enhances AC LiveLine, first introduced in 2013, and gets creative with additional data and camera positions for the 2017 race. By Karen Hogan Ketchum, Senior Editor 
