
FIFA World Cup 2022: Germany's Deutsche Telekom Taps PLAZAMEDIA's XLR Studio By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, November 15, 2022 - 10:31 am
Print This Story
Deutsche Telekom will be the only German World Cup rightsholder to show all 64 matches, and a big part of its efforts will rely on a hybrid World Cup studio at PLAZAMEDIA at the AGROB Medienpark in Ismaning near Munich.
During MagentaTV's coverage, the new XR LED Studio from PLAZAMEDIA will be a central element, combining real-set architecture and physical-media feeds with a digitally generated, virtual extension in a 360 world. Centerpiece of the 350-square-meter studio set, in which four cameras realize the interplay of virtual and real elements in real time, is a 33-meter-wide by 3.5-meter-high curved LED wall. As part of its activities as a production-services provider, PLAZAMEDIA GmbH will be responsible for realizing all matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on six channels in UHD and HD, as well as signal supervision for the entire inside production on 23 live game days and 29 production days.
PLAZAMEDIA XR LED Studio for the MagentaTV's coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup sets new standards for productions with emotional storytelling.
The production for Deutsche Telekom's MagentaTV will take place on PLAZAMEDIA's studio premises in Ismaning with an appropriate safety and hygiene concept on 2,600 square meters with six playout channels, the World Cup main studio, and a complete inside-production environment with uninterruptible power supply to provide the major soccer event live and on demand with innovative technology and in best quality - for the first time also in UHD HDR. The 690-square-meter main studio with its state-of-the-art features - including an LED wall from Europe-based Alfalite, augmented reality, and virtual graphics - is creating a completely new experience, drawing viewers at home and in the studio even closer into the World Cup.
PLAZAMEDIA has chosen an LED wall with extremely high viewing-angle stability and a fine pixel pitch of 1.9 mm paired with the Unreal Engine from Epic Games as the real-time render engine. The Unreal Engine contains the digital model of Doha Bay in Qatar: day times, swell of water, and special effects can be changed at any time at one click. The studio ceiling is replaced with an augmented-reality starry sky for the viewer at home.
This is made possible by seamless integration of the Unreal Engine with Vizrt's Viz Engine used for the AR environment. Combining the Unreal Engine 5 and the Viz Engine 5 offers workflow advantages for use in the World Cup studio, which are fully exploited by PLAZAMEDIA's technology and graphics team. To ensure that all camera movements are transferred to the virtual world, the position of the four studio cameras is constantly tracked and the data transferred to the render engines using Mo-Sys Startracker and Mo-Sys bMRo systems.
The 2022 World Cup is the perfect occasion for the use of PLAZAMEDIA's new Extended Reality (XR) LED Studio, which will offer a wide range of possibilities for novel and sustainably realized productions in the future. According to Jens Friedrichs, chairman, Management Board, PLAZAMEDIA GmbH, the company is seizing this opportunity to launch its XR LED studio for creating completely new possibilities in studio productions in Munich.
On the one hand, regarding state-of-the-art productions combining real and virtual elements and, on the other hand, regarding environmental sustainability, he explains, we would like to thank Deutsche Telekom for their great trust and the other service providers involved, such as thinXpool, for their excellent cooperation on this World Cup project.
MagentaTV is the only provider in Germany to show all 64 World Cup matches - and in UHD via MagentaTV receivers (Media Receiver, MagentaTV One, MagentaTV Stick). Sixteen of the matches will be shown exclusively on Telekom's TV service, and eight conferences will also be broadcast for the first time.
The World Cup content is covered in all MagentaTV rates for existing and new customers and is available both live and on demand. MagentaTV will broadcast up to 14 hours of programming daily, plus a conference for parallel matches. Telekom will show the World Cup on MagentaTV on three channels, FOOTBALL.TV 1-3. On the first channel, the matches will be available in classic form with commentary. On the second, a special tactics feed will be offered for selected matches with a camera perspective from the long shot and its own tactics commentary. On the third channel, linear TV and social media are combined. Soccer influencers Pascal and Marcel Gurk welcome guests to the social-media studio every day and will follow the matches with them as a reaction stream. On Final Group match days with parallel matches, a conference option will also be available.
PLAZAMEDIA has been working as a cooperation partner for Telekom since August 2019, realizing more than 1,500 live productions per season for linear TV and online/OTT offerings as part of the MagentaSport offering, including from the PENNY DEL, the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga, the German soccer 3rd League, and the FLYERALARM Women's Bundesliga in soccer. Last year, PLAZAMEDIA staged the European Soccer Championship as a production-services provider for Deutsche Telekom.
More from Sports Video Group
18/07/2025
Live from the 153rd Open Championship: SMT Enhances Video Board Experience; Enab...
18/07/2025
ShotTracker's Davyeon Ross on Revolutionizing Basketball On the Court and ...
18/07/2025
Home Pitch: How the Danish League Brought Its Live Match Production In-House Matchday Production produced 800+ matches across Denmark in its first year By Geor...
18/07/2025
Live From the 153rd Open Championship: EMG Debuts Spidercam for Golf, Expands Su...
18/07/2025
Usyk vs Dubois II: Bringing the fight to life with state of the art cameras and ...
18/07/2025
Usyk vs Dubois II: DAZN's head of boxing Chris Glanville talks helicopters, ...
18/07/2025
Live From the 153rd Open Championship: NBC Expands Unilateral Effort; Shared Stu...
18/07/2025
Warner Bros. Discovery's Anne Graham on Training New Professionals to Ensure...
18/07/2025
Live From the 153rd Open Championship: How R&A Spidercam Became a Reality for Go...
18/07/2025
ESPN Bulks Up Onsite Studios, Cameras, Player Mics for WNBA All-Star Weekend Besides the game, four studio shows will be produced onsite By Jason Dachman, Edit...
17/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: OpenDrives' Sean Lee, Michael Wilsker, and Jason Matousek on E...
17/07/2025
Oracle's Geoff Tognetti on Staying Ahead of the AI Curve Through Further Ado...
17/07/2025
NBA's Summer League Is a Hot Bed of AI, Immersive Innovation Testing Audio mixing, intelligent camera framing are among AI-driven efforts By Ken Kerschbaum...
17/07/2025
SVG's TranSPORT Conference Returns to NYC on Oct. 21; Register Today! By SVG Staff
Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 8:29 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
St...
17/07/2025
Gravity Media chosen as group name for merged OB business By George Bevir
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 - 11:30
Print This Story
Gravity Media executive chairm...
17/07/2025
SES Closes Deal to Acquire Intelsat, Creating New Giant in Satellite Connectivit...
17/07/2025
How MLB Pulled Off That Unforgettable Hank Aaron Tribute at the All-Star Game Vintage content, state-of-the-art projection/processing combine in marvelous mile...
16/07/2025
Deltatre Acquires Endeavor Streaming in Major Streaming Industry Move The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025 By Brandon Costa, Direc...
16/07/2025
SVG Regional Sports Production Summit 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch ...
15/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: FOX Sports Aims To Capture Chatty Players on the Fi...
15/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: From Live Event Coverage to Studio Shows, MLB Netwo...
15/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: FOX Sports' Francisco Contreras and Tom Lynch o...
15/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star: FOX Sports' Production Is Bigger Than Ever in Steamy...
15/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star: FOX Sports Director Matt Gangl and Producer Pete Machesk...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN Preps for Home Run Derby Broadcast While Produ...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN Operations on Supporting Monday's Home Run...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN's Home Run Derby: Statcast Edition' T...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN Producer Scott Matthews Goes Inside the Home R...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: ESPN's Phil Orlins on Adding Live Drone AR Smar...
14/07/2025
Sony's New Coach's Headset Was Designed in Collaboration With the NFL Featuring a custom dynamic boom mic, the headset will debut in the fall By Dan Da...
14/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network's Marc Caiafa and Tom Guidice on th...
13/07/2025
Live From MLB All-Star 2025: MLB Network Marks Five Straight Years of Onsite MLB...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...
10/07/2025
Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...
10/07/2025
FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...
10/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...
09/07/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment, ViewLift Unveil Broadcast/Streaming Joint Ven...
09/07/2025
SVG Europe Audio State of Wireless Mics Forum: If we lose the spectrum, it...
09/07/2025
Tech Focus: Athlete Audio - Venues Provide Sound Just for the Players From locker room to field of play, personalized systems help rev up the athletes By Dan D...
08/07/2025
Groundbreaking Gamecocks: Inside University of South Carolina's Four-Control...
08/07/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment's Samantha Brady on the Power of the RSN...
08/07/2025
Live From 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: FIFA, HBS Focus on Tournament Wrap, With an ...