19th April 2010

FIA GT Cars, Abu Dhabi BSB, Thruxton F2, Silverstone

An incredibly busy weekend for Televideo began on Friday 16th April, as our crews across the world prepared for 3 days of fast-paced motor sport action.

Over 3000 miles from the company’s Sheffield base, a Televideo team of 28 people were stationed at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, ready to provide High Definition outside broadcast coverage from the first round of the FIA GT1 World Championship.  Rigging and technical crews had travelled to the United Arab Emirates the previous week to begin work on the facilities, and built a fully mobile fly-away kit onsite. A total of 25 track cameras and 6 onboard cameras were positioned around one of the longest motor racing circuits in the world, using over 20 kilometres of fibre optic cable to deliver superb HD pictures to Televideo’s control room, where the production was broadcast internationally.
 
The 2-day broadcast, for client Greenlight Television, went very well and Paul Scivill, Managing Director said after the job, “I’m really pleased. The de-rig broadcasts we do obviously carry a little more pressure than usual as we are so far away from home, but once again the team have done brilliantly. The High Definition pictures looked fantastic and it’s been a great experience to work over here in Abu Dhabi.” 

Meanwhile in the UK the racing continued, with Round 2 of the British Superbikes taking place at Thruxton circuit in Hampshire. Televideo are delighted to be covering the 12-round competition for the 10th year in a row for Motor Sport Vision and British Eurosport, and again it was another successful event, with a crew of 24 providing the outside broadcast facilities using Televideo’s Unit 1.

Moving further north the Formula 2 Championship kicked off at Silverstone and Televideo were there to cover Rounds 1 and 2. Using one of the company’s largest units, HD1, the event required 13 cameras. It signalled the end of a busy but successful weekend of motor sport action.

Over the 3 days Televideo had over 80 crew members across the world, operating 3 huge outside broadcasts in both High and Standard Definition, with pictures being watched globally. Over 50 cameras and approximately 55 kilometres of cable were used in total.  The event in Abu Dhabi is particularly pleasing for the company, cementing Televideo’s position as a significant player in the field of fly-away and de-rig kits. Televideo can offer solutions to any outside broadcast requirements worldwide.