Panasonic, CBS Sports, USTA Join on Telecasting U.S. Open Center-Court Matches in 3D

Panasonic, CBS Sports and the United States Tennis Association said Wednesday they will produce 3D versions of all CBS broadcasts of U.S. Open matches on Labor Day weekend and the next, finals weekend. The matches will be shown on n3D, DirecTV channel 103, and in 3D viewing galleries at the National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens. Panasonic and DirecTV also will provide the U.S. Open semifinal and final matches live in 3D to hundreds of TV retail locations across the country as part of National 3D Demo Days (CED Aug 18 p6), Sept. 10-12, organized by the Consumer Electronics Association.

The 3D broadcasts will use a production team and equipment separate from those for the conventional HD broadcasts of the tournament, the companies said. Plans call for six 3D camera rigs with two HD cameras each, two special 3D production trucks and a separate 3D CBS Sports broadcast team. 3D camera placements will be lower to the court than usual TV locations to make best use of 3D technology on close-up shots, the companies said.

The three on-site 3D viewing galleries at the Open will include a 3D Panasonic showcase on the floor level of Louis Armstrong Stadium, another in the SmashZone interactive tennis area and one in the South Plaza area, Panasonic said. The company will run commercials promoting 3D technology during the CBS Sports broadcasts of the Open, but a spokesman for Panasonic said commercials will be in 2D.

ESPN will show 2010 U.S. Open matches not carried by CBS on the ESPN2 channel, according to the company website. ESPN 3D “will offer more than 100 events in its first year, including 13 college football games this fall,” a spokeswoman said. “Events are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and while we were unable to add 2010 U.S. Open, we hope to provide 3D tennis coverage in the future,” she said. ESPN will telecast other 3D content during National 3D Demo Days, including live coverage of the Sept. 11 NCAA football game between Ohio State and Miami. ESPN 3D will also show during the promotion pre-recorded coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, X Games 16, an NCAA football telecast of a Boise State-Virginia Tech game Sept. 6, and footage of the Harlem Globetrotters shot at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports facility in Orlando.