Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

WAFU Cup of Nations live from Senegal

09/05/2023

The 2019 West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup of Nations is currently in full swing in Thi s, Senegal, and Broadcast Rental is working closely with Fox Sports to bring live action from every day of the tournament to Africa and beyond.

This biannual event for West African countries, running from 28 September to 13 October, is the sixth edition of the WAFU Cup of Nations. The 2010 WAFU Nations Cup (as it was then known) hosted in Nigeria was the first edition of the event, although the tournament was also held in 2002 in Ivory Coast but was cancelled due to civil war in the host country.

The Cup was adopted by ESPN Africa in 2002 to focus on local content. The 2017 edition was the first covered by Fox Sports and was a resounding success, reaching more than 200 million households worldwide for the final with Ghana versus Nigeria.

We needed a set up that's easy to transport in the cargo hold of a commercial aeroplane and it had to be lightweight with a small footprint. Everything we created is based around the size of a pallet; even the production desks our inhouse R&D department.

Fox Sports the Netherlands needed some external help in 2017 to make this complex production work, so it called on Fabriq Media Group to be host broadcaster on its behalf. Fabriq has again produced the event on behalf of Fox Sports the Netherlands this year, making it a co-production.

Henk van Meerkerk, head of production at Fox Sports, spoke to SVG Europe from Senegal where he is currently working on the broadcast for the event. He explained: The WAFU Cup of Nations didn't fit into our regular workload in the Netherlands. So for the second WAFU Cup Of Nations, we again approached Fabriq Media Group for the host broadcast production.

Fabriq Media Group is a company also based in the Netherlands specialised in host broadcast production in sports and events all around the globe. After our successful collaboration in 2017, we decided to continue our relationship for this year's edition in Senegal.

The media output this year is a collaboration between ESPN Africa and Fox Sports the Netherlands (Fox Sports has been rebranded to ESPN in Africa since Disney became owner of the business).

")/>

New flightpack kicking off in SenegalVan Meerkerk commented on Fox Sports and Broadcast Rental's relationship, which has led to a brand new UHD 4K-ready flightpack designed by Broadcast Rental for this kind of challenging event being used in use in Senegal for the first time: Because of the long relationship between Fox Sports the Netherlands and Broadcast Rental, WAFU was a unique opportunity to extend the corporation.

Broadcast Rental built a scalable and lightweight UHD 4K-ready flightpack that can be transported easily on a commercial aeroplane, ideal for a complex production such as the WAFU Cup of Nations in a challenging environment in Senegal, van Meerkerk said.

Fox Sports is producing multi-lateral worldfeed coverage going out to 28 free-to-air broadcasters in Africa and 35 countries worldwide. All 22 football matches from the group stage to the finals will be broadcasted live, with a total of approximately six hours a day of live coverage.

Added van Meerkerk: Alongside the live coverage we're creating scenery shots, highlight packages and social media content on a daily basis.

A crew of 26 people from Holland were flown into Senegal for the live production. Said Martijn Swart, CTO at Broadcast Rental, also on the ground in Senegal: The signal is distributed from the Fox Sports Playout in Hilversum, the Netherlands, to the rest of the world.

Swart commented on the new flightpack: We've built our flight pack based on traditional' HD-SDI; the Ross Ultrix matrix together with Axon Cerebrum control surface is at the heart of the system. We've chosen to use IP in some of the key aspects of the set up, such as our RTS Odin Intercom, tally, KVM extension and audio.

")/>

Flexibility and portability At the moment the set up is prepared for 16 camera channels, but by adding another flightcase this is easily expanded to 24, continued Swart.

The customer can decide the camera brand and type of camera; at the moment Sony HDC-2500's are used, but this could also be a different brand or even large sensor cinema camera's.

Van Meerkerk added that this flexibility of the flightpack is important for Fox Sports' customers: We like to adapt our set up to the customer's needs as much as possible, for any type of production.

According to Swart, power and portability were key factors when creating this flightpack. We wanted to build a powerful flypack that we could use for the football tournament in Senegal and then for other larger events. It's the first time we've created a dedicated flypack like this, but we've worked with Ross Video before and were extremely impressed with the Ultrix platform and how much production power it offers in such a compact unit.

It made sense for us to put Ultrix at the heart of this flypack and the software-defined nature of the product means it's easy for us to turn on additional features as and when we need them, continued Swart.

We've also included XPression graphics and a Carbonite production switcher in the kit because they're both proven and reliable solutions.

What is innovative about this flightpack is its diminutive size, said Swart: We needed a set up that's easy to transport in the cargo hold of a commercial aeroplane and it had to be lightweight with a small footprint. Everything we created is based around the size of a pallet; even the production desks our inhouse R&D department designed can be easily stacked on a pallet and transported all over the world. Size and weight is key, that's also reflected in the equipment choices we've made.

The production set up is built insid
LINK: https://www.broadcastrental.com/projects/wafu-cup-of-nations-live-from...
See more stories from broadcastrental

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 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...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

09/04/2026

PBS' The Forsytes' Puts a Glamorous New Spin on the Beloved Family Drama as the series premieres in the US.

Based on John Galsworthy's novels known collectively as The Forsyte Saga a...

09/04/2026

The Forsytes' Renewed For Season 3 At PBS Masterpiece

The Forsytes has been renewed for a third season before the period drama has even premiered on PBS Masterpiece. The adaptation of John Galsworthy's novel, ...

09/04/2026

BBC brings Danny Robins The Witch Farm to the screen Inspired by the hit podcast of the same name, filming begins soon

IThe BBC has commissioned new drama The Witch Farm, starring Gabrielle Creevy (T...

09/04/2026

NAB 2026 Major Announcement

The next big thing To help broadcasters fully embrace dynamic hybrid workflows, Calrec will make a major announcement that unlocks even more freedom for broadca...

09/04/2026

ENCO to Showcase New aiTrack Capabilities at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

LTN Unveils Network Enhancements in Advance of C-Band Changes

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

FOR-A Buys Tamura Corp. Information Equipment Business

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Imagine Showcases Expanded Multiviewer Portfolio at 2026...

Purpose Built Monitoring From Live Production to Master Control to OTT, Across On Prem and Cloud Environments At the 2026 NAB Show (April 19-22, Las Vegas Con...

09/04/2026

Harmonic Extends Hybrid Streaming Leadership with AI and...

Purpose Built Monitoring From Live Production to Master Control to OTT, Across On Prem and Cloud Environments At the 2026 NAB Show (April 19-22, Las Vegas Con...

09/04/2026

LTN unveils network enhancements as broadcaster satellite...

New advances meet surge in demand for broadcast-grade IP migration as C-band spectrum auctions approach LTN announces major enhancements to its purpose-built g...

09/04/2026

Hitomi Broadcast Expands Sales Team with Nicola Milburn

Hitomi Broadcast has expanded its sales team with the addition of Nicola Milburn as Technical Sales Manager. In this role, Nicola will work with customers and p...

09/04/2026

Layercake and Ceeblue Announce Strategic Integration to D...

Revolutionary combined solution brings sub-second latency, resilient delivery, and workflow orchestration to global broadcasters and digital platforms Layercak...

09/04/2026

BIA Increases 2026 Local Ad Forecast to $184.5 Billion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Yospace surpasses 10 billion ads stitched in a single mon...

Yospace exceeded 10 billion dynamically stitched ads in a single month, reaching 11.6 billion as ad-supported streaming surged. Driven by a packed global sports...

09/04/2026

Bitmovin Expands Live Encoding and Observability Solution...

Bitmovin has expanded its Live Encoding and Observability solutions to provide true end to end, real time insights across live streaming workflows, from encodin...

09/04/2026

Leyra Powers the Launch of Icelandic Broadcaster RUVs Str...

Leyra has announced the launch of Icelandic public broadcaster R V's streaming service on Samsung and LG Smart TVs. R V is the first public broadcaster to d...

09/04/2026

3Play Media Launches AI Dubbing Solution for YouTube Crea...

3Play Media, a global leader in video accessibility and localization, today announced an AI Dubbing solution purpose-built for YouTube creators. The company, wh...

09/04/2026

Big Blue Marble Recognized as AWS Managed Services Provid...

Big Blue Marble, a provider of broadcast-grade, cloud-native video solutions, has been recognized as an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Managed Services Provider (MSP...

09/04/2026

PDC Cleeng and Urban Zoo partner to launch new global str...

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) has officially launched its revamped global streaming service, PDC TV, in collaboration with Cleeng and sports technolo...

09/04/2026

Cleeng launches industry first cross-platform AI agents t...

Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) pioneer, today announced a raft of new AI agents for its AI Assistant to accelerate decision-making and autom...

09/04/2026

Hearst Taps Merzigo to Expand Presence on YouTube, Facebook

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Fox Jumps Into Prediction Markets with Kalshi Integration

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

NAB Show: Kokusai Denki To Feature New, Affordable 4K Broadcast Camera

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Corus Taps Appear for IP-First Operations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

2026 NAB Show Exhibitor Insights: Big Blue Marble

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

FCC Extends Audible Crawl Rule Waiver for 18 Months

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/04/2026

Pliant Technologies Showcases Expanded Accessories at NAB...

New Charging, Connectivity, and Mounting Solutions Now Available LAS VEGAS, APRIL 8, 2026 Pliant Technologies will highlight a range of new accessories at th...

09/04/2026

Media Links Brings Ultra Resilient IP Transport Proven at...

As live production continues its shift to IP, the challenge is no longer adoption it's reliability. At NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2033), Media Links will demon...

09/04/2026

QuickLink Launches StudioPro Town Hall at 2026 NAB Show

QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, launches its new AI-powered add-on for its StudioPro p...

09/04/2026

The Hive Group Releases White Paper on the FCC Upper C-Ba...

The Hive Group has published a new white paper, No Safe Harbor: Why the FCC's Upper C-Band Auction Demands Early Action from Broadcasters ahead of NAB Sho...

09/04/2026

Saranyu Technologies Renews VisualOn Optimizer VoD Subscr...

Saranyu Technologies today announced the renewal of its Optimizer VoD subscription with VisualOn. The announcement coincides with NAB Show 2026, taking place Ap...

09/04/2026

ATSC 3.0: Measuring Multilanguage Programs

The ATSC 3.0 standard , released on July 17, 2025, defines a comprehensive set of requirements for terrestrial next-generation TV broadcasting. Let's dive ...

09/04/2026

Love, Sacrifice and Vengeance Collide in My Dearest Assassin' Main Trailer, Out May 7

Back to All News Love, Sacrifice and Vengeance Collide in My Dearest Assassin&...

09/04/2026

Netflix Drops the Gripping Trailer for The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek'

Back to All News Netflix Drops the Gripping Trailer for The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek' Entertainment 09 April 2026 GlobalDenmarkFinlandNorwaySweden ...

09/04/2026

'The Marked Woman' premieres on Netflix on June 5

Back to All News The Marked Woman premieres on Netflix on June 5 Entertainment 09 April 2026 GlobalSpain Link copied to clipboard Download the first image...

09/04/2026

Netflix Animation Studios Opens Its New Home in Vancouver

Back to All News Netflix Animation Studios Opens Its New Home in Vancouver Netflix Animation Studios Vancouver ribbon-cutting ceremony (L-R) Vancouver Deputy ...

09/04/2026

Harmonic Extends Hybrid Streaming Leadership with AI and Cloud Innovations

Enhancements Including MCP Connectivity, Intelligent Video Asset Orchestration and Red Hat OpenShift Deployment Transform Hybrid Video Streaming SAN JOSE, Calif...

09/04/2026

Announcement: FOR-A Acquires Tamura Corporations Information Equipment Business and Manufacturing Arm

New Company, Tamu Radiance, Combines FOR-As Video Expertise and Tamuras Audio an...

09/04/2026

Own a 3rd or 4th Gen Scarlett interface? Download Cubase LE for free

Own a 3rd or 4th Gen Scarlett interface? Download Cubase LE for free We're adding a new DAW to your collection here's what's included, and how t...

09/04/2026

Launch partner for new audio streaming platform

Multi-year agreement enables Nation Radio to scale audiences, strengthen digital delivery and unlock new commercial opportunities 09 April 2026 - London, UK - ...

09/04/2026

Brian Fenton Joins RT Sunday Game GAA Panel for 2026 Championship

RT Sport has announced Brian Fenton will join its Sunday Game GAA punditry panel for the 2026 Championship, featuring across video, audio, online including the...

09/04/2026

Time for some fresh air: Tracks & Trails is back

Doireann N Ghlac in returns as presenter, with the first episode airing this Friday at 8.30pm on RT One and RT Player The beloved walking series Tracks & T...

09/04/2026

Strength and Destiny Collide: Samson: A Tyndalston Story' Arrives in the Cloud

A timeless story of grit, faith and rebellion takes center stage as Samson: A Ty...

09/04/2026

April 08, 2026

New technique for synthesizing branched molecules could accelerate the development of future medicines Scripps Research chemists solve a longstanding problem in...