Feeling the heat in Hoylake
Interactive television's sixth year of offering video streaming options at The Open continues apace at Hoylake this weekend, with Player Group choices and Daily Highlights on offer, complemented by a full leaderboard and news section.
The old adage that Brits can't cope with weather extremes was clearly in evidence earlier this week as we struggled to set the operation up in baking heat.
However, if there was one group of people who remained unfazed by the conditions it was our incredible team of riggers and engineers, who conjure up miracles as our delicate team of producers and editors - myself included - scream for refreshment and air con units in our portakabin homes.
So I'd like to take this opportunity to herald these unsung heroes - a motley band of around 10 guys who lug up three tons of equipment to a dusty field next to the Royal Liverpool course and pour it out of a truck into four huts over the course of three days to ensure we can deliver all our interactive content to digital Britain.
Our Player Group content is also fed to broadcasters in the US, Japan and Europe, plus of course the 91Èȱ¬ Sport broadband service.
The interactive set-up includes a TV production truck, two mixing desks, a VT operation that packs in pictures into a library of over 500 hours of VT, editing facilities for our rolling highlights service, commentator room, production office and playout desk.
The communications set-up allows us access to the output of 62 cameras around the course (including the blimp!) via 100 miles of cabling, two digital radio cameras that send pictures back remotely to the TV compound, and our two-on course commentators - plus access to new TV developments such as the ball-tracking Trackman and the futuristic Segway (that cameraman bloke on the two-wheel transporter).
This is all just one small part of the full TV operation, which is powered by enough steam to keep a village going in order to satisfy the demands of a potential global audience of some 450 million.
Finally, a word of thanks to our runner Craig - who keeps us charged by day with cups of tea, then entertains us by night with amazing tales. Last night we were told a story of a man with no ears, and before that we learned that "if you didn't blink when you sneeze, your eyes would fall out. Reflexes are great, aren't they?".
Thanks Craig.
