Outdoor Sports Television Production, Game On!

As with anything involving the participation of Mother Nature, outdoor sports television production frequently finds itself at the mercy of her ever-changing moods. Every producer forced to step foot outside the enclosed studio finds themselves fighting a constant battle to follow the action, get the show filmed correctly, and have the final product cut and edited on time. Normally this would not appear to be such a problem, especially with a trained team of experts in your corner. Throw blistering heat or smothering humidity into the mix however, and the little issues pile up to cause big delays.

We’ve all seen coverage of a football game or Olympic event held outdoors. Careful preplanning assures that teams working on outdoor sports television production have carefully insulated trucks where they can hide from the evil weather to do the majority of their directing and editing. What happens however, when a team is scheduled to cover a ski competition and the camera lens keeps freezing over? What is to be done when thick and stagnant humidity causes blips in the visual feed? Who’s head is on the block when the film crew following a bike race from the back of a quickly moving pick up has to change tape in a hurry and drops a vital piece of equipment? The answer is no one. As popular as outdoor sports television production has become, everyone in the production industry is well aware of the constant problems nature can create at a moment’s notice.