Elements Prove No Match for Russia’s NTV-Plus
By Karen Hogan, Assistant Editor
Flying halfway around the world is a daunting task on the clearest of days. As has been well documented throughout the tournament, this year’s US Open was not preceded by cloudless, rain-free skies. However, even in the face of Hurricane Irene, NTV-Plus landed at Flushing Meadows ready to cover the US Open for Russia.
Scheduled to arrive on the scene a few days before the rest of the Russian contingent, producer/coordinator Kirill Kolomyts was able to hold down the fort in New York as Irene detained the NTV-Plus crew on the other side of the Atlantic.
“Flights were canceled all over Europe; it was impossible to fly out of there,” he says.
The team finally arrived on Aug. 29, the first day of the tournament, so Kolomyts and company fed USOptimum signal back to Russia as the on-site crew prepared. “We had some backup in Moscow that were commentating over there, and we just sent the signal [and] didn’t have any major problems. It kind of worked out at the last minute.”
From Flushing Meadows to Moscow
NTV-Plus, a Moscow-based digital-satellite-TV company in Russia’s pay-TV market, takes the USOptimum world feed and sends it to Moscow, broadcasting on three channels in both SD and HD.
Supplementing the USOptimum feed are on-site commentators, who broadcast from a studio in Arthur Ashe Stadium, which overlooks the main plaza of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, as well as from NTV-Plus’s trailer.
“We go live twice a day, in the morning and at night right before the night session,” says Kolomyts of NTV-Plus’s studio show. “The fountain gives a little bit of background noise, but it’s a beautiful view.”
Even in the Rain, NTV-Plus Plays On
As the rain fell this week, threatening yet another day’s matches, the NTV-Plus crew kept busy, shooting video from throughout the venue, recording voiceovers, and keeping viewers back home apprised of the weather situation.
And of course, after traveling halfway around the world, exploring New York City.
“We did a lot of shopping,” laughs Kolomyts. “I was very surprised with prices at Century 21.”