The British Academy Television Awards celebrate the very best television broadcast in 2017. The categories include drama, comedy entertainment, documentaries and sport. The winner of Best Sports Coverage this year was ITV Racing for their coverage of last year’s Grand National. For this particular race, along with the rest of the racing season, WL supported the lighting of both the studios and presentation areas.

The other three nominations in the sport category were Sky for its coverage of Anthony Joshua v Wladimir Klitschko; the BBC for its Six Nations rugby union clash between Wales and England; and Channel 4 for the women’s Euro semi-final between England and Holland.

Lead presenter Ed Chamberlin had credited director Paul McNamara, a previous Bafta winner, for the nomination, while also identifying Richard Willoughby, Paul Cooper, Tim Williams and Rachael Jackson as other key members of the team behind the cameras.

On collecting the Award, Paul McNamara commented: “Thank you firstly so much to everybody who worked on the programme behind the screens.  There were 60 cameras and over 600 people on site. So, thank you for all their professionalism and their dedication. Thank you so much to all of our wonderful talent on screen led by the brilliant Ed Chamberlain.  It’s been a real privilege working with you”.

The Grand National 2017 was the 170^th official running of the Grand National Horse Race. It took place at the Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool with the final being held on 8^th April. The winner was One for Arthur, making it only the second horse to be trained in Scotland to win the Grand National.

WL’s team was led by Lighting Director Chris Hollier and the company oversaw the installation of the sets along with supplying the lighting equipment. WL’s other work with ITV Sport includes the Rugby World Cup coverage along with the EURO 2016 Championships, for which Lighting Designers Chris Hollier and Andy Cottey won The Altman Lighting Television Award for Small Production at the Knight of Illumination Awards.

WL’s Technical Solutions Director Andy Hook comments: “We are delighted that Paul McNamara and the team have been recognised by what many consider to be the highest accolade in television. Their coverage of the Grand National, along with their coverage of the racing season throughout, has been impeccable and we’re delighted to have been involved on the technical side”.