Warming up: EMG / Gravity Media on prepping for the London Marathon in the heavily congested capital  

One of Broadcast RF’s – now EMG Connectivity – handheld RF cameras on Tower Bridge filming at the London Marathon 2022

EMG Connectivity is getting warmed up for the London Marathon, which will be taking place in the heart of the city on Sunday 27 April.

Snaking through the great sights of central London, the race is posing challenges for the EMG / Gravity Media team, which is working out the final details for connecting cameras, bikes and even celebrity runners to the gallery for the live broadcast.

The technical services provider has handled the RF and OB’s for the event since 2014. It is continually evolving the way it implements its RF to not only reflect new technologies and production methods, but also to cope with the many difficulties it presents.

Congested city

Chris Brandrick, commercial director at EMG Connectivity, comments: “The London Marathon is probably the most difficult marathon to cover in the world, because, like the Boat Race, it meanders through a heavily congested city,” he says, referring to the forest of tall buildings that is Canary Wharf and the multiple tunnels along the course.

“We do it differently to the Boat Race, however, with multiple fixed camera sites, two helicopters, and six motorbikes on the course that are relaying up to a single relay aircraft,” Brandrick notes.

EMG / Gravity Media says there is skill required in implementing this, as the area is large for the bikes to cover, which often end up spread out along the course. This means the plane needs to be in perfect position to ensure that coverage of the Elite runners and wheelchair racers finishing at Buckingham Palace is maintained, while the mass start is taking place at Blackheath almost seven miles away.

EMG deployed four bikes in a 4G transmission backup test using LiveU units for the London Marathon 2024

Celebrity runners

Last year at the London Marathon viewers were able to enjoy McFly’s Harry Judd contributing to the broadcast as he ran the course. This year the plan is to involve more celebrity runners, so EMG / Gravity Media will be meeting them at badge collection and installing and testing a special app on their phones.

The production team will then be able to call the celebrity runners during the race and ask them to fire up the app. They can then be featured in the broadcast, talking as they are running.

Concludes Greg Livermore, EMG / Gravity Media’s technical producer for the Boat Race and the London Marathon: “The London Marathon and the Boat Race are both multi-site OBs, and they’re both sprawling events that wind through London, but in terms of RF they’re covered completely differently.

“They show the importance of tailoring RF differently to each and every event, to broadcaster’s requirements, to developments in technology, to the budget available, and to the unique characteristics of the sport and event in question.”