The Switch Handles Live Broadcast Transmissions for 2023 Wimbledon

Tennis
(Image credit: Wimbledon)

LONDON—Global production services and live video transmission company The Switch provided international connectivity and transmission for the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, supporting IMG Studios in the UK and the main international rightsholders, including ESPN, Tennis Channel and Stats Perform.

The Switch installed a dedicated private dark fiber ring into the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) in Wimbledon to deliver tournament feeds to IMG Studios at Stockley Park, West London, where all the production for coverage of the competition is handled. This dedicated network delivers 100-200Gb capacity, ensuring every live feed from every court at Wimbledon is delivered to fans seamlessly. The flexible fiber network ensured redundancy and allowed capacity to be spun up and down as needed, according to the company.

"Wimbledon is one of the most prestigious live events in tennis, and it was critical fans could enjoy every second of the action uninterrupted,” said George Lopez, Senior Vice President of Operations for The Switch. “This project brought together The Switch's long-standing heritage supporting major Grand Slams with our knowledge and expertise in delivering high-value sports content, which meant the main broadcast partners and rightsholders could rely on us to deliver bigger and better coverage. We're proud to play a central role in bringing this much-loved tournament to more fans than ever worldwide."

For Wimbledon, The Switch built its largest stadium Point of Presence (POP) to date, carrying all feeds from all 18 courts at Wimbledon, plus behind-the-scenes content and beauty shots.

Tom Butts

Tom has covered the broadcast technology market for the past 25 years, including three years handling member communications for the National Association of Broadcasters followed by a year as editor of Video Technology News and DTV Business executive newsletters for Phillips Publishing. In 1999 he launched digitalbroadcasting.com for internet B2B portal Verticalnet. He is also a charter member of the CTA's Academy of Digital TV Pioneers. Since 2001, he has been editor-in-chief of TV Tech (www.tvtech.com), the leading source of news and information on broadcast and related media technology and is a frequent contributor and moderator to the brand’s Tech Leadership events.