Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

International Sports Broadcasting Brings 2023 World Para Athletics and Swimming Championships to the World Stage In Run Up to Paris 2024

01/08/2023

International Sports Broadcasting brings 2023 World Para Athletics and Swimming Championships to the world stage in run up to Paris 2024 By Heather McLean

Thursday, July 27, 2023 - 09:00

Print This Story

International Sports Broadcasting (ISB) was the host broadcaster on behalf of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, which took place from 8 to 17 July in Paris Florent Pervill

Madrid-based International Sports Broadcasting (ISB) was the host broadcaster on behalf of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, which took place from 8 to 17 July in Paris. This is set to be swiftly followed by the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester which will begin with a splash on 31 July, running to 6 August, with ISB at the helm once again.

For the athletes, the Athletics and Swimming Championships represent a final hurdle to the Paralympics in Paris next year. ISB produced around eight hours of live coverage per day over the course of the World Para Athletics Championships, with ENG teams also producing additional content for the IPC's use. There was also a daily 26 minute highlights show.

A similar output is expected for the upcoming Para Swimming World Championships, both of which have and will be produced in the same ethos from ISB; to showcase the events, tell the stories of the athletes, and increase viewership of the vast array of para sports.

Greg Breakell, director at ISB, notes that in his role he finds it important to not focus the cameras on the disabilities of the competitors, but on the way they are overcoming challenges on the track or pool in order to engage viewers at home and enable them to relate to what they are seeing on screen Florent Pervill

Complex directing process

Para sport lends itself to a far more complex process for directors, according to Greg Breakell, director at ISB and for both these two events. On growing the viewership for para sports, Breakell says: We've all spent a great deal of time in our careers working various para and disabled events and they're special in themselves, but with the IPC, we've had discussions many times on many evenings, at many events, about how do we reach the world and let everybody see how special these athletes are and the stories that each individual has? And it's always been a challenge.

The goal has always been how do we bring the world's eyeballs outside of the families and friends of these athletes, to be able to watch these compelling competitions and stories, but also identify with the athletes? One point is, they don't want to be special. They're humans, like any of the rest of us, but that happen to have a disability, whatever that may be. So it's a real challenge in telling the story and getting that message across.

So it's not just pictures, it's not just sound, it's not just compassion telling the stories, all the things we normally try to do, but it's being very aware of the type of humans, individuals that we're dealing with

He notes that as a director, he finds it important to not focus the cameras on the disabilities of the competitors, but on the way they are overcoming challenges on the track or pool in order to engage viewers at home and enable them to relate to what they are seeing on screen.

Breakell explains: In the back of my mind when I'm cutting pictures, I'm trying to make sure that the viewer is not uncomfortable with what they're seeing. It's no different than the philosophy in able-bodied sports when there's an injury, how tight do you get? How much blood do you need to see? There's that same uncomfortable level to it. For my job as a director, it's not only about covering the competition, but to tell the stories.

The ISB crew for the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, which took place from 8 to 17 July in Paris

Getting the right angles

Breakell says this telling of stories in a para competition means he has to consider the equipment being used to capture the images more closely than for an able-bodied event. He says: When it comes to equipment, even, what angles do we shoot this at? Our Agito buggy is low because we want to look into [the athletes'] faces. We all know the emotion is on the face, so we don't want to be shooting everything from up high. So the buggy is low, our steadicams, the equipment is rigged to the low position. Most steadicam operators you'll see in able-bodied sports, the lens is somewhere [up high]. We rig our lens down low so that we are looking into the eyes [of athletes in wheelchairs and the like]. It's about respect for these people. We're not looking down on them. We want to be on the same level. The philosophy of television is the same you want to look into your eyes, we don't want to look on top of your head so that doesn't change, but it does challenge us in some ways.

He continues: There's no question that not only are you meeting the broadcast expectations of normal sports coverage, but there's much more to be taken into consideration. You really need to be aware, with even things as simple as your camera operators being aware of prosthetics on the field of play; a steadicam operator normally, in able-bodied sports, pretty much moves within the guidelines of whatever you've discussed with the league or the committee or whatever. They know not only are they free to move, but the athlete will step out of the way if necessary. That's not always the case in para sports.

And then you have to take into consideration on top of that all the different classifications, continues Breakell, on the overall complexities of working on a para production. Some of the classifications for the hearing im
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/international-sports-broadcas...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

12/08/2026

LPTV Advocates Petition FCC for Voluntary 5G Broadcasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Tubi Media Group Inks Content Discovery Deal with Gracenote

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Matrox Video Showcases IP-Based and Software-Defined Tech...

As Matrox Video celebrates 50 years of trusted innovation, the company will showcase its portfolio of interoperable IP technologies and software-defined innovat...

12/08/2026

SMPTE Showcases AI and Open Media Workflows and Industry...

SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced a program of expert-led sessions, professional workshops and networking eve...

12/08/2026

Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next to Fenway Park

Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next ...

12/08/2026

ACLU Requests ABC Station Probe Documents from FCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Roger Keating To Retire from Hearst Television

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Netflix Closes U.S. Upfronts, Nearly Doubles Ad Commitments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

CBS Pittsburgh Debuts New AR/VR News Studio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Matthews Intros T-Go Extreme Rigging Solutions

Matthews Studio Equipment introduces T-Go Mounting Solutions extreme camera rigging systems, engineered for the most demanding environments in motion picture pr...

12/08/2026

Anton Bauers EDEN Becomes Only Mobile Power Station in it...

Anton/Bauer, a Videndum brand and the industry leader in mobile power solutions for broadcast and cinematic production, announces that the EDEN Mobile Power Sta...

12/08/2026

TAG Video Systems Cuts Hardware Costs for Customers with...

TAG Video Systems, the global leader in software-based IP monitoring and multiviewer solutions, today announced a memory usage optimization that lowers the tota...

12/08/2026

Unified Streaming Launches Trusted Media - C2PA in Dynami...

Unified Streaming announces Trusted Media, a new solution that enables broadcasters, streaming platforms, and premium content owners to attach verifiable authen...

12/08/2026

Tedial Powers the AI-Driven Media Supply Chain at IBC 202...

Combining intelligent automation, composable business services and user-centric experiences The media industry is entering a new phase where AI intelligence is...

12/08/2026

DPA Microphones Appoints Raul Contreras as West Coast Reg...

DPA Microphones welcomes Raul Contreras as its new West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In this role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships thro...

12/08/2026

Weather is Not a Factor for Marshall Electronics New CV57...

Marshall Electronics' first all-weather, all-IP 4K POV camera, the CV574-WP, makes its European debut at IBC 2026 (Stand 10.C11). Built for the elements, th...

12/08/2026

A double off-switch helps cells respond to stress

LA JOLLA, CA-Scientists at Scripps Research have discovered that two seemingly unrelated cellular enzymes become locked together during times of stress, simulta...

12/08/2026

NVIDIA CEO Tops Glassdoor's 2026 List of Best CEOs

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang is ranked No. 1 on Glassdoor's Best CEOs list for 2026. In the just-released ranking, recognition is earned directly fr...

11/08/2026

Apple To Bring Friday Night Baseball Live to Apple Immersive on Vision Pro Beginning Aug. 28

Weekly immersive broadcasts will feature 8K 3D video, a 180-degree field of view...

11/08/2026

Looking for a New Cameraperson? ProductionHUB Guide Lays Out Considerations, Pitfalls

By Briana Brady, Social Media Manager, Production Hub Sports content is having ...

11/08/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Backlight CEO Kathleen Barrett on Building Media Infrastructure for a Global, AI-Driven Sports Landscape

She addresses why media organizations need more than asset storage, how sports t...

11/08/2026

FloSports Dennis LeMire on Implementing Cloud-Based Workflows on Lower Tier Sports

Remote commentary has improved significantly on these broadcasts At a clip of ...

11/08/2026

Miami HEAT's Revamped IP-Based Control Room Coordinates Workflows With Meinberg Intelligent Modular Synchronization System

A pair of LANTIME IMS M2000 PTP Grandmasters deliver resilient timing infrastruc...

11/08/2026

LTN Expands Live Event Master Control Capabilities for Sports Organizations

LTN has announced expanded capabilities for its Live Event Master Control offering, providing sports broadcasters, leagues, rights holders, and content owners w...

11/08/2026

WTA Ventures Appoints IMG as Managed Production Services Partner

WTA Ventures has appointed IMG as its managed production services partner in a multi-year agreement commencing with the 2027 season. The partnership is the late...

11/08/2026

New York Jets and CBS New York Extend Multi-Year Partnership

The New York Jets and CBS New York have agreed to a multi-year extension of their partnership, keeping CBS New York as the official broadcast home of the team. ...

11/08/2026

Nielsen Acquires DoubleVerify to Create New Combined Media Intelligence Platform

Nielsen Holdings and DoubleVerify have announced a definitive agreement under which Nielsen will acquire DoubleVerify in an all-cash transaction with an enterpr...

11/08/2026

AES Elects David v.R. Bowles as President-Elect for 2027, Unveils Other Election Results

The Audio Engineering Society has announced the results of its 2026 Board of Dir...

11/08/2026

SVG Sit-Down Creator Sports Network's Barrick Prince on Building the Next Layer of the Live-Sports Rights Stack

The CSN co-founder details its network and affiliate' model, how creator wi...

11/08/2026

Gravity Media Providing Host Broadcast Operations for Esports World Cup 2026

Gravity Media is providing host broadcast operations for the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026, supporting ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) in delivering the tournament to glo...

11/08/2026

TAG Video Systems Reduces Memory Requirements for Compressed Workflows

TAG Video Systems has released a memory usage optimization for its MCM software that reduces the cost per channel by up to two-thirds for compressed workflows. ...

11/08/2026

SMT Expands LED Production and Scoring Services at 2026 Cincinnati Open

SMT is expanding its technology partnership with the Cincinnati Open this year, adding new LED displays, production capabilities, and fan-facing experiences at ...

11/08/2026

Pac-12 to Stream Fall Olympic Sports Home Events Free on YouTube

The Pac-12 has announced that home Olympic sports broadcasts throughout the fall season will be available free on the conference's YouTube channel at youtub...

11/08/2026

Case Study: Real Life Network Taps LiveU for Broadcast-Grade Streaming

Spreading a message of faith requires both widespread accessibility and uncompromising visual quality. Real Life Network (RLN), a free, faith-based digital stre...

11/08/2026

Tennessee Titans' New Nissan Stadium Will Live Up to Its Music City Location

Taking the synergy of sports and entertainment a step further, the NFL venue in Nashville will house iterations of two iconic music clubs The marriage of Taylo...

11/08/2026

The Crow Hill Company introduce Pocket Strings

Free library captures pro classical string section There's no shortage of freebies in The Crow Hill Company's line-up, with their Vaults series offe...

11/08/2026

Emergence Audio unveil Envoy

Percussion instrument introduces all-new engine Emergence Audio have just introduced a instrument that brings together a vast collection of percussive analo...

11/08/2026

Boris FX reveal Sequoia 2026.5

Introduces new all-in-one Spatial Panner tool Boris FX have recently announced the latest major update for their mastering and broadcast-focused DAW softwar...

11/08/2026

Rohde & Schwarz installs millimeter wave security scanners at Airports of Thailand (AOT) Airports

Rohde & Schwarz installs millimeter wave security scanners at Airports of Thaila...

11/08/2026

Dolby Acquires VVC Patents From Florida Atlantic University

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/08/2026

Alyson Stewart Joins Zixi as Senior Director, Sales

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/08/2026

FCC Issues Alert Over Scammers Impersonating Its Commissioners

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/08/2026

Comcast, Disney Ink Deal to End NFL Network Blackout

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/08/2026

farmerswife and Cirkus are Exhibiting at IBC 2026

farmerswife and Cirkus will return to IBC 2026 to showcase new tools designed to help broadcast, media and post-production teams manage workflows with greater s...

11/08/2026

LiveU Powers Cross-Venue Coverage of Glasgow Commonwealth...

LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit played a central role in the host broadcast operation for the Games in Glasgow (July 23 to August 2, 2026). The host b...

11/08/2026

Jigsaw24 Appoints James Morse as Client Director to Drive...

Jigsaw24 has appointed James Morse as Client Director, Media Sales, as it deepens its focus on sports, live events and integrated production. His appointment co...

11/08/2026

Net Insight enables one of Europes largest broadcast grad...

Net Insight today announced that DMC Production Norway has selected its Open Live Media solution to centralize the production of Blinkfestivalen 2026. Combining...