NEP UK is making this year’s Wimbledon the first Championships to be broadcast utilising SMPTE ST 2110 compliant fully redundant IP technology.
The company has installed a distributed routing system, connected by main and back up MTP fibre optic cable, to serve on and off-site domestic and international broadcasters.
NEP UK has been working with Wimbledon for 35 years, and this year is delivering IP technical facilities for its in-house production as part of Wimbledon Broadcast Services.
Since 2014, NEP UK has provided both host and domestic coverage of the event. This year, it is providing 21 control rooms for the host broadcaster plus three for the Wimbledon Channel to serve the World Feed and archive. To support the broadcast, NEP is employing 118+ camera positions and 41+ EVS servers, plus three major OB units and a large fly-pack core to broadcast the event.
“Both the scale and range of requirements for this project are immense, from distributing directly to rights holders own MCRs, the Central Content Store, the World feed, the Wimbledon Channel and now a transmission, distribution and quality control area, as well as an additional two courts. We have also joined forces with Fletcher to provide coverage for the remaining seven courts, allowing all courts to have full coverage for the first time” said Richard Lancaster, technical project manager, NEP UK.
Paul Davies, head of broadcast and production at the AELTC added, “We have worked with NEP UK for a number of years and their experience, knowledge and expertise has ensured that Wimbledon has remained at the cutting edge of broadcast innovation throughout this partnership. This is the first year Wimbledon Broadcast Services comes into operation and we are delighted to continue to partner with NEP for a further four years and are very excited to be covering Centre Court in 4K HDR”
