RTS

Wimbledon – the place at which the most sensational and dramatic chapters of tennis history have been written. Wimbledon symbolizes everything tennis has to offer: euphoria, drama, glamour and tradition. For every year since 1876, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club has hosted the tournament at the end of June and the beginning of July, gaining the keen interest of sports fans around the world. It's a competition with a highly individual flavour, not simply because all the matches are played on grass but also because of the strictness with which its many traditions are respected.

 

This year's event, which ran from June 20th to July 3rd, drew TV audiences worldwide in the hundred millions. The men's single final produced some exciting television as Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to become the Wimbledon champion for 2011. An estimated 25 million viewers worldwide watched the final alone. As in previous years, NEP Visions was commissioned to cover the event. Paul Fournier, Visions' Head of Sound, and a team equipped with five outside broadcast trucks and a complete fly-away system were on hand to supply their clients – the American sports channel ESPN and broadcasting giant NBC as well as Sony Television 3D – with flawless images, sound and the first ever host coverage of Wimbledon in 3D.

 

A key role in all this was played by four Advanced Digital Audio Matrices (ADAMs) from RTS. In ESPN’s fly-away broadcast system and for NBC, respectively, 136-user and 96-user ADAM frames were used. To satisfy Sony's 3D requirements and form an intercom system unit, Paul Fournier and his team networked the ADAM frames in the two Gemini trucks with Tribus cards. In addition, the MADI streams were routed over the MADI-16+ cards. A variety of RTS/TELEX keypanels (KP-32, KP-12) and three RVON-16 cards, which allow external communication over IP, satisfied the remaining equipment needs of the Wimbledon production.

 

"Even though you can never be content with compromise on any production, Wimbledon is especially exacting. Everyone involved – not just the players, but the broadcasters, technicians and service personnel – are stretched to their utmost. The production this year ran flawlessly from the opening service game onwards. Our clients are satisfied – and so, naturally, are we."