Tokyo Olympics: OBS Chief Content Officer Mark Wallace on Storytelling Technology By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Wednesday, July 21, 2021 - 12:06 pm
Print This Story
SVG's coverage of the production of the Tokyo Olympics begins in earnest this week and we kick things off with a series of OBS executive interviews that have been provided by OBS to the media (our team will be on site next week and will interview them in the coming weeks). Below is an interview with OBS Chief Content Officer Mark Wallace.
OBS Chief Content Officer Mark Wallace says more than 1,000 cameras will be used to tell the stories of the Tokyo Olympics.
In this role, Wallace oversees the organization's broad cast and digital coverage at all competition venues and the Ceremonies, as well as the development of pre-Games and in-Games content. Mark also oversees on-screen graphics, archives and all the Games-time content delivery solutions such as the Multi Clip Feeds, Multi-channel Distribution Service, Digital Content Solutions, Content+, immersive media, and the Olympic Channel News. With nearly 30 years of experience working in media, Mark has specialized in the executive planning and management of major sport events, including five Olympic Games, the UEFA European Football Championships and the Rugby World Cup.
What is the scale of OBS's broadcast produc tion at Games-time?
OBS employs about 8,100 broadcast profes sionals, and the core of our operation is the live sports coverage from each competition venue. We bring in the best venue production teams that the world has to offer to produce that action and I have a group of producers who oversee the various sports and ensure the coverage of every sport is consistent and is of Olympic quality, which is an industry leading standard. We will use a total of 1,049 camera systems for the broadcast of the Tokyo 2020 Games of which more than 210 are slow-motion cameras. We will also have no less than 11 four-point cablecam systems in place, as well as a broad range of other specialty equipment.
Aside from what we see on television, what else does OBS deliver?
We now have other feeds coming out from some of the venues, notably the Multi Clip Feeds (MCFs) which run simultaneously with the main coverage and offer unseen angles from point-of-view (POV) and super slo-motion cameras, and all our specialty systems. They help RHBs tailor their own programming with enhanced analysis. There will be 75 multilateral feeds and 28 MCFs coming from the venues in Tokyo, which represents a huge amount of content distributed to the RHBs through a 48-channel VandA package and an additional 28-channel VandA+ package. For the first time, we have native UHD HDR production, with 68 multilaterals distributed in a specific VandA package consisting of 44 channels.
Who are the venue production teams respon sible for executing the OBS production plan?
To execute our coverage plan, we bring in expert venue production teams with extensive knowledge of the sport. These teams are either freelance professionals or come from broad casters who are our RHBs. Notable examples are NBC, the US rights holders who will provide expertise in Golf, Sky New Zealand for Rugby Sevens, China Media Group for Table Tennis, Badminton, Gymnastics and Sport Climbing, and Japanese broadcaster NHK who will assist with Judo and Karate. We work with these teams to place the cameras and micro phones, to adjust the lighting, so as to ensure the coverage will be of a very high standard. As one of the industry leaders, Japan provides a high level of local expertise, so in total nine venue production teams are from Japa
What innovations has OBS made since Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018?
The continued expansion of the MCFs is a response to RHB requests. For Tokyo 2020, most of the sports will have a MCF. The RHBs will be using these in their studio for analysis and for making music clips and transitions.
In selected sports, we will also be delivering multi-camera replays where the image freezes, and the viewer moves around the action. We have utilized these before, but never as exten sively as we will in Tokyo. Such production enhancements are ideal for analysis because you can now see something on the multilateral feed that you couldn't before. For example, we can freeze the athlete in mid-air and see the exact body shape of the athlete. It has a definite wow factor.
We will also be employing Intel's TrueView system in Basketball which can utilize virtual cameras to allow the viewer to move into the venue and make if feel like being on the field of play and part of the action, alongside their favorite athletes. This will enable better story telling as replays will have more angles and then of course there will be more data for viewers to access than ever before. We will capture more data on the athletes' performance, so the viewers will have access to additional informa tion, enabling them to have a more complete understanding of the action.
We are also excited to partner with Intel and Alibaba to bring the next era of technology by enhancing the viewing experience for the Athletics sprint races. Relying on 3D Athlete Tracking technology, we will be able to reveal never-before seen insights into athletes' velocity and acceleration, and how they perform against each other. The technology can convert that data into visual overlays which can be broadcast over replays, providing commentators with a great tool for analysis and further fan engagement.
There is a unique phenomenon with the tele vision audience for an Olympic Games. Many are what I would call the Olympic viewer. They are someone who doesn't usually watch a lot of sport and they decide they want to watch the Olympics because of the storytelling, narrative, and personalities. Our job is to entertain, inform and educ
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...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
12/05/2026
CVP, one of Europe's leading suppliers of professional video and broadcast solutions, has appointed Randy Koeman as Sales Manager, Netherlands, marking anot...
12/05/2026
Taiwan Television has expanded its HD content ingest workflow capabilities by investing in the PlayBox Neo Suite - a leading multi-channel multi-server UHD/HD/S...
12/05/2026
Jigsaw24 is strengthening its media team with the appointment of Tom Laker as Client Director and Ashish Chauhan as Project Manager. These strategic hires bring...
12/05/2026
Broadcast playout leader showcases hybrid IP infrastructure and workflow automation with Videoland deployment as regional benchmark...
12/05/2026
dzjinius, the all-in-one production management platform for the media and entertainment industry, will showcase its centralised approach to production workflows...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
NUGEN Audio will debut Version 1.1 of DialogCheck, its intelligent dialog intelligibility and compliance tool, at the 2026 Media Production & Technology Show (S...
12/05/2026
The reactive visuals can adapt to any stage or screen setup and comprise 50 layers of Notch content
Today, Disguise announced that its high performance GX 3 m...
12/05/2026
Snapgrid , Snapbag & Airglow Expand Creative Control for the ARRI Modular LED BarFollowing the launch of the ARRI Omnibar, DoPchoice introduces a dedicated li...
12/05/2026
May 12th, 2026 Press Materials Available Here
TRIBECA FESTIVAL UNVEILS 2026 GAMES PROGRAM
Tribeca Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary With World Premieres and Pl...
12/05/2026
May 12th, 2026 Press Materials Available Here
MADONNA BRINGS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CONFESSIONS II TO 2026 TRIBECA FESTIVAL
The Global Icon Will Unveil a Cine...
12/05/2026
Customer demand for data continues to grow in the first quarter of 2026 at Magya...
Tokyo Olympics: OBS Chief Content Officer Mark Wallace on Storytelling Technology By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
