ESPN Tees Up Expansive PGA Championship Coverage
07/08/2020
Thursday, August 6, 2020 - 10:03 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
This morning marks the beginning of ESPN coverage of the PGA Championship as part of a new rights deal. For the broadcaster's production and operations team, though, it is the culmination of 17 months of planning, creating, and embracing new health and safety guidelines, and an important partnership with CBS Sports that builds off their relationship at The Masters.
ESPN's David Duval (left) and Scott Van Pelt at the CBS studio today. On Saturday and Sunday they will call the action from the ESPN studio.
It's very exciting and a long time coming, says Andy Davenport, manager, remote production operations, ESPN. Working closely with CBS at The Masters helped in terms of getting this off the ground, and we have been in step with each other all the way. It has been a very rewarding experience.
ESPN's will carry live coverage all day, beginning at 10 a.m. ET, and will also broadcast two featured groups on ESPN in the morning and afternoon (including the dynamic trio of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Thomas at 11:33 a.m.) for all four days. On Saturday and Sunday, it will also offer featured-hole coverage of the 18th hole as well as five hours of coverage before CBS comes on-air. And there will be a major SportsCenter presence all weekend.
We do a lot of shoulder programming on SportsCenter, notes Davenport, adding, We have a double-decker studio out at the 18th hole that we are really proud of. It's impressive, and our team worked with Filmwerks to put it together.
ESPN has a two-story set on site at the PGA Championship.
The top level of the studio will be home to SportsCenter and tied to the Lyon 14 production truck. The lower level will be used for ESPN's play-by-play team of Scott Van Pelt and David Duval for Saturday and Sunday.
We had extensive planning to get the design and everything else lined up, says Davenport. It went very smoothly, with the structure build starting on July 18. And then scenery, lighting, and technical equipment were brought in and we were up and running on Aug. 2.
The upper level has three cameras, including a jib; the lower level has room for an A2 and a researcher as well as two couches to give a second look. There is no stage manager, just the announcers and a single camera operator, the A2, and the researcher. There is also no makeup onsite, and catering is just boxed lunches.
A look inside NEP ND7, which ESPN is using for featured-group coverage at the PGA Championship
The main production today will be produced out of NEP Supershooter CBS (back nine) and Game Creek Encore (front nine) while NEP ND7 is home to the featured-group coverage. The A unit has two control rooms, one for each group. The B unit is handling audio and replay for one group, and the C unit is handling audio and replay for the second featured group.
The thing that impacts the featured groups the most is, the eight announcers are offsite, although we have two roving announcers on the course, says Davenport. Six of the offsite announcers are using ESPN's commentary kits at their homes, while Matt Barrie will be calling the action from the ESPN studios in Bristol. Andrew Catalon has a home kit that CBS uses and that will be tied into ours.
The COVID-19 pandemic also moved two editing bays offsite, the result of an evolving plan that involved weekly calls with CBS Sports that grew more frequent as the event approached. The original plan was for the PGA Championship to be held in May, and, when it was shifted to August, the operations involved new plans and plenty of finger-crossing in the hope that it would actually be held.
Andy Davenport says the team at ESPN has done a tremendous job to get ready for the PGA Championship which starts today.
The health and safety plans are a mix of philosophies. CBS Sports has two functional groups: members of the red group can go inside the trucks and facilities; blue can access only the course and 18th-tee broadcast studios. ESPN, in addition, has letters assigned to different areas to create even smaller bubbles for staff.
It's been very gratifying that we have gotten to this point, says Davenport. This is the first major of the year but it is also the most prestigious event and first championship for a major sport since the Super Bowl and we're proud to be part of it. Speaking personally, the team we have is a big one, and there are so many tentacles, and we have all been working together through all these months. To be on-air and moving forward with all these tremendously talented groups at ESPN and CBS Sports is great.
ESPN and ESPN will offer 12 hours of traditional coverage of the first round of the PGA Championship on Thursday, streaming on ESPN 10 a.m.-4 p.m. ET with two-time defending PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka beginning his first round at 11:11 a.m., along with Gary Woodland and Shane Lowry, and will be covered in the ESPN presentation. Coverage will then move to ESPN at 4 p.m.-10 p.m.
LINK: | https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/08/06/espn-tees-up-expansive-pga-cham... |
See more stories from svg |
More from Sports Video Group
19/04/2024
NAB 2024 in Review: West Hall - SportsTech Buzz From AWS, Appear, Ateme, The Switch, TATA Communications, Telstra, TVU Networks, Verizon, and More
NAB 2024 in Review: West Hall - SportsTech Buzz From AWS, Appear, Ateme, The Swi...
19/04/2024
NAB 2024 Draws 61,000+ Attendees With More Than Half Attending the Show for the First Time
NAB 2024 Draws 61,000+ Attendees With More Than Half Attending the Show for the ...
18/04/2024
Ping Pong for the Masses: Bringing an Old Sport to a Brand New Audience With World Table Tennis
Ping pong for the masses: Bringing an old sport to a brand new audience with Wor...
18/04/2024
Fanatical Fans: IMG on Bringing the World of Table Tennis to a New Global Audience for WTT
Fanatical fans: IMG on bringing the world of table tennis to a new global audien...
17/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with the NHL and Version 17 of the Zixi Platform
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with th...
17/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Wednesday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Wednesday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Wednesday, April 17, 2024 - 3:00 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full sw...
17/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with the NHL and Version 12 of the Zixi Platform
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with th...
16/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Tuesday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Tuesday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Tuesday, April 16, 2024 - 3:15 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full swing,...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Calrec's Henry Goodman, Solid State Logic's Tom Knowles on Audio in the Cloud
Live From NAB Show 2024: Calrecs Henry Goodman, Solid State Logics Tom Knowles o...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: The Switch's George Lopez on Remote Production, The Cloud, and the Future of Connectivity
Live From NAB Show 2024: The Switchs George Lopez on Remote Production, The Clou...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: LiveU's Steve Wind-Mozley on IP, REMI Solutions for Light Weight Production
Live From NAB Show 2024: LiveUs Steve Wind-Mozley on IP, REMI Solutions for Ligh...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Blackmagic Design's Bob Caniglia on Upgrades to ATEM Production Switchers, Recent Work in Replay and IP
Live From NAB Show 2024: Blackmagic Designs Bob Caniglia on Upgrades to ATEM Pro...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Canon's Staff Gives a Tour of New Lenses, Multi-Camera Control App, Enhanced Use of Free Viewpoint
Live From NAB Show 2024: Canons Staff Gives a Tour of New Lenses, Multi-Camera C...
15/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Monday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Monday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Monday, April 15, 2024 - 3:00 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full swing, a...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on the Democratization of High-End Graphics Tech
Live From NAB Show 2024: Vizrts Nicholas Jameson on the Democratization of High-...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Sony's Hugo Gaggioni on the Power of Sharing and Connecting Live Production Resources
Live From NAB Show 2024: Sonys Hugo Gaggioni on the Power of Sharing and Connect...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Lawo's Andreas Hilmer Walks Through HOME Apps, Dishes Latest on IP
Live From NAB Show 2024: Lawos Andreas Hilmer Walks Through HOME Apps, Dishes La...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: AWS' Julie Souza on the Maturation of Live Sports Production in the Cloud
Live From NAB Show 2024: AWS Julie Souza on the Maturation of Live Sports Produc...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: FUJINON Lenses' Stosh Durbacz on the Debut of the Duvo HZK14-100mm Lens, Adding Cinematic Feel to Broadcasts
Live From NAB Show 2024: FUJINON Lenses Stosh Durbacz on the Debut of the Duvo H...
14/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Sunday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Sunday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Sunday, April 14, 2024 - 12:41 am Print This Story The NAB Show kicks off today, a...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Program Productions' Bob Carzoli on Investment Growth and Supporting Freelancers with the ProCrewz App
Live From NAB Show 2024: Program Productions Bob Carzoli on Investment Growth an...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Appear's Thomas Bostrm Jrgensen, Alex Pannell, and Ed McGivern on Backing the Continued Growth of Live Sports
Live From NAB Show 2024: Appears Thomas Bostr m J rgensen, Alex Pannell, and Ed ...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Amagi's Dan Marshall on Migrating On-Prem Data Centers to The Cloud and the Exciting Growth of FAST Channels
Live From NAB Show 2024: Amagis Dan Marshall on Migrating On-Prem Data Centers t...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Ross Video's David Ross on Celebrating 50 Years with Major Product Intros
Live From NAB Show 2024: Ross Videos David Ross on Celebrating 50 Years with Maj...
14/04/2024
NAB 2024: NHL, Verizon Business, and AWS Roll Out 5G-enabled Cloud Broadcasting Solution
NAB 2024: NHL, Verizon Business, and AWS Roll Out 5G-enabled Cloud Broadcasting ...
12/04/2024
Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off' Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL's David Lehanski and Keith Horstman
Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off' Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL...
12/04/2024
NAB 2024: Suppliers Continue To Expand Networked-Audio Offerings
NAB 2024: Suppliers Continue To Expand Networked-Audio Offerings New and updated products boast IP and ST 2110, software systems, virtual control By Dan Daley,...
12/04/2024
Amazon Prime Video Chooses Onsite Production Path for Its 27 NWSL Matches
Amazon Prime Video Chooses Onsite Production Path for Its 27 NWSL Matches The streamer made its league debut with the 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup on March 15 By Kr...
12/04/2024
ESPN Rides Wave of Women's-Hoops Momentum Into WNBA Draft Production at Brooklyn Academy of Music
ESPN Rides Wave of Women's-Hoops Momentum Into WNBA Draft Production at Broo...
12/04/2024
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mimir's Andr Torsvik on Enabling Remote Collaboration Through the Cloud
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mimir's Andr Torsvik on Enabling Remote Collabor...
12/04/2024
Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL's David Lehanski and Keith Horstman
Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL's D...
11/04/2024
Case Study: Inside ESPN's Monday Night Football AR Graphics Launch
Case Study: Inside ESPN's Monday Night Football AR Graphics Launch By SVG Staff Thursday, April 11, 2024 - 8:18 am Print This Story | Subscribe Stor...
11/04/2024
All Love: Creative Media Producer Jhalen Wingate on Capturing South Carolina Women's Basketball's National Championship
All Love: Creative Media Producer Jhalen Wingate on Capturing South Carolina Wom...
11/04/2024
Miami Marlins Leap Into Artificial Intelligence With 2024 Team Open
Miami Marlins Leap Into Artificial Intelligence With 2024 Team Open The Famous Group played a pivotal role in its third consecutive project with the club By Kr...
11/04/2024
SPORTEL Rendez-vous Buenos Aires Four Weeks Away!
SPORTEL Rendez-vous Buenos Aires Four Weeks Away! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Thursday, April 11, 2024 - 10:46 am Print This Story | Subscribe...
11/04/2024
Sinclair Turns to Generative AI for Language Translation in Original Content
Sinclair Turns to Generative AI for Language Translation in Original Content Audio for Tennis Channel's Petko Unfiltered will be translated into Spanish By...
11/04/2024
In Final Masters for Sean McManus and Verne Lundquist, CBS Sports Aims To Provide a Grand Sendoff
In Final Masters for Sean McManus and Verne Lundquist, CBS Sports Aims To Provid...
10/04/2024
Viva Las Vegas: Inside the Design of CBS Sports' Super Bowl LVIII Graphics Package
Viva Las Vegas: Inside the Design of CBS Sports' Super Bowl LVIII Graphics P...
10/04/2024
WWE 30,000-Sq.-Ft. Studio Complex Opens; Sony Verona LED Wall Is Deployed for Virtual Production
WWE 30,000-Sq.-Ft. Studio Complex Opens; Sony Verona LED Wall Is Deployed for Vi...
10/04/2024
Inside Look at Sony's NAB 2024 Booth and What Advances To Expect in Cameras, Switchers, the Cloud, and More
Inside Look at Sony's NAB 2024 Booth and What Advances To Expect in Cameras,...
09/04/2024
2024 NCAA Women's Championship Blows Away Ratings Records, Is Most-Watched Hoops Broadcast of Any Kind Since 2019
2024 NCAA Women's Championship Blows Away Ratings Records, Is Most-Watched H...
09/04/2024
2024 Sports Emmy Nominations: ESPN Leads the Way With 58 Nominations; CBS Sports Nabs Four Nods for Outstanding Live Special
2024 Sports Emmy Nominations: ESPN Leads the Way With 58 Nominations; CBS Sports...
09/04/2024
Canon's Newest Portable Lens Sets New Zoom Standard for Form Factor
Canons Newest Portable Lens Sets New Zoom Standard for Form Factor By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director Tuesday, April 9, 2024 - 9:35 am Print This Stor...
09/04/2024
Setting the Foundation: How College Football Is Driving the Next Generation of Network Graphics Package
Setting the Foundation: How College Football Is Driving the Next Generation of N...
09/04/2024
ShotTracker Helps Big 12 Make Data Fun for Fans; Voice Commands Bring New Level of Control
ShotTracker Helps Big 12 Make Data Fun for Fans; Voice Commands Bring New Level ...
09/04/2024
SVG College Sports Media Awards 2024: Today is the Final Deadline to Submit Entries!
SVG College Sports Media Awards 2024: Today is the Final Deadline to Submit Entr...
09/04/2024
2024 NCAA Women's Championship Blows Away Ratings Records, Is Most Watched Hoops Broadcast of Any Kind Since 2019
2024 NCAA Women's Championship Blows Away Ratings Records, Is Most Watched H...