May 2007: BBC Outside Broadcasts’ Special Cameras team has won the Sports Innovation Award at the RTS Television Sports Awards for designing and building the world’s first motorised HD Plunge Camera. Part of BBC Resources Ltd, BBC Outside Broadcasts developed it for the host broadcaster of the Asian Games Doha 2006 and coverage appeared in Britain on Eurosport. The broadcast quality HD mini-camera system is mounted on a 16m vertical track and captures divers in real time as they free fall into the pool and 4m below the surface. It covered all three dive platforms at The Games, from 10m to 3m, travelling to 4m below the surface.

The judges commented that BBC Outside Broadcasts’ Special Cameras team “…had constructed an extraordinarily clever piece of equipment that brought the viewer much closer to the sport - even under water. It was so good you could almost smell the chlorine! A real innovation in camera technology.”

It is the second time in three years that the team has won the Sports Innovation Award. The first was awarded for their work on Sunday Grandstand’s ‘Silverstone Flying Lap.’

BBC Outside Broadcasts also supported North One’s award winning coverage on the F1.

The HD camera technology BBC Outside Broadcasts’ Special Cameras team has developed can be adapted for a variety of sports, to ensure maximum value and flexibility for programme makers. For example, the tracking technology from the HD Plunge Cam can be installed horizontally or vertically, fixed to the ground, or flown from above.

Paul McNeil , who heads up BBC Outside Broadcasts’ Special Cameras team, says: “We’re delighted to win this prestigious award. We constantly seek to push the boundaries of technology and give productions exciting, high quality footage to draw upon, both for live broadcast and slow motion analysis.”

The Special Cameras team continually look to produce technological ‘firsts’, from ground breaking cricket stump cameras to the innovative Post Cam, a remotely-operated 360 degree panning camera which provides enhanced coverage of rugby. In September 2006 the team also used HD onboard camera systems for the first time at the Goodwood Revival Meeting, the world’s largest historical motor racing event, fitting 13 classic cars with HDV cameras. In spite of poor weather conditions, stunning HD pictures from inside the cars were achieved, to enhance the viewers’ experience of the motor sport.

For further information, please contact:

Georgie Hollett, Head of Communications, BBC Studios and Post Production
Tel: +44 (0)20 8624 9495
Mobile : +44 (0) 783484 5612
Email : georgie.hollett@bbc.co.uk

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