Sky Sports is debuting its new studio tonight on Monday Night Football (MNF) with Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Karen Carney and David Jones.
The studio has features including a super wide high-res screen and a virtual canopy roof. An LED floor will also allow analysts and presenters to better use the data available from live match action, giving audiences a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of players and teams across sports.
Initially the studio will be used for MNF and later this month, for US Open Tennis coverage which gets underway from 28th August. Other events will then follow.
The studio itself is arena-shaped surrounded by high resolution screens and immersive AR graphics with by an AR stadium canopy above and a “fourth wall” that conceals camera positions to create a 360 degree filming environment. The studio boasts an array of cameras, including a jib and a wire cam, offering a range of “unique and dynamic” shooting opportunities.
The new studio has an enhanced touchscreen featuring 3D virtual game reconstructions, alongside a massive LED floor that gives presenters a huge canvas to explain tactics and team formations. And “there are more exciting analysis ideas coming soon with Tennis and F1.”
The studio was designed in-house by Sky Creative. The project started in early 2022, with a “close-knit collaboration between design, production and technology teams in both the UK and Italy.”
Jonathan Licht, Sky Sports Managing Director, said: “Sky Sports has been at the forefront of broadcasting innovation since our inception over 30 years ago. The new studio unveiled today demonstrates our commitment to continuing to give sports fans the most entertaining viewing experience possible of the biggest and most-loved events in the sporting calendar.”
Ben Wickham, Sky Sports Director of Creative Output, said: “We wanted to create a modular space that brings the latest technology to our customer, allows us to showcase the joy of sport, and capture the huge advances in technology that are happening rapidly.
“As well as sport, it takes inspiration from cinema and entertainment, with the tech involved allowing us to be brave and add an entire new dimension to our output. The options are endless for future content presented from this studio.”
Sky Creative Credits
- Ceri Sampson – Executive Creative Director
- Harry Ward – Creative Director
- Jason Landau – Creative Director, Innovation
- Sophie Brooks – Director of Production
- Sofie Leale – Exec Producer
- Nicky Chauhan – Senior Producer
- Danny Yeomans – Design Director
- Jonathan Ryder Richardson – Set Design Lead
- Phil Madge, Real Time Lead
- Luca Brioschi, VR/AR Manager
- Vincenzo Lagattolli – Head of Content Operations
Sky Sports Credits
- Jonathan Licht, Managing Director
- Steve Smith, Exec Director, Content
- Ben Wickham, Director of Creative Output
- Gary Hughes, Director of Football
Technical details
- Location: Sky Studios, West London
- ScenaPro – set constructors
- WhiteLight – AV
- LED tiles – ROE Ruby 1.9mm and 2.3mm tiles. ROE ‘Black Marble’ LED floor tiles.
- Grassvalley cameras with Mo-Sys Star Trackers
- Four-point wirecam system supplied by BatCam
- VizRT graphics playout system
- Unreal & VizRT AR graphics rendering system
- Adapted football analysis tools from Rezzil
- All broadcast productions transmitted in Ultra HD.
Jon Creamer
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