Behind Golf Channel’s Live Broadcast – Part One
This is part one of two in a series:
Behind The Scenes Of Golf Channel’s Live Coverage On The PGA Tour
Intro
I was looking for some unique stuff to cover while down in Puerto Rico for the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open. Yes I could write about the same old stuff every other media person would at this event like John Daly, Puerto Rico etc, and I will. But I wanted to come up with something original and unique. Something perhaps which people are curious about but haven’t had the chance to satisfy that curiosity.
I walked into the TV compound with cameras in hand and knocked on Golf Channel’s door. I was a bit nervous and hoped that they would be cool and not tell me to get lost. After a few seconds I knocked again. Nobody home. I knocked on the doors of about four trucks there and there wasn’t anybody in any of them. Then I heard screaming, laughing and general chaos coming from a tent a few yards away at the end of the compound. Inside was the whole Golf Channel crew. They were done for the day, eating lunch, and having a raffle. I asked who was in charge and they directed me to a guy named Eric. I introduced myself to Eric while he ate lunch, and told him I’d like to do some “behind the scenes” stuff. Eric was very nice and said the idea sounded great, but the crew was done for the day so I should come back tomorrow. I thanked Eric and came back the next day. I had a terrific time meeting all the Golf Channel crew as well as seeing the amazing gear and work they do.
Compound Overview
At this gig Golf Channel had about five big rigs there. Two appeared to be where they stored cameras and staged some general logistics. One was the power source, with generators on board. Makes sense. They have to be in control of their power source so that if there’s a local outage their broadcast doesn’t go down. The two remaining trucks were the real fun ones. Those two housed the talented members of the production team and the mega cool high tech equipment which collects, edits and broadcasts the program.
Production – where it all comes together |
Graphics |
Overview of media flow (audio, video, graphics) for Golf Channel’s on course broadcast
The audio and video sources (microphones and cameras) head to engineering. From engineering the signal is distributed to graphics, audio, tape, live broadcast or wherever the signals need to go.
Graphics, video and audio is edited and/or sent to live broadcast in the production truck.
Live Cameras
All over the course are camera towers with cool cats like my pal Darren running them. Darren can be seen doing his thing in the first video of this two part series, which is embedded in this post. The cameras connect to the gut of one of the Golf Channel trucks via thousands of feet fiber optic cable.
Pre-Production |
Cables coming into engineering |
Engineering
The video signals from the cameras as well as all the on course audio signals route into “engineering” where wiring guru Freddy, another new pal of mine, routes it to the production section. I interview Freddy in part two / video two of this series.
Graphics – Fiber – Effects
The graphics/fiber/effects section is where replay is done as well as graphic overlays like score tables, stats etc are generated. Effects microphones which capture audio from the course are in this same truck, next room over. My buddy John Thompson talks us through this section of the rig in video one, embedded in this post.
Production
The production truck is where it is all put together. The production truck assembles the content into the live program as well as produces ahead of time, the small vignettes they cut to during the course of a show or breaks in the action. The director and producer orchestrate the show from here, as seen in my 2nd video in part two of this series.
Engineering and my pal Freddy |
Audio Effects |
Related Links
All of my behind the scenes Golf Channel images can be found in the HOG TGC Gallery.
Part Two of Behind Golf Channel’s Live Broadcast is coming soon. I’ll make a hot link here when it is posted.
Tiger Woods has just announced he’ll return to professional golf at The Masters. I would have thought he’d try to get one competitive round in before that to warm himself up, likely Bay Hill.
The Masters will be broadcast in 3D, for those with 3D capable computers or televisions.
Notables
I’m SO tired I can’t even begin to express how I must crash and go to sleep. Today was a great day, full of awesome events like simply GETTING HERE. I met several PGA Tour players, shot a ton of images and the best part of the night was meeting my new pal and golf legend Chi Chi Rodriguez. I sat and talked to Chi Chi and his wife for a while. What a great guy, and the ambassador of golf to Puerto Rico.
I’m happy to announce I’ve been confirmed to attend and cover the PGA Tour Puerto Rico Open. I’ll be down at the Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico next weekend.
I like the new fashions of these new guns on tour. For one, they’re bringing more attention to the sport and they’re also creating entire product niches and markets with the white belts, fancy belt buckles, pastel and neon colors, diva sunglasses etc.
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