Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Paris 2024: Inside Look at OBS Plans for 11,000 Hours of Games Coverage

17/07/2024

Paris 2024: Inside Look at OBS Plans for 11,000 Hours of Games Coverage The effort ranges from the largest live-TV effort ever to personal Athlete Moments By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Wednesday, July 17, 2024 - 8:00 am

Print This Story

The Paris Olympics are less than 10 days away, and, for the team at OBS and the thousands of sports-production professionals descending on Paris, it's time to make sure all systems are go for everything from the Opening Ceremony, which will be the largest live-TV effort ever (with more than 1,000 cameras expected to be capturing it), to the 329 events to be played in Paris and beyond.

The Paris 2024 Summer Games Opening Ceremony on July 26 promises to be a showstopper.

OBS expects to produce more than 11,000 hours of content around the Games, with upwards of 4,000 hours of sports and ceremony coverage and 2,350 hours of additional content available to rightsholders via the multi-clip feed (MCF). With 72 native UHD contribution multilateral feeds, 28 MCF feeds, 81 UHD distribution feeds (and 82 HD feeds) produced via 47 production units out of 70 production galleries, the effort is immense and the largest Olympics effort ever.

OBS has three distinct goals for the Paris Games. To capture the distinct city feel of Paris, with iconic locations and landmarks providing a scenic backdrop for broadcast. To use technology for the benefit of storytelling, with increased access to data enabling more-immersive coverage for all distribution platforms and all ways of consuming media. To further push to achieve gender-balanced coverage: for the first time ever, an equal number of men and women will be participating.

At the core of OBS's efforts is an internal staff of approximately 160 representing 28 nationalities. The group will oversee an army of 8,300 OBS games-time personnel from more than 110 countries. The team has relocated from its Madrid headquarters to Paris and has been hard at work setting up the 40,000-sq.-meter International Broadcast Centre in four halls at Paris Le Bourget Exhibition Centre and the 36 venue compounds. The IBC is the center of production efforts and signal acquisition and distribution not only for OBS but also for more than 30 media-rights holders (MRHs) and 100 broadcast organizations, who took possession of spaces there in May. The IBC was operational as of June 26.

OBS continues efforts to reduce the footprint of IBC and venue operations. The Tokyo 2020 footprint, for example, was 23% smaller than the Rio 2016 footprint, and this year's IBC is 13% smaller than Tokyo (space across 36 venue compounds is down 11%). Deployment of OBS Cloud has enabled significant reductions in physical-space and power requirements. As a result, Paris 2024 saves space and infrastructure and, with certain venue optimizations, offers additional opportunities for ticket sales.

Numbering 160 people, the internal OBS team will be at the center of production and technical operations for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

In addition, new workflows, along with the introduction of more remote-production options, have helped MRHs reduce resources and personnel requirements without lessening the quality of the OBS coverage or services to the MRHs.

Efforts to reduce power demand have also worked. Olympic Committee-provided power will be down 44% from Tokyo, and venue broadcast power will be down 29%.

While OBS has been hard at work building out the IBC and other facilities around Paris, it has been gathering plenty of pre-Games content, including aerial footage and Paris landmarks. This footage was made available for the MRHs to use in their promotional programming.

A Historic Opening Ceremony Four customized camera boats will help cover a unique Opening Ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Next week's Opening Ceremony will be the first ever to be held outside of a stadium. The parade of athletes will take place on the Seine, with 200 Olympic teams transported more than 3.5 miles on more than 80 boats. It will be the largest broadcast production at an Olympic Games in terms of broadcast equipment and resources, and new technology and camera systems have been developed (OBS participated in an operational test, organized by Paris 2024, last July). Four custom-made stabilized boats, fitted with specifically designed camera systems will be at the center of the efforts, and 100-plus camera systems (three times the number of cameras used at Tokyo 2020) will include drones, robos, cranes, and cable cams. Also, look for more than 200 mobile phones to be deployed on the athletes' boats.

Extending beyond the IBC, the OBS presence comprises TV-studio facilities in the Place du Trocad ro and stand-up positions across the city. Also, in collaboration with Paris 2024 and French authorities, OBS has developed a provisional production plan for aerial coverage of the Games: up to 12 beauty cameras, highlighting the most iconic images of Paris, are planned to be installed.

Production Philosophy OBS's production efforts are based on the goal of delivering clear, objective coverage of all Olympic sports. International TV and radio signals or world feeds are delivered to rightsholders via the Multi-channel Distribution Service (MDS). At that point, rightsholders complement the feed with their own images, interviews, data, analysis, and commentary.

These guiding principles drive OBS coverage: improve the quality of the production and the level of service to broadcasters; use technology for the benefit of storytelling with more athlete-centric coverage and immersive solutions; make content more accessible and scalable (supporting remote operations and digital production); and increase efficiencies in workflows and tools, allowing OBS to do more with less and in smarter, more cost-efficient ways.

On the delivery and technology side, OBS will
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/07/17/paris-olympic-preview-inside-lo...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

07/05/2026

Convergence is Now Established Reality,' Says NAB 2026 Report

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

Interra Systems to Showcase Best in Class QC Monitoring a...

At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...

07/05/2026

PlayBox Neo shines a spotlight on delivering Secure Scala...

At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...

07/05/2026

BFBS selects Synamedia to deliver New Digital Platform fo...

Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...

07/05/2026

Amagi Unlocks New Opportunities for CTV Performance with...

Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...

07/05/2026

Lightware Introduces Rack Taurus For Clean Centralized AV...

Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...

07/05/2026

Jigsaw24 Showcases End-to-End Media Workflows at MPTS 202...

Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...

07/05/2026

Ease Live Granted US Patent for Technology Powering Perfe...

Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...

07/05/2026

Leader prepares advanced Test and Measurement showcase fo...

Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...

07/05/2026

LiveU Signals a New Era of Live Broadcasting at Broadcast...

At Broadcast Asia 2026 (Stand 5H3 8), LiveU is redefining live production with its most powerful IP-video EcoSystem to date built to help broadcasters and con...

07/05/2026

CNN Founder Ted Turner Dies at 87

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

FCC Urges Appeals Court to Toss Challenges to Nexstar-Tegna Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

Carr Announces FCC Staff Promotions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/05/2026

Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects

Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects Graham Quince May 6, 2026 0 Comments The Time Tunnel from Doctor Who titles is one of th...

07/05/2026

Linked and Loaded: Gaijin Single Sign-On Now Available on GeForce NOW

Less typing, more tanking. Faster logins mean more time in the gaming action - and this week provides GeForce NOW members with a smoother path straight into th...

06/05/2026

Wisycom RF Solutions Support Gravity Medias Live Cycling and Marathon Broadcasts

Gravity Media Chief RF Communications Engineer Glenn Willems uses Wisycom RF over Fiber and wireless solutions across major cycling events and international mar...

06/05/2026

Sennheiser Spectera Module Now Available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons

A Sennheiser Spectera module is now available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons, enabling direct integration of Spectera with the two software platforms. The mo...

06/05/2026

Ted Turner, Cable Television Pioneer, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer, Dead at 87

Ted Turner, the visionary media entrepreneur whose appetite for disruption helpe...

06/05/2026

FIFA World Cup 2026: Peacock Launches Visin de Campo (aka Pitchside Live), Will Stream All 104 Matches in Spanish

Peacock is going all-in on the beautiful game - streaming all 104 FIFA World Cup...

06/05/2026

L3Harris to Boost Polish Navy Combat Power with Advanced Ship System

Polands Miecznik-class frigates are part of the largest contract in Polish shipbuilding history. (Image Credit: PGZ Stocznia Wojenna)...

06/05/2026

FCC's Anna Gomez Urges Rigorous Review of Paramount-WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Riedel Ups Marc Engroff to CFO, Shifts Frank Eischet to Group COO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Amagi Launches In-Content Ads' to Attract More CTV Advertisers

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Riedel Expands Leadership Structure Appoints Marc Engroff...

Riedel Communications today announced the expansion of its leadership structure as part of a strategic initiative to strengthen both its operational management ...

06/05/2026

Production Sound Mixer Dirk Sciarrotta Delivers Camera Re...

For nearly three decades, Veteran Production Sound Mixer and Five-time Emmy Award Winner Dirk Sciarrotta has helped define the sonic identity of the long-runnin...

06/05/2026

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore: Cinema Lens Looks for Compositing

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore: Cinema Lens Looks for Compositing Brie Clayton May 6, 2026 0 Comments ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a nove...

06/05/2026

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live Action for Gravity Media

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live Action for Gravity Med...

06/05/2026

NAB Launches Weekly Podcast on Local Broadcast Policy

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Mavis Launches Mavis Studio iPad For Media Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Narrative Entertainment partners with Encompass to provid...

Narrative Entertainment has partnered with Encompass to deliver high-quality subtitling of its Great! network content using the Altitude Intelligence AI assiste...

06/05/2026

SipRadius extends its seamless creation and connectivity...

SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, is proud to launch a dramatic new approach to AI content creati...

06/05/2026

Big Blue Marble at ANGA COM - TV as a Service in the spot...

When the broadband and media industry gathers at ANGA COM in Cologne from May 19 to 21, Big Blue Marble will be at the forefront. The international broadcast an...

06/05/2026

Cinegy makes its MPTS debut with software-defined televis...

Cinegy GmbH, a leading developer of software-defined television technology, is proud to exhibit at MPTS for the first time. Visitors to the stand will discover ...

06/05/2026

Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award

Val Jeanty Receives 2026 Doris Duke Artist Award Jeanty, a composer, percussionist, and turntablist, is the fourth Berklee recipient of the prestigious award ...

06/05/2026

Zeiss Launches CinCraft LensCore

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Gomez Urges Rigorous FCC Review of Paramount-WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/05/2026

Wisycom Solves Extreme RF Challenges Across Miles of Live...

When live cycling races and international marathons stretch for miles across cities and countryside, there is no margin for RF failure in live broadcast. As Chi...

06/05/2026

ZEISS CinCraft LensCore - Cinema Lens Looks for Compositi...

Oberkochen/Germany, May 5, 2026 ZEISS announces the launch of CinCraft LensCore, a novel solution for creating physically based cinematic lens looks for visual...

06/05/2026

NVIDIA Spectrum-X - the Open, AI-Native Ethernet Fabric - Sets the Standard for Gigascale AI, Now With MRC

The race to build the world's most powerful AI factories demands networking ...

06/05/2026

May 05, 2026

How changes to proteins can alter drug interactions for new precision therapies Scripps Research team maps how chemical modifications to proteins affect drug bi...

05/05/2026

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Phone Cameras Bring New Excitement to Street League Skateboarding

Three phones were hardwired for power and transmission to the truck; camera feat...

05/05/2026

Case Study: How Zaki Rose Rebuilt Its Production Infrastructure, and What It Means for Sports Content Creators

The creative studio behind campaigns for the NBA, Fanatics Sportsbook & Casino, ...

05/05/2026

Nielsen Co-Viewing Pilot Shows Average 4% Viewership Increase for February Live Events

Nielsen has announced results from a co-viewing pilot program covering February&...

05/05/2026

Nippon TV and FOR-A Win NAB Product of the Year and Future Best of Show Awards for viztrick AiDi

viztrick AiDi, an on-device AI solution developed by Nippon TV, delivered global...

05/05/2026

ARRI Introduces Omnibar LED Linear Fixture for Film, Live Entertainment, and Content Creation

ARRI has announced Omnibar, a battery-powered, IP65-rated multi-color LED linear...

05/05/2026

France Tlvisions Becomes First Broadcaster to Deploy Imagine Communications SNP-XS

Imagine Communications has announced that France T l visions is the first broadc...

05/05/2026

WNBA Announces Historic Canadian Media Rights Agreement with Bell Media

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Bell Media today announced a multiyear agreement to broadcast and stream WNBA games in Canada beginni...

05/05/2026

Save the Date: SVG Remote Production Forum Heads to WBD's Techwood Studios in Atlanta on Sept. 23-24

SVG is proud to announce Warner Bros. Discovery's Techwood Studios in Atlant...

05/05/2026

Look Who's Talking: ESPN Integrates New Automated Commentator-ID Technology Into Scorebar Graphic for UFL Coverage

With no operator required, AutoMic workflow automates talent identification on U...

05/05/2026

Return Flight: How Live Broadcast Drones Died - and Were Reborn - on the Ski Slopes of Northern Italy

A crash in 2015 set the industry back, but this winter proved that drones are he...