NEP UK Broadcast Services, in partnership with Fletcher Group, has won a three-year contract to install a robotic camera system to provide coverage of seven of the outside courts for The Championships, Wimbledon, ensuring coverage of every Championship court for the first time.
NEP UK already has the contract to provide technical Host Broadcast Services, including 11-manned camera courts, for the Championships. It will now work with Fletcher Group to implement its new TRACE tracking system. The new system is based on the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensing method, picking up numerous points of fine detail on each player for tracking, which ultimately can create track control to multiple camera heads.
Along with Fletcher Group, NEP UK will be working alongside SimplyLive to make use of its ViBox system for both switching and replays.
The backbone of NEP UK’s system will be driven from its main host operation, using a SAM IP router for the distribution of signals around the Broadcast Centre. Working with an IP core solution will allow coverage of the outside courts to integrate with its Host Broadcasting Services. This will enable NEP UK to expand on its coverage of all the major show courts including Centre Court and No.1 Court, as well as the AELTC’s newly designed master control and transmission areas.
Paul Davies, Head of Broadcast & Production at AELTC says, “This year’s Championships will see a major step change with the in-house delivery of the host production under ‘Wimbledon Broadcast Services’. Central to this was the commitment to deliver televised output of all 18 courts and with the NEP/Fletcher remote camera system we have found an exciting and innovative solution to deliver robotic coverage of seven of our outside courts”.
Richard Lancaster, Technical Project Manager, NEP UK, comments; “NEP UK is dedicated to making sure we deliver a pioneering integrated solution with one point of contact and responsibility to the AELTC, plus guaranteeing that management of the system is fully achieved from end-to-end. Our impressive 35-year relationship with the AELTC has meant we have a deep understanding of the sport, the venue, the Club and its broadcast requirements”.
Jon Creamer
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