Net gain: EMG / Gravity Media on its remote production workflow for England Netball

EMG / Gravity crew on site

EMG / Gravity Media has shared details of the remote production workflow it developed for England Netball.

EMG said the workflow has enabled In Touch Productions to build a cost-effective and sustainable remote production that emphasises broadcast quality with minimal use of resources, helping expand coverage and bring the sport to a growing audience via the BBC iPlayer and live streaming specialist Netball Pass.

England Netball chief commercial officer Mark Foster said: “EMG and In Touch Production’s creativity, adaptability and professionalism has meant that the live broadcast has delivered beyond our expectations with the basics (though difficult to deliver) always being met with live domestic and overseas feeds never going down, clock and score being accurate, replays in such a fast moving sport as well as innovation for the league being introduced with elements such as live stats all delivered on a small budget.

“And their level of professionalism meant that we were able to use top quality on screen talent knowing that they would enjoy their experience, particularly important when we used industry pros such as Kath Merry and Lindsay Chapman as well as introducing the Vitality Roses Head Coach Jess Thirlby to our productions which has helped to take them to another level.”

The workflow has been developed and refined across various sports, EMG / Gravity said. A similar workflow was used in March 2021 by In Touch Productions for a comparatively smaller production of a rugby league game. Since then, it has been refined and expanded and was first used to cover netball in February this year during the Loughborough Lightning v Team Bath game in the second round of the Netball Superleague.

Two Panasonic HPX3100 ENG cameras are placed on the gantry along with commentary positions, with a third mounted in one of the corners of the court. This is utilised in-game for a close-up view of the action, as well as by presenters live in-camera before and after the match and for pre-recorded interviews.

Commentators Lindsey Chapman and Sonia Mkoloma

All feeds, including audio from courtside and commentary are sent to Haivision encoders where they are first encoded and then passed via 4G to the EMG / Gravity Production Centre in High Wycombe via high speed internet connection. Here they are decoded before being sent to the gallery where the production is assembled.

A Vizrt Tricaster allows the director to cut the program, adding HTML5 Graphics (Viz Flowics) and VT elements such as replays and editorial content (via SimplyLive), as well as mixing all audio including commentary, clean effects and umpire mics.

A return vision path passes the signal back to the venue operation, while SRT encoded feeds are delivered to the BBC iPlayer and Netball Pass. A further feed is also delivered to England Netball to enable rapid clip generation for social media.

Several challenges needed to be solved to tell the story of a match effectively to the viewer, while making the workflow as efficient as possible. A gametime clock is an essential component of any match, with the team deciding that the simplest and most accurate way of presenting this to the viewers was using a locked off additional camera and transmitter pointed at the match clock courtside. The graphics operator then tracked this at the Production Centre to make sure the on-screen clock is in sync.

The speed of the game leaves little time for dedicated replays. The TriCaster though gives the team the ability to run replays in an onscreen dedicated box, allowing action to be analysed without interrupting the flow of the game.

Presenters are also able to preview the matches live in-vision using in-ear monitors for talkback rather than as a pre-recorded segment, giving greater fluidity and excitement to the coverage, EMG / Gravity said, adding that the compact kit and with the In Touch production team both on-site and in the gallery delivers the triple benefits of increased sustainability, high quality production values, and cost effectiveness.

EMG says it can turn round matches at its Production Centre with as little as 60 minutes between games, allowing it to produce multiple productions from multiple locations and accommodate even the busiest of schedules.

“Remote production has proved to be the perfect solution for England Netball,” said EMG UK sales director, Angela Gibbons.

“The technology we have implemented together with our partner, In Touch Productions, allows us to cover matches with a minimal crew and kit list but maintain the highest standards of broadcast quality.

“In fact, social media has lit up with compliments over the quality of the current England Netball coverage that we provide to England Netball. Remote production deliveries such as these allows us to offer clients high class production values to all manner of budgets and is a solution that can be easily adapted to any niche or Tier 2 sport looking to engage audiences on a worldwide basis.”

EMG / Gravity streaming gallery

Jess Thirlby, Head Coach of England Netball added: “Working with EMG and In touch productions as part of the ground-breaking new partnership with England Netball.

“Week on week to engage with a production team who wanted to help drive the sport forward and show it in its best light was a joy and they continued to push the boundaries.

“For a team new to our sport, you’d be impressed with the passion shown and it was a privilege to work with and alongside such a credible production. We couldn’t have asked for a better champion of our sport and they’ve helped us to reach both our existing and new audience ahead of an exciting time in our sports journey.”