From a whisper to a roar: overcoming a Champions League challenge

Very often in sport, the most impressive performance or victory is the one achieved when things don't go according to plan. Sure, it's always preferable to have a game plan, to be thoroughly prepared and then to execute that plan. But, in my humble opinion, the greatest sporting triumphs are those achieved in the face of adversity, when there is a disruption in either the build-up to the contest, on an in-game setback, requiring the athlete or team to come up with a new strategy, calling on their best qualities, discipline and hunger to get the job done.

I believe that is also true of live sports broadcasting. I have been fortunate in my career to have worked with some of the world's best TV producers and technical crews - professionals who plan their broadcasts down to the final detail, who call upon the best talent at their disposal, who rehearse diligently and then communicate clearly and effectively throughout the broadcast until the final credits role and the lights go down. Again, in an ideal world, the broadcast goes as planned, but live TV and sports have a habit of throwing curveballs and when that happens the really great broadcast professionals come into their own.

I was fortunate to work with just such a team this past weekend.

I have spent much of the last month in Mumbai, working with the Sony Sports Network on their coverage of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals and final across the vast Indian sub-continent. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with a team of passionate, highly-professional and utterly diligent sports broadcasters. Their output is world class and it has been a privilege to witness the hard work and teamwork that goes into making that possible. Then, last Saturday night, along came a set of circumstances that brought out the best in the team.

Sony's UCL Final broadcast came at the same time that the network was putting out comprehensive coverage of the ongoing French Open tennis tournament. With teams on-site at both Roland Garros and at the Stade de France for the football, numbers were down back at HQ in Mumbai, but every member of the team pulled together, putting in long hours to keep the quality broadcasts coming across multiple channels, in various languages (English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu). Our UCL coverage called for a 75-minute live pre-show, which I anchored in studio with India-based guests Terry Phelan and Mark Seagraves with Don Hutchison in the UK, while our on-site team of Manas Singh, David James and Andy Mitten reported from the Stadium. Our show was pacy, packed with content (exclusive interviews with the likes of Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold and of course pre-match thoughts from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp). So far, so normal. A well-produced show that went smoothly despite its technical demands.

Then, the problems arose. First, as we were crossing live to Paris for the opening ceremony, came the news that the kickoff would be delayed by 15 minutes (which became 30 minutes) due to shambolic and disgraceful scenes outside the stadium (which have been well documented elsewhere). So, we had to speak over whatever live shots we were given by the host broadcaster, without really knowing what was going on, or even if the game would go ahead any time soon. Still, that was manageable (with constant updates from our producers, which helped us offer updates and remain as objective as possible) as the four of us involved in the studio show could take it in turns to speak. Then came another altogether more difficult problem to overcome. As we talked over the live shots, I became aware that our production team was encountering difficulties with the "world feed" commentary that was being provided to Sony and many other Champions League broadcast partners around the world: through my earpiece, I could hear puzzlement in our production crew's voices as they tried to get a preview listen of the incoming commentary. They assumed there was some kind of technical hitch with a microphone or somewhere else down the line, as the lead commentator's voice was muffled and barely audible.

Then the penny dropped. It turned out the lead commentator had suffered an attack of laryngitis and had all but lost his voice. He attempted to soldier on in a voice that was a cross between a croak and a whisper, with his co-commentator (who was fine) speaking for long periods, but not taking on the main commentary role. This was a serious problem, with a high-intensity game just around the corner. We had to cross to the commentary feed for the opening ceremony and it wasn't long before social media began to hum with concerned viewers realising that they could be in for a less-than-optimal broadcast experience during one of the biggest games of the year.

So, the Sony team took a bold decision and scrambled to put it into effect. As soon as the pundits had made their final pre-match predictions and I had thrown to our final commercial break, the producers asked me if I would be willing to rush out to a hastily-set-up commentary booth (with resources stretched to the limit because the football and tennis was already going out from various booths in all the languages I mentioned earlier) and commentate live on the game in place of of the no-longer-viable world feed commentary. Of course I was willing, if it meant we could give viewers the best broadcast option at our disposal given the circumstances. So, with Terry for company as co-commentator, I grabbed a mic, stuck on some headphones and made sure there was enough of the crowd sound and natural on-pitch effects from Paris coming into my "cans" (one of the toughest things about calling a game "off tube" as opposed to in the stadium, is being able to pitch your voice to the right level, or even to know when to let the atmosphere speak for you). Then, we did a couple of technical checks before diving into match commentary with the game about three or four minutes old. It's tough to commentate with nothing more than a team sheet in front of you - none of the usual stat packs, notes on players and teams, no verbose pre-prepared speeches about the game or the lineups - but we gave it our best shot. The production team did a magnificent job of feeding us whatever relevant stats they had and we commentated through to half-time, rushed back into the studio for the analysis, dived back into the commentary booth for the second half, then rounded off the night back on camera with a comprehensive post-match studio show.

Great broadcasting is the product of several factors: comprehensive planning, thorough knowledge of the subject, clear and effective communication between everyone involved in the live broadcast, total trust in every member of the crew in front of and behind the cameras to do their jobs and, most importantly, a willingness on the part of senior producers to trust their editorial judgement and to put plans in place that bring out the best in their crew and talent. It also helps if everyone is willing to put in the work. For instance, by the time we came off air it was around 4am in India and most of the production team had already put in an immense shift. But, if Sony were to put out a "clean" repeat later on the channel, there was some fixing up to do. So, transport was put on hold and we went back into the booth to "re-commentate" the seven minutes pre-match and four minutes of the game that featured the problematic world feed, so that the repeat would deliver continuity. We duly did so, and the production team then ensured that the finished product was a seamless as possible. Again, that's what professional broadcasting standards are about.

My thanks go out to Siddarth, Aditya, Smit, Rishabh, Rajdeep, Rohit, and all the rest of the football production team at Sony Sports Network for the incredible job they did in terms of decision-making, execution and encouragement as the team pulled together in the face on adversity to deliver what hopefully was a win in the eyes of the viewers, whose enjoyment of Real Madrid's win over Liverpool might otherwise have been damaged by an unlikely and unusual set of disruptive circumstances. Well done guys!