Live from PyeongChang: Eurosports Massive Production Effort Takes Flight By Philip Stevens, SVG Europe
Saturday, February 10, 2018 - 1:15 am
Print This Story
Last night's opening ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics officially opened a new era for the delivery of Olympic content throughout Europe as Eurosport, the pan European sports channel, begins an ambitious production that will have the Discovery-owned channel delivering the Olympics to nearly 50 nations in 42 languages.
We are the first to hold all the rights for Europe, says John Honeycutt, Discovery, Chief Technology Officer. We are talking about broadcasting in 42 languages. In itself, that makes the whole project incredibly, how shall we say, interesting! But our team is up for it.
Eurosport's Broadcast Operations Center at the IBC is the nerve center for the channel's coverage of the Games.
The Eurosport facilities at the IBC are a beehive of activity today. There are production teams focused not only on the content that will be delivered across all of our Europe but also dedicated teams for a number of nations that will create more nation-specific content. And the efforts extend back to Europe as well, both to Eurosport's facility in Paris and beyond. Eurosport has around 900 personnel in South Korea, while a further 1275 will be working on the Games content at various production sites around Europe.
We are integrating across 10 production centers throughout Europe, says Honeycutt. When you are servicing so many sites, the scale produces an exciting level of challenge. But this is what Eurosport's business has been about for 30 years.
The estimated customer reach is in excess of 700 million and every minute of the Olympics will be shown on Eurosport Player - the broadcaster's core digital streaming service. However, to ensure the widest possible audience has access to the various sports, Discovery will also distribute a minimum of 200 hours of the Olympic Games and 100 hours of the Olympic Winter Games across European free-to-air broadcasters. This will be delivered by more than 30 partnerships with the biggest and best free-to-air national broadcasters.
NOS in the Netherlands, Rai in Italy, ARD and ZDF in Germany, RTE in Ireland and others across much of Eastern Europe have inked deals with Eurosport. It separately struck a long-term deal with the BBC, which already had the rights to a number of Games. Discovery will air the exclusive rights in a number of major markets where it has a free-to-air presence, including in Spain via its D-Max channel, and across parts of Scandinavia.
The Eurosport team has been on site in PyeongChang for months and one of the keys was establishing a relationship with OBS, the host broadcaster for the games.
We are absolutely thrilled with the performance and professionalism of OBS, says Simon Farnsworth, Discovery Executive Vice President, European and Sports Technology. They are providing an enormous number of services out here.
In part, that success is down to the amount of work that has been carried out prior to equipment being shipped to PyeongChang. In all, seven sea freight containers moved the equipment, all of which was pre-wired prior to shipping.
There are over 85 racks of equipment that have been installed in the IBC, reveals Farnsworth. All that equipment has been provided by NEP. That company has been a fantastic long-term partner for us and has the scale to help us do what we need to do.
The sheer scale of providing broadcasts across most of Europe and Scandinavia is not without its challenges. Farnsworth adds that the audio matrix is the most complex document he has ever seen.
You don't need a PhD in astrophysics, you need a professorship, he says. The audio engineers have done an outstanding job pulling this together because it is seriously complicated.
Eurosport Norway has a dedicated production control room to tailor content for Norwegian fans.
The Eurosport presence at the IBC extends to the roof, where Eurosport Norway and Sweden have studios overlooking the mountains, and the venues where cameras in mixed-zone, announce, and commentary positions help provide more personalized coverage.
Plus, of course, there will be studios at some of the venues, says Farnsworth.
Venue operations will also benefit from what Eurosport calls the Radical Van, a mobile studio that can be driven from one venue to the next and give production teams a chance to get closer to the fans or interview athletes.
It's a unique van that has gained a great deal of attention for both social media use and traditional TV, says Honeycutt. It adds to our ability to tell the story a little bit differently from the way it might have been told in the past.
Making the van a reality took some negotiating with OBS and the IOC but concerns about things like security were overcome.
We overcame the obstacles and are really excited about the potential, says Honeycutt.
In addition to the studio-based production, Eurosport will have 60 ENG crews collecting content from around the Games. Editing will be carried out both in South Korea and at various European facilities. Twenty edit suits will be used on location with a total of one Petabyte of storage being available.
The concept of remote production, whereby the production team is physically removed from the studio or venue, is an ongoing trend the world over and Eurosport is no exception.
We will also be carrying out remote production, both from the IBC and right back at European sites, reveals Farnsworth. The overarching control system - the IP-based Virtual Studio Manager (VSM) - means anyone in any location can select any piece of video and any piece of audio and talk to any commentary position at any time. In Europe that will operate over four 10 Gigabit circuits.
Eurosport also
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
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
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...
Live from PyeongChang: Eurosports Massive Production Effort Takes Flight By Philip Stevens, SVG Europe 
