ATP Media and IMG Create New Remote Production Partnership

ATP Media and IMG Create New Remote Production Partnership posted: 21/06/2017

Partnership will see more ATP men's singles matches produced than ever before

ATP Media, the broadcast arm of the ATP World Tour, today announced the launch of a new remote production venture in partnership with IMG Studios in London that has revolutionised the production across the ATP World Tour 500 tennis tournaments. The new delivery and production model has significantly enhanced the coverage of the ATP World Tour 500 tournaments, providing broadcasters with the ability to air matches with unprecedented flexibility. For the first time, all singles matches from the ATP World Tour 500s are now being produced, resulting in more than 400 matches being made available to broadcasters.

To deliver this next-generation remote production capability, ATP Media has embarked on connecting the ATP World Tour 500 venues to its global media fibre network, providing a direct link to IMG Studios from tournament locations globally. Significant upgrades in bandwidth and fibre connectivity through ATP Media's own dedicated GTT network allows all court and ISO feeds to be delivered from the on-site domestic broadcaster to IMG Studios where a fully produced World Feed including commentary and graphics is created. The result is a greatly enhanced World Feed that includes action from all produced courts, not just the main court. International broadcasters are then able to access the World Feed via the network or satellite, as well as additional court feeds on the network.

News edits, highlights and other features are also produced remotely at IMG Studios with access to a dedicated delivery line for ENG material including player interviews. Viewers globally will experience high quality centre court tennis coverage and a minimum of three cameras' coverage from additional courts.

This new ATP Media production model enables the global production of men's singles tennis matches from the ATP World Tour 500 tournaments to grow from 286 matches produced in 2016 to 435 matches in 2017.

June, which is always a busy and exciting month in the tennis calendar, will see the production model used to deliver a number of internationally renowned tournaments including the Aegon Championships in London, UK and the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, which occur simultaneously this week.

Dominic Gresset, ATP Media Executive Producer, commented: At ATP Media we strive to be ahead of the curve and constantly challenge ourselves to evolve tennis production, making it more accessible and entertaining for a global audience. These developments in our production and delivery methods allow us to distribute more matches than ever before, with up to four court feeds from some ATP World Tour 500 tournament locations, such as Rio de Janeiro, Acapulco and Washington, in addition to the World Feed. This new way of working enables us to deliver an enhanced broadcast product, whilst at the same time reducing operational costs. With a consistent, high specification work space and 24-hour support at IMG Studios, we're able to produce market leading live tennis coverage for our global broadcast partners.

David Shield, SVP IMG Studios, commented: We are delighted to be working with Dominic and the production team from ATP Media on this innovative workflow solution. Federations and broadcasters are looking for ways to reduce the size of on-site operations by using remote production. Our extensive connectivity, modern workspace and built-in technical resilience make IMG Studios the ideal partner.

About ATP Media:

As the broadcast arm of the ATP World Tour, ATP Media was formed in 2001 as Tennis Properties Limited; providing the centralised exploitation and host broadcast production for the ATP Finals, ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and ATP World Tour 500 tournaments. ATP Media has unrivalled access and expertise in the full-service broadcast production of men's professional tennis with an end to end solution for global broadcasters incorporating: rights sales, multi-platform production, a global fibre distribution network and a market leading digital archive.

About IMG:

IMG is a global leader in sports, fashion, events and media, operating in more than 30 countries. The company represents and manages some of the world's greatest sports figures and fashion icons; stages hundreds of live events and branded entertainment experiences annually; and is a leading independent producer and distributor of sports and entertainment media. IMG also specializes in sports training; league development; and marketing, media and licensing for brands, sports organizations and collegiate institutions.

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