Wimbledon 2018 Tech Innovations Revealed

Wimbledon 2018 Tech Innovations Revealed

London, United Kingdom

|

July 3, 2018

Wimbledon kicked off this week with a raft of new broadcast technology delivering coverage of The Championships.

This year’s event marks the debut of Wimbledon Broadcast Services (WBS), which has taken over from the BBC as the new host broadcast operation of All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC).

WBS is providing multi-camera coverage of all 18 Championships courts for the first time, a net-cam on both Centre Court and No.1 Court, and coverage of Centre Court in 4K HDR.

It is also the first Championships to be broadcast using SMPTE ST 2110 compliant fully redundant IP technology.

WBS is working with NEP UK, which is providing technical Host Broadcast Services.

NEP UK is deploying its new IP-based outside broadcast trucks, which reduce the expense and use of cabling throughout the grounds.

The IP infrastructure simultaneously provides UHD (SDR and HDR versions) and HD-SDI, and is controlled by Axon’s Cerebrum platform, which integrates and manages a range of producs from Grass Valley, EVS, Phabrix, Calrec, Evertz and other manufacturers in a unified IP workflow.

“Cerebrum provides both power and flexibility and scales effectively to allow multiple users on the system,” says Gareth Phillips, head of Vision and VT for NEP UK. “It simplifies our workflow by minimising engineering bottlenecks and is easy to configure at speed.”

“Both the scale and range of requirements for this project are immense. Compared to previous years our coverage has grown considerably,” added NEP UK technical project manager Richard Lancaster.

NEP has also partnered with Fletcher Group to install a robotic camera system to provide coverage of seven of the outside courts for The Championships - ensuring coverage of every court for the first time.

This year, the number of custom-built galleries has almost doubled with 21 control rooms for the host broadcaster plus three for the Wimbledon Channel to serve the World Feed and archive.

NEP is employing 118+ camera positions and 41+ EVS servers, plus three major OB units and a large fly-pack core to broadcast the event.

AELTC head of broadcast & production Paul Davies said: “This is the first year Wimbledon Broadcast Services comes into operation and we are delighted to continue to partner with NEP for a further four years and are very excited to be covering Centre Court in 4K HDR.”

As well as the innovations in extending the live coverage from Wimbledon, IBM’s Watson will once again be used to auto edit and cut 5-10 minute highlight clips, created through AI analysis of facial expressions, player movements, noises, match data and more.

Contact

For media inquiries, contact NEP: Susan Matis or Meredith Knight

PRESS@NEPGROUP.COM

About NEP

For over 30 years, NEP has been a worldwide outsourced technical production partner supporting premier content producers of live sports, entertainment, music and corporate events. Our services include remote production, specialty capture, RF and wireless video/audio, studio production, audio visual solutions, host broadcast support, post production, connectivity and transmission, premium playout and innovative software-based media management solutions. NEP’s 4,000+ employees are driven by a passion for superior service and a focus on technical innovation. Together, we have supported productions in 87 countries on all seven continents.

NEP is headquartered in the United States and has operations in 24 countries. Learn more at nepgroup.com.

Recent News

United and NEP join forces for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Hilversum

|

United and NEP are joining forces for the multi-camera production of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. As a result of a European tender, both media parties have been commissioned by the NOS to take care of the technical production support, including all technical facilities, crew and equipment, for the three live shows from Rotterdam Ahoy. This unique collaboration allows us to create the best production for a global audience that meets all technical production requirements.

read more

Fotball Media Extends Agreement to Use NEP Mediabank

OSLO, Norway

|

NEP Norway, a broadcast and media services division of NEP Group, announced today that it has entered into a new three-year agreement with Fotball Media to use NEP’s managed services and cloud-based media asset management (MAM) platform, Mediabank. NEP has delivered the Mediabank service to Fotball Media for the last five years, and after successfully competing in a thorough and stringent RFP process, NEP Mediabank was once again selected as the chosen MAM platform for Fotball Media.

read more

NEP Group Partners With Eurovision Services To Expand Media Solutions In The U.S.

PITTSBURGH

|

Eurovision Services (ES), the first-choice media services provider for media organizations and sports federations around the world, and NEP Group, the leading worldwide outsourced technical production partner to premier content producers of live sports and entertainment, have announced a new partnership in the U.S.

read more

NEP Group and Bexel Relocate to Expanded Facility in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA

|

NEP Broadcast Services has announced a relocation of its west coast operations to a larger facility in Los Angeles, California to accommodate business growth and to strategically deliver superior service for customers across all of NEP’s service offerings.

read more