Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Live from FIFA World Cup: FIFA's Florin Mitu On The Evolution of World Cup Coverage

04/12/2022

Live From FIFA World Cup: FIFA's Florin Mitu on the Evolution of World Cup Coverage This year's production is enhanced by IP, hybrid UHD/HDR, AR, and other new tech By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Sunday, December 4, 2022 - 10:11 am

Print This Story

Florin Mitu is head of broadcast production for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and this year's effort has been years in the making. And, although the COVID pandemic and the global supply- chain crisis impacted efforts, innovations like a move to IP, new workflows in UHD and HDR, and additional broadcast enhancements have lifted the quality of the viewing experience. Midway through the tournament, Mitu sat down with SVG at the IBC to discuss the efforts.

What have been your general impressions of how the World Cup has played out?

It's an extremely well-organized event on all fronts, and we are very grateful for those who have worked over the last 12 years to put this in place. The stadiums, as you probably have seen, are fantastic. The facilities here at the QNCC [where the IBC is located] are great and unique. I don't know whether you've been already to the presentation facilities at the Souq Waqif, but we benefit from a great location, which is the location that all broadcasters wanted.

As an extension to that, we have also the presentation platforms with the views of the skyline and the Corniche. We spent quite a long time trying to find the best spot to showcase the host country to the viewers of the world.

FIFA's Florin Mitu: I think the achievements here are some that will make everybody proud at the end of the tournament.

There have been a lot of technology enhancements and evolution. There's the move to IP; there's the move to UHD, HDR. What are some of your takeaways, some lessons so far, regarding some of those transitions?

With the move to IP, when you look back at 2018, we were not yet making full use of it. Shortly after that, we decided to go that route for 2022. Then what happened, with COVID on a global scale, the use of IP and remote was accelerated.

It was still a key decision for us to take, and we had to look at it very carefully. We had to decide whether that made sense in terms of a full-scale remote production for this tournament or not. We weighed the risks and the advantages and then decided against a complete remote production.

That said, we have increased the scope of remote here. The multi-feeds at the IBC that used to be produced at galleries at the venues are all now being done in dedicated galleries at the IBC. That was our first step in this direction.

In the future, there will be more steps in this direction, which I can't disclose at this point in time, but there's something very exciting in the pipeline.

IP is still in relatively early days, and there are still some things to be sorted out. What are your thoughts on where IP is in terms of maturity?

For technical providers, I think it's a matter of getting more experience in using it, getting more training of staff, and getting to know the capabilities of the technology and software better. There's still a certain element of learning that is happening here.

That's one of the main challenges that our host broadcaster had to fix.

How has the UHD/HDR 12-gig service been received by rightsholders?

We have 24 takers, which is great. It's the same as in Russia [site of World Cup 2018], but now we are distributing it onsite. It's an evolution from the Russian model, which, as you may remember, we had a dedicated main camera, which was used for the UHD feed. Here, there's one hybrid UHD/HD model because you can't find so many native UHD cameras in the whole world.

We then decided together with HBS to go for the wide-shot cameras in UHD and the close-up and the super-slo-mo [cameras] in 1080p. It's working great, and we're very happy with that.

We also haven't received any complaints so far. In 2018, on the broadcaster side, there was still a struggle to understand precisely the HDR workflows and the various flavors and how they applied to your production chain and so on. Now it's very smooth.

How would you describe the FIFA/HBS LUT for HDR? I know each one has its own characteristics, such as either going for being more realistic or being more vivid.

I think it's both of that: a more realistic look and different colors. But, yes, we created our own LUT for this tournament, and we are very happy with how it looks and how it improves the viewers' experience. That comes together with the immersive sound, of course.

When you look at the production plan for the matches here, from a production perspective, is there anything you think is still missing?

To be honest, look at what happened here. Camera-wise, where do you go beyond 42? I mean, yes, you can add more cameras, but you are seeing pretty much everything that's happening down on the field.

The route we were very excited to take was to integrate some of the work our colleagues from other divisions in FIFA do - such as the High Performance Team, led by Chief of Global Football Development Ars ne Wenger, as well as the Football Technology and Innovations Team - and try to improve the viewers' experience and understanding of the game by incorporating some of their tools.

Therefore, we have introduced, for the first time ever, Enhanced Football Intelligence statistics. They come on augmented reality before the match, halftime, after the match, and then as lower thirds during the match. That has never been done before.

We have a connected ball that sends data to a central server here. That data is used, for instance, to calculate the speed of the ball. We now have that, which only seems natural.

But you need to have the tools to do it, and the chip in the ball helps us to do th
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/12/04/live-from-fifa-world-cup-fifas-...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Aurora's Matt Beal on Taking Up the Broadcast Reins Alongside the FIA

Progressive realism: Aurora on taking up the broadcast reins for World RX alongs...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Getting the Production Together With NEP Finland, Cloudbass Graphics

Great speed: New host broadcaster Aurora on getting the World RX 2025 season pro...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Host Broadcaster Aurora Looks Ahead to This Weekend's Second Race of the Season in Hljes

Seat of its pants: Aurora boxes clever and looks ahead for the FIA as new host b...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport, Sunset+Vine Talk Coverage Plans, Distribution and Maintaining Momentum

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport and Sunset Vine talk coverage plans, ...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League Launches New Content Series to Support Teams, Players Over Summer of Football

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League launches new content series...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite Puts Fans, Players Front and Center With Title Sequence for ITV

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite puts fans and players front and centre with t...

02/07/2025

Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down the Craft

Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down t...

02/07/2025

CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Production Plan

CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Productio...

01/07/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Expansion in the U.S.

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...

01/07/2025

The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus Video Production

The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...

01/07/2025

Cherry On the Cake: Inside the Technical Production of the Tour de France 2025 with EMG / Gravity Media

Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...

01/07/2025

NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins Fans

NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...

01/07/2025

TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge

TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...

27/06/2025

How Smarter Video Compression is Creating a Sustainable Future

How smarter compression is creating a sustainable future By Michael Burns Monday, June 23, 2025 - 14:13 Print This Story Live sport is especially vulnerab...

27/06/2025

RTL Group To Acquire Sky Deutschland

RTL Group To Acquire Sky Deutschland By George Bevir, Editorial Director, SVG Europe Friday, June 27, 2025 - 8:00 am Print This Story | Subscribe Story ...

27/06/2025

Frictionless, At Scale: The Current State of Live Video Streaming Techology

Frictionless, At Scale: The Current State of Live Video Streaming Techology Leaders from Bitmovin, Comcast Technology Solutions, Harmonic, IMAX, and Phenix brea...

27/06/2025

Marquee Sports Network's Nick Steger on Meeting the Moment of the Contending Chicago Cubs

Marquee Sports Network's Nick Steger on Meeting the Moment of the Contending...

27/06/2025

NHL Draft 2025: The League Is Primed for First Decentralized Draft in Non-Pandemic Era

NHL Draft 2025: The League Is Primed for First Decentralized Draft in Non-Pandem...

26/06/2025

10th-Annual SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Presents Useful Roadmap for the Future of the RSN, Local Media Business

10th-Annual SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Presents Useful Roadmap for th...

26/06/2025

The Big Cloud Debate: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid

The Big Cloud Debate: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid Tech leaders from CineSys, Diversified, and Net Insight breaks down all flavors of cloud By Jason Dachman, ...

26/06/2025

Program Productions' Jess Kowatch on Training the Next and Current Generation of Sports TV Technicians

Program Productions' Jess Kowatch on Training the Next and Current Gener...

25/06/2025

SVG College Summit 2025: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG College Summit 2025: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY Tackling the latest in college sports video: NIL, live production, virtual productio...

25/06/2025

ESPN Is Set To Bring AR Graphics to Wimbledon, Revamps Bunker and Studio 18 VO Booths

ESPN Is Set To Bring AR Graphics to Wimbledon, Revamps Bunker and Studio 18 VO B...

24/06/2025

2025 NBA Draft: ABC/ESPN Prepares for Two-Day Draft at Barclays Center

2025 NBA Draft: ABC/ESPN Prepares for Two-Day Draft at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By M...

24/06/2025

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: Google Cloud's Jane Day on the Impact of AI on Sports

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: Google Cloud's Jane Day on the Impact of AI on ...

24/06/2025

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: AWS's Dana LaGattuta on Data-Driven Innovation in Sports

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: AWS's Dana LaGattuta on Data-Driven Innovation ...

24/06/2025

British & Irish Lions Men's Tour: Dublin Opener Sees Sky Sports Take Remote Route

Lions live: Dublin opener sees Sky Sports take remote route By Fergal Ringrose ...

24/06/2025

British & Irish Lions Men's Tour: Pumas Maul Lions as S4C and TG4 Deliver First-Ever Joint Host in Dublin

Pumas maul Lions as S4C and TG4 deliver first-ever joint host in Dublin By Ferg...

24/06/2025

ABC/ESPN Prepares for 2025 NBA Draft, the First at Barclays Center

ABC/ESPN Prepares for 2025 NBA Draft, the First at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By Mark ...

23/06/2025

Adventures in Live Cloud Production: Stories From the Trenches with MLB, NHL, NBC Sports, Warner Bros. Discovery, and AWS

Adventures in Live Cloud Production: Stories From the Trenches with MLB, NHL, NB...

23/06/2025

Finding the Edge: How Badger & Combes Produces Live-Streamed Coverage of County Cricket for LancsTV

Finding the edge: How Badger & Combes produces live-streamed coverage of county ...

23/06/2025

Masters of Madness: New Football Format Shakes Up the Rules of Sportainment

Masters of Madness: New football format shakes up the rules of sportainment By Adrian Pennington Monday, June 16, 2025 - 11:38 Print This Story The ball i...

23/06/2025

New State-of-the-Art Mountain Media Center Launches in Former Starz Encore Building Near Denver

New State-of-the-Art Mountain Media Center Launches in Former Starz Encore Build...

23/06/2025

ESPN Says Goodbye to Seaport Studios, Hello to New State-of-the-Art Production Facility at Disney's 7 Hudson Square

ESPN Says Goodbye to Seaport Studios, Hello to New State-of-the-Art Production F...

20/06/2025

A True Test? Cricket's Growth on the Global Stage and the Role Broadcast Can Play

A True Test? Cricket's Growth on the Global Stage and the Role Broadcast Can...

20/06/2025

Sky Sports Goes Large for the British & Irish Lions Tour with AR Graphics, UHD and a Pop Up Channel

Sky Sports goes large for the British & Irish Lions Tour with AR graphics, UHD a...

20/06/2025

ESPN's Men's College World Series Finals Coverage Combines Innovation, Legacy

ESPN's Men's College World Series Finals Coverage Combines Innovation, L...

19/06/2025

SVG Rewind: PGA Tour Introduces Drone AR Smart Tracing, Reflects on Winning George Wensel Technical Achievement Award

SVG Rewind: PGA Tour Introduces Drone AR Smart Tracing, Reflects on Winning Geor...

18/06/2025

Technology Focus: Fan Expectations Drive Advances in the In-Stadium Experience

Technology focus: Fan expectations drive advances in the in-stadium experience By Jo Ruddock Tuesday, June 3, 2025 - 08:36 Print This Story For years, att...

18/06/2025

Making Connections: How Stadiums Are Meeting the Ever-Growing Demand for Data and Connectivity

Making connections: How stadiums are meeting the ever-growing demand for data an...

18/06/2025

SVG Venues & Teams Summit Keynote: RWS Global Powers the Stadium Environment at 2024 Paris Olympics

SVG Venues & Teams Summit Keynote: RWS Global Powers the Stadium Environment at ...

18/06/2025

SVG Rewind: Behind the Scenes of Producing Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League Victory Parade

SVG Rewind: Behind the Scenes of Producing Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League...

17/06/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mercury Intermedia's Tom Richardson, Mike Ligon on Powering DTC Streams for Teams Reclaiming Media Rights

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mercury Intermedia's Tom Richardson, Mike Ligon o...

17/06/2025

Total Sports Performance from Relo Metrics, VideoAmp, Offers Next-Level Media, Brand Measurement

Total Sports Performance from Relo Metrics, VideoAmp, Offers Next-Level Media, B...

17/06/2025

From Stage to Stream: Producing Live Esports Events in 2025

From Stage to Stream: Producing Live Esports Events in 2025 Leaders from ESL FACEIT Group, Riot Games, and more break down the latest trends By Jason Dachman, ...

17/06/2025

Inside FIFA 2025 Club World Cup Operations With FIFA's Oscar Sanchez, HBS's Stefan Wistuba

Inside FIFA 2025 Club World Cup Operations With FIFA's Oscar Sanchez, HBS...

17/06/2025

Production Ambitions: Over Exposed on Making the National League Promotion Final for DAZN as Spectacular as Possible

Production ambitions: Over Exposed on making the National League Promotion Final...