Automation at the heart of rebranded Sky Sports Racing channel

Sky Sports has upgraded its horse-racing output with the addition of several technology enhancements to the rebranded Sky Sports Racing channel in order to align with the other members of its sports-specific family.

The network took on responsibility as the chief production partner, which required the building of a new HD studio and gallery featuring newsroom computer systems (NRCS), production switchers and production automation to increase the production values while promoting viewer engagement. 

Jack Horry, platform manager at Sky Production Services, said: “The process of transforming empty rooms into a fully-operational studio within six months was always going to be challenging. Ross Video had already worked with Sky to automate our main news studio, so we knew we’d get plenty of hands-on advice and support when introducing the NRCS and automation to Sky Sports Racing.

“The tight deadline was certainly stressful, but our launch was clean and that’s really been down to training, product ease-of-use and reliability.”  

Sky Sports Racing will provide live coverage of over 700 UK fixtures from 25 courses this year, as well as delivering more than 200 race meetings from France and over 80 from Hong Kong. There is also daily coverage of live racing from the US and Australia.

Central to this project in supporting such schedule is the installation of two Ross Video’s solutions — the OverDrive production automation tool and the Inception, an NRCS and social media management tool.

“Automation can be a contentious subject in this industry, but it definitely helps us scale our productions appropriately. The OverDrive solution from Ross enables us to do more with our already lean headcount, then add more people to the production when we’re doing something more complex,” he continued.