Derby County Football Club Implements A Blackmagic Design Broadcast Solution

Blackmagic Design has announced that Derby County Football Club (DCFC) has invested in a multi-camera live production workflow featuring the Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K, Micro Studio Camera 4K and URSA Mini 4.6K.

Led by head of broadcast Matt Reeder and Chief Technology Officer Stuart Fisher, DCFC has become one of the first Championship clubs to broadcast its own extensive coverage of its English Football League (EFL) fixtures as well as a wide range of pre-and post-match content via the club’s streaming platform, RamsTV.

The innovative solution has been developed with Blackmagic Design infrastructure products at its core by broadcast consultant, Stvdio Expert’s Peter Knowles.

“Derby County has a unique vision of where the club wants to be in terms of delivering high quality content to its 300,000 fans across the globe,” Knowles says.

“The wider brief set by Matt and Stuart was incredibly ambitious – to put in place the facilities required to produce content that would rival that of the major broadcasters.”

In covering home matches, DCFC currently relies on eleven camera channels, and according to Knowles this continues to grow and evolve.

“Derby now has a dedicated studio setup where it can pre-record presenter links using three 4K studio cameras from Blackmagic Design. We then have a further two cameras on the main gantry at the halfway point and an URSA Mini 4.6K as a remote touchline unit, which is also used to for pre-and post-match interviews,” Knowles says.

“We have radio receivers on the touchline and at the stadium entrance for the teams’ arrival, giving us greater flexibility as to what we can film and where. That is complemented by a Micro Studio Camera 4K as a locked off, wide angle tunnel camera, which captures the pre-match line up and preparations.”

The entire install relies on a single mode 24 core optical fiber network, with a Smart Videohub 40×40 for signal management throughout Pride Park Stadium.

“Our video matrix forms a very flexible foundation for the club’s production needs, particularly in these first few months as we bed in the new systems,” Knowles says.

“It will be used extensively by the creative team to bring in new inputs and sources and affords Derby enough flexibility to continue experimenting with the scale and variety. As well as the eleven camera channels, we also have extensive slow motion and replay facilities, together with purpose built graphics for match analysis.”

“DCFC’s vision is to deliver a more dynamic and engaging stream for its supporters, emulating the very best in sports broadcasting,” Knowles says.