Gravity Media, the world leading global provider of complex live creative production and media services, and JAMTV today detailed a partnership to produce television coverage of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and co-sanctioned events with the WPGA Tour of Australasia. JAMTV is Australia’s leading independent producer of live sport and the production partner of the PGA of Australia.
This is the fifth season for Gravity Media Australia’s broadcast facilities collaboration with JAMTV which produces the PGATV coverage across Foxtel and Kayo Sports in Australia and also for broadcast in New Zealand.
Through the work of Gravity Media and JAMTV, the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season has grown from strength to strength, with this season resulting in 16 broadcast events across the next six months. JAMTV has also played a pivotal role in the growth of the innovative Athena tournament on the WPGA Tour of Australasia.
Gravity Media Australia’s state-of-the-art cameras, satellite and uplink facilities and crews are working closely with JAMTV’s production team as they cover 15 tournaments for Foxtel and Kayo Sports during this season’s summer of golf.
In addition, Gravity Media Australia’s collaboration with JAMTV on the production of the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship in November will be broadcast domestically on Foxtel Kayo Sports, Nine and 9Now, and internationally via the DP World Tour to around 135 countries.
Gravity Media Australia, in conjunction with JAMTV, has developed new broadcast innovations for this year’s coverage including the introduction of Gravity Media Australia’s proprietary CelBo technology that delivers highly mobile cellular broadcast cameras and cloud-based technology linking to the Gravity Media Production Centre in Melbourne to streamline and enhance JAMTV’s production of the PGA and WPGA Tour of Australasia tournaments.
CelBo is Gravity Media Australia’s new live stream technology that allows remote production of events through cellular and cloud based solutions which deliver individual camera and audio feed coverage to Gravity Media Australia’s Production Centres in Sydney and Melbourne to create, direct and deliver a complete broadcast production, including on-screen graphics and multiple camera replay capabilities.
The introduction of CelBo is designed to simplify logistics, reduce the production “footprint” at events, deliver greater flexibility in resources and enhance and streamline production and technology workflows for Gravity Media Australia and its partners.
Building on the expanding deployment of cellular and cloud-based technology for the all-screens production of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, Gravity Media Australia and JAMTV today also detailed new ball-tracking technology developed by Gravity Media Australia in partnership with TrackMan, as part of the expanding broadcast partnership.
Working in partnership with TrackMan, Gravity Media Australia has developed new cellular technology solutions that allow the seamless integration of TrackMan golf ball tracking technology with Gravity Media Australia’s proprietary CelBo broadcast production solution.
Following a successful implementation in coverage of the WPGA Tour’s Athena Golf Tournament in Melbourne earlier this year, Gravity Media’s collaboration with TrackMan will form a key component of Gravity Media’s broadcast and technology partnership with JAMTV for the television production of the 2023-2024 Tour Seasons.
The integration of TrackMan with Gravity Media’s CelBo cellular remote broadcast capabilities is a first for Australian television.
Working closely with TrackMan, Gravity Media Australia’s technology and engineering teams have developed a system that encodes TrackMan’s radar systems with Gravity Media’s CelBo cellular broadcast enabled cameras that allows Gravity Media Australia and JAMTV to access TrackMan radar systems and deliver its iconic ball tracking lines direct to Gravity Media’s Production Centre in Melbourne which forms the production hub for the creation and delivery of the complete coverage of many events on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and WPGA Tour of Australasia.
Cos Cardone, CEO – JAMTV:
“Golf has been one of the great growth stories in sports broadcasting.
“JAMTV will be producing more than 15 events on the Australian golf calendar this season – more golf than we have ever seen on Australian television.
“This is great for audiences, and great for our best players to be featured and have their stories showcased to fans.
“It’s been our technology partnership with Gravity Media that has supercharged this growth. It has been an innovation led approach which has reimagined how golf needs to be produced going forward.
“We have really valued Gravity Media Australia’s outstanding input and execution in creating a new production methodology for the sport.”
Marcus Doherty, Account Executive – Media Services and Facilities at Gravity Media Australia:
“We are committed to delivering new innovations in the production of golf in Australia and value our close collaboration with the team at JAMTV.
“The successful development of Gravity Media Australia’s proprietary CelBo production technology solution and the integration of TrackMan within this solution underlines Gravity Media Australia’s commitment to the development of new broadcast innovations including highly mobile cellular production solutions and cloud-based technologies that streamline and enhance JAMTV’s production of the PGA, and allows us to deliver such a positive step forward in the mobile television production of golf in Australia.”
Michael McDonald, Commercial Director Australasia at PGA Of Australia:
“The collaboration between JAMTV and Gravity Media has continued to deliver great results for our broadcasts, with significant growth in viewership throughout the partnership and more home-grown golf content reaching our fans.
“We are also excited to see another enhancement to the broadcast this summer with the addition of TrackMan, and it is great to see our broadcast and commercial partners collaborating closely to deliver these enhancements for our audience.”
Gravity Media Australia:
Gravity Media Australia’s acknowledged broadcast technology and production partnerships across major sports in Australia include the Australian Open and the Summer of Tennis, the Melbourne Cup and all major horse racing events in Australia, the Bathurst 1000 and the Repco Supercars Championship, the Bathurst 12 Hour, the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, the Tour Down Under, the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Stawell Gift, the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Melbourne, the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Crankworx Cairns, the FIM World Supercross Championship at Marvel Stadium, a partnership with Cricket Australia for the coverage of multiple cricket competitions in Australia and the delivery of broadcast and production technology requirements for coverage of the rapidly expanding and developing AFLW.
Through its studios, production, post-production, outside broadcast facilities and specialist camera technologies, Gravity Media Australia is currently involved with major production companies, television networks and pay television and streaming platforms in Australia across projects including The Voice, Australian Idol, Dancing with the Stars, The Masked Singer, Australia’s Got Talent, Would I Lie to You?, The 1% Club, Millionaire Hot Seat and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
Gravity Media Australia post-production centre, Gravity House, plays a key role in the production of major international television productions across broadcast, subscription and streaming platforms, as well as movies from the Marvel Universe and projects from multiple US and international studios, and many of Australia’s leading independent film productions.
PRESS COVERAGE
Gravity Media, the world leading global provider of complex live creative production and media services, and JAMTV today detailed an expanding partnership to produce television coverage of the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia.
This is the fourth season for Gravity Media’s broadcast facilities collaboration with JAMTV which produces the PGA Tour television coverage across Kayo and FOX Sports in Australia and in New Zealand. Gravity Media’s collaboration with JAMTV on the production of the Australian PGA Championship in November will be broadcast on FOX Sports, Kayo, Nine and 9Now.
Gravity Media’s state-of-the-art cameras, satellite and uplink facilities, and crews are working closely with JAMTV’s production team as they cover 14 tournaments during this PGA Tour of Australasia season.
Gravity Media, in conjunction with JAMTV, has developed new broadcast innovations for the coverage including highly mobile cellular broadcast cameras and cloud-based technology linking to the Gravity Media Production Centre in Melbourne to streamline and enhance JAMTV’s production of the PGA. Gravity Media will deliver coverage from 14 venues around Australia over this season. It is a significant technological and logistical exercise that builds on Gravity Media’s successful golf broadcast facilities provision to JAMTV over the past four years.
Cos Cardone – CEO of JAMTV:
“Gravity Media has been a great partner as we have grown the golf footprint in this country and will continue to work to innovate golf production to the highest international standards. By its very nature, golf is one of the most complex sports to produce and our partnership over the past four years has enabled us to offer our partners at the PGA of Australia a sustainable broadcast model.”
Marcus Doherty, Account Executive – Media Services and Facilities at Gravity Media Australia:
“We are delighted to once again partner with JAMTV. We have seen enormous growth in the JAMTV’s PGATV portfolio over the past three years.
“We are working closely with JAMTV on delivering new innovations in the production of golf in Australia, including new cloud-based technologies and production through Gravity Media’s Melbourne Production Centre which will streamline JAMTV’s already impressive production standards. As part of our golf production and technology partnership with JAMTV, we are also looking forward to the Australian PGA Championship in late November and the launch of new camera technologies and “Trackman” ball tracking technology.”
In addition to its partnership with JAMTV on the PGA Tour of Australasia, Gravity Media has an ongoing collaboration with JAMTV to produce television coverage of the 2022 AFLW season for Fox Footy and Kayo.
Through its studios, production, and post-production centres, outside broadcast facilities and specialist camera technologies, Gravity Media Australia is currently involved with major production companies, television networks and pay television and streaming platforms in Australia across projects including Australian Ninja Warrior, The Masked Singer, Australia’s Got Talent, and I’m A Celebrity. Gravity Media also has technology, facilities, and production partnerships across many of Australia’s major sports events.
PRESS COVERAGE
The BMW PGA Championship is an annual men’s professional golf tournament on the European Tour and tee’d off at The Wentworth Club in Surrey on Thursday 9 September.
Gravity Media’s Post-Production Engineer Dan Boast was on site where he deployed Avid and EVS systems for the annual tournament.
Gravity Media offers the latest broadcast equipment for rental to the outside broadcast, studio and production markets, supported by a 24/7 technical backup service. All our rental equipment is carefully prepared and tested before every job, and our transportation and logistics team deliver locally, nationally and internationally within days of order.
Each piece of equipment comes with a robust, custom-built flight case ensuring it reaches you in perfect condition and ready for use, wherever you may be in the world.
For more information on our broadcast equipment rental click here or email us enquiries@gravitymedia.com
One of my recent projects was The Open Championship ‒ the world’s oldest golfing tournament ‒ which is held every year in the UK in mid-July. Sky Sports covers the event, and dedicates its Golf channel to the tournament for over a week. Before the tournament begins, Sky Sports produces a contextualised, magazine-style programme based around the action on the golf course, for which Gravity Media provides the hardware and software, and Sky provides the edit team.
My role in 2021 was to create an onsite editing facility, as Sky has multiple unilateral interviews, short VTs and ENG cameras supplying footage to be swiftly edited together, every day. The host feed, or world feed, is put out on Sky Sports, as it is all the other golf channels, and Sky complement this with their own additional unilateral coverage for their subscribers, including shooting ENG footage for edit packages and a preview show centred on the Sky Open Zone interview and demonstration area.
Before we get anywhere near the golf course, we start by setting up and testing the hardware and software back at our Southwood base, checking licences and all current software compatibilities, testing the full workflow from end to end under stress, making sure all the network devices can see each other, and running basic tests. Once we have confidence in it, we replicate that set up onsite, and integrate that suite with the extended EVS system, which, for this particular event, is usually provided by another outside broadcast company. Both the OB company and Sky provide me with all necessary information while I’m planning the setup, so expectations on every side are aligned ‒ how heavily the system will be used, whether they need any special effects, what plug-ins they need, and what sort of cards they’re shooting on with their cameras. Ahead of the tournament starting, we run full tests, check the audio configuration on the available media, and make any necessary workflow adjustments.
Behind all this is an Adobe Premiere suite, used by an editor and a team of producers, who ingest footage shot on the ENG cameras to make new daily packages. Media from the host broadcaster is also available during the tournament to complement any footage shot on ENG. Footage can be edited seamlessly, as it is saved on the EVS system and is available in Adobe, and can also be sent back swiftly to the EVS system for playout.
Sky Sports produces four days of two-hour shows before the event begins, as well as full coverage of the four-day tournament itself. Much of the preshow is footage shot on the ENGs in the local area. During the live event, it runs from 6:30am until 7pm daily. This is where the EVS integrates with the Adobe edit system: the host feed will be streamed, interspersed with little highlights packages, interviews and similar VTs.
For media management, an overview of the recordings and storage, we supply an EVS IPDirector unit. XTAccess is used for moving media around the system and transcoding to and from other formats, and an XT3 server for record and playout. This will record various cameras and feeds and playout to the Sky Sports Golf ‘Open Zone’ touchscreen during interviews and demos. This server also plays directly back to Sky Sports at Osterley, where the main programme is produced, for use in any Sky broadcasts during the event. The Open Zone interactive touchscreen is a Sky Sports innovation; they use in-house equipment, and we ensure that the team producing the touchscreen systems can see all the media available on our system.
For shared storage, we use a Synology RAID drive, where all the media can be seen by Adobe and EVS, and also by MST – the company that controls the Open Zone system. We use Synology because it can reliably handle the necessary bandwidth and shared access.
The Sky editorial team is six people, as well as the editor, and a couple of camera operators who will be shooting a whole range of footage, from interviews to beauty shots. The onsite EVS facility adds to this system, and this provides the potential to record up to six different channels constantly, throughout the day, and the incoming footage can be clipped up to complement the ENG camera footage. Turnaround is tight; the system is built to ingest cards the moment they are physically handed over, so the footage can be prepared and available for edit and broadcast extremely quickly.
Gravity Media remains onsite during the tournament to ensure the continual integration of our system with those of other facilities providers. We monitor storage and bandwidth and, once the event has ended, remove any media destined for archive from site to client.
I’ve worked on many golf events in the past, and this one is always enjoyable. The trickiest aspect is the weather, as the courses are in very exposed locations. Rigging the interconnected parts of the system is the bit that requires more planning and speed than usual. There are three crucial elements for success: having a system that ingests everything seamlessly; keeping the editor and the production team working independently on that same system; and maintaining and adapting the EVS integration. Once these are all functioning at a consistently high level, you can be confident in the system. The kit doesn’t get turned off during the proceedings, to avoid compromising the synchronicity.
Such large events are always collaborations between production companies; the Open is one of the biggest, so several companies work on it together, and it’s a bonus to see other sides of broadcasting technology. The collective goal is to reach the last night of the project successfully, having delivered flawless coverage all along the way. Once we’ve derigged and got the kit safely back to base, I might have a day or two’s downtime before picking up my next job. It’s pretty full on, but that’s the nature of the job and something we all quite enjoy really.
To find out how Gravity Media can help you with your next production, email enquiries@gravitymedia.com.
This year’s Senior Open golf tournament takes place from Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 July at Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England, and Gravity Media’s UK Equipment Rental team has deployed 16 tripod systems to capture the action.
Gravity Media offers the latest broadcast equipment for rental to the outside broadcast, studio and production markets, supported by a 24/7 technical backup service. All our rental equipment is carefully prepared and tested before every job, and our transportation and logistics team deliver locally, nationally and internationally within days of order.
Each piece of equipment comes with a robust, custom-built flight case ensuring it reaches you in perfect condition and ready for use, wherever you may be in the world.
For more information on our broadcast equipment rental click here or email us enquiries@gravitymedia.com
The Open Championship took place from Thursday 15 to Sunday 18 July and is the oldest most prestigious golf tournament in the world.
The Gravity Media equipment rental team supplied numerous pieces of equipment including all of the systems and glue equipment including Kayenne vision mixer, routers, OLED monitors and 46 inch screens.
Gravity Media’s post-production engineers Andrew Emmerson and Shane McGill were also on site in Sandwich Kent where they deployed edit facilities to capture the action.
Gravity Media offers the latest broadcast equipment for rental to the outside broadcast, studio and production markets, supported by a 24/7 technical backup service. All our rental equipment is carefully prepared and tested before every job, and our transportation and logistics team deliver locally, nationally and internationally within days of order.
Each piece of equipment comes with a robust, custom-built flight case ensuring it reaches you in perfect condition and ready for use, wherever you may be in the world.
For more information on our broadcast equipment rental click here or email us enquiries@gravitymedia.com
Esther Henseleit won December’s Magical Kenya Ladies Open to clinch the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit – becoming only the third player in the 41-year history of the LET to win the ranking and Rookie of the Year simultaneously.
The 20-year-old German produced a course-record eight-under 64 to finish one shot ahead of India’s Aditi Ashok, with overnight leader Julia Engstrom in third after a two-over 74 in the final round of the inaugural Kenyan event.
Gravity Media had been appointed as the host broadcast facilities provider for the Ladies European Tour, and was onsite at Vipingo Ridge near Mombasa to cover the 72 par, 18-hole course.
Over the four days of competition, the team produced three hours of live broadcast every day, with the production distributed across the world, including on Sky Sports and the Golf Channel.
The Baobab Course at Vipingo Ridge is Kenya’s premier golf facility, and the only PGA-accredited course in Africa, lying between the coastline and the rolling Chodari Hills inland. It was a hot and humid place to film, but offered a stunning backdrop full of fascinating wildlife.
Earlier this week, HyperActive completed its preparation for the BMW PGA Championship, which teed off yesterday at the beautiful Wentworth Club in Surrey.
Wentworth has three world-class golf courses, each painstakingly maintained and offering the perfect balance of challenge, prestige and playability. The West course greens used for the PGA Championships are the first in England to benefit from ‘SubAir’ technology, controlling moisture levels regardless of weather conditions and keeping greens firm and fast.
As we entered the tournament, our money was going to be on Rory McIlroy. The world number two is arguably golf’s most in-form player at the moment, following a runner-up finish at the Omega European Masters and a win at the $15m Tour Championship in his past two starts. But he posted a four-over 76 to finish 11 shots behind leader Matt Wallace after the first day, so it’s a pretty big ask to recover from that.
HyperActive is supporting the tournament with four Adobe Creative Cloud suites.
The pinnacle of women’s golf starts today at Gleneagles. The Solheim Cup is a biennial tournament contested by the best players from Europe and the USA going head-to-head in match play format.
The 16th edition of the event promises to be one of the highlights of the year’s sporting calendar, with Europe hoping to avenge their 16½–11½ loss to the Americans in 2017.
Running from 9 to 15 September 2019, the iconic Gleneagles will host the tournament for the first time since 2000. The PGA Centenary Course, on which Europe sealed a thrilling Ryder Cup victory in 2014, continues its match play legacy, providing a stunning battleground amid the rolling Perthshire hills.
HyperActive will be supporting CTV Outside Broadcasts throughout the tournament with two Avid Media Composer systems.
Gearhouse Broadcast was pleased to support CTV Outside Broadcasts with its coverage of the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, NI.
It had been 68 years since The Open was last staged at Royal Portrush – a legendary golf club that’s home to one of the best and most challenging links courses in the world. The Dunluce Links includes a stunning 382-yard, par four 5th – a dogleg hole played from an elevated tee towards the ocean, with the White Rocks beach lying just beyond the rear of the green. Golfers enjoy stunning views towards the 15th Century Dunluce castle, as well as the surfers braving the swells below.
With an estimated television audience of 600 million worldwide, all eyes were on Rory McIlroy to see if he could win his first major in his native Northern Ireland. Alas it was not to be, with McIlroy shooting a 79 on Thursday and failing to make the cut, but home fans still had a lot to shout about as Shane Lowry became Ireland’s new Open champion with his remarkable six-shot victory.
148th Open Championship ran from 18 to 21 July. Gearhouse’s Rental team supplied CTV with a comprehensive set-up, featuring Sony HDC4300L 4K UHD camera channels and Sony HDC-2500s, with Canon HD and UHD lenses. Managing the workflow was an extensive EVS XT network, featuring the latest XT VIA technology, and media management and ingest workflows were controlled using IP Director workstations.
Following our successful collaboration at the Badminton Horse Trials in May, HyperActive is working with CTV Outside Broadcasts again – this time at the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland. Ticket sales of 190,000 have sold out for the first time in the history of the event, and it is estimated there will be a global television audience of 600 million.
It has been 68 years since The Open was last staged at Royal Portrush – a legendary golf club that’s home to one of the best and most challenging links golf courses in the world: the Dunluce Links. The Dunluce Links includes a stunning 382-yard, par four 5th hole. It’s a dogleg hole played from an elevated tee towards the ocean, with the White Rocks beach lying just beyond the rear of the green. Golfers enjoy stunning views towards the 15th Century Dunluce castle and the surfers braving the swells below.
148th Open Championship is running from 14 to 21 July 2019. HyperActive will be onsite with CTV for the duration, looking after four Adobe Creative Cloud Premiere Pro suites and EVS integration hardware.
