15th June 2012

Natalie Quirk Charlie Brougham & Studio Guests

The Investec London Cup 2012 was the final international event before the Olympics, and for GB women, the pressure was on in front of a home crowd. Televideo provided outside broadcast and production facilities for client England Hockey, and covered a total of 11 games over the week, some of which were broadcast live on Supersport in South Africa. In the UK 4 programmes from across the week were broadcast exclusively on Sky Sports.

Televideo’s HD1 was an outside broadcast unit by day, and a production office and edit suite by night, as two teams worked on the job to ensure that a programme was delivered to broadcaster Sky Sports each morning. Two Final Cut Pro Edit suites were installed in the truck for the as-live productions. A total of 10 cameras were used on the broadcast including a Jimmy Jib. Graphics were generated through Televideo’s VizRT system.

Three 2-hour highlights shows followed the group stages of this thrilling competition, with the bronze medal and final matches being televised in a 5 and 1/2 hour long show on Sunday 10th June.

The live show was presented by Charlie Brougham, who was joined in the studio by injured GB player Alex Danson and 3 x Olympian, Simon Mason. Natalie Quirk was on hand to bring team news and interviews pitch-side, and Nick Irvine and former GB player Mel Clewlow were on hand with the commentary across the event.

The live show included action from the semi-finals from Saturday, as well as an extended highlights package as GB took on Ireland in the 5th v 6th playoff. As well as showing the best that women’s international hockey has to offer, the event was also a great showcase for GB Hockey and the many different programs that have been set up to encourage enthusiasts to get involved. Throughout the duration of the show Natalie Quirk took viewers on a tour of the event, visiting the world’s first hockey museum, a children’s fun zone with facilities for ball-handling skills, and met with GB Hockey’s Performance Director for an exclusive chat about how both the GB men and women have been preparing ahead of the Olympic Games in July.

Despite a disappointing result for an injury-ridden GB side in the Investec London Cup, the event was a huge success and the Sky Sports programmes were able to draw attention to an exciting sport with a definite Olympic medal hope this summer.