Last weekend, the second round of the U.S. Open at Merion, about 30 minutes outside of Philadelphia, found a broadcast production team for all parties involved able to do something they didn't do in more than a week: begin to dry out. Torrential downpours that dumped about 10 inches of rain on the course for seven days made for a challenging set up that had crew members digging drainage ditches, created plenty of muddy and wet shoes, and continued a golf season for NBC Sports that has seen it all.

ESPN’s coverage of the U.S. Open at the Merion Golf Club extended well beyond its coverage of the first two rounds of the tournament as SportsCenter, as usual, had a large presence beginning with hits beginning on June 10 and ESPN was at the center of DirecTV’s ITV mosaic, producing coverage for all four days. And like everyone else at this year’s Open, the weather was a major factor in getting everything in place.

Every year the importance of interactive and personalized TV services, whether delivered via satellite and cable operators or on the Web via over-the-top devices, continues to become more important. For nine years now, ESPN's team at the U.S. Open served the demands of those viewers and also seen not only how viewers are increasingly taking advantage of it but how the comfort level of rights holders has allowed it to expand.

The U.S. Open is always a bit of an RF challenge simply given the vast number of frequencies and devices that need to be coordinated. And then there are the local issues, which are always different depending on the number of TV stations in the area, the terrain (oceans are always an added wrinkle), and the number of local stations that want to broadcast from the course. The challenge this year at Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia? A bit of everything: 20 TV station transmitters within three miles of the course, more than 750 users of wireless devices, and a broadcast compound that is located in one of the lowest points on the course.

The responsibilities of NBC Sports at the U.S. Open this past weekend extended beyond its own domestic demands and included making sure that broadcasters in more than 280 countries also had a solid golf-viewing experience. And for the fifth year the USGA worked closely with Program Productions to make sure that NBC’s clean feed was complimented with content during commercial breaks that didn't leave viewers in the dark.

NBA Entertainment is once again using the NBA Finals as a way to give veterans of the U.S. Army reserves real-world exposure in a TV production environment. Three veterans are taking part in San Antonio and four in Miami. KENS San Antonio was on the scene to cover the story, proving that the feel-good aspect of the efforts extend well beyond exposure on the court but to helping raise awareness of employment woes facing today’s veterans.

When your team has appeared in three consecutive NBA Finals, praise comes with the territory. But Ted Ballard and his HEAT Group video-production team have not been resting on their laurels during the Miami Heat’s postseason run this year: the HEAT Group is once again delivering a wealth of Heat-focused pre- and post-game programming to its rabid South Florida fan base via HEATV on HEAT.com and Sun Sports, the Fox-owned RSN.

Ethiopian government-owned Amhara TV has selected Grass Valley to provide several solutions to build Ethiopia’s first HD terrestrial TV broadcast station. Grass Valley solutions will be used to outfit two HD studios and a master control room (MCR). Amhara TV is an important part of the developing media landscape in Ethiopia, and will be available both terrestrially and via the Nilesat free-to-air satellite service.

MDOTS FONTASTICS, a California based production company specializing in screen production for major stage events, used the new Ross Vision Tritium Production Switcher for the 2013 Tony Awards show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The new Vision Tritium 3 MLE Production Switcher includes the unique ‘AuxKey’ features from its big brother the Vision Octane. In addition to the standard 3 MLE’s, there are also 12 AuxKeys or Mini MLE’s.

Orad’s new graphics control panel playout solution, the Orad Smart-Shot, is now available, allowing operators, with one click, to easily and quickly access and trigger pre-assigned graphics. In addition, Smart-Shot can be configured with application shortcuts such as “next,” “previous,” “cue,” “play,” “stop,” and more.

Jones Mobile Television has expanded its HD presence with an overhaul of the 51-foot VisionHD unit, installing new HD Sony cameras, a Grass Valley Kayenne production switcher, and 10 new Fujinon HD lenses. The HD lens package—to be used with new Sony HDC-2400 3G multi-format HD camera systems—includes four Fujinon XA88x8.8BESM and two Fujinon XA77x9.5BESM HDTV big box lenses, three HA23x7.6BERM and one HA14x4.5BERM Premier Series HD ENG field lenses.

Desert Storm veteran Nick Ortiz transported bombs and bullets during U.S. Army tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the first two games of the NBA Finals between the Heat and San Antonio, Ortiz transported cable for TV camera crews. Ortiz and three other U.S. military reservists stationed in Perrine did TV’s version of grunt work for coverage of the NBA Finals games from AmericanAirlines Arena.

The European sports production industry has been waiting to see what would happen to Alfacam’s fleet of OB units and technical resources after it filed for bankruptcy protection last October and today there is resolution as Euro Media Group acquired them for a reported 25m Euros. Euro Media says the move reinforces its presence and makes it uniquely positioned at a worldwide level, most notably with RF wireless technologies, and with the take over of Alfacam operations in Brazil.

Swedish broadcast production provider Mediatec has based its full mobile production fleet on a Riedel MediorNet infrastructure. A total of 20 MediorNet Compact PRO and eight MediorNet Modular systems are installed across 10 Mediatec OB vans. When the individual MediorNet systems installed on Mediatec OB vans are connected, they form one integrated infrastructure that feels and functions as a single system, thus significantly expanding Mediatec’s configuration options and extending its flexibility.

Set near Lake Råstasjön to the north of Stockholm, the Friends Arena is the largest stadium and indoor venue in any of the Nordic countries. Costing 1.9 billion Kronor (almost USD 285.8 million), the venue is jointly owned by Föreningen Svensk Elitfotboll (SEF, the Swedish Elite Football Association) and Svenska Fotbollförbundet (SvFF, the Swedish Football Association), and was opened in October 2012. Inside, it contains the most modern media production center in Sweden, with powerful Lawo digital mixing systems at the heart of its audio installations.

ATEME’s digital compression technology was used by the French Tennis Federation (FFT) and France Télévisions, the official broadcaster and executive producer of the French Tennis Open, to inaugurate the new UltraHD television format during the 2013 event. The tennis world’s first application of this innovative technology took place during the second week of the French Open, with the live multi-camera capture of the competition on the Philippe Chatrier court, as was the case seven years ago for HD.

One of the growing concerns in the professional sports video industry is finding and grooming the next-generation of production and engineering talent. So when the Sports Video Group officially named Tom Sahara, Vice President, Operations and Technology at Turner Sports as the organization’s newest chairman it should be little surprise when he quickly staked education as one of his primary initiatives.

Sony’s new PMW-300 XDCAM camcorder is the first semi-shoulder mount camcorder to combine the benefits of 1/2-type Exmor Full HD 3CMOS sensor technology with 50Mbps HD recording at MPEG HD422. The PMW-300 camcorder is ideal for production professionals who require a flexible semi-shoulder camcorder that adapts easily to a range of commercial shooting environments.

Adobe announced that a major update to Adobe Creative Cloud, the company’s flagship offering for creatives, is now available. Unveiled at Adobe MAX, The Creativity Conference in early May, this Creative Cloud release reimagines the creative process through a stunning set of “CC” desktop applications and sophisticated cross-device collaboration and publishing capabilities.

Compiled by Jason Dachman, Managing Editor, SVG

Former NFL Executive of the Year Scott Pioli is joining NBC Sports Group, where he will appear on Football Night in America on NBC and Pro Football Talk on NBC Sports Network.

TSN and RDS have reached an exclusive, multi-year, multimedia rights agreement with Rugby Canada, making TSN and RDS the official broadcasters of Rugby Canada. As part of the deal, TSN and RDS will broadcast several international events each year, including RUGBY WORLD CUPqualifiers, international friendlies, and the upcoming RUGBY WORLD CUP SEVENS 2013.

The Sports Video Group is pleased to welcome Seneca as a corporate sponsor. Based in Syracuse, NY, Seneca is a leading custom computer and appliance manufacturer, providing expertise in designing, building, and integrating systems for the digital broadcast market. Seneca creates partnerships with global technology leaders to design and optimize leading digital broadcast solutions including storage appliances, rendering and editing workstations, and video wall controllers.

The Sports Video Group is pleased to announce that StorageDNA and MotionRocket have renewed their corporate sponsorships. StorageDNA helps film, video, and broadcast professionals manage their file-based content. MotionRocket helps small to medium sized organisations were in need of a cost effective solution for controlling LED scoreboards.

NeuLion, Inc. and Bright House Networks announced at The Cable Show in Washington D.C. the signing of a new multi-year partnership agreement that will provide Florida high school sports fans with a digital sports network. Powered by the NeuLion TV Everywhere Platform, the new online destination will offer fans access to their favorite Florida high school sports content on multiple devices including PCs, smartphones and tablets.

A new study suggests that the usage of second screens while watching live sports has been overstated. Just 4% of U.S. sports fans are using Internet-connected devices to follow live sports that they’re also watching on TV, according to new research from Sporting News Media. The Global Sports Media Consumption Report, produced with European sports and entertainment outlets Kantar Media and TV Sports Markets, represents the second annual look at the U.S. sports market.

TV networks are trying to take advantage of viewers who are increasingly multitasking as they watch shows. More than 40% of Americans have smartphones or tablets in their hands each day as they watch TV, according to Nielsen. Sports-TV networks are jumping in, too: Viewers watching NFL Network's coverage of the National Football League draft last month could use a mobile app to see a range of content during the telecast, including video interviews with players selected in the first round and analysis from experts.

Compiled by Karen Hogan, Associate Editor, SVG

Miller Sports Properties announced plans for a new center-court high-definition video-display system at EnergySolutions Arena, home to the NBA’s Utah Jazz. The video-display system will be seven times larger than its predecessor.

Panasonic Eco Solutions North America will provide a new 360-degree LED video/ribbon display at New Orleans Arena. The new display will be approximately 924 feet long by 1.6 feet high and will be located in the center area between the seating levels. The installation project is expected to be completed by the end of July.

SES President and CEO Romain Bausch informed the Board of Directors that he plans to step down from his position at the next annual general meeting of shareholders in April 2014. In its meeting last week, the Board has appointed Karim Michel Sabbagh as the successor to Romain Bausch. Sabbagh will join the company on September 1st as CEO Designate and, following a transition period, will officially take up the position of President and CEO on April 3, 2014.

In partnership with PromaxBDA: The Conference 2013, (n+1)designstudio will bring social media integration to attendees, integrating Twitter and Instagram to allow conference-goers to share their experiences on (n+1)’s giant video board. The display is part of the creative house’s brand launch, which will also include a pre-conference email campaign, a free-standing life-sized logo and runway sports models promoting @nplus1design’s array of services.

The soon-to-launch cable sports outlet, Fox Sports 1, will not broadcast the Super Bowl next year. Yet executives behind the scenes are making a play for the new network to get its share of Super Bowl advertising dollars. To get one of the valuable ad slots available during the network’s broadcast of the game, sponsors have been told they must buy time in other Fox Sports content, according to ad buyers – with emphasis placed on Fox Sports 1.

Liberty Media Corp. Chief Executive Greg Maffei recently met with Time Warner Cable Inc. Chief Executive Glenn Britt to discuss the benefits of mergers in the cable sector, said a person familiar with the situation, the latest sign that Liberty is interested in sparking consolidation in the industry.

ESPN is closing in on an eight-year extension with Little League Baseball that will continue a 50-year relationship that the youth sports organization began with ABC in 1963. The deal is not complete, but both sides have reached broad agreement on most terms that will see ESPN pick up all TV and digital rights through 2022.

Commissioner David Stern, who is presiding over his last finals after 30 years on the job, has watched the league's television channel - NBA TV - grow from just an idea to a full-fledged production that is celebrating its 14th year of broadcasting at the NBA Finals. The channel has grown into one distributed to 61 million homes.

Astros owner Jim Crane is "optimistic" that a deal between Time Warner and CSN Houston will get done, making Astros broadcasts available on more televisions in the Houston area by season's end. Currently, approximately 40% of the Houston television market can see Astros games.

NASCAR opens its exclusive negotiating windows with ESPN and Turner next month, jump-starting a process that will cement the sport’s media relationships for the next decade. The networks will open talks July 1 and have 45 to 60 days to negotiate exclusively for the rights to 23 Sprint Cup races, according to several sources.