Welcome “Inside the Control Room” of Churchill Downs with producer Owen Seaton. Listen in as we talk to Owen about his job with Van Wagner Sports Entertainment as producer of Churchill Downs. We talk about horse racing, the Kentucky Derby, the future of production, and some of his favorite production memories.

After you’ve heard the show, don’t miss the control room tour Owen took us on, that you can watch here.

Show Notes w/ Owen Seaton

:42 – Introduction to Owen Seaton & his role within Churchill Downs

1:00 – Churchill Downs has 70 race days a year!

1:20 – A day in the life.

1:40 – How is a horse racing production different than other live events?

2:45 – Gearing programming towards gamblers, horse enthusiasts, and tourists alike.

4:15 – Discussion of the giant 4k videoboard.

5:15 – Discussion of feeding 4k signals to the board.

6:00 – The new control room setup – a split control system, one switcher feeding the simulcast, one for the videoboard show.

6:45 – Discussion of number of cameras and locations.

7:20 – Paddock preview show and prerace show for seperate videoboards in the paddock area.

8:15 – Camera positions and assignments.

8:45 – “Horse racing is unique in that there are a lot of laws dictating what cameras are doing at different moments during the race.”

9:15 – Discussion of replay officials that govern the races, rider objections, etc.

12:30 – Discussion of camera angles that the simulcast bettors want to see before a race starts.

14:35 – Discussion of Owen’s responsibilities on a typical race day.

15:00 – Various data feeds in use including horse tracking data, bet tracking data, etc.

16:00 – After a sip of some of Kentucky’s finest, let’s talk Derby, beginning with the schedule.

18:15 – Additional crew and equipment requirements for Kentucky Derby.

20:45 – 2 hour morning show program before the first race of Derby Day.

21:30 – Discussion of NBC Sports’ coverage of Derby.

22:00 – Who cues what on Derby day? Communication plan between the Big Board show and NBC.

23:30 – Discussion of RF needs and frequency coordination during the Kentucky Derby, all handled by BSI.

26:00 – Continuation of additional crewing and equipment needs for Derby.

28:15 – We gush a bit over Travis Stone, track announcer. How does Travis announce the horse race? We try to figure it out. Follow him on twitter @travisstone, follow Owen @seatonob, and Bo @sailingbo.

33:30 – Reminiscing over Owen’s days at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and his introduction of the “Scrappy Awards”, their take on the ESPY’s.

38:45 – Wrap up & a few quick outtakes.

39:15 – Be sure to check out InTheCR.com for a video tour of Owen’s control room at Churchill Downs.

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