The TCS New York City Marathon is back this Sunday, as one of the largest productions on the annual sports calendar hits the Big Apple for the 40th time. IMG's production of the 2016 Marathon - which will be broadcast live on WABC-TV in the New York Tristate Area and ESPN2 nationally and will be available globally in 175 countries and territories - will comprise 33 cameras covering the 26.2-mile course, including a camera attached to the chair of U.S. Paralympian Josh George. IMG, which has produced the NYC Marathon since 1994, has also tapped SMT (SportsMedia Technology) to provide biometric data on 10 runners at the race - a first for the event.
Biometric Data Takes Center Stage With SMT
As in years past, real-time-data and graphics provider SMT is once again playing a major role in the NYC Marathon production - with a twist. For the first time, the company is providing biometric data on 10 runners via small electronic devices: two pro runners, two pro wheelchair athletes, two first-timers, two experienced, and two masters). SMT is collecting tracking, core-temp, heart-rate, and MPH data feeds, which are then sent to SMT's Biometric DMX for broadcast graphics (on behalf of client IMG) and for the GOTO Board at the Pavilion (on behalf of client NYRR). A biometric SportsCG will display live biometric data for a selected athlete, and the Pavilion board will have live biometric data on it for race day.
The WABC-TV/ESPN2 broadcast will feature this in-depth runner biometric data (branded Performance Metrics Powered by Tata Consulting Services). ESPN Sports Science host John Brenkus will break down the Performance Metrics live during the broadcast, which will include pro runners Craig Leon and Esther Atkins and pro wheelchair athletes Tatyana McFadden and George. ESPN will highlight runners' heart rate, breathing rate, and cadence and pace relative to the conditions of the course and environment, such as elevation, grade, and weather.
In addition to the biometric data, SMT is providing its Iso Track on-screen pointer graphic, allowing viewers to identify and track featured athletes as they run; a Track Map full-screen graphic that will show viewers the location of the leading runners and wheelchair athletes; and talent prompters that deliver real-time scoring and historical info to commentators. SMT will also provide a Common Man Crawl, which serves a lower-screen race crawl displaying the current place of elite men and women runners and wheelchair athletes, as well as the name of every participant crossing the finish line. The crawl will also feature live fan tweets and Instagram posts via SMT's DMX social-media publisher.
SMT will deliver content to broadcasters and to projection screens, LED displays, and interactive kiosks placed throughout the course.
On-Air Talent Lineup
The production staff of 150 will include 16 commentators, reporters, and analysts, with ESPN's Sage Steele (lead host of SportsCenter on the Road and weekend host of NBA Countdown) serving as race-day host for the first time. SportsCenter anchor John Anderson will call the play-by-play on race day for the fourth consecutive year, with marathon analysts Tim Hutchings and Carrie Tollefson providing commentary from the booth and running expert Toni Reavis and three-time New York City Marathon winner Paula Radcliffe serving as lead athlete moto reporters. The group will be joined by a number of reporters stationed along the course, as well as at the start and finish: Lewis Johnson and WABC-TV's Ryan Field, Laura Behnke, Amy Freeze, Anthony Johnson, and Kemberly Richardson, with John Del Giorno covering the scene from above in Newscopter 7.
The broadcast will also provide features on U.S. Olympians making their marathon debuts - Molly Huddle, Kim Conley, and Gwen Jorgensen - along with 17-time Paralympic medalist and four-time New York City Marathon champion McFadden.
Reporter David Willey will be catching up with interesting runners throughout the day, interviewing a variety of personalities while running alongside them during the race.
WABC-TV's Lead-Up to the Starting Line
Race coverage will be broadcast on ESPN from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET. WABC-TV, besides offering extended coverage until 2:00 p.m., will provide a wealth of programming leading up to the race.
WABC-TV will air a total 10.5 hours of race-week coverage (including race day): the NYC Marathon Opening Ceremony featuring the Parade of Nations and the evening fireworks in Central Park. on Friday (5:30 p.m.); Countdown to the Starting Line, previewing the big names and storylines live from the Marathon Pavilion in Central Park. on Saturday (7:30 p.m.); and Eyewitness News Marathon Sunday (7 a.m.), which will feature coverage from Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, the starting line, reports from throughout the city, and aerial coverage from NewsCopter 7.
A two-hour condensed encore presentation of the race broadcast will air on ABC affiliates nationwide on Sunday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. local time.
A Global Event: 175 countries, 850 Million Homes
Internationally, coverage of the race will be available to 850 million homes in the following countries and territories: Australia - Premiere Media Group (Fox Sports), Brazil - Globosat, Canada - CBC.ca, China - LeTV and regional sport channels, Cuba - Tele Rebelde, Europe - Eurosport, Germany - SportA (news access), India - Star, Italy - RAI, Japan - FujiTV, Mexico - Sky Mexico, Middle East - Dubai Sports, New Zealand - Sky, South Africa - SuperSport, Southeast Asia- Eurosport, Thailand - Cineplex, and Turkey - Dogus.
The 40th running of the five-borough course will also be available via the ABC app in New York and WatchESPN app nationally from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
The TCS New York City Marathon is back this Sunday, as one of the largest productions on the annual sports calendar hits the Big Apple for the 40th time. IMG's production of the 2016 Marathon - which will be broadcast live on WABC-TV in the New York Tristate Area and ESPN2 nationally and will be available globally in 175 countries and territories - will comprise 33 cameras covering the 26.2-mile course, including a camera attached to the chair of U.S. Paralympian Josh George. IMG, which has produced the NYC Marathon since 1994, has also tapped SMT (SportsMedia Technology) to provide biometric data on 10 runners at the race - a first for the event. 
