I'm a sports fan on television. And that's why I enjoy the multiple and varied offer that brings us the cable lately. I don't miss the Super Bowl of American football or the NBA Finals. I follow with interest the matches of the Champions League and the Spanish League although my team, Athletic Bilbao, fights relegation more than positions of privilege. And I have found myself, in occasions, watching implausible matches of the B Argentine, as an All Boys versus Platense. But my passion is tennis. I get up at 4 a.m. to enjoy a Federer-Djockovic in Australia and I don't miss a single ATP Master Series.
By the size of the ball, tennis, perhaps like golf, is one of the sports more difficult to produce on television. The Sports authorities did us a big favor several years ago, when they changed the color of the balls from white to yellow. Two years ago, the installation of the Hawk-Eye, a computerized camera system that allows you to recreate with accuracy of the trajectory of the ball in virtual reality, first at the U.S. Open and then at the rest of the World Cup. major tournaments, improved the experience for fans and it facilitated the work of the judges.
But not only in the color of the ball and in the virtual repetitions is the richness of the broadcasts of tennis (or any other sport); exists, by a part, a great care in the handling of the quality of the signal Television. The best cameras, the best lenses are chosen, we even work with the organizer to choose the best time, not only for the convenience of the audience but to avoid possible difficulties in managing light and shadow zones on the court. On the other hand, there is a prepared human team. The producer, the camera director and the operators have studied and planned the match. They know the sport, the stadium, they know about the arrangement of the cameras, they plan the shots closed with the expressions of the players.
These days I was watching the MATCHES OF THE ATP of Viña del Mar, and although I think the production improved a lot compared to previous years, there is still many factors that need to be worked on, especially in what it concerns lighting. I don't expect any match to tennis in Latin America has Hawk-Eye, but I think all four main tournaments in the region (Viña del Mar, Buenos Aires, Costa de Sauipe and Acapulco), all with good sponsors, they should be thinking about improving their transmission. Needed optimize lighting, use more and better cameras and prepare the staff.
I take tennis as an example, but this applies to all sports. Sports streaming is one of the most important business areas for television. The advent of digital television in most our countries will require us to improve the quality of the transmissions. Hopefully in the future I can see a match between All Boys and Platense as if it were one of the Italian calcium .
