Live from The Players: NBC Sports Delivers Comprehensive Coverage Across Two Networks

Live from The Players: NBC Sports Delivers Comprehensive Coverage Across Two Networks By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Saturday, May 12, 2018 - 10:43 am

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NBC Sports coverage of The Players heads into its final two days of competition. Given that the tournament is always played at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, FL, the NBC Sports and the PGA have continually refined operations over the years and 2018 is no exception. We know the people and the working relationships are great, and because of that we just know the ins and outs of the course, says Allison McAllister, NBC Sports, director of golf operations.

(l-to-r) Allison McAllister, NBC Sports, director of golf operations, Amanda Short, senior production manager, Golf Channel, and Kristin Xippolitos, senior director, operations for Golf Channel on site at The Players.

The biggest improvement to on-course operations this year is that there are no longer cable ramps on the course as a lot of effort was put into cutting cable access paths so that all cables could be buried. In the past upwards of 40 cable ramps would be on the course but now the 42 miles of cable, each with 12 paths, are out of sight, an important step for an event that is determined to close the gap with The Masters.

The core of NBC's coverage are 62 cameras, including 34 wired hard cameras, 13 wired handheld cameras (including a jib), four wireless RF mini cameras, three tee box robotic cameras, a POV bunkercams on the 17th hole, one robotic camera in the scoring cabin, three small sub-tower robotic cameras, an Inertia Unlimited xMo, and then a Flycam between the iconic 16th and 17th holes.

The cameras are getting plenty of use as the Golf Channel and NBC Sports are delivering 90 hours of live programming surrounding the event. The Golf Channel and NBC will combine to provide 22 hours of live tournament coverage which has been which complemented by more than 60 live hours of comprehensive news, analysis and features across Golf Central Live From The Players and Morning Drive on The Golf Channel.

The most notable evolution in golf coverage continues to be the rollout of Trackman and Toptracer systems that allow for balls to be traced as they fly. Trackman is in use at the tee boxes on holes 2, 7, 9, 11, 14, and 15 while Toptracer is found at the tee boxes on 3, 6, 8, 12, and 16. There are also four RF Toptracers on handheld cameras on holes 2, 5, 11, and 14 and then an additional unit on the 17th green that captures the ball as it flies onto the green.

It's good for the viewer and becomes more common and expected, like First and Ten, says Ken Goss, NBC Sports, SVP of remote operations and production planning. And the Toptracer is now used on the interim shots.

And new this year at The Players is the use of Toptracer Range, which allows for The Golf Channel to bring shot tracking to the coverage of the players practicing on the range.

And then we have Pinpoint wind weather stations and one blimp, says McAllister. And Pinpoint can be moved to any hole.

NEP's ND4/Double Eagle is the main production truck with SS24 on hand to handle the additional camera and replay resources that are part and parcel of the larger golf tournaments. NEP ESU and ND7, which is used to produce Live From, which uses 13 dedicated cameras, and Launchpad for DirecTV which focuses on the 14th hole, are also onsite along with CP Communication's HD11. The HD11 unit oversees RF demands.

NEP does a tremendous job for us engineering wise, says Goss. Not only do we continue to be very happy with their facilities and the R&D and support we get from them on the other golf tournaments and events really pays off for these bigger shows. We just had the Kentucky Derby and then right to here so we're off to successful start to our Championship season and it's because of our partnership with NEP.

Marc Caputo, Senior Director, Remote Technical Operations at Golf Channel, says that this is also the first year that The Switch is involved at The Players, providing 1 Gbps circuits that are split 50/50 between video and data. And with the use of FileCatalyst graphics teams in Orlando and Stamford can remotely create graphical elements (ChyronHego operations are still on site). It's just the latest example of production teams being able to leverage fiber connectivity to cut travel costs and allow for production professionals across various locations to work as one.

It's been an incredible team effort and we're at our best when we work as a team, adds Goss.

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/05/12/live-from-the-players-nbc-sport...
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