Broadcasting Wimbledon

Of all the tennis Grand Slam tournaments, the Wimbledon Championship is the only one whose spectators have never decreased in number despite war interruptions and temporary controversies throughout its history. Since 1937, international fans unable to attend in person have been able to join in eager support of their favorite tennis players at Wimbledon by way of television and/or radio broadcasts.

The Wimbledon Championships were televised for the first time in 1937, on BBC in the United Kingdom. BBC has broadcast the event every year that it has occurred since then, splitting coverage between BBC One and BBC Two and distributing the feed to media outlets all over the world for broadcast in other nations as well. According to a government-issued mandate highlights of the majority of the tournament's events must be provided by stations throughout the championship, and the finals rounds must be broadcast live in their entirety. "Light and Tuneful," composed by Keith Mansfield, has traditionally been the opening music for the Wimbledon Championships on BBC. At its close, the station traditionally plays a song entitled "A Sporting Occasion." In more recent years, however, the closing theme has included a montage of highlights over a popular song, or no musical selection at all.

In July 1967, the Wimbledon Championships were broadcast in color for the first time on BBC2, the nation's only color channel at the time - and in fact became the first color broadcast in the history of the United Kingdom. Since 2007, matches from the Centre Court and Court No. 1 have been broadcast live on BBC HD, in high definition, along with an evening show called Today at Wimbledon which broadcasts highlights from earlier in the day.

Since the United States is between five and eight hours behind the United Kingdom, NBC specials called Breakfast at Wimbledon beginning in the early morning hours has become a yearly tradition for American tennis fans. During the championships, NBC continues broadcasting coverage, commentary, and interviews until late afternoon. On cable, ESPN broadcasts the Wimbledon Championships each year. From 1975-1999, the premium cable channel HBO also broadcast coverage of the championship during weekdays.

In the 1980s-90s, Ireland's RTE broadcast the Wimbledon Championships and evening highlights on its RTE Two channel. However, in 1998, RTE opted to cease broadcasting of the championship on its channels due to decreases in viewership and the realization that many who were watching tournament broadcasts were actually watching on the BBC network. Ireland's Irish language broadcaster has picked up coverage of the tournament since 2005.

Since 1992, during the championship, the All England Club has also broadcast Radio Wimbledon on 87.7 FM, including commentary and music, from its radio station located in the Centre Court building. The station is available to listeners within a five mile radius of (the grounds) as well as to online listeners. Presenters and reporters most often broadcast live from a tall building called the Crow's Nest, from which they have a view of most of the courts outside. Aside from 87.7 FM, the station has also added 96.3 FM as a second low-power frequency, and 97.8 FM to handle coverage from the No. 1 Court. From the opening serve to the presentation of the silver sports award, the Wimbledon tournament is broadcast in all forms.

The author of this article is 10 year veteran in the crystal awards and recognition gifts industry.

Source

Broadcasting the Oscars, 1930-Present

By 1930, the year of the 2nd Academy Awards ceremony, the awards had already been established as such an event that a local Los Angeles radio station dedicated an hour-long broadcast to the ceremony, which has been broadcast every year since then. For the first awards ceremony, the Academy had announced its winners months in advance. However, The Academy did not announce the award winners so early in advance of the second ceremony, instead releasing the names of the winners to newspapers for release at 11 p.m. on the night of the ceremony. In 1940, the Los Angeles Times released the news before the ceremony began - in its evening edition, which ceremony guests were able to get their hands on before even arriving - putting an end to that practice for the following year. Since 1941, the winners have been kept secret in a sealed envelope, opened only when the time came to announce the honorees at the awards ceremony.

1953 was the first year that the Oscar Awards ceremony was televised, and the broadcast showed throughout the United States as well as Canada. Eighteen years later, in 1966, the ceremony was televised in color for the first time. 1969 was the first year that the awards ceremony broadcast internationally, and today the show is available each year in over 200 countries.

The first Academy Awards telecast was broadcast in 1953, on NBC, where the broadcast was aired until 1960 when it moved to ABC. There it remained until 1970, until moving back to NBC through 1975. In 1976, the awards returned to ABC, where they are under contract to remain until 2014.

Beginning in 2004, the Academy Awards ceremony has broadcast live about six weeks after the nominees have been announced, so usually in the late February or early March following the calendar year to be honored. Prior to that, the ceremony had taken place in late March or early April. The switch to earlier dates was intended to not only avoid having to compete for ratings with the increasingly popular NCAA men's basketball championships, but also to stifle the months of lobbying and ad campaigns that come with the Academy Awards season, during which studios dedicate millions of dollars to promotions and publicists to make their films more visible and competitive. Every four years, however, due to the Winter Olympics, the awards will take place in early March.

It took decades to finally determine the best night to hold the Oscar ceremony each year. Prior to 1954, the ceremony had usually taken place on Thursday evenings. For the years of 1955-1958, the ceremony was held on Wednesdays. Between 1959-1998, the awards ceremony took place most often on Mondays. Since 1999, despite previous years' concerns that a weekend awards show broadcast would cut into weekend box office earnings, the ceremony switched its broadcast from taking place on a Monday 9pm Eastern time/6pm Pacific time, to taking place on a Sunday at 8:30pm Eastern time/5:30pm Pacific time in order to end the awards at a reasonable hour for East Coast viewers' bedtimes, as well as to enable more viewers to tune in given the absence of rush hour traffic jams during that time slot. Beginning in 2010, the Academy Awards began limiting winners' speeches to a maximum of 45 seconds, hoping to eliminate the commonly dreaded lengthy, embarrassing emotional displays that accompany many acceptance speeches. This is a problem that regular award ceremonies giving out corporate crystal awards does not have.

Viewership most often peaks in the years that box-office favorites are nominated for Best Picture - such as when Titanic was nominated in 1998. The Academy Awards broadcast with the most viewers in history was the 42nd ceremony in 1970, when Midnight Cowboy won Best Picture. On the other hand, when films with less box office appeal are likely to win Best Picture, the award show's ratings are reflective of much poorer viewership, such as when Crash was nominated and won in 2005.

The author of this article is 10 year veteran in the crystal awards and recognition gifts industry.

View the original article here

Broadcasting the Oscars, 1930-Present

By 1930, the year of the 2nd Academy Awards ceremony, the awards had already been established as such an event that a local Los Angeles radio station dedicated an hour-long broadcast to the ceremony, which has been broadcast every year since then. For the first awards ceremony, the Academy had announced its winners months in advance. However, The Academy did not announce the award winners so early in advance of the second ceremony, instead releasing the names of the winners to newspapers for release at 11 p.m. on the night of the ceremony. In 1940, the Los Angeles Times released the news before the ceremony began - in its evening edition, which ceremony guests were able to get their hands on before even arriving - putting an end to that practice for the following year. Since 1941, the winners have been kept secret in a sealed envelope, opened only when the time came to announce the honorees at the awards ceremony.

1953 was the first year that the Oscar Awards ceremony was televised, and the broadcast showed throughout the United States as well as Canada. Eighteen years later, in 1966, the ceremony was televised in color for the first time. 1969 was the first year that the awards ceremony broadcast internationally, and today the show is available each year in over 200 countries.

The first Academy Awards telecast was broadcast in 1953, on NBC, where the broadcast was aired until 1960 when it moved to ABC. There it remained until 1970, until moving back to NBC through 1975. In 1976, the awards returned to ABC, where they are under contract to remain until 2014.

Beginning in 2004, the Academy Awards ceremony has broadcast live about six weeks after the nominees have been announced, so usually in the late February or early March following the calendar year to be honored. Prior to that, the ceremony had taken place in late March or early April. The switch to earlier dates was intended to not only avoid having to compete for ratings with the increasingly popular NCAA men's basketball championships, but also to stifle the months of lobbying and ad campaigns that come with the Academy Awards season, during which studios dedicate millions of dollars to promotions and publicists to make their films more visible and competitive. Every four years, however, due to the Winter Olympics, the awards will take place in early March.

It took decades to finally determine the best night to hold the Oscar ceremony each year. Prior to 1954, the ceremony had usually taken place on Thursday evenings. For the years of 1955-1958, the ceremony was held on Wednesdays. Between 1959-1998, the awards ceremony took place most often on Mondays. Since 1999, despite previous years' concerns that a weekend awards show broadcast would cut into weekend box office earnings, the ceremony switched its broadcast from taking place on a Monday 9pm Eastern time/6pm Pacific time, to taking place on a Sunday at 8:30pm Eastern time/5:30pm Pacific time in order to end the awards at a reasonable hour for East Coast viewers' bedtimes, as well as to enable more viewers to tune in given the absence of rush hour traffic jams during that time slot. Beginning in 2010, the Academy Awards began limiting winners' speeches to a maximum of 45 seconds, hoping to eliminate the commonly dreaded lengthy, embarrassing emotional displays that accompany many acceptance speeches. This is a problem that regular award ceremonies giving out corporate crystal awards does not have.

Viewership most often peaks in the years that box-office favorites are nominated for Best Picture - such as when Titanic was nominated in 1998. The Academy Awards broadcast with the most viewers in history was the 42nd ceremony in 1970, when Midnight Cowboy won Best Picture. On the other hand, when films with less box office appeal are likely to win Best Picture, the award show's ratings are reflective of much poorer viewership, such as when Crash was nominated and won in 2005.

The author of this article is 10 year veteran in the crystal awards and recognition gifts industry.

Source

Broadcasting Wimbledon

Of all the tennis Grand Slam tournaments, the Wimbledon Championship is the only one whose spectators have never decreased in number despite war interruptions and temporary controversies throughout its history. Since 1937, international fans unable to attend in person have been able to join in eager support of their favorite tennis players at Wimbledon by way of television and/or radio broadcasts.

The Wimbledon Championships were televised for the first time in 1937, on BBC in the United Kingdom. BBC has broadcast the event every year that it has occurred since then, splitting coverage between BBC One and BBC Two and distributing the feed to media outlets all over the world for broadcast in other nations as well. According to a government-issued mandate highlights of the majority of the tournament's events must be provided by stations throughout the championship, and the finals rounds must be broadcast live in their entirety. "Light and Tuneful," composed by Keith Mansfield, has traditionally been the opening music for the Wimbledon Championships on BBC. At its close, the station traditionally plays a song entitled "A Sporting Occasion." In more recent years, however, the closing theme has included a montage of highlights over a popular song, or no musical selection at all.

In July 1967, the Wimbledon Championships were broadcast in color for the first time on BBC2, the nation's only color channel at the time - and in fact became the first color broadcast in the history of the United Kingdom. Since 2007, matches from the Centre Court and Court No. 1 have been broadcast live on BBC HD, in high definition, along with an evening show called Today at Wimbledon which broadcasts highlights from earlier in the day.

Since the United States is between five and eight hours behind the United Kingdom, NBC specials called Breakfast at Wimbledon beginning in the early morning hours has become a yearly tradition for American tennis fans. During the championships, NBC continues broadcasting coverage, commentary, and interviews until late afternoon. On cable, ESPN broadcasts the Wimbledon Championships each year. From 1975-1999, the premium cable channel HBO also broadcast coverage of the championship during weekdays.

In the 1980s-90s, Ireland's RTE broadcast the Wimbledon Championships and evening highlights on its RTE Two channel. However, in 1998, RTE opted to cease broadcasting of the championship on its channels due to decreases in viewership and the realization that many who were watching tournament broadcasts were actually watching on the BBC network. Ireland's Irish language broadcaster has picked up coverage of the tournament since 2005.

Since 1992, during the championship, the All England Club has also broadcast Radio Wimbledon on 87.7 FM, including commentary and music, from its radio station located in the Centre Court building. The station is available to listeners within a five mile radius of (the grounds) as well as to online listeners. Presenters and reporters most often broadcast live from a tall building called the Crow's Nest, from which they have a view of most of the courts outside. Aside from 87.7 FM, the station has also added 96.3 FM as a second low-power frequency, and 97.8 FM to handle coverage from the No. 1 Court. From the opening serve to the presentation of the silver sports award, the Wimbledon tournament is broadcast in all forms.

The author of this article is 10 year veteran in the crystal awards and recognition gifts industry.

Source

Broadcasting Wimbledon

Of all the tennis Grand Slam tournaments, the Wimbledon Championship is the only one whose spectators have never decreased in number despite war interruptions and temporary controversies throughout its history. Since 1937, international fans unable to attend in person have been able to join in eager support of their favorite tennis players at Wimbledon by way of television and/or radio broadcasts.

The Wimbledon Championships were televised for the first time in 1937, on BBC in the United Kingdom. BBC has broadcast the event every year that it has occurred since then, splitting coverage between BBC One and BBC Two and distributing the feed to media outlets all over the world for broadcast in other nations as well. According to a government-issued mandate highlights of the majority of the tournament's events must be provided by stations throughout the championship, and the finals rounds must be broadcast live in their entirety. "Light and Tuneful," composed by Keith Mansfield, has traditionally been the opening music for the Wimbledon Championships on BBC. At its close, the station traditionally plays a song entitled "A Sporting Occasion." In more recent years, however, the closing theme has included a montage of highlights over a popular song, or no musical selection at all.

In July 1967, the Wimbledon Championships were broadcast in color for the first time on BBC2, the nation's only color channel at the time - and in fact became the first color broadcast in the history of the United Kingdom. Since 2007, matches from the Centre Court and Court No. 1 have been broadcast live on BBC HD, in high definition, along with an evening show called Today at Wimbledon which broadcasts highlights from earlier in the day.

Since the United States is between five and eight hours behind the United Kingdom, NBC specials called Breakfast at Wimbledon beginning in the early morning hours has become a yearly tradition for American tennis fans. During the championships, NBC continues broadcasting coverage, commentary, and interviews until late afternoon. On cable, ESPN broadcasts the Wimbledon Championships each year. From 1975-1999, the premium cable channel HBO also broadcast coverage of the championship during weekdays.

In the 1980s-90s, Ireland's RTE broadcast the Wimbledon Championships and evening highlights on its RTE Two channel. However, in 1998, RTE opted to cease broadcasting of the championship on its channels due to decreases in viewership and the realization that many who were watching tournament broadcasts were actually watching on the BBC network. Ireland's Irish language broadcaster has picked up coverage of the tournament since 2005.

Since 1992, during the championship, the All England Club has also broadcast Radio Wimbledon on 87.7 FM, including commentary and music, from its radio station located in the Centre Court building. The station is available to listeners within a five mile radius of (the grounds) as well as to online listeners. Presenters and reporters most often broadcast live from a tall building called the Crow's Nest, from which they have a view of most of the courts outside. Aside from 87.7 FM, the station has also added 96.3 FM as a second low-power frequency, and 97.8 FM to handle coverage from the No. 1 Court. From the opening serve to the presentation of the silver sports award, the Wimbledon tournament is broadcast in all forms.

The author of this article is 10 year veteran in the crystal awards and recognition gifts industry.

View the original article here