Live From the 2025 Ryder Cup: NEP Specialty Capture's President Dan Grainge on Taking 5G to New HeightsT-Mobile private 5G nodes will be transmission backbone for wireless camera feedsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, September 26, 2025 - 6:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In the days ahead of a big-time event like the Ryder Cup, the compound is a busy place, with not only the broadcasters but also clients, guests, and, of course, tech-facility providers onsite making sure everything is working well. For many such events, NEP Specialty Capture group, led by President Dan Grainge, is onsite in force. Making the Ryder Cup more exciting than usual, the NEP team will be using T-Mobile private 5G nodes as the transmission backbone for wireless camera signals. Grainge sat down with SVG ahead of the event to discuss the Ryder Cup, the future of 5G, and why it's important.
NEP Specialty Capture's Dan Grainge is onsite at the 2025 Ryder Cup with his team, breaking new ground in using 5G for a professional sports event.
We'll talk about the 5G effort in a bit, but tell us about the overall presence NEP Specialty Cameras has here at the Ryder Cup?
We have a full range of specialty camera solutions for a major broadcast event this size. Our specialty cameras are, across the board, 20 robos with long lenses and pan bars on most tee boxes. We also have some specialty high-speed cameras as well and three dirt cameras. So it is a more typical golf setup with around 60 cameras.
The RF side, however, is as big as The Masters production, with upwards of 40 RF paths, and we can handle many of them at the same time. I would consider this one of the largest events that would happen in a year, including the Super Bowl, because it is truly international event.
From the outside looking in, that wouldn't seem to be the case because, for most of the event, there are only four groups of golfers on the course at a time.
Well, they still play most of the holes, and, while a typical PGA TOUR event may have only one or two featured groups [and that level of coverage], here all of them are featured groups. You just can't have any weaknesses around the course, and that means more infrastructure, like receive sites. So our total camera count between robos and RF is around 80.
And the robotic cameras are controlled from the compound?
Yes, we have a robo facility where operators control them and also monitor the lock-off cameras and reframe cameras on the par-3 holes.
Let's talk about the big news here: the use of 5G in a big way. T-Mobile is providing a private 5G network used for the T-Mobile Breakfast at Bethpage show, a live drone, and more. Where do you guys fit in with that project?
We are very proud of how this has developed and the innovations involved. When we introduced our 5G MT-UHD MiniTx [which has a built-in 5G transmitter] three years ago it won all kinds of awards, but it didn't have the resources and 5G connectivity on sites to be used. So we had the infrastructure ready to support 5G, and now we're finally using it for about five or six live cameras with paint control, audio, sync, and more. We have done a lot of testing, and it's working quite well. And T-Mobile has been a great partner helping support bringing more tools to the broadcast production so our customers can deliver an incredible viewing experience.
T-Mobile is providing the 5G connectivity. How will you be making use of its 5G nodes?
One of the neat things that happens at this event is the crowd running to the first tee box in the morning, and that will happen during the T-Mobile Breakfast at Bethpage show [which is on at 6-8 a.m. ET on Friday and Saturday and at 8-10 a.m. on Sunday]. We will be using 5G from T-Mobile for that, and we've also tested it with a Steadicam.
Tell us about the 5G infrastructure.
We have 15 5G receive sites. The trick is to get the camera to switch between sites without dropouts and without a glitch. That's our secret sauce: using a certain wavelength and switching between the nodes without a dropout. Over months of testing, we were able to find out which wavelengths and frequencies work better for that handoff.
Everyone is familiar with how smooth that handoff is on cellphones, especially for voice calls, but why is this more difficult?
On a phone, you can send a packet, and, if a packet drops out, it doesn't matter. Here, if a packet drops out, you get a glitch, and then it has to re-sync, which means it might not come up for a frame. But the leap forward here is, we aren't seeing any dropouts, sync issues, or audio-sync issues. But there is constant tweaking and learning about how 5G signals work.
It's a private 5G network, but there is still interference. For example, when other cellular service providers turn on their services earlier this week it caused some crosstalk as there is some bleeding between the networks. It's just physics, and we're literally tweaking specific wavelengths to get all of this to work cohesively.
What other leaps have you been able to make while testing and getting ready for this?
There are some other 5G-related products that can have multiple cameras and in those systems one of the cameras is the primary and the others are subs. And you need to switch them in order to make a sub camera the primary camera. But we have a system here where all the cameras are primaries, which means all of them are available instantly.
Why is the ability to use 5G for broadcast cameras important?
The RF spectrum is going away and we and the rest of the industry need to prepare for that. All of the things we've done in a singular location have worked. It's fairly straightforward, and it's fairly easy. But it is not just set-up-and-go like RF is. Eventually, we may have
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
Live From the 2025 Ryder Cup: NEP Specialty Capture's President Dan Grainge on Taking 5G to New HeightsT-Mobile private 5G nodes will be transmission backbone for wireless camera feedsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
