ENGLISH

UTS (Ultimate Tennis Showdown) is the world’s newest tennis league. Created by Serena Williams’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou, UTS presents a unique and disruptive format that comprises intense 40-minute matches broken down into quarters, and innovative in-game features. Live coaching and mid-match interviews are livestreamed to the audience at home, allowing fans a rare insight into what the players are thinking mid-game. 

UTS4 – the fourth edition of the event – took place on 24 and 25 of May 2021 at the Mouratoglou Academy, located in Biot on France’s Côte d’Azur. Gravity Media had a team of 30 technicians, engineers, cameramen and EVS operators onsite, looking after everything from rigging the AV equipment to creating fast-turnaround highlights of key match moments. 

As a no-spectator league, UTS relies on a highly creative broadcast setup. The way it’s filmed is very different from traditional tennis matches, requiring a suite of specialist cameras and microphones to transport the fans onto the court and into the action. For UTS 4, that suite of specialist equipment consisted of eight cameras, including two track-cams and a Steadicam; two RF cameras; and eight PTZ robotics, alongside three EVS XT 3, a Lawo MC²36 audio console, and a Sony MVS 6530 vision mixer. 

All of this equipment was despatched to Biot in Gravity Media’s unique Production Pods – ultra-efficient, highly portable mobile production units that are both interconnected and pre-integrated, to allow for rapid rigging and derigging. With designated units for Audio, Production and MCR, these pods offer all the features of an OB vehicle, in uniform, portable containers that can easily be transported by road, rail or plane. Configured by our in-house experts, they contain all the equipment needed for HD outside broadcasts, as well as bespoke furniture, air conditioning and electrical distribution – allowing crews to be up and running within minutes of arrival. 

As a special dispensation for UTS4, we decommissioned some of our regular equipment and adapted the technical specifications to facilitate the use of Beats headsets in the production instead, as part a sponsorship deal between Beats and UTS. In fact, we had to think outside of the box for the entire production – particularly the audio solution, which needed to allow commentators to speak to players during the match, capture discussions between player and coach – and even pick up what players mutter under their breath between points. Meanwhile, we also developed hi-tech on-player cameras, and deployed our popular netcam mini-camera solution. 

The net result was a high-tech yet cost-effective, perfectly integrated production solution that can be set up and dismantled quickly and easily, and carried all over the world. We’re proud not only to have supported UTS on this latest outing, but also to have partnered with them to develop the UTS product itself.

All of UTS’s matches are live-streamed on their own streaming platform, UTS Live, which also carries replays, insider episodes, podcasts and match highlights. UTS4 involved eight matches per day over two days, streamed on UTS Live and broadcast in over 100 countries across five continents. 

For more information about Gravity Media’s Production Pods, specialist cameras and RF equipment – or for any other help with your next production – drop us a line on enquiries@gravitymedia.com.

FRENCH

L’Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) est un nouveau tournoi de tennis totalement inédit ! Créé par l’entraîneur de Serena Williams, Patrick Mouratoglou, UTS propose un format résolument innovant : des matchs de 40 minutes divisés en quart-temps de 10 minutes et des règles du jeu complètement dépoussiérées. Les échanges entre les joueurs et leur entraîneur et les interviews réalisées à la mi-match sont retransmis en direct au public, qui peut ainsi vivre le match en immersion complète et ainsi apprécier cette expérience inédite. 

La quatrième édition de l’Ultimate Tennis Showdown s’est déroulée en France les 24 et 25 mai 2021 à l’Académie Mouratoglou située à Biot, sur la Côte d’Azur. L’équipe de Gravity Media, constituée de 30 techniciens, ingénieurs, cadreurs et opérateurs EVS, a géré l’ensemble du dispositif de production audiovisuelle, de l’installation du matériel à la création de résumés en quasi-live. 

L’UTS n’accueillant pas de public, la retransmission des matchs exige beaucoup de créativité. La couverture vidéo n’a rien à voir avec celle de matchs de tennis traditionnels : des caméras et des microphones spécialement conçus pour ce type d’événement sont nécessaires afin que le public soit au plus près des sensations des joueurs sur les courts. Pour l’UTS 4, le dispositif comprenait huit caméras, dont deux caméras sur rail, une steadicam, deux caméras HF, huit caméras robotisées PTZ, ainsi que trois EVS XT 3, une console de mixage Lawo MC²36 et un mélangeur vidéo Sony MVS 6530.

Les PODS : des unités de production mobiles ultra-performantes aisément maniables 

Le matériel a été transporté vers Biot dans des PODS de production spécialement créées par Gravity Media : des unités de production mobiles ultra-performantes et aisément déployables, qui sont interconnectées et préintégrées pour faciliter le travail de câblage. Ces PODS comprennent des unités audio, de production et nodal, installées dans des conteneurs uniformes facilement transportables par route, train ou avion, qui offrent toutes les fonctionnalités d’un car régie. Elles sont configurées par nos experts et contiennent l’équipement nécessaire à la réalisation de produits broadcast HD : mobilier sur mesure, système de climatisation, unité d’alimentation électrique intégrés. Quelques minutes suffisent pour les installer sur site. 

Netcams ou solutions audios immersives : l’innovation au coeur du projet 

Dans le cadre de notre collaboration avec l’UTS 4, nous avons remplacé une partie de notre matériel habituel et adapté les spécifications techniques pour les rendre compatibles avec l’utilisation de casques Beats, l’un des sponsors du tournoi. Il nous a fallu faire preuve d’inventivité pour mener à bien l’ensemble du processus de production, notamment en ce qui concerne les solutions audio. En effet, les commentateurs devaient pouvoir communiquer avec les joueurs durant les matchs, suivre les échanges entre les joueurs et leur entraîneur, et même entendre ce que les joueurs se disaient à eux-mêmes entre chaque point. Nous avons également mis au point des caméras ultra-perfectionnées conçues pour être fixées sur les joueurs, les ramasseurs de balle ou les acteurs présents sur le terrain, et procédé à l’installation de mini caméras sur le filet Netcam. 

Le dispositif de production audiovisuelle mis en place pour UTS 4 était ultra-perfectionné et parfaitement intégré tout en permettant une excellente maîtrise des coûts, montage / démontage rapides et une possibilité de transport partout dans le monde. Nous sommes non seulement fiers d’avoir contribué à la réussite de cette quatrième édition de l’Ultimate Tennis Showdown mais également d’avoir mis au point un produit particulièrement adapté aux besoins de cet événement innovant. 

L’intégralité des matchs était retransmise en direct sur UTS Live, la plateforme de streaming de l’événement, qui propose de nombreux contenus comme des rediffusions, épisodes en immersion, podcasts et temps forts de chaque rencontre. Les seize matchs programmés de l’UTS 4 ont été diffusés dans plus de 100 pays, sur les cinq continents. 

Pour en savoir plus sur les PODS, les caméras spécialisées et le matériel HF de Gravity Media ou pour obtenir de l’aide pour votre prochaine production, écrivez-nous à l’adresse enquiries@gravitymedia.com.

Our Australian line-up of mobile units and OB trucks takes some beating. The fleet includes a hybrid HD semi-trailer, a native 4K rigid truck, and three state-of-the-art, 30-camera HD supertrucks, each specifically designed with Australian broadcast requirements in mind.

This extensive fleet is a common sight across all states and territories, appearing at various major sporting events, music concerts, studio productions and more. Each unit sets new standards for efficiency, working comfort and processing power, and we have the expert team to match. Whatever your requirements, we have specialists on hand to help at any stage of a production, from equipment and fleet movement to production supervision and engineering.

One of our biggest deployments in recent times was at the legendary Bathurst 1000 supercar race in October, where we collaborated with Foxtel to launch its eagerly anticipated live 4K service. It was a first for Australian sports broadcasting, and saw 28 native 4K cameras capture all the action over seven continuous hours of racing.

The setup required five OB trucks, with additional kit brought in from our US, UK and European operations to make sure we could deliver the highest-quality 4K content. That meant 26 Sony HDC-4300s and a Sony HDC-P43 stationed at various locations around the track, as well as an HDC-4800 slow-motion camera to film in even greater detail. Each camera was equipped with Fujinon and Canon UHD lenses to provide the best possible image quality.

Meanwhile, we had an additional 56 HD sources around the venue, including specialty track cameras, pit cameras, Heli and traditional EVS output channels upscaled through the 4K VMU. The crew also used a CAMCAT high-speed cable camera system on the main straight, as well as 12 specialist cameras mounted at key points in the circuit’s curbs and walls.

With the track being over 6kms long, we had to rig more than 30kms of fibre around the site to bring all the video, audio, data and comms back to the OB compound. That’s a lot of cable.

The net result was the successful live broadcast of the 161-lap race on Foxtel 4K, with Supercars’ Nathan Prendergast describing us as “the natural choice” for delivering such a large-scale 4k event for the first time. Amen to that.

Gravity Media (as HyperActive Broadcast) engineers attended the Royal British Legion’s annual Festival of Remembrance at The Royal Albert Hall on Saturday night, supporting an Avid Interplay workflow solution alongside XTAccess and IPDirectors for streaming and recording.

The Festival of Remembrance commemorates all those who have lost their lives in conflicts, and was attended by the Queen and other members of the royal family. This year’s event was presented by Huw Edwards, with performances from Sir Tom Jones, Sheridan Smith, Sir Bryn Terfel among others.

The Gravity Media setup included two Avid edit suites, Avid Interplay server, Avid Transfer engine, EVS IPD and EVS XTAccess to facilitate quick turnaround highlight editing.

Aired live on BBC One on the eve of the centenary of the Armistice, the Festival is a tribute to the remarkable generation who contributed to the First World War.

Gravity Media (as Gearhouse Broadcast),the Gravity Media-owned supplier of technical facilities, crew and services used to capture the world’s most watched content, has partnered with Spidercam to bring its new SC-Light solution to IBC2018. Located on the Gearhouse stand (10.B39), the suspended camera system designed to work in smaller venues like TV studios or indoor sports arenas will be in action throughout the show. This is part of Gearhouse’s continued commitment to working with the latest production technologies, in order to deliver maximum value to its customers.

A fully stabilised Newton remote-head enables SC-Light to produce stable pictures from any position, whether stationary or moving. The reduced size and weight of the main components used makes the system easier to transport and setup, and it’s been built to ensure the safe operation over athletes, audience or performers within the flying area. It has a larger action radius than any crane or rail system, and the combination of strong winches and lightweight dolly allow it to get closer to the ceiling than any other suspended camera system on the market.

“IBC is the ideal place to present new technology, and in recent years, we’ve run popular and informative live demos including real-time IP media processing at the show,” said Eamonn Dowdall, chief revenue officer at Gravity Media, the owner of Gearhouse Broadcast. “There’s a lot of excitement about the new SC-Light system and the benefits it can bring to productions within studios or indoor venues, so this will be a good chance for people to come and learn more about it. Through our relationship with Spidercam, we’re able to offer our customers greater access to its unique technology, expertise and support.” 

Jan Peters, Director of Business Development at Spidercam added: “We have strategic partnerships already in place with Gearhouse in Australia and New Zealand and more recently in North America, and as a result have experienced an acceleration in the adoption of our systems within these regions. By working with Gearhouse at IBC2018, we can highlight the creative and operational benefits of our technology to a wider audience.”

Gravity Media (as Gearhouse Broadcast) will be showcasing SC-Light as well as its latest 1080P, HDR, UHD and 4K live production capabilities on stand 10.B39 at IBC2018 in RAI Amsterdam between 14-18 September.

The Gravity Media Group (GMG), which operates globally and acquires businesses serving the live broadcast sector, has appointed Paul Greensmith as its new Chief Financial Officer to oversee GMG’s growth strategy. Following recent acquisitions and investment, GMG’s current companies include industry-leading Gearhouse Broadcast, Hyperactive Broadcast and Input Media – companies trusted by the world’s most respected broadcasters, production companies and rights holders to supply technical equipment, facilities and services to capture the most watched live and near live content.

Paul has over 15 years’ experience working as a Chief Financial Officer with private equity owners across a range of sectors. Roles included positions at NetNames, Alliance Medical Group and The Priory Group. Paul also spent seven years at ITV, where his variety of financial and operational roles included leading ITV’s online and interactive activities.

Paul’s appointment is the next step in GMG’s commitment to global expansion after receiving significant investment from TowerBrook Capital Partners in September 2016. The strategy is to grow the business organically and also via strategic acquisitions and by continually supporting clients with the very best services globally.

“Paul has a wealth of experience in growing organisations across diverse sectors including media, healthcare and technology, all with great commercial success” said John Newton, CEO of Gravity Media Group. “His substantial commercial and strategic experience will greatly enhance GMG and our plans for continued growth.”

Commenting on his appointment Paul said: “Joining John and the team in the next phase of Gravity Media’s development is a challenge I’m looking forward to undertaking. Having worked in the television industry and also within private equity owners for many years, I’m excited to bring my experience on board to develop a strong growth strategy.”

GMG’s Gearhouse Broadcast will be exhibiting its global service for broadcasters, content creators and rights owners on stand 10.B39 at IBC2017, the world’s leading media, entertainment and technology show that takes place at RAI Amsterdam between 15-19 September.

Gravity Media Group (GMG), the owner of worldwide broadcast services specialists Gearhouse Broadcast and Hyperactive Broadcast, has secured a substantial investment to fund future global growth by selling a minority stake in its business to investment management firm TowerBrook Capital Partners (TowerBrook).

The deal follows an extensive global search by GMG and its advisors, Deloitte, to find a suitable partner to fund aggressive expansion of GMG’s global business, with a particular focus on the USA in the short term. Under the terms of the deal GMG founder and CEO John Newton and his existing management team will remain in position and retain majority control of the Group. They will be supported by two additional non-executive directors, Gordon Holmes of TowerBrook and Dave Checketts, the highly regarded former President and CEO of Madison Square Garden. Checketts has extensive experience operating US sports franchises along with award winning TV networks MSG Network, FOX Sports Network and CSTV.

Formed in 2000 following a management buyout by Newton and his leadership team, GMG has grown rapidly into a truly global business. It provides the technical equipment, facilities and services to capture the world’s most watched content – from iconic live sports events such as Euro 2016 and Formula 1 to hugely popular live entertainment programmes such as The X Factor and I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! Through its six subsidiary businesses GMG employs around 220 people across its UK headquarters and offices in Australia, USA, France and UAE.

“The investment by TowerBrook Capital Partners will enable Gravity Media Group to grow and innovate to realise our ambition of becoming the global leader in supplying equipment, services and consultancy for the live broadcast sector,” said John Newton, founder and CEO of GMG. “It brings industry and operational experience, as well as capital, and has a strong track record for being a patient and added-value investor.”

He added: “As far as our customers and employees are concerned, nothing changes – other than we will be able to support more customers and events in more locations around the world. The management team remains the same, and we’ll still focus on staying true to our core values of quality, reliability, technical innovation and outstanding service.”

TowerBrook Capital Partners brings impressive pedigree in adding value to its investments. It does this by optimising the performance of a portfolio company through a combination of rigorous analysis and effective partnering with experienced, talented managers. With a fund value of $8billion, it currently owns stakes in the St Louis Blues NHL sports franchise and InfoPro, the leading business to business information services provider in France.

The search for an investment partner was managed by Deloitte’s lead advisory team in Sydney, Australia, but also drew on the professional services firm’s worldwide network in London and New York. It was led by Damien Tampling, technology and media partner at Deloitte.

Commenting on the announcement, Tampling said: “GMG has done incredibly well to grow to its current size and global footprint with absolutely no external capital. As one of the more diversified players in the global outside broadcast space, its tie up with TowerBrook will put it in a great place to disrupt the market as the broadcast industry goes through some exciting changes. There was serious engagement from several trade and private equity suitors. But the fit with TowerBrook most strongly aligned to the ambitions of the shareholders and management team to take the business to the next level.”

Deloitte also carried out the vendor due diligence and significant advisory work in London and Sydney. The sale was overseen in London by GMG’s principal legal advisers Dentons.

Gravity Media (as Gearhouse Broadcast), a supplier of technical facilities, crew and services used to capture the world’s most watched content, has made two key sales appointments in North America as part of its growth strategy in the region. Based in Gravity Media USA’s Los Angeles office, Adrina Madatyan becomes Sales and Business Development Manager, while new Senior Sales manager Stan Leshner will remotely cover the East Coast market from New Jersey. Both Adrina and Stan bring considerable experience of operating within the live production industry, and will help to sell in Gravity Media’s extensive range of local services and innovative approach to live and as live production, including the deployment of its 4K mobile unit, Columbus, and Skye, its brand-new multi-purpose mobile production unit across sports and entertainment.

Adrina Madatyan joins from NEP, where she spent five-and-a-half years as Sales Manager. During that time, Adrina was responsible for new temporary and permanent production facilities and mobile production truck sales as well as enhancing client relations. Prior to that, Adrina held managerial positions at Sweetwater Video Productions, iMobile US and Platinum Wireless. She has a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Redlands.

Commenting on her appointment, Adrina said: “The opportunity to join Gearhouse Broadcast USA and help to drive growth is one I’m very excited by. The company already has a reputation for delivering ambitious and technically innovative solutions for live productions around the world, so I’m looking forward to joining the team as it continues to lead the way in understanding and adopting new technologies like 4K, remote production and IP.”

Joining Adrina at Gravity Media USA is television production veteran Stan Leshner. Since beginning his illustrious career at NFL Films, Stan has received two National Emmy Awards for Cinematography, filmed many live productions including Super Bowls, and worked at a variety of TV networks and facilities providers. Most recently, Stan has been an Account Executive at PMTV in Pennsylvania, providing solutions for sports, news and entertainment television productions, from mobile units and crew, to transmission and lighting.

“There’s been considerable advancements during my time in the industry, but it’s hard to think of a more interesting time to be involved as new technologies and workflows throw up opportunities to rights holders and content owners,” said Stan. “Gearhouse has demonstrated its commitment to delivering intelligent solutions and services to help its customers take advantage of these opportunities with innovations such as the new Skye multi-purpose mobile production unit. I look forward to promoting its ever-evolving offering to the North American market.”

Marc Genin, Managing Director at Gearhouse Broadcast USA, said: “As Gearhouse Broadcast looks to expand its US operations, the addition of these two strategic roles is invaluable. They will provide us with the bandwidth we need to increase our offering, while also giving us a healthy understanding of both the Studio and Mobile Truck markets.”

Gearhouse Broadcast, a supplier of technical facilities, crew and services used to capture the world’s most watched content, has promoted Ed Tischler, its head of projects, to managing director of its UK business. He replaces Kevin Moorhouse, who vacates the position in order to focus fully on his role as chief operating officer of Gravity Media Group (GMG) continuing the mission to provide outstanding technology, solutions and exceptional client support across the globe.

In the 16 years he’s worked within the broadcast facilities industry, Ed has made the transition from fulfilling a purely technical role to taking on greater commercial and leadership responsibilities. Since joining Gearhouse Broadcast in 2007, he’s worked at, and overseen high-profile international jobs including the 2014 and 2010 World Cups, Euro 2016, 2012 and 2008, Rio 2016, London 2012 and the ATP 1000 Tour tennis. As well as working closely with customers and technology partners to ensure that jobs are delivered successfully, and on budget, he’s overseen considerable growth within the projects business.

Ed will report directly to Kevin and the Gravity Media Group management team, with a remit to continue the impressive performance that the UK arm of Gearhouse Broadcast has delivered in recent years through its projects, systems integration and equipment rental divisions. He will also remain as head of projects for the near future, to ensure consistency on upcoming jobs he’s involved with, before overseeing the appointment of a suitable replacement.

Commenting on his promotion, Ed said: “Gearhouse is among the most forward-thinking and ambitious businesses operating within the media production industry, so this is a fantastic opportunity, and one I’m genuinely excited about. In the ten years I’ve spent here, I’ve got to know the business inside out. I’ve worked closely with Kevin for many years, have an excellent relationship with him and look forward to carrying on his good work to continue delivering innovative solutions, value and expertise to our customers.”

Gravity Media Group COO Kevin Moorhouse added: “Ed has impressed us with his management style, as well as his technical, operational and industry knowledge throughout his time at Gearhouse. Personnel development is one of our key values, and Ed is a great example of someone who has continually grabbed the opportunities we have given him. He is target-driven, and has an in-depth knowledge and understanding of our business and customers, so he was the natural choice to fill the role and we anticipate a very smooth transition as he assumes control.”

The change comes as a result of business growth which has meant that Kevin Moorhouse needs to dedicate more time to overseeing global operations at Gravity Media Group. Having secured substantial investment from TowerBrook Capital Partners to fund future expansion, GMG has focussed on enhancing its worldwide offering.

This strategy has so far included the acquisition of Input Media, one of Europe’s leading sports production companies, and the deployment of Columbus, Gearhouse’s high-end 4K mobile unit built specifically for the US live production market.

Gravity Media (as Gearhouse Broadcast) France, a supplier of technical facilities, crew and services used to capture the world’s most watched content, has announced a multi-million Euro investment in the latest broadcast technology to support its expanding business. In response to evolving client needs, the business has added to its inventory new wireless camera systems, camera channels, 4K lenses and servers, tripods and mounts.

On the back of its quality of service, competitiveness in the market and accessibility of its services and people, Gravity Media France has seen substantial growth in the region. This technology investment will allow it to continue providing the highest-quality equipment rental services, wireless camera facilities and flyaway production workflows across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“We are now regularly providing a wide scope of services for productions that are aimed at both traditional and online distribution,” said Romain Lheureux, Commercial Director at Gearhouse Broadcast France. “These productions increasingly originate in 1080p 60Hz, so we’re aligning our equipment stock and systems to reflect these requirements”.

The investment includes Sony HDC-1700s, the multi-format portable camera system that delivers superb image quality and can easily upgraded to 4K. It also comprises Vislink’s L1700, a customisable transmitter suitable for an array of broadcast deployments. The company has also updated its arsenal of 4K lenses from UHD innovator Fujinon and taken delivery of new tripods and heads from high-end camera support provider Cartoni.

Finally, multiple EVS XT3 live production servers in the ChannelMAX 4K configuration will allow clients to ingest more camera channels during live productions. The purchase furthers Gravity Media’s long-standing relationship with EVS, with its parent company Gravity Media Group striking a multi-million-dollar deal with the manufacturer last year.

The expanded stock of equipment is available now for rental and is also being integrated into flyaway facilities delivered to customers.

Gravity Media (as Gearhouse Broadcast), a supplier of technical equipment, facilities and services used to capture the world’s most watched content, is providing a range of solutions to UEFA for its prestigious European football finals. These include the Technical Operations Centres (TOCs), EVS live production infrastructure and all commentary services for the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup finals.

UEFA and Gravity Media have a long history of working together. Last year, Gearhouse successfully provided TOCs, Cable Interconnection Rooms, and special cameras and EVS slow-motion operations facilities as part of a comprehensive installation at all ten UEFA EURO 2016 venues in France.

The TOC is used to distribute the live stadium – or ‘world’ – feed and requires around 100km of high quality fibre cable to be installed on site. Gravity Media’s bespoke TOC design was so well received that UEFA has used it as the blueprint for its domestic coverage going forward.

For the first-time UEFA, is using Gravity Media to provide the commentary infrastructure at each match. Running the flexible Lawo Commentary Unit (LCU) which is based on RAVENNA, a real-time Audio-over-IP networking technology, Gravity Media is delivering a contribution network which eliminates the need to use ageing ISDN lines and patch in each commentator manually. It means that UEFA can now offer a large number of high quality commentary lines at each match, either within the stadium, or remotely, helping to keep production costs.

Sarah Connell, broadcast engineering specialist at UEFA said: “This solution allows us to streamline and futureproof onsite broadcast services and also provide the highest quality of service to rights holders.”

Ed Tischler, head of projects at Gearhouse Broadcast said: “This new service from Gearhouse addresses a growing trend we’re seeing within live productions, with rights owners and broadcasters increasingly wanting to use a specialist partner to handle the technical requirements. This means that they can concentrate on delivering the best production possible to a growing number of international viewers, without needing to dedicate valuable resources to oversee infrastructure demands.”

Lawo’s Barry Revel added: “Gearhouse approached Lawo looking for a flexible commentary solution based on the latest IP broadcast infrastructure that would offer the highest possible reliability, and we were delighted to offer our solution. The Lawo and Gearhouse engineering teams worked together to spec up a commentary system that ticked all the boxes for UEFA’s extensive requirements. For us, this was a great show case as it demonstrated the unique functionally and control the Lawo Commentary System offers.”

At the UEFA Champions League final in Cardiff, Gravity Media provided a range of technical services to host broadcaster BT Sport including an on-site special cameras facility. This received feeds from the UEFA helicopter camera, in-goal cameras, handheld radio frequency cameras and the stadium ‘beauty’ shots.

The UEFA Europa League final between Ajax and Manchester United took place in Stockholm on Wednesday 25 May. This was followed by the UEFA Champions League final in Cardiff on 3 June where Real Madrid beat Juventus. The winners of both cups then face off for the UEFA Super Cup on 8 August in Skopje, Macedonia.

Gravity Media (as Gearhouse Broadcast), a supplier of technical facilities, crew and services used to capture the world’s most watched content, has delivered enhanced coverage from the outer tennis courts at the 2017 French Open to the Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT). The end-to-end service was implemented not only to deliver more content but better live programming with the FFT increasing the amount of editorial content including replays and player reactions, so it could better tell the story of this year’s Roland Garros.

To do this, Gravity Media supplied all technical facilities and an operational crew of around 35 production specialists per day. This provided the FFT with a high level of consistency throughout the tournament in terms of equipment, crew and, most importantly, output across all courts.

Over the first week of qualification and two-week tournament, Gravity Media’s production solution was used to capture up to eight matches simultaneously across 12 courts, resulting in over 580 hours of live programming.

To deliver both quality and efficiency, Gravity Media utilised its new Simplylive Vibox systems, which were purchased shortly before 2017 NAB Show. Being used as core production workstations, the systems allowed each court to have its own dedicated TV director who performed vision mixing, replay creation, graphics and clip management.

Working alongside each director were two dedicated camera operators using the new Sony RM-IP500 PTZ camera remote controllers to operate Sony BRC-H800 HD pan tilt zoom cameras. Each court had three fully-controllable match cameras and a fixed site wide beauty camera. The later stages of the tournament saw a fourth camera added to the courts to further enhance the quality of the final programming of the junior and wheelchair competitions.

[Name, title] at the Fédération Française de Tennis said: “We were keen to improve the overall value we could deliver not just to our broadcast partners, but also our many fans around the world. A lot of great action at the French Open happens on the outer courts and we felt it was important to bring the same level of quality to these stories that we see in the coverage from our show courts. This project is a great example of doing more for less, and in Gravity Media we found a partner with the vision, expertise and technical understanding to meet our objectives. The complete turnkey nature of the service meant we were free to focus on other, more creative aspects of making the tournament one of our best yet.”

Jonathan Endley, business development at Gearhouse Broadcast added “the success of this project was down to being able to deliver a solution that was both efficient in terms of budget and footprint. We also achieved the FFT’s goal of delivering consistent technical facilities for better editorial programming at the tournament. With so many matches to cover on multiple courts, we worked closely with the FFT Media team ahead of the event to develop the production concept so we could better deliver the infrastructure onsite. This ensured a smooth roll out and higher production values.”

At the tournament Gravity Media also provided complete production facilities for Eurosport and WOWOW, as well as delivering all radio camera facilities for the France Télévisions and Eurosport. Its sister company Input Media, which was recently acquired by Gravity Media Group, was also at the 2017 French Open producing international feeds and logging the tournament’s content.

Gravity Media is no stranger to grand slam tennis. It provides host broadcast technical facilities for the Australian Open, broadcast services for multiple rights holders at Wimbledon and all technical facilities for host and domestic broadcasts at the US Open. It has also overseen all broadcast facilities and production crew for the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 ten-tournament series since 2000, and end-of-season ATP World Tour Finals since 2009.