Live From PyeongChang: Eurosport Olympic Legacy Is About More Than the Games The new rightsholder is a massive UN of sports production, delivering the Games to 48 countries in 42 languages By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, February 16, 2018 - 7:07 pm
Print This Story
Eurosport's ambitious plans for the 2018 Winter Olympics are now in Day 6 of being in full operation, and Discovery Communications CTO John Honeycutt says that the team has been fantastic and, for the first week of the Olympics, things couldn't be going better.
My biggest concern was, we would have some issues in the first couple of days and then we would never emotionally get out of that hole, he says. But we had a really strong opening weekend. and the viewer numbers coming back from the regions have been spectacular. So I feel really good about the performance and the team.
David Schafer says the Eurosport efforts for the 2018 Olympics will create a legacy that extends beyond the Olympics.
David Schafer, SVP, Olympics operations and planning, Discovery Communications, concurs, adding that the team expected some bumps because Eurosport and the team had never taken on such an ambitious project or really worked together so closely.
We were prepared for any angle and for anything that could go wrong, says Schafer. So, we prepared for those and I think the teams have reacted accordingly. And you can see it on air.
The Eurosport team is a massive United Nations of sports production that ultimately is responsible for delivering the Olympics to 48 countries in 21 languages. Schafer equates it to a U.S. national network having production teams across every state and then each state's team requiring different feeds with different languages.
If you think of it in that regard it is quite complex, he says.
There is a multi-national team in PyeongChang at the IBC and at the venues; another large team in Paris, where Eurosport is headquartered; a team at NEP's Mediabank facility in Oslo that logs and stores all assets and, in turn, makes them available to editors and other production teams across Europe; and then there are Eurosport operations across Europe that giving content a more local flair.
We have 50 Gbps of circuits in Korea, 50 Gbps of circuits back to Europe where signals go through Frankfurt to Paris and then to London where it goes out over the Discovery WAN which is a whole other set of circuits, says Honeycutt. All told we have about 150 to 200 Gbps of circuits so it's fairly complicated.
Eurosport's facility within the IBC has seven production control rooms, including one each dedicated to Sweden and Norway, busy pulling in content from 28 OBS feeds, unilateral feeds from venues and beyond.
Eurosport also is embracing remote production as the production control room in the Hockey 1 venue also produces the games held in the Hockey 2 venue. That feed is then sent to the IBC via a 10 Gbps circuit.
There has been a lot of rapid decision making and load balancing across the team, but we have a great group of people who raised the production up really quickly, says Honeycutt. It's a complete and total host feed operation with unilateral wraparounds and it is all flypacks from NEP.
Some of the key tools keeping everything connected and moving include Lawo V_remote 4 for moving IP signals, EVS replay servers, ScheduALL as the brain of the operations, and Vizrt for the Cube AR studio.
Then there are production teams focused on specific nations, like Germany, Italy, England, Norway, and Sweden.
When you look at our model we are across various platforms: free-to-air, pay, and digital, says Schafer. And the free-to-air markets where we own those rights and have not sublicensed any of them are where we have invested significantly in the infrastructure. And Norway and Sweden were those two countries.
In those markets Eurosport was taking over for commercial broadcasters in both countries that were known for high levels of production. That meant the Eurosport teams had a lot to prove with viewers in those markets.
We really went all-in to give them all the resources they needed to deliver on that promise, he says. And that is why you will see control rooms from Norway and Sweden, significant sized studios, and the most people on site.
Common Ground
In recent months Eurosport has worked hard to find common needs and economies of scales that can be leveraged across the various production teams that are serving local needs.
If you look at the core teams from all the markets, there has not been one market that was not engaged or passionate about this since day one, says Schafer. And they all have other day jobs as well as with all of our other sports coverage and we were able to help them along that path. But coming into the games, when they were able to completely focus on it, they have delivered beyond my expectations and I think that just watching them come together, get on air, and the hosts and producers and everyone showing up in PyeongChang and rolling up their sleeves together has probably been the most rewarding thing for me at these Olympics.
Now that the games are under way and the teams are on site there has been an uptick in sharing of content, leveraging assets, and more. The result is an effort that finds what began as diverse teams working closer than ever.
Now that people are sharing [content and resources] we are working as one team because, naturally, you would think there would be some tension between teams, says Schafer. But I have not seen it and I strongly believe that comes back to starting this project together.
Schafer says that when he first tackled the project the first step was to make sure every stakeholder and market was part of the journey.
At the first World Broadcaster Meeting every market was there, and
North America Stories
24/04/2024
FRANKFURT, Germany Software solutions provider manifold technologies has announced that its manifold CLOUD was selected by NEP Belgium to provide a signal proce...
24/04/2024
NEW YORK Integral Ad Science has announced that it has earned Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for its sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) filtration f...
24/04/2024
LOS GATOS, Calif. Streaming media company Plex has announced a partnership with the National Football League that will add the NFL Channel, the NFLs 24/7 free l...
24/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at the helm of NAB through 2029, according to NAB Joi...
24/04/2024
GENEVA, Switzerland Software-defined video network (SDVN) platform specialist GlobalM and broadcast-quality content distribution expert scoopa have formed a str...
24/04/2024
Berklee Online to Hold 2024 Berklee Onsite Music Conference May 31-June 1 The in-person conference is open to Berklee Online students and the music community ...
24/04/2024
Kargo said it has launched a new product that gives advertisers more details about the connected TV campaigns they are buying....
24/04/2024
Mundo Hispano Digital said it has launched MundoNow Connect, which is designed to use first-party audience data to help advertisers reach Latino connected-TV vi...
24/04/2024
Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who spent 10 months in a Russian prison, sits with Robin Roberts for a primetime special on ABC Wednesday, May 1. The 20/20 speci...
24/04/2024
To give its subscribers more content to pick from, DirecTV Stream is making deals to carry streaming channels from Cineverse and additional digital multicast ch...
24/04/2024
Jenny Padura has been promoted to co-anchor on the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at WLTV Miami, known as Univision 23. She starts April 25 and will anchor with Ambros...
24/04/2024
Paris Schutz has joined WFLD Chicago, known as Fox 32, as a political reporter. He starts April 29 and will handle all political coverage for the station, repor...
24/04/2024
Plex has made a deal with the National Football League that will let users watch the NFL Channel, the league's free ad-supported streaming television (FAST)...
24/04/2024
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone sit for a chat when TMZ Presents: Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons debuts on Fox Tuesday, April 23. The pair di...
24/04/2024
Lionsgate Television said it signed a new multiyear employment agreement with executive VP, worldwide production, Gary Goodman....
24/04/2024
Miguelangel Lopez, WTMO Orlando (Florida) VP of news, has been named regional VP of news and content for WTMO, WRMD Tampa and WWDT Fort Myers, effective immedia...
23/04/2024
IN ADDITION TO FICTION AND DOCUMENTARY FEATURES, THE SELECTION INCLUDES:
PRO...
23/04/2024
LONDON IBC is now accepting nominations for its IBC2024 Innovation Awards, which honor achievements in technological innovation and social impact media & entert...
23/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. In response to the introduction of the Broadcast VOICES Act that seeks to encourage more diversity in the ownership of TV and radio stations, t...
23/04/2024
MIAMI, Fla. As part of a push to expand its FAST channel and streaming operations, Hemisphere Media Group has launched its free ad supported television (FAST) c...
23/04/2024
LOS ANGELES DirecTV is adding seven new channels to its rapidly expanding streaming lineup through new licensing agreements with Cineverse Corp. and Scripps Net...
23/04/2024
IBC is preparing to honour the highest achievements in technological innovation and social impact with the launch of its prestigious IBC2024 Innovation Awards, ...
23/04/2024
BREA, Calif. Bolin Technology is integrating Network Device Interface (NDI) across its product line, bringing support for the latest NDI technologies to its PTZ...
23/04/2024
WYOMISSING, Pa. PENN Entertainment has announced that longtime Disney and ESPN executive Aaron LaBerge has been named chief technology officer effective July 1,...
23/04/2024
In response to an FCC ruling in March proposing a $1.2 million fine against Nexstar and a ruling that Mission Broadcasting sell WPIX, Nexstar has filled a respo...
23/04/2024
Sony has announced new details about how the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is using Sony's Ci Media Cloud platform to streamline its workflows and spe...
23/04/2024
Esports' rapid rise to popularity can be attributed to many factors, from technological advancements that have enhanced the quality of modern gaming experie...
23/04/2024
OpenDrives, Inc., the global provider of software-defined media workflow solutions and data management capabilities, has been selected as a winner in the 2024 N...
23/04/2024
BCNEXXT is pleased to announce that Vpe has won the 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year Award in the Asset Management, Automation and Playout category. The offici...
23/04/2024
Gravity Media, a world leading global provider of complex live creative production and media services, today outlined the broadcast technology and television pr...
23/04/2024
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage for the AI era, today announced the appointment of Peter Brennan as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Scality...
23/04/2024
Blackmagic Design today announced ATEM 1 M/E Constellation 4K and ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K switchers, two new Ultra HD models of the ATEM Constellation famil...
23/04/2024
Blackmagic Design today announced Blackmagic Videohub 120x120 12G, the newest model in the Videohub 12G router family. The massive Blackmagic Videohub 120x120 1...
23/04/2024
Blackmagic Design today announced new lower prices for Blackmagic Video Assist 3G and 12G models. Customers can save US$200 on all models. These lower prices ma...
23/04/2024
Adder Technology continues to shine brightly, with its groundbreaking product, the ADDERLink INFINITY 3000 (ALIF3000), once again taking center stage. Hot on t...
23/04/2024
Pliant Technologies' CRP-C12 Compact Radio Pack is an Audio Production, Processing and Networking category winner in the 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year A...
23/04/2024
SipRadius, the specialists in live media transport and transcoding, will showcase their world-leading implementation of AV1 and JPEG-XS over transport streams a...
23/04/2024
Composer Rafael Krux has added a Prism Sound Dream ADA-128 modular conversion system to his production studio where he creates music for commercials, trailers, ...
23/04/2024
PMC proudly provides the ultimate large-scale Dolby Atmos audio system for the legendary musician Steven Wilson at the High End, Munich. He will share his exten...
23/04/2024
Particles emitting from a 3D rotating shape's edge
Graham Quince April 22, 2024
0 Comments
In Fixin' FX, people send me their problematic proj...
23/04/2024
Hollyland Technology Announces a New Line of Video Transmitters: Introducing the...
23/04/2024
Charlotte Deleste, anchor at WISC Madison, Wisconsin, is leaving the station. Her final day on the air is April 24. Deleste has spent 18 years there....
23/04/2024
Top WNBA draft choice Caitlin Clark will appear on local broadcast for 17 games next season in a deal between Tegna and the Indiana Fever....
23/04/2024
NVIDIA announced today its acceleration of Microsoft's new Phi-3 Mini open l...
23/04/2024
Soccer's Appeal to Younger Audiences: Inside the Gamification of European Fo...
23/04/2024
With NBA and NHL Playoffs in Full Swing, Never a Dull Moment for TNT Sports Prod...
23/04/2024
NAB 2024: AT&T Business's Scott Beckett Details Transmission Firepower With ...
23/04/2024
NAB 2024: Manufacturers focus on cinematic look for live productions By George Bevir
Tuesday, April 23, 2024 - 10:40
Print This Story
With live sports pro...
23/04/2024
Save the Date: SVG Sports Content Management Forum Returns to NYC on July 24 By SVG Staff
Tuesday, April 23, 2024 - 4:05 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
...
Live From PyeongChang: Eurosport Olympic Legacy Is About More Than the Games The new rightsholder is a massive UN of sports production, delivering the Games to 48 countries in 42 languages By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
