Live from the Grand National: NEP saddles up for three day course wide coverage

SVG Europe

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For the team at NEP, the Randox Grand National is the culmination of a year-round operation that must scale, adapt and perform under intense pressure.

“This is our tenth year working on the National for ITV,” explains Jon Harris, NEP UK’s Head of Technical Project Planning and Management. “We cover around 100 transmissions a year, week in, week out for ITV Racing (produced by ITV Sport Production, part of ITV Studios) so we’re never more than a few days away from our next OB - but this is the biggest.”

In the field of 34 runners for this Saturday’s main event are 2025 winner Nick Rockett, 2024 winner I Am Maximus and fourth placed 2025 National mount Iroko which is a 8-1 contender.

At the heart of NEP’s operation is its purpose-built outside broadcast unit, Equinox, designed specifically to meet the demands of horse racing coverage.

“Back in 2017, when ITV took on the contract, we looked at their technical specifications and combined that with our experience of racing production,” Harris says. “Equinox was built to fulfil those needs. Everything is centred around that truck.”

Equinox provides a consistent operational base throughout the racing calendar, but crucially, it is also designed to scale. “It supports the week-to-week racing coverage, but also has the capacity to handle major events like Royal Ascot and the Grand National,” he says. “That gives us a real head start when we get on site.”

A rolling operation

Equinox came to Aintree straight from Musselburgh over the Easter weekend. A second OB unit, Atlantic, joined the main operation after finishing another racing fixture at Kempton on Monday night. This compressed turnaround is made possible by a design philosophy focused on rapid deployment and continuity.

“We already have elements pre-rigged, which gives us a huge advantage and allows us to set up in much shorter timeframes compared to traditional setups,” Harris says. “Tuesday and Wednesday we rig and test ready to go live on Thursday. And for the crews, the truck provides an operational continuity with the same layout and workflows they’re used to. That’s really important.”

A unique technical challenge

Unlike other major racecourses, Aintree presents a particular challenge: it is only used once a year for ITV racing. “With somewhere like Ascot, we’re there multiple times a year, so there’s familiarity and some fixed infrastructure,” Harris explains. “At Aintree, everything is a temporary cable rig.”

In preparation, NEP’s rigging team installs fibre to key points around the course beginning in February. “Beyond that, every cable is run fresh for the event.”

Reliance on RF technology

Aintree’s scale is significant. The course itself is 4 miles 2 and a half furlongs long and the ground undulates in places. The famous Canal Turn, for example, sits around two kilometres from the main compound, requiring extensive connectivity planning.

“We rely heavily on RF because we need flexibility,” Harris says. “This allows cameras and presenters to move freely across the course, from the track to hospitality areas, capturing both the racing and the atmosphere.”

He adds, “ITV wants to capture the essence of the event, not just the sport. It takes a lot of coordination, making sure the right microphones are matched to the right cameras, and everything is correctly tuned.”

There are in fact 17 other races broadcast from Aintree before the 4pm Saturday start of the National. Nonetheless this is as much a social spectacle as a sporting event, and that shapes the production. “Horse racing itself is actually very short,” Harris notes. “What surrounds it, the build-up, the crowd, the fashion is a big part of the OB. There’s a push to make things more dynamic, to get out and about—even before the racing starts. Using RF cameras and technologies like LiveU, we can capture people arriving, the atmosphere building.”

Fence cameras are particularly valuable for replays and analysis. “They might not always be used in the live cut, because you need to maintain orientation, but they’re great for telling the story afterwards.”

For aesthetic shots, the production deploys specialist rigs developed by NEP using DSLR cameras with racking control but the core race coverage is standard 1080 50i in SDR.

Camera firepower

NEP populate Aintree with 57 cameras including two 3x speed Sony and two 6x speed Sonys; four fence cams covering eight jumps of the National (these are waterproofed Marshall units to which NEP add FX mics). One tracking car is fitted with one of the HiMo cameras and another carries a custom NEP mobile jib. 

For race coverage ITV deploy a Batcam full size drone and have a couple of smaller units for pre-records with ENG crews.

A wirecam, supplied by Gravity Media’s Specialist Cameras division, is a CAMCAT Standard with tracking data for AR graphics. This runs at the grandstand end of the course parallel to the final stretch for over 850m, crossing the course so it also covers both the race start and finish.

Gravity also supplies a helicam equipped with GSS B512X stabilised head and carrying Sony P50 and Canon CJ45 lenses. “These give us both atmospheric grandstand wides as well as dramatic race coverage,” says Tony Cahalane, Technical Director, ITV Sport.

Planning critical

With such reliance on RF, contingency planning is critical. “Our job is always to ask: what happens if something goes wrong?” Harris says. Interference, signal loss or external disruption are all risks. To mitigate them, NEP maintains a fully cabled backup system.

“We can cover the race entirely on fixed cameras if we need to,” he explains. “It wouldn’t be as good, but it would work. Key presentation positions are also hardwired so we can ensure continuity even in worst-case scenarios. We’ve always got fallbacks. It’s about giving ourselves time to fix the issue while staying on air.”

The sound of the spectacle

Microphones are placed across the course to capture both the roar of the crowd and the quieter, more atmospheric moments. “At the far side of the course, it can be almost silent,” he explains. “You have to reflect that contrast. We’re trying to paint a picture with sound. It’s about making people feel like they’re there.”

In excess of 50 FX mics are sub-mixed and augmented by bespoke recorded horse effects added as in a live dub as is the norm in racing coverage.

Presenters are equipped with individual microphones to ensure clarity amid the noise, while coordination ensures seamless integration with RF cameras.

There is currently a contract evaluation process in progress within ITV to cover the facilities required for the next rights span.

Cahalane explains, “As always, we’ll look at what NEP has delivered and what others could deliver, but we’re still hugely impressed! First incumbents are always in a strong position, but it’s a value‑based process.”

For Harris, who has clocked up 16 consecutive Nationals, the priority is delivering a broadcast that allows viewers to follow the race.

“The most important thing is that people can see where their horse is and understand what’s happening,” he says. “Everything else has to support that. Get the basics right and everything else can be built around that.”

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