AMP Visual adds to Paris Masters for Orange

France: Last week’s BNP Paribas Masters at Bercy was the last of the nine tournaments on the 2011 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 circuit. Broadcast primarily on Orange Sport in France (as well as Paris Première and W9), while the UK’s Gearhouse provides the international signal for the series, Orange called upon AMP Visual TV to help with its own specific production elements.

The Parisian company supplied them with an OB unit (number 5), which offered a two-fold use: firstly graphics design production for Orange and secondly for the giant screen of the central court managed by the French Tennis Federation. For this screen two cameras with long focal length zoom lenses were placed in the stands and a RF camera system moved around the walkways. An exclusive LSM system and a Chyron Duet graphics system completed the installation.
The studio for Orange was also set up by AMP Visual TV and consisted of five cameras. Orange Sport broadcast in HD while its spin-off, Orange Event, broadcast the central court matches in SD.
SMS messages and emails from viewers were aired during the broadcast. This interactive text to screen feature was implemented by a company called French TV on behalf of AMP Visual TV.
For additional interactivity, a booth equipped with two cameras recorded comments and questions from viewers who were present at the Palais Omnisport in Paris Bercy. Orange has already used this system for certain Premier League matches.
Finally, for the Internet, AMP Interactive a subsidiary of the audiovisual facilities provider, used a broadcast tools solution developed by Digital Immersion. It consisted of a 360° camera that captured the entire tennis court and has a dedicated player. The encoded signal was then sent to the Orange website via a SDSL line.