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TWI Celebrates Its First Twenty Five Years Of Sports Coverage
Photos (Courtesy TWI):
The Whitbread Round The World Yacht Race and in the Caribbean following the England-West Indies Test Series, reckoned to be one of the best TV coverages ever with Geoff Boycott in ebullient mood in the
TWI commentary box.
TING LIFE
TING LIFE
BILL SINRICH, HEAD OF PRODUCTION
was clear Europe would follow suit as outlets multiplied.” The 90s dawned full of promise, then potential disaster, before turning quickly gold again. Appointed to produce a sports channel for the fledgling BSB satellite outfit, this $150 mil- lion contract meant a quan- tum leap for the company in terms of expanding its person- nel, operation and, above all, production, notably with its pioneering live coverage of an England-West Indies Test series in the Caribbean.
When BSB then dramati- cally
merged with Sky,
TWI’s deal was suddenly scuppered
losing the company effectively 70-80 per cent of its overall business virtually overnight.
Happily for everybody concerned, it proved mere- ly a hiccup as TWI regrouped in the wake of a negotiated contract settlement. “That situation drove us on,” admits Sinrich, and it’s perhaps a tad ironic how Sky now is so reliant on his ever- expanding company’s expertise as the new Millennium dawns.
Innovation has regularly marked TWI’s involvement with sports events. There was, of course, the first use of remote cameras in the cor- ner of football nets, now widely copied. Then how
about Spin Vision, the amazing slomo process which could clearly trace a fizzing Shane Warne delivery from wicket to wicket? As a devoted fan of the Summer Game, Sinrich is also anxious to add to the list live cricket from the Windies and India, where, he adds, “people still thank us for the ser- vice.” The Whitbread race involves specially designed yachts equipped with Sony DVC cameras and edit suites along with a concealed satellite dish which enables the crew to supply footage direct to London.
So are there any sports still left to cover? TWI has just begun a serious schedule of mountain bike competition coverage which will include 16 live downhill events.
On the cards could be snowboarding, which TWI carried during the Winter Olympics from Nagano, and even croquet. No likelihood of top- less darts, though!
TWI is also, says Sinrich, beginning to move into other areas apart from sport. In association with British Pathe, it has completed a 13 one-hour series on the Twentieth Century called simply Century. That’s already been sold to over 40 terri- tories. Fabulous Fortunes, six one-hours grouping together folk who’ve become rich and famous in half a dozen fields is presently in production.
Sinrich prefers not to get too heavily drawn into the present, often heated public debate about Sport for All versus Sport for Satellite, preferring to emphasise that TWI is really in the business of
supply and demand. The bot- tom line is enter- tainment. “Sport,” says Sinrich, “is merely a form of entertainment and