Now You See It - But...

There are a lot of moving parts to a live sports television broadcast; under the hood, you have camera operators, utilities (cable wranglers), statisticians, graphics operators, graphics coordinators, a technical manager, a technical director, a score box operator, replay operators, engineers, and on and on and on. To the viewers, all of the effort of these folks put forth live on the air in a frantic television truck somehow funnels out through a couple of announcers and the visuals that are presented.

What is often overlooked, but one of the most vital components of any sports broadcast - is the audio. You might not realize it as you see it...but how you hear it can make a dull broadcast an Emmy winner. When that linebacker collides head on with the league's top running back, you can see the hit in live, HD color right there in your living room. But with a talented audio engineer on the mix, you'll not only see it...you'll feel the impact!

Home theater continues to improve; in this day of affordable digital surround, viewers expect bigger audio. Notice I didn't say "louder" audio. Just bigger. Bigger as in mic placements in new places (like that linebacker's shoulderpads). Bigger as in stereo surround, dropping the viewer directly into the middle of the basketball court (not just the shoe squeaks, but the pushing and jostling & 'pass me the ball' comments). Bigger as in a solid thud you can hear and feel in your gut as that heavyweight fighter lands a haymaker to the jaw.

Next time you're watching the big game, think about all the audio elements happening live, on the fly. Think about how many mics it took to get that sound, how somebody had to dream up those mic placements and wire up the stadium, and how a person stands over the massive digital audio console, pulling faders up and down to make sure the right channels are open at the right moments to deliver that audio to you - always fresh and piping hot! It's truly an overlooked art that puts the viewer on the field, in the huddle, in a way that no camera can do alone.