Broadcasting the ISU Grand Prix: a look at the fun, the challenges and the equipment behind this epic event

Global events meant that many events over the last few years have had to be postponed, re-thought and even cancelled. Three months before the ISU Grand Prix due to be held in China the organising committee decided to move the event elsewhere. After a brief bidding frenzy, British Ice Skating and Sheffield were awarded the event. As broadcast partners’ of BIS for the last three years we were thrilled to be part of the bidding process and were able to put forward a compelling bid.

Although the ISU and their Rights Holders have strict broadcast guidelines including 12 cameras, jibs, wireless and much more we were given a budget about one quarter of the norm for a GP event. This was our first hurdle - how to create a world class broadcast for the likes of TV Asahi, CNBC and Eurosport for a fraction of the cost, and make Sheffield a candidate for future events.

British Ice Skating and ICE Sheffield worked tirelessly to improve the look of the venue; painting the walls, hanging drapes across vast swatches of the arena, removing all the ice hockey barriers and rigging a ceiling full of lights (thanks to Limelight). It made our shots so much cleaner and more dramatic than when we’ve filmed in there before. Even with the improvements the venue provided it’s own challenges. As part of the broadcast schedule it is normal to have a camera that can follow the athletes and coaches in and around the mixed use zone but as the area was quite tight we weren’t allowed to do this (first saving made!), next up the jib/crane camera, these require a lot of floor space and that’s something that’s at a real premium in ICE Sheffield so again were weren’t able to bring a crane. OK, OK I can hear you asking what DID we do!? Well once we realised we were restricted to just tripods and a kiss and cry camera we started to plan angles and placements for live action, replays and slo-mo. To get the best possible angles we asked Limelight to build us a platform right behind the judges, giving an angle we’ve not been able to achieve before. Rink side cameras, gave us full coverage of the rink and two cameras opposite the judges were used for replays and super close images to capture the drama.

In the TV compound we had both OB1 and OB2 with dual back up UPS and generator power in case the venue power failed. Satellite internet was provided to us by InFront, who fed the broadcast to Rights Holders around the world.