EVS is getting into the graphics business with a new software option for its XT[2] instant-replay server system that allows replay operators to add offside graphics to soccer replays. Based on the combination of multicamera (multiple-angle) recording with the EVS XT[2] server and patented algorithmic codes implemented with add-on graphics, the EVS Offside Line Creator offers real-time and fully automatic drawings of the field and its limits.

The U.S. Open world feed this year made the leap to HD, and the world is responding, as more than 40 broadcasters delivering HD signals to viewers. Among them, for the first time ever, are Russian broadcasters, which are delivering all five courts in HD to viewers. This year also marks the first time all five courts are available in HD.

The truck compound at the U.S. Open is virtually a NEP parking lot. Five NEP units are on site, including NCP VIII for Tennis Channel coverage and cameras for court two; SS18 for Grandstand, SS11 for court 11, and Slate for Court 13. At the heart of the operation, however, sits ESU (Engineering Support Unit). ESU has no production purpose but serves as the distribution facility for the entire broadcast operation.

Shaun Dail, Orad Hi-Tec Systems VP, sales for North America, invited us to take a look at Orad’s MVP (Motion Video Play) system running full-bore for ESPN (and, later this week, CBS Sports). The system this year includes Flow Motion onscreen tracking, HyperZoom, and on-screen graphics. The use of all of those components marks a first for the U.S. Open.

USOpen.org’s new multiscreen streaming experience would not be possible without a little help from some powerful partners, and chief among those is Origin Digital. A global online video provider, Origin Digital is responsible for acquiring, encoding, and delivering to the content-distribution network all of the camera feeds that power USOpen.org’s five-court streaming experience.

The arrival of the Tennis Channel and ESPN this year, and the lack of space for additional TV production trailers at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center, led the USTA, CBS Sports, and ESPN, to an innovation that hopefully will become a mainstay for future U.S. Open tourneys: a two story building that has the equivalent space of 10 53-foot production trailers but with half of the physical footprint. “When we looked at the USTA grounds there was no room east, west, south, or north so the only place to go was up,” says Steve Gorsuch, USTA director of broadcast operations.

For its daily coverage of the U.S. Open, Tennis Channel has customized its entire studio set. A brand-new 5,500-sq.-ft. stage is home to two U.S. Open recap shows, but the redesign of the set is easier than it looks, as the set is completely virtual.

The U.S. Open is in full swing in Flushing, New York, and with the addition of ESPN and The Tennis Channel to the domestic rightsholder lineup, the compound is busier than ever. More than 900 TV production personnel are on hand, an increase of more than 50 percent from last year – and that number now includes SVG’s editorial team. This week’s SVG Audible features a roundup of the news and notes compiled on SVG’s U.S. Open Sports Technology Blog, starting with the addition of ESPN to the production lineup, the transition of the world feed to HD, and the first-ever live streaming of all five show courts on USOpen.org. Click through to launch the SVG Audible player or to subscribe to the SVG Audible in iTunes.

Topping this week's venue news is reports that the Big Ten is poised to make a meaningful bowl swap, replacing the Alamo with the Gator in its lineup. But an even more intriguing possibility lurks beyond that. The Chicago Tribune reports that Big Ten officials have met with Yankee Stadium representatives to discuss a bowl game that would be played at the so-called “House that George Built.” “It’s an interesting concept,” Big Ten Associate Commissioner Mark Rudner said. “It’s compelling.”

KAXT-CA, a low-power community television station based in San Jose, CA, deployed a digital ATSC television service capable of broadcasting up to 20 MPEG-2 video and audio services within the 19.39-megabit-per-second ATSC spectrum, and the station used advanced video-processing solutions from Harmonic, transmission equipment from Linear Industries, and PSIP generation from Triveni Digital.

ViewCast will display the two newest additions to its Niagara family of streaming-media appliances at IBC2009 at the RAI Centre in Amsterdam Sept. 11-15: the Niagara 2120, a low-priced Adobe Flash H.264 appliance, and the next-generation Niagara 7500 HD appliance.

Real-time broadcasting-graphic-solutions provider Orad and sports-technology, data, and content company STATS teamed up to offer France’s Canal+ a real-time player-tracking solution to measure and analyze game action for new on-air graphics during its soccer coverage.

T-VIPS will hold the European launch of its CP541 seamless monitoring switch—which provides seamless redundancy switching and extends the T-VIPS cProcessor product family of processing and monitoring solutions for MPEG transport streams—at IBC2009 at the RAI Centre in Amsterdam Sept. 11-15.

Chyron added enhanced international language support in the form of a 3D rich-text renderer to its Lyric PRO Version 7.1 broadcast-graphics package, which is now shipping with the feature.

EVS Broadcast Equipment’s tapeless solutions for broadcasters and production companies were fully integrated with Tedial’s Tarsys asset-management system, and the two companies will demonstrate their integrated work flow at IBC2009 at the RAI Centre in Amsterdam Sept. 11-15.

ETV, one of the largest networks of satellite-television channels in India, will use a fully managed video-transmission solution from its studios in Hyderabad, India, to the DirecTV facility in Los Angeles, provided by Genesis Networks. Channels ETV Telegu and ETV Bangla are the feeds being delivered.

Inlet Technologies, which provides live streaming and video-on-demand solutions for digital media, has carved a niche in the sports world, powering streaming of high-profile events including tennis’ Roland Garros French International and Wimbledon Championships; auto racing’s A1GP and Indianapolis 500; Major League Baseball; the NCAA Division I Men’s College Basketball Tournament; Italian FIFA Confederations Cup soccer matches; and cycling’s Tour de France.

TANDBERG Television, part of the Ericsson Group, will demonstrate how the migration toward an all-HD television universe is now realistic at IBC2009 at the RAI Centre in Amsterdam Sept. 11-15, showcasing what it calls the world’s first MPEG-4 AVC HD 4:2:2 system solution for the contribution and distribution market.

VideoLines Mobile chose Fast Forward Video’s Omega HD broadcast-quality digital-video recorder as the central element in its HD-production vehicle, which will provide sophisticated effects playout for slow-motion replay at sporting events.

WPRI-TV in Providence, R.I., used a Telecast Fiber Systems Ethernet Viper, a CopperHead interfaced with a new Sony PMW-EX3 camera, and a Rattler to transport video signals from the recent CVS Caremark Charity Golf Classic in Barrington, R.I., and, while rain interrupted play at times, the channel’s feed was never interrupted.

SES AMERICOM-NEW SKIES is using ScheduALL’s ScheduLINK transmission-management and optimization software to manage bookings across its special-events and occasional-use departments in The Hague, Netherlands, and Princeton, NJ.

Nashville, TN-based Tennessee Digital Video (TNDV), which specializes in mobile multicamera and digital-television production from sporting events, concerts, grand openings, and corporate events, chose Ross Video’s Ross Vision 2 QMD multidefinition production switcher for its mobile productions.

RF Central, part of The Vitec Group’s RF Extreme business unit, will showcase its RFX-RMR-X6-II-D six-way COFDM diversity receiver at IBC2009 at the RAI Centre in Amsterdam Sept. 11-15. The RFX-RMR-X6-II-D adds an internal standard-definition/HD decoder to the features of the company’s RFX-RMR-X6 and RMR-X6-II models.

Nucomm, part of The Vitec Group’s RF Extreme business unit, will showcase its upgraded ChannelMaster 7 series “split box” portable microwave-link system at IBC2009 at the RAI Centre in Amsterdam Sept. 11-15.

The RBC Center in Raleigh, NC, home to the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes and North Carolina State Wolfpack basketball, is also home to a new center-hung display provided by Daktronics.

Strategic Television, a unit of PSSI Global Services, will manage the HD and standard-definition delivery of two major pay-per-view sporting events Sept. 19: the welterweight boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez, and mixed-martial-arts organization Ultimate Fighting Championship’s UFC 103 PPV event, featuring Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort.

Former National Basketball Association player Ed Pinckney is taking to the airwaves in the city where he attended college, as the former Villanova superstar and coach will join Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia’s 76ers broadcast team as a color analyst for all games broadcast on the regional sports network and on The Comcast Network.

CBS Sports veteran Lesley Visser will become the first female analyst for television coverage of a National Football League game when she handles the fourth quarter of the Miami Dolphins at New Orleans Saints preseason game Thursday, Sept. 3, on the network’s affiliate in Miami, WFOR-TV.

Pete Radovich Jr. was promoted to creative director at CBS Sports. Radovich will continue in his current roles as coordinating producer for CBS Sports production Inside the NFL on Showtime and producer on the programmer’s coverage of the National Football League, NCAA championships, golf, and other events.

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement weekend will tip off in Springfield, MA, Friday, Sept. 11, and NBA TV and NBA.com will launch a full-court press to cover the events.

ESPN America and the National Football League inked a four-year pact for English-language television rights of NFL games in Europe, covering some 100 games per season including preseason, regular-season, postseason, and the Super Bowl.

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area loves this game: The regional sports network will air 80 live Golden State Warriors National Basketball Association games, including 50 in HD, up 10 games and 25%, respectively, from the 2008-09 NBA season.

Polecam will debut its nanoFlash ultra-compact solid-state HD/standard-definition video recorder at IBC2009 at the RAI Centre in Amsterdam Sept. 11-15. The nanoFlash can operate in HD or SD direct to dual Compact Flash solid-state cards, and it can be attached to a Polecam rig or mounted direct to a camera. It can also be connected to any HD-SDI source via BNC coax.

SIS Live will use IBC2009 at the RAI Centre in Amsterdam Sept. 11-15 to launch its new RouteCase compact Flyaway kit with Brick House Video’s Callisto Micro vision mixer as its core.

Spike TV is sticking its head into the scrum, airing the National Rugby League playoffs and championship game in the United States for the first time, with coverage beginning Sept. 11 and the Grand Final Sunday, Oct. 4, reports R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News.

The carriage dispute between sports cable network Versus and satellite-TV provider DirecTV raged on, with Versus president Jamie Davis telling Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News, “DirecTV wanted to take Versus away from 6 million subscribers who were receiving it for no additional cost. That was simply not acceptable for us. We hope to resolve things amicably, but that’s a nonstarter.”

The boss will become the narrator, as singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen will narrate NFL Network documentary Working on a Dream: A Super Bowl Journal, which goes behind-the-scenes of the performance by Springsteen and the E Street Band at Super Bowl XLIII, R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News reports.

Verizon Communications’ FiOS TV joined Comcast and Dish Network in the RedZone, striking a carriage deal for NFL Network’s new NFL RedZone channel, which highlights scoring plays from Sunday-afternoon National Football League games, reports Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News.

U.S. Open officials are cracking down on the use of Twitter by tennis players, prohibiting them from tweeting during game breaks and urging caution at other times, due to concerns about gambling on the sport and potential inside information, Adam Nichols of the New York Post reports.

The International Olympic Committee’s report on the four potential host cities for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games found issues with all four cities, Philip Hersh and David Heinzmann of the Chicago Tribune reported.

Pennsylvania cable operator Service Electric Broadband Cable will launch Big Ten Network for its customers in Wilkes-Barre and Schuylkill County Sept. 4, giving its subscribers the opportunity to see Penn State’s 2009 college football opener against Akron the next day, Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports.

The National Football League is accepting the blame for the controversy involving the height of the gigantic center-hung video board in the new Cowboys Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, reports Tim MacMahon of The Dallas Morning News.

“It’s full football overload on television,” writes Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times, as she looks at all of the available options.