Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

PTO Tour Ibiza Part Two: FilmNova and the PTO Overcome Island Challenges to Tell Triathlon Story

22/05/2023

PTO Tour Ibiza Part Two: FilmNova and the PTO overcome island challenges to tell triathlon story By Michael Burns

Wednesday, May 17, 2023 - 11:52

Print This Story

Germany's Anne Haug wins the women's race in Ibiza

The Professional Triathletes Organisation came to Ibiza on the first weekend of May, with a host of the world's best triathletes taking to the water, running and cycling the course, and a bigger broadcast reach than ever before. However, holding the PTO Tour 2023 on the Balearic island was testing, not just for the competitors, but for the OB production too.

Whenever you do anything on an island, let alone an island in Spain, you have certain challenges, says Matthew Coliandris, senior director at host broadcaster FilmNova. It's that much more difficult to get kit and people there, and it takes longer to get things resolved. Then you can add in a few mountain issues to make things a bit more of a challenge.

In a previous SVG Europe article, we revealed how the layout of the triathlon course caused difficulties for the broadcaster - rather than forming an unbroken circuit, the locations for the start and transition areas were separated from the finish line by 2.7km of Ibiza Town streets. However, the local ISP was able to provide internet connectivity to relay camera signals from a hub at the finish back to the OB (provided by Gravity Media) at the start. Adding to the complexity, the men's and women's races ran on the same day and were time-staggered, with the women's race starting an hour after the men set off.

A point-to-point race like this will always present challenges, says Coliandris. But we got full connectivity from finish to start, and those pictures held up. There was, however, a slight delay with talkback which always presents a little bit of a challenge.

The swim

The initial swim segment threw up issues, as the drone that was meant to be providing coverage wasn't permitted to fly over the marina by the local port authority. This was even though permission had previously been sought and granted by Spanish air traffic control.

That delayed the drone guys in terms of their testing, and in terms of the RF link that was associated with it, says Coliandris. That gave us a bit of an issue on Saturday morning - we didn't have the drone for the men's swim because the RF link wasn't holding up.

It was left mainly to just one camera to provide the main coverage, sited on a raised breakwater and fitted with an 86:1 box lens.

Essentially that men's race was all down to Scott, our cameraman on the big lens, for the swim. He was working very hard to make sure that the variety of shots that we got made it interesting, says Coliandris. We also had two cameras in the transition area doing their level best to give us other shots to cut in between.

The separate cycle [4x19km loops] and run courses had to be covered over 4G for the most part, with two camera motorbikes filming each of the men's and women's races (following the leader and the chase).

We had 4G coverage on the cycle course which was fairly long up towards the north of the island from Ibiza Town, Coliandris continues. When we tested it on Thursday, the top end of that course was really patchy and we were losing the top 5km. So the engineers put latency in the signal, which essentially meant we had a seven-second delay between the bikes sending out the pictures and us getting them. It was the same with the talkback: they wouldn't get my message until seven seconds later.

The engineers did a very good job of making sure all that worked. They were adjusting the latency as it came back into Ibiza Town, where we had a few fixed cameras around transition, so the delay was a lot less.

You learn to cut around delays anyway, he adds. Obviously with people getting on and off bikes, you have to be careful that you're not seeing them get on the bike twice for example. The fact that there was a delay didn't impact on screen. But it greatly helped the signal.

Presenting arms

Many aspects of the PTO coverage are driven by Martin Turner, head of broadcast for the PTO, who also edits the programme. With a background including Sky Sports' F1 and rugby union coverage, Turner prefers presenters to be in among the action at the start, transition and finish line, rather than sitting in a studio.

In Ibiza, returning TV anchor Alex Payne led a presentation team that included lead commentator John Gooden, with expert analysis from former Olympic triathletes Vicky Holland and Helen Jenkins.

We've used Alex Payne and Vicky Holland a lot, they're becoming quite expert in understanding the personalities and the stories within the PTO, says Coliandris. We like to have live interviews during the race where we bring in people's family, friends and coaches. Using split boxes, we'll have a shot of the triathlete in one box, and their associate speaking on the other side. We try to keep the coverage varied in that regard. We got very lucky on Saturday when Lucy Charles-Barclay's husband was around the transition area. We grabbed him and did an interview live as she was coming through transition, with the shot of her over his shoulder.

Payne presented from the start area, then once the women's race began, he moved to the finish together with his floor manager, camera op and sound assistants to present the end of the programme from that position.

Telling the story

Coliandris had 16 live cameras to play with - four on the motorbikes, two drones and a mixture of cabled and RF cameras.

I wasn't trying to cut a load of cameras all at once, he says. Once the bike race begins, I'm very reliant on the moto guys, who did a sensational job on the weekend. The bulk of the show was relying on those guys, and th
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/pto-tour-ibiza-part-two-filmn...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

08/05/2025

SVG Sit-Down: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on AI in Workflows, Pushing Boundaries With XR/AR

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 Horizon, and Beyond

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 Elevating Live Golf Coverage

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 Production

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

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 Difference

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

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

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 Production Facility

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 Products and Customers

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

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 IP Services

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 Capabilities

In NAB 2025 Afterglow, Grass Valley Touts New Imagers, Production Switchers, AI ...

05/05/2025

Inside ATP Media's Remote Revolution in Tennis Broadcasting

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 Ever

Ratings Roundup: 2025 NFL Draft Viewership Slots Event at Second Most-Watched Ev...

02/05/2025

SVG Esports Production Summit Examines Impact of Remote, Cloud-Based Workflows on the Live Gaming Environment

SVG Esports Production Summit Examines Impact of Remote, Cloud-Based Workflows o...

02/05/2025

Alternative Broadcasts With the Bucs: SportsNet Pittsburgh Provides Unobstructed Views' for Pirates Fans

Alternative Broadcasts With the Bucs: SportsNet Pittsburgh Provides Unobstructe...

02/05/2025

How Momentum Broadcast Teamed Up With Carr-Hughes Productions to Land the Grand Slam Track Production Contract

New possibilities: Creating a new production company with a difference at Moment...

01/05/2025

Telling the Story: Extensive Technical Setup Delivers Comprehensive Special Olympics Coverage

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-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

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 Access

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 Be a Heavyweight Production

With Back-to-Back PBR, UFC, and WWE Events in KC, TKO Takeover' Proves To B...

29/04/2025

Behind the Scenes With Grand Slam Track: Momentum Broadcast and Carr Hughes Productions Team Up

Fascinating characters: Behind the Grand Slam Track partnership of Momentum Broa...

29/04/2025

Behind the Scenes With Grand Slam Track: Groundbreaking AR for Live Athletics Headlines Inaugural Season

Big package: Groundbreaking AR for live athletics comes to Grand Slam Track By ...

29/04/2025

Behind the Scenes With Grand Slam Track: New League Heads Stateside After Jamaica Debut

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

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

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

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 Capabilities

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

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 REMI Production, Early Prep for Super Bowl LXI

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 Sunset+Vine

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 & Technology Officer Mike Bidgoli

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 Focus on Software Adoption

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 Bay and L.A.

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 Entertainment Outside Lambeau Field

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 and L.A.

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 Behnke as SVP of Production

Comcast Fills SpinCo Sports Executive Ranks With Matt Hong as President, Jeff Be...

23/04/2025

Audio Helps Chess.com Checkmate Cheating

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

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 for French football

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 Through Collaboration and Ever More Broadcast Coverage

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 for Sports Content Protection

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 Triple Crown of Snooker to Sunset+Vine

Live from The Crucible: BBC Sport's Phil Bigwood discusses transitioning the...

22/04/2025

You Are There': FOX Sports, Sony, Hawk-Eye Innovations Break Down the Latest Trends in NFL Camera Coverage

You Are There': FOX Sports, Sony, Hawk-Eye Innovations Break Down the Latest...