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
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
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
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
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 
