How TNT Sports creates unfiltered BTS content

TNT Sports promised to bring fans closer to the action than ever before in its Nations Series coverage this autumn, and part of that has seen its No Filter behind-the-scenes series make its way to rugby. 

Also used across football, boxing, snooker and more, No Filter aims to bring viewers a new angle on major matches and events. It gives behind-the-scenes views of the action, as well as showcasing fans, TNT Sports talent and the players themselves. 

A dedicated team of one producer, two assistant producers, an editor, four camera ops and a sound recordist were onsite for England’s recent comeback victory over New Zealand, filming content with pundits and elsewhere around Twickenham before, during and after the fixture. This team was led by Martin Robbins. 

In addition, a team of one producer, two camera ops, a sound recordist and editor film content with fans, and some fans are given GoPros to film themselves in the stand. Some of the fan content is also used as part of TNT Sports’ live coverage. 

The production works with fan groups to make sure they find passionate supporters to supply cameras to, and once they find them they give them the freedom to say what they want. Evans said, “We never give instruction to the fans – just don’t swear! Although sometimes they can’t help it with the passion of the moment.”

Even with this, TNT Sports head of rugby Gari Jenkins said it is less preparation than they would usually do for this kind of content: “When we use fans on other content, we do a hell of a lot of prep because we don’t have time to mess around and trawl through loads of vox pops.”

There have been experiements with using influencers too, with mixed results. Jenkins noted, “You’ve got to look at what actually gives you value. If it’s aligned, brilliant. If it’s not, that’s not so great.”

He added, “We’re still in the infancy of looking at what works, because there’s a lot of [influencers] out there.”

Even as this content is still being collected, it is transported and edited immediately to create the 10-15 minute No Filter episode, which will be published on YouTube next day, before also being used across social media and linear channels. As Kevin Evans, executive producer for non-live programming for TNT Sports, explained to Broadcast Sport, this no mean feat: “As soon as we get the first card back, it begins. It’s a machine.”

The editor and producer are usually based nearby to the stadium, at times using an Airbnb, and will work through the night in order to get No Filter out on time. According to Evans, this is vital as, “[If it’s not the next morning], you’ve missed the window.

“We are awash with sport at the moment, so people will just move onto the next thing.”

Once filmed, edited, and approved by the producer - Evans says producers rarely need to make changes now, “The changes [I make to the edit] are now minimal because we’ve got such a good rhythm” - No Filter goes live on YouTube at 8am the day after the fixture. However, this isn’t the end of the story for the content. 

Jenkins said, “We make the content sweat across all of our platforms.” This includes segments being used across TNT Sports social channels, and even linear spots - which can be significantly after the matches. “Because it’s a little bit evergreen, it doesn’t look out of place if we use it in a few weeks’ time,” Jenkins believes. 

The England v New Zealand episode has over 100,000 views in just three days, coming after a game that broke records for TNT Sports. Jenkins admitted, “If I’m brutally honest, a lot depends on results [on the pitch] as well,” but even after a loss No Filter is a key part of how TNT Sports is, “chasing younger audiences as well as the fair weather sports fan.”

Jenkins said the final key part of No Filter is, “to bring [non-rugby and international rugby] fans over to club rugby.” This is combined with a campaign linking England players with their Prem Rugby clubs, and a new ten-part behind-the-scenes series, The Breakdown, which takes viewers to each Prem Rugby club and gives them a new view on the teams. 

Time will tell whether TNT Sports will be able to put more focus on the club game, given rugby union’s traditional emphasis on national teams, but either way, No Filter is clearly seeing success as a new way for fans to get closer to their favourite teams and players. You can watch its latest episode below.