Over 40 people from EMG Italy crew worked for the fastest marathon in Italy

A fast and completely renovated track, compared to the previous editions, for a much loved marathon in which many participants manage to give their best, to the point of achieving their own “personal best performance”.

The race, which, as always, sees the presence of illustrious guests, Italian and international champions, as well as amateurs from all over the world, takes place on a ring with start and finish in the center of Milan, in the Montanelli Gardens park. The athletes compete on what has been defined as “a modern and complete course”, suitable for smoothness both for advanced amateurs and for top runners. The route touches several art places of a Milan to be admired that combine historical and contemporary elements. The organization – impeccable as always – by RCS has once again confirmed EMG Italy’s management of television production this year.

The mobile vehicle engaged was the flagship Orion 209, located in the area immediately adjacent to the departure, which coincides with the arrival.

The Project Manager for the Milan Marathon Fabio Bertini, Sales Consultant of EMG Italy, tells us some details. “This unique OB Truck of impressive dimensions and of the latest generation”, says Bertini, “has made it possible to package both the international feed and the customized one for the Italian unilateral broadcast of SKY Sport. Also this year, as per tradition, the broadcast was retransmitted an hour later than the actual performance and this involves a complex production procedure, much more than a normal live television broadcast. This procedure defined as “near-live” at first glance seems to be simpler to build and more streamlined, because the entire live radio frequency section, helicopters and radio link planes are missing. In fact, this is not the case because it requires perfect synchrony of the entire organization involved. 90% of the event is covered by motorcycle cameras equipped with an operator and camcorder who follows the entire span of more than two hours race, also considering the pre-departure and post-arrival stages. While in a live broadcast it is enough to select the images arriving in the control room by the video mixer, here the mechanism is much more delicate and demanding”.

Near-live

“The simulation of the live broadcast”, continues Bertini, “is based on continuous recordings made on XDcam discs by the cameras that follow the circuit thanks to the motorbikes and the start/finish cameras. Over the span of three very specific tranches, these contents must be physically transported on physical media, by special RCS fast relays, and arrive intact to the director. This must take place with perfect timing in order to ensure that the director Franco Scotton, on board the Orion 209 truck, can reconstruct the event in an absolutely synchronized way and with the continuity of a virtual live broadcast, immediately starting to switch between different points of view as soon as the records arrive”.

The first of these four sections is the start where eight cameras allow to film the entire initial block of the competitors, from 8.50 to 9.15. The perfect live simulation can only happen because the first change and transport of discs takes place at the eighth kilometre. The second takes place at the twentieth kilometer and the last at the finish. The hour-delayed broadcast begins airing while the race is in full swing and continues for an hour after the actual race has concluded. From just before nine in the morning, in addition to the three bikes, the eight cameras expertly located in the arrival/departure area of the Indro Montanelli Park, have been operational.

Special supports are also used here, such as a jimmy-jib dedicated to a camera with wide optics (14x), a camera working in a “super slowmo” configuration with a long optics, and a shoulder radio-camera entirely dedicated to covering the start and finish and an EFP configuration camera is dedicated to filming the podium and the prize delivery, on the scaffolding. The “time shift” television coverage manages an arc of about three hours and a half, with an hour delay, so the event is fully commented on the airing delayed by an hour, just as if it were live. The near-live transmission is made possible thanks to another special mobile truck, the satellite uplink which, exactly one hour after the official start of the marathon, follows the live broadcast for three and a half hours.

Two galleries in one

The Orion 209 mobile vehicle packaged the feed for the international live broadcast thanks to its main gallery and at the same time one of its sections, or second gallery, was also dedicated to the creation of the personalized unilateral feed for SKY Sport.

RCS and EMG Italy also set up for SKY, in the park adjacent to the at the outset, two tents: one for the commentary station and the second in a mini outdoor studio configuration, where the interviews of the important personalities were held. Here, 4 cameras in EFP configuration were dedicated and the graphics, as well as the timing, station breaks and animations of the track, were provided by RCS. 4G backpacks were used on the bikes which also produced images for direct re-proposing on the mega screens placed at the start/finish for the public, operators and journalists.

The setup

“The setup of such an event”, concludes Bertini, “is rather complex and involves a rather long period of time, from the morning before at nine, until the evening at midnight and then on the morning of the event at seven all the personnel was already on the track and was busy until 5pm”.

In addition to the main vehicle by EMG Italy Orion 209 with expansion dedicated to the production of the two feeds, the TV compound had a mobile vehicle dedicated to graphics, another small vehicle by EMG Italy dedicated to managing the RF reception of backpacks and editing dedicated to a 15-minute service for the international feed. At the TV compound there was also a vehicle dedicated to the satellite uplink, as well as a 200KW bi-generator power truck. The audio was recorded in stereo with ambient microphones for each camera for the international feed and an international commentary station was also set up in English.

© 2023 Presspool PressOffice RobertoLandini

The great international cycling in Italy opened with the four well-known spring races in March. The first, the classic Strade Bianche, takes place every year at the beginning of the month on the hills of Siena and involves the arrival in the incredible setting of Piazza del Campo.

This unique race, which takes place partly on paved roads and partly on dirt roads, is followed by the Tirreno-Adriatico, the “Corsa dei Due Mari” in 7 stages, then by the Milan-Turin and finally by the best known and most important competition, the Milan-Sanremo.

Alongside RCS Sport

RCS Sport, the leading organizer of Italian sporting events of global renown, manages all these events on two wheels and owns the rights. Since the 2022 edition, the year of the turning point by choosing to detach itself from the historic partnership with RAI, RCS Sport has joined with the international EMG group in a total co-production path of all the UCI World Tour races in Italy and, to put it simply, the qualitative improvement project of all the competitions that count has started, where the best teams compete for prizes and fame.

This choice has the aim of bringing the Giro closer to the splendours of the Tour, using the technical and editorial expertise of EMG which has been producing the major races in the world for many years, and above all the most famous with the iconic yellow jersey which ends with the last stage in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Communication and production

“EMG needs no introduction in the international broadcast sector and EMG Italy is the reference for the Italian market for its multiple manufacturing capabilities in every sector of communication and production”, begins Davide Furlan, Outdoor Production Director. “Our proprietary technical infrastructures of absolute reference and our specialized professionals allow us to propose ourselves as a global partner, safe for every playground and TV market, and for different types of live events, in sports and entertainment. Having become a real Group through the process of unification of the Companies under the EMG logo, but above all having activated the connections between the different “ways and worlds of the Countries” to create “everyone’s style and policy” in this great international reality, brought us back alongside RCS Sport again for the first four important cycling events in March: Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Turin and Milan-Sanremo.

These are events that have involved us with 125 technicians from a truly international crew, at the TV Compound and along the way we speak Italian, French, Flemish, Dutch and English. EMG Italy has the complete technical/production management and management control of the cycling event for the Group, a real pride and a great effort considering the multiple coincidences of other major events such as the Superbike World Championship, with stops in Australia and Indonesia, and with the Ski World Cup Finals in Andorra.

World Tour cycling has a technical/editorial and production standard that only big companies like EMG can guarantee, there are many economic interests at stake and expectations are very high. For this reason, investments in technology and professionalism are constant in this Group, as demonstrated by the birth of EMG Connectivity a few months ago, the result of the union of the best internal world realities in EMG in the management of moving images, French expertise and equipment, British, Belgian and Dutch are now a single wireless reality.

Producing these great cycling events makes us very proud of our work: races that take place over a truly impressive kilometre radius, straddling different regions and with incredible atmospheric excursions, very high-quality images and sounds that travel along the most beautiful roads in the world LIVE shooting with impressive and inimitable stability for many.

In just one day you can easily pass from the snow on the passes to the scorching sun along the coasts, to rain and the wind at 120Km/h which in one test in particular (arrival in Sassotetto during the Tirreno-Adriatico) forced RCS to move the 2.5km further downstream (at the original high altitude finish the wind was blowing too hard). In any case, the stage was able to be seen because the reliability of the technologies and the experience of the EMG men were able to make up for and react even to the adverse and demanding weather conditions”.

Mentions of other important production innovations

One of the innovations introduced by EMG Italy compared to last year was the use of the Group’s proprietary OL270 vehicles also for the SNG section, supplied by the Dutch division EMG Connectivity, an important topic that deserves dedicated in-depth analysis elsewhere.

These are state-of-the-art means deployed for connecting the satellites and the retransmission of the signals received from the motorbikes towards the intermediate stations and the TV compound, and vice versa. Furthermore, like last year, EMG Italy, as co-producer, is also involved on the editorial level and, in fact, the Belgian director Gunther Herregodts, an EMG collaborator, works on board the mobile vehicles, who has always signed important events such as the Tour of Flanders, the Olympics, and other historic UCI World Tours.

The setup on the ground

The Orion 209 main gallery mobile vehicle, deployed at each arrival, has a Kahuna mixer and 4 EVS XT-VIA stations with 14 channels each on board. Eleven cameras are placed in the final area, two of which in super Slowmo Sony 4300 HFR 8X configuration, here used as 3X, and a Pov micro camera is used for the photo finish.

They are used to narrate the last km, the arrival, the podium, the interviews, and for “colour” images. Each camera also picks up two audio signals in stereo, embedded audio. The Spring Classics involve a total of 125 technical crew professionals for production, including motorcycle operators, motorcyclists, drivers, train drivers, EVS operators, etc.

On board, the vehicle following each race are the director, the assistant director, the video mixer, three EVS operators, three camera controls, and two content editors for post-production which is created on two Avids in the EVS network via a NAS which makes clips instantly available for news feeds, magazines and highlights. Also worth mentioning is the entire social media section that RCS is expanding and enhancing to then reach full capacity with the Giro d’Italia.

© 2023 Presspool PressOffice RobertoLandini

EMG Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and France to tell the Giro for RCS Sport

The production of EMG Group has been chosen for the next three years by RCS Sport, the leading organizer of Italian sporting events, to follow all the cycling races on the calendar.

A great international cooperation allowed the opening of the cycling season with Strade Bianche and continued with the great show following the Giro d’Italia 2022.

About thirty days around Italy

In just one month of preparation, the entire organization of a sport like cycling was set in motion, which, due to its great experience in the field, has historically always been the sole prerogative of RAI, the Italian national broadcaster. From this year, however, everything is taken care of by Euro Media Group, which certainly does not have the role of a simple technical service for television filming, but also of editorial manager, logistics manager and much more.

EMG for all cycling sold by RCS in the world

Davide Furlan EMG Italy, Director of Major Events and Overall Project Manager for cycling, confirms: “Right after the great ski project, we took care of the Giro d’Italia with all that it entails: organizing, managing, interpreting the needs of RCS Sport, never improvising, and always optimizing. To give an idea of ​​the optimization effort and the complexity of the organization, last year RAI had 405 employees involved in this great event, while this year we at EMG have fielded only 129 professionals.

RCS Sport, for the first time, has relied on a private group to self-produce not only the Giro but all the World Tour races it organizes, starting with Strade Bianche. EMG has been commissioned by RCS Sport to weave the threads of the entire production, in fact, as executive producer. The assignment for the next three years involves not only the role of technological service for HD TV filming, but to also hold the reins of the editorial part: in fact EMG provides Italian technical staff, such as the director Angelo Carosi and the two assistant directors, Franco Scotton and Antonello Grippo”.

Two TV production standards

The production of the first Strade Bianche race was organized by us at EMG Italy in record time, 15 days, and then we spread that production model over the Giro, using two types of production in response to the requests of the RCS Sport technical specifications:

Standard A: 2 planes, 2 helicopters, 10 motorcycles, 14 fixed cameras on the ground at the finish line.

Standard B: for the “minor” races: 1 helicopter, 1 plane, 5 motorcycles and 12 cameras on the ground.

Standard A includes two Beechcraft B200 radio relay planes, equipped with 14 autotracking antennas in reception and two antennas in transmission: they are the hub of all the radio frequency flows that are managed for the live broadcast. The use of autotracking antennas allows for optimal gain and a stable signal both up and down: each receiving antenna moves and follows the antenna that transmits and/or receives on the ground, despite both the plane and the transmission point being in continuous movement.

The signals arrive in the TV compound to a special RF truck and, at the same time, are received at an intermediate point that acts as a reserve, given that some stages cover very long distances, even 350km. In these stages the coverage cone requires an intermediate reference point, where a 13.50-meter SNG ob-van from EMG France, equipped with complete reception and transmission systems, assisted by a generator, sends the signals back to an intermediate MUX (for example, in the case of the Reggio Emilia stage, the MUX was in Asiano Piacentino).

Moving images

The tour in standard A includes two helicopters, B355 and a twin-engine B355S, operating at altitudes ranging from 100 to 300 meters and equipped with Cineflex HD cameras. They are used to tell the story of the race but also to film the beauties of the country Italy. On the ground, for sportcasting, 5 motorcycles are used with operators equipped with Grass Valley LDX86N compact cameras and a Livetools RF transmitter, created on proprietary EMG engineering.

All signal transmission and reception systems are engineered within Livetools, a Dutch company of the EMG group.
One of the strengths of Livetools is the signal coding based on proprietary algorithms, managed with in-house hardware, not available on the market. The codecs, the ultra-low latency, the managed transmission volume are particularly high quality and the bandwidth is extremely full, because Livetools engineers have specifically designed the codecs for use in motion.

At the start, 5 motorcycle cameras to show the race

As great experts in sports filming, EMG provides highly specialized and passionate staff: all the motorcycle drivers and all the cameramen are competent, former cyclists, some even champions, and this added value is appreciated in the type of filming they are able to propose to the director.

In total, in the Giro, EMG provides 10 motorcycle cameras including those requested by the broadcasters taking over the rights for integration, with moving images or audio. For example, RAI hires 4 motorcycles, two for RAI Sport and two for RadioRai, to intervene live during its customization broadcasts. Eurosport also integrates its AV signal, thanks to another EMG Group motorcycle that allows audio commentary, but also in video, thanks to an onboard cam that frames the journalist while he intervenes live in the race. All these moving signals, including those of the two helicopters, go up to the plane and then down to the TV compound.

The TV compound

To manage the TV compound, EMG hired a 16.5 m OB-truck from Euro Media Group Italy, Orion 209, as the “main control”. Another truck from Euro Media Group France, RF truck Orion C42, takes care of all the reception and distribution of signals.
Inside, the coordinator of the moving images of EMG Belgium, Bruno Coudyzer, takes care of all the RF signals including the N-1 to and from the journalists on the move on the motorbikes. The number of signals that pass through is truly impressive, as you can imagine.

Even the telemetry of every single plane, helicopter and motorbike that moves along the route is constantly displayed and coordinated within a live cartography. This telemetry with real-time visual control, which allows you to know exactly where the vehicles are on the route, is used by those coordinating the filming to indicate the positions of the cyclists to the various motorbikes and therefore provides valuable information to the control.

The strength of Euro Media Group

“In general,” Furlan continues, “the coordination and management for RCS Sport of all the low frequency is by EMG Italy, while the entire setup for the “moving” radio frequency is handled by EMG France, EMG Holland and EMG Belgium.

This year the Giro started from Hungary and EMG Group sent the technical means of EMG Belgium to follow the first three stages and, at the same time, the group composed of EMG Italy and EMG France moved to Sicily because, otherwise, in just one day of travel between Hungary and Italy it would not have been possible to create such a complex setup.

Therefore, the use of international resources and means was truly huge in order to manage the double setup in Hungary and Sicily at the same time. EMG Italy had the burden of organizing all the logistics of all 129 people involved in the Giro and who moved all over Italy, with the related problems related to the weather and the very different locations. The staff hired was distributed in TV compound with 70 people, a dozen in the intermediate relay group, about thirty at the departures and about eight in the group between planes and helicopters”.

“Hot” backup in 4G

Furlan emphasizes: “We have integrated the technical specifications with a backup system for transmitting images from helicopters and motorcycles in the event of an extreme default of the planes, i.e. for conditions in which the planes cannot fly (as has already happened in past editions).
In fact, all the motorcycles and helicopters also have 4G backup transmission systems on board; therefore all the signals, in addition to the radio frequency from the plane, are simultaneously transmitted on the 4G bridges to be able to go on the air without interruptions, in any case, in any adversity.

Upon arrival in all the TV compounds there is an internet connection dedicated to this use. Other technical innovations have not been introduced – for the moment – and given the high complexity of the production, EMG is already thinking about some innovations to introduce for the next edition, after having demonstrated, in this one, the quality level of the entire organization”.

The role of EMG

The responsibility of EMG Group also included the total management of the TV compound, that is, the satisfaction of the requests of all the broadcasters who showed up for the integrations, including the supply of electricity, spaces, parking, etc.

For example, RAI was present with about 800 square meters of vehicles, three editorial offices, RAI Sport 1, RAI Sport 2 and a third that creates content for RAI 1, 2, 3, therefore three traveling studios; and then two mobile control rooms for RAI TV, two mobile control rooms for Radio RAI and the offices. The TV compound that the Giro needs to park all the vehicles at each stage is two thousand square meters.

Then Eurosport, with an ENG control room, which puts together a lineup at the finish line at each stage with two journalists and radio cameras, to which is added an SNG vehicle in the stages in which it also creates the video of the race with a motorcycle. The Swiss broadcaster RTSI also joined, after a few stages, for customization.

Another important point to underline is the complete management of the radio frequency, carried out entirely by EMG, which entailed an expense for this edition of over 123 thousand euros for the concession of the frequencies by the MISE Ministry of Economic Development. It should be noted that in France, for the similar service in the Tour de France, the cost sustained by EMG was 1200 euros.

First requirement: guarantee a quality service

All the logistics were managed by EMG Italy, led by Davide Furlan and, operationally, managed by Valentina D’Alìa, booking-logistics coordinator of the TV compound and known as “the one who slept the least of all!” following a team of 129 people on 24 stages and on 4 different situations.

Valentina D’Alia on numbers: “My job was to coordinate the booking crew for the logistics of the entire operational group made up of Italians, French and Belgians. All the logistics, finding hotels near the “hot spots”, organizing the catering, moving all the staff, was a colossal undertaking, for a product on air from noon to 6 pm for each stage, for a total of 106 hours of live.

To give you an idea, here are some of the numbers:

• 6764 km traveled in 27 days of travel

• 1958 rooms in total with relative overnight stays, excluding the air crews and helicopters with another 8-10 people

• 20 drivers with 20 minivans for the caravans that transport all the staff to the hotel

• 47 vehicles – of which 33 embarked on 6/05 on the Genoa/Palermo route (20 hours of crossing)

• 1,548 catering meals in total between arrivals and departures

• 60 hours of night surveillance

Fabio Guadagnini, EMG Italy CCO

The Giro Project Manager who held the reins in coordinating the French, Italian, Dutch and Belgian groups, comments:
“RCS Sport has made a strategic and also very courageous choice, and has relied on EMG Group for three years, becoming the organizer also for the production part. For us it is a great responsibility that also covers the entire package of the 9 races in Italy. To do this we have set up a France-Belgium-Italy partnership, also to do some experimentation.

For the first year we did not have the technical times because it was too close to the start of the competitions with Strade Bianche, but we are already working on a strategy for the next few years where we will propose “new adventures” together with RCS Sport which is a very receptive interlocutor and for us this is important. We have therefore decided to put on the track the best of what the Group can offer at a European level for cycling: our great technological knowledge, starting from the RF Services & Connectivity and the management of the signals of EMG Belgium and France and our expertise in the territory, in addition to the management of the technical means and ob-van production which is managed largely by EMG Italy”.

The first time as intercompany

In practice, EMG has employed and combined the various international expertise that excels in specific and complementary sectors: this is essentially the first time that the Group has brought this intercompany joint venture to the field on such a complex project.

Cycling is undoubtedly the sport that implies the greatest complexity and, even if it sometimes has recurring circuits, in the case of the Giro everything changes every day, both from an environmental, technical sports, infrastructural, logistical, technological and connectivity point of view. This is because the very varied orography of the Italian territory requires very different procedures from stage to stage.

“A very important challenge”, sums up Fabio Guadagnini, “that we faced with great commitment and aware that we could never let our guard down: recounting a sports performance over 200/270 km in 5/6 hours of live coverage implies many risks and dangers”.

The RF section with Bruno Coudyzer

“It wasn’t “difficult”, but rather “quite a challenge”, says Bruno Coudyzer of EMG Belgium. “Each country and city where we stop has its own difficulties: just look at how large the TV compound is for international and national feeds, to understand that we have to deal with complexities and logistical, technical and practical solutions, very demanding and very different.

While in the “flat” stages, such as Reggio Emilia [which most of the photos refer to, ed.], management is simpler, in the mountain stages we have less space and room for maneuver to make everything work. Here the intermediate team is crucial since the mountains often block the optical propagation line for the RF signals to pass through.

The setup is very large and similar to that of the Tour de France with 10 motorcycles and 5 for the unilateral RAI, some for the audio commentary and one for Eurosport. In addition to the two in flight, we have a helicopter on standby and also a second plane – also on standby – which is used for the so-called “queen stages” and the “long stages”.
I really couldn’t calculate in my head how many RF channels we use, but in terms of frequencies in use there are about 80, not only for video but also for communications and data, since intercommunications here are crucial in such a mobile setup.
The bulk of the equipment is from Livetools, a proprietary brand of a company within the EMG group, which has its own research and development sector and which produced the Fusion platform.

Transmitters, receivers, software and additional hardware make this huge setup possible over long distances and allows the use of all the frequencies involved to be coordinated.
We transmit and receive all signals through different Fusion components that allow links, even of 120 KM, up to aircraft that operate between 6500 and 8000 meters above sea level, in addition to 12 sources to transport and a myriad of audio video and data channels.

Given the importance of radio frequency signals, there are two aircraft because one, in fact, is always ready as a backup to avoid any interruption; furthermore, in some particularly long stages where the flight autonomy is exceeded (about 6.5 hours), the second aircraft takes over in overlap”.

A passion for cycling

Angelo Carosi, the director of the Giro, says: “What we have put on display here in Italy is not only the best of the television technologies on the market, but also, from an operational point of view, it is the best team that anyone could ask for. Even the motorcyclists and cameramen are super passionate, often champions, and this can be seen in the result of the images on air.

With particular dynamics we went in search of aesthetic detail and the most important directorial novelty is the discovery of the Italian territory, thanks to the production of EMG for RCS Sport, where our commitment was to create the right “combination” between the sports and the territorial spectacle.

We are very lucky because, unlike other nations, we have a variety of territory that allows the enhancement of the country at a tourist and spectacular level. The direction of the Giro is a rather complex operation that, apart from the pure technological grandeur, involves a total effort of the people who have to assemble and dismantle everything in a few hours and this makes you think about how many resources and how many men are needed to manage a circus of the genre. Those who watch the race on TV don’t realize the physical effort of everyone: we have to cover a live broadcast of six hours for almost thirty days!

Personally, among the many challenges faced in my career, this is a new one and it is the first time that the Giro d’Italia is produced by an external company and not by RAI with a co-production agreement in which RCS Sport relies on EMG. The guys who work with me are all very motivated and passionate and it couldn’t be otherwise, otherwise we wouldn’t have achieved such an effective formula in such a short time, also confirmed by the praise of the international takers who take the signals.

The staff hired by EMG is of the highest level, to the point of not missing the excellent professionals that RAI fielded in the past. The winning choice was to rely on an international dimension, involving enthusiastic internal enthusiasts from EMG Belgium, France and Italy and to support people who have a high level of know-how.

We experienced 30 days of great enthusiasm with a strong search for technical sports detail, details that had lost in the past, despite the absolute competence of RAI, and that the cycling enthusiast loves to see, all with great quality of 1080i images, therefore with an excellent signal.

What stands out in the style of how we told the Giro is our specificity of having prepared two parallel schedules, one that tells the story of the road race and one for the helicopters and motorcycles. To enhance the territory and the most important technical points of the race we created two different run-downs where some motorcycles and helicopters take turns temporarily detaching from the race and go to film the points of interest near the track, to then reconverge at a well-identified point and resume the live broadcast.

This is equivalent to the construction of two production plans that are followed live thanks to a live graphics map in the RF Truck and decided on the basis of the initial morning coordination, a production meeting, which daily orchestrates the day like in a score for a large orchestra”.

© 2022 Presspool PressOffice RobertoLandini

EMG contracted by RCS Sport as broadcast production partner for all Italian cycling races for the next three seasons

Budapest – 5th May 2022 – Europe’s leading broadcast service provider EMG today announced, at the ‘Grande Partenza’ of the 105th Giro D’Italia in the Hungarian capital Budapest, a three-year partnership deal for the production of nine cycling competitions organized by RCS Sport in Italy, which includes the Giro d’Italia, Milano-San Remo, Tirreno-Adriatico, Giro di Sicilia, Strade Bianche, and Il Lombardia, among others.

EMG has been a specialist in broadcasting international cycling events like the Tour de France, Tour of Flanders, and countless other races across the globe for the past several years. For the agreement with RCS, EMG Italy, and the teams at EMG Belgium and EMG France, developed a production plan to guarantee high quality, live TV coverage of some of the world’s most beautiful and challenging races – leveraging its years of experience.

“We are truly honoured and proud to be the official production partner of RCS Sport,” says Shaun Gregory, CEO of the EMG Group “Our team will operate with proficiency and enthusiasm, relying on years of international expertise. EMG has always been a leader in technology development for live sport coverage in many disciplines; being a solid partner of sport federations and international broadcasters. Cycling, as one of the most complex sports to produce, is one of our best assets”.

Paolo Bellino, CEO of RCS Sport, said: “This is an epic turning point as we have decided to directly manage TV production for the first time in the history of the Giro d’Italia. We have a big international partner such as EMG Group and we have already tested the production and broadcasting during our spring races. It is the right time to take this important step, a natural consequence in the organisation of major sports events such as the Giro d’Italia. We will offer live images in full for every stage, so that cycling fans all over the world will be able to watch every single moment of the toughest race in the world’s most beautiful place”.

The whole package of races organized by RCS Sport in Italy requires an average use of three OB trucks, 10 (audio and video) motorbikes, 10 cameras along the cycling track (including super slomo and RF) and two helicopters with gyro stabilized Cineflex cameras. Live video coverage is guaranteed by two radio-link airplanes, regardless of weather conditions. EMG will operate with a crew of 120 professionals in the whole production chain – from cabling to aerial shooting and from live direction to highlights editing together with RCS Sports.

“Being alongside RCS Sport in this is something special,” says Claudio Cavallotti, CEO of EMG Italy. “I like thinking this is just the beginning. We will support RCS Sport in ever increasingly engaging and innovative host production, both in sport storytelling and in the promotion of our beautiful country Italy. We believe we will be a strong partner in the future of this beautiful sport and RCS Sport”.