EMG Group companies renew four-year contract with Wimbledon Broadcast Services

Aerial Camera Systems (ACS) y EMG Connectivity extend existing four-year contracts with Wimbledon Broadcast Services (WBS) to be the specialist supplier of cameras and RF equipment to The Championships (Wimbledon), hosted annually by the All England Club.

The two-week tennis event is one of the largest annual outdoor sports broadcasts in the UK and a major project for all the companies involved.

EMG Connectivity has supplied RF services for a number of broadcasters for a number of years, but became the exclusive supplier of RF cameras when WBS took over the hosting broadcast of The Championships from the BBC in 2018, while ACS has been involved with the site for over 20 years.

Matt CoydeACS Sales Director, says: "When we started working with the BBC at Wimbledon we were only supplying three or four camera systems. That supply has continued to grow and when WBS took on the role of host broadcaster, they put additional emphasis on creating unique shots of the Championships by placing more remote ones around the venue to capture, for example, the atmosphere of the crowd and the players' training areas. This year will be our largest Championship delivery to date. with the provision of 46 channels of SMARThead robotic cameras and 26 operators supported by a small team of technicians and three on-site vision engineers.”

Las compact robotic cameras Broadcast standards are often preferred at the All England Club's historic home in SW19, as their unobtrusive nature minimizes space requirements and line-of-sight issues, making them ideal for use within the confines of the venue. This year, the vast majority of camera systems are UHD or HDR 1080p for the first time, as WBS expands support for high-quality formats from Center Court to all Championship cameras.

Center Court itself has some notable specialized units, such as a ACS SMARThead mounted on a 10 meter railcam positioned along the baseline and housed in a purpose-built hiding place, while four other units are mounted on bespoke camera mounts designed specifically for Wimbledon, including two in the referee's chair dedicated to player coverage.

In addition to the two runways of the Central Court and Court No. 1, ACS also supplies rail systems that cover the South and North courts of the Club. As well as covering various angles of the game on the court, numerous beauty cameras provide contextual coverage of the event and include remote crowd cameras, coverage of the player arrivals area, the Aorangi training courts and the Media Theatre, as well as topographical shots of the venue from a GSS stabilized camera gimbal mounted on a crane and positioned high above the venue for iconic aerial shots of the home area and London skyline.

EMG Connectivity, for its part, provides a wide range of equipment and knowledge to both the host and multiple unilateral broadcasters, with the support of a team of six people for fifteen days and more for the assembly and dismantling of the championships. There are 40 antennas spread throughout the venue, which are connected to a central radio frequency cabin in the Broadcast Compound, switched and fed to the corresponding receiving units.

This is a cost-effective multi-zone coverage system for events such as Wimbledon and golf events such as the Open and Ryder Cup. Various broadcasters are also provided with a wide area video return system for roving radio frequency monitors, allowing them to analyze images from anywhere in the venue.

One of the challenges for the EMG connectivity team is to guarantee fluid RF steadicam coverage of the Walk of Champions from the locker rooms to the entrance to Center Court before the game. They also cover the champion from Center Court up the stairs of the Club House, through the hallway to the locker rooms and to the members' balcony to be received by the public. This requires its own reception installation with antennas hidden in hallways and corridors, which provides seamless coverage within the building and is in addition to the 40 antennas that EMG Connectivity has distributed throughout the premises.

“This is the first year that some of the RHB have returned with an on-site presentation to Wimbledon,” he says. Chris Brandrick, commercial director of EMG Connectivity. "This means we will be supplying more RF cameras and RF monitors than ever before. With our seamless wireless connectivity uniting fans and gamers, we are confident we can set the bar higher than ever."

“We are delighted to expand our relationship with ACS and EMG Connectivity as we continue to evolve our coverage to deliver new standards of quality and innovation in Wimbledon broadcasting,” he concludes. Paul Davies, Director of Broadcasting, Production and Media Rights at the All England Club.