Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Live From FIFA World Cup: Telemundo SVP, Content Operations, Chris Suarez-Meyers Discusses Global Effort

08/12/2022

Live From FIFA World Cup: Telemundo SVP, Content Operations, Chris Suarez-Meyers Discusses Global Effort A team in Doha and one in Miami collaborate to provide U.S. viewers all the action from Qatar By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Thursday, December 8, 2022 - 9:57 am

Print This Story

The Telemundo Deportes 2022 World Cup efforts literally span the globe. The broadcaster's Miami-based Telemundo Center produces content 24/7, and its Doha-based team ensures that it gets everything it needs to deliver for Spanish-language viewers in the U.S.

Telemundo's Jorge Duarte (left) and Chris Suarez-Meyers at the World Cup IBC in Doha

We are not doing anything other than pushing signals home, to Miami, where we have three production-control rooms managing over-the-air, cable, and our Peacock productions, says Chris Suarez-Meyers, SVP, content operations, Telemundo Deportes, who is onsite. We're pretty much quality control, pass-through, and routing.

At full strength, the team at the IBC comprises about 80 members and works in a space very similar in size to the one the team had in Russia for the 2018 World Cup. Production-control rooms and other content-creation and -playout areas in Miami receive signals from the IBC that originate from a variety of sources: the HBS multi-lateral feeds, studio operations throughout Doha, ENG crews. The team in Doha is almost as culturally diverse as the World Cup teams themselves, with Telemundo staffers hailing from 29 countries.

In Miami, says Suarez-Meyers, things run around the clock between over-the-air, digital, and streaming, and the post work never stops. Coming out of the elections right into World Cup mode is a big swing for the technical teams in [Miami], but so far so good. They're professionals and are handling it like champs.

From day one, he adds, the decision was to push all the audio and video signals to Miami. That includes all HBS feeds, as well as unilateral cameras, signals from bookable positions at the venues, from the studios, Fan Fest, and even the unilateral hotel position inside the Souq Waqif marketplace.

The biggest change from previous World Cups is the smaller overall footprint of the World Cup, with stadiums only a quick drive apart.

Having everyone in one city has proven to be a huge force multiplier, Suarez-Meyers notes. We can scale up, scale down, and move people around with a quick WhatsApp message. We can change plans without having to wait for people to land in outer cities or figure out a logistics plan. It's, Hey, I need three extra ENG crews to go to LuSail Stadium or I need two crews to go to the match- minus-one training. The fact that [the crews are] wearing LiveU backpacks and everything is sent back to Miami in an instant has made things a lot easier and more flexible for us.

The benefits extend well beyond giving the production team more flexibility: it helps keep the team fresher. It's less wear and tear on the team, he says, because they don't have to pack, get on a plane, unpack, get in a small car, drive to the stadium, wait in line. It makes things a lot easier, and they can always come back to their bed, and that goes a long way.

According to Jorge Duarte, senior director, product engineering, Telemundo Deportes, Ooredoo provides connectivity within Qatar, and ATT provides redundant long-haul fiber services via London and Frankfurt. Everything we planned for worked out the way we intended it to, and latency wasn't an issue, so we're doing everything from Miami. We expected some hurdles but we haven't had any.

Although HDR coverage isn't making it to viewers, it is being sent to Miami for testing. Everything in-bound to us from HBS is in 1080p HDR, Duarte explains. We convert it down to SDR and HDR. We also decided not to go 2110 this time around. We go back to baseband for transmission as it didn't make a whole lot of sense given what we're doing here.

Telemundo's IBC facility has a dedicated VAR room, where referees can see all the feeds the officials see, and a flash position with a robotic camera controlled from Miami and able to be fired up at a moment's notice.

We just put [the referee] in front of the [flash-position] camera and call Miami, which takes control of it, says Suarez-Meyers. If there is a controversial play, [the referee] can come out of their booth for halftime or postmatch, stand in front of the camera, and get their analysis on-air.

Telemundo's broadcast-operations area in Doha is much larger than its facility in Russia as there is no production control room this time around. At the front bench, three BOC techs rotate morning, day, and night and also check the commentary cameras at each stadium.

We have commentary positions at all 64 matches all eight venues, says Suarez-Meyers. As the games get more important, we'll have more activations inside the stadiums. We also have a permanent studio position at Lusail Stadium.

The team at the IBC coordinates with Miami to ensure that the team there knows everything they are supposed to receive and are receiving it properly.

We also have returns from Miami so we can see what they're seeing, adds Duarte. Everything is also being recorded back home; we do have very limited recording here for troubleshooting purposes.

The IBC is connected to the studio at the HBS Outside Presentation Facility, which has a main studio and a presentation platform overlooking the Corniche. Telemundo also has a stage at the Fan Festival, with a roaming camera, and another stage in a hotel.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/12/08/live-from-the-fifa-world-cup-te...
See more stories from svg

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 ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

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

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

06/08/2026

USA Sports Rolls Into 2026 NASCAR Season With First Pace-Car Analyst on Selected Races

The broadcaster's 14-race schedule begins in Iowa and ends in November with ...

06/08/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 25: Chicago Bears Katlin Strange - Serving the Masses in the Windy City

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

06/08/2026

Warner Bros Discovery's Anne Graham Details the Organization's Media-Ops and Metadata Consolidation Across Sports and Entertainment

As media organizations consolidate teams, technology platforms, and content libr...

06/08/2026

Dolby Vision 2 Begins Rollout on Selected 2026 Hisense TVs

Firmware updates introduce Dolby's next-generation picture engine, content-aware optimization, and new motion and ambient-light tools...

06/08/2026

TNT Sports Preps Wall-to-Wall Coverage of FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 from Sept. 4-13

TNT Sports will have wall-to-wall coverage of the upcoming FIBA Women's Bask...

06/08/2026

IBC 2026: swXtch.io Introduces groundSwXtch Software-Defined Multicast Overlay

swXtch.io (Stand 5.MR13) has unveiled groundSwXtch for Audio over IP (AoIP), a software application that lets broadcasters and media organizations move audio in...

06/08/2026

IBC 2026: Riedel Communications Showcases Integrated IP Production Workflows

At IBC2026, Riedel Communications (Stands: 10.A24, 10.A31, 10.A38) will bring modern media production to life with the Live Production Experience - a connected ...

06/08/2026

Sandy Grossman's Legacy as a Pioneering Director Earns Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Award

The first live-sports director to receive the prestigious honor, eight-time Emmy...

06/08/2026

NBC Sports, Maryland Jockey Club Continue Partnership To Present Preakness Stakes Through 2032

NBC Sports will continue to present the Preakness Stakes on NBC and Peacock thro...

06/08/2026

IBC 2026: Cobalt Digital Brings New Practical Solutions to Evolving Broadcast Workflows

Cobalt Digital (Stand 8.F90) continues to reinforce its commitment to delivering...

06/08/2026

Wave Central Elevates Jeff Daubert to Director of Sales, Americas

Wave Central has promoted promotion Jeff Daubert to Director of Sales, Americas. In his expanded role, Daubert will lead Wave Central's sales strategy and ...

06/08/2026

KMH Integration Adds Architect Keith Hanadel to Expanding Full-Services Team

KMH Integration is expanding its ability to serve media, broadcast, and IT organizations by adding Keith Hanadel, an accomplished architect with decades of indu...

06/08/2026

Advanced Systems Group Promotes Michele Ferreira to Chief Business Officer

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has promoted Michele Ferreira from Vice President of its Systems Integration team to the newly created position of Chief Business O...

06/08/2026

IBC2026: Appear Expands X, VX Platforms for Hybrid Live-Production Workflows

Demonstrations will include new JPEG XS, Dolby audio, cloud-gateway, stream-processing, and distribution capabilities...

06/08/2026

Live Media Group Acquires Gravity Media's U.S. Mobile-Production Assets, Adds Eight Units to Fleet

The deal includes three premium mobile units, engineering personnel, existing br...

06/08/2026

Broadcast Management Group, LiveU Power Vertical REMI Production for Amazon Prime's Obsessed Fest on TikTok

Broadcast Management Group produced Amazon Prime's inaugural Obsessed Fest a...

06/08/2026

IBC2026: Ikegami to Showcase Expanded UNICAM Camera and Monitoring Lineup

Exhibit will feature new variable-ND functionality, OLED viewfinders, remote-camera tools, and UHD production monitors...

06/08/2026

Sony Introduces FE 100-400mm Super-Telephoto Zoom Lens

Compact full-frame E-mount lens targets sports, wildlife, and other long-range shooting applications...

06/08/2026

Tennis Channel Lands Exclusive U.S. Coverage of 2026 International Tennis Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Live broadcast will honor Roger Federer and Mary Carillo on Aug. 29, with onsite...

06/08/2026

UTEP Upgrades Sun Bowl Stadium Video Display With Daktronics

End-zone board receives higher-resolution LED technology and an updated Show Control system ahead of the 2026 football season...

06/08/2026

Fender launch Fender Motion controllers

New 16- and 32-pad MIDI controllers now available Fender have just announced that the two new performance-focused controllers that were unveiled at NAMM 202...

06/08/2026

Lewitt update Space Replicator plug-in

Standalone version, performance improvements & more Lewitt have just released a significant update for their speaker and room virtualisation software, intro...

06/08/2026

Hallowed Bells from ebbandflow

Combines celeste samples with synth engine After launching earlier in 2026 with deFORM, ebbandflow have returned with their first sampled acoustic instrumen...

06/08/2026

SGL Carbon: Still on track to meet its 2026 annual targets

SGL Carbon's consolidated sales in the first half of 2026 totaled 394.2 million, down 13.0% from the prior year (H1 2025: 453.2 million). On the one hand,...

06/08/2026

BritBox & BBC's Poirot Origin Series Hercule' Reveals Cast

The BBC has announced casting for the forthcoming six-part series Hercule from Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited. Joining Bluemel are Henry Ashton (A ...

06/08/2026

FCC Votes to Modify TV Station Ownership Caps

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/08/2026

LTN Showcases Live Event Master Control Capabilities for...

Proven offering builds on more than 20,000 live sporting events with greater automation, flexibility, and operational control LTN , the industry leader in tran...

06/08/2026

Hornets Tech brings new encoder and decoder range to IBC2...

Hornets Tech, a specialist in broadcast connectivity and IP video, is bringing a new range of encoders, decoders and an IPTV platform to IBC2026. Broadcast in...

06/08/2026

Introducing Adobe for ChatGPT: Create, edit and get work done - all in ChatGPT

Introducing Adobe for ChatGPT: Create, edit and get work done - all in ChatGPT Deepti Pradeep August 6, 2026 0 Comments The Adobe plugin in ChatGPT br...

06/08/2026

Hisense Adds Dolby Vision 2 to Select Models

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/08/2026

MediaKind to showcase one unified portfolio at IBC2026

At IBC2026, MediaKind will make its first major appearance as a unified global powerhouse in video, showcasing one of the world's most comprehensive video i...

06/08/2026

Big Blue Marble to unveil AI-assisted piracy detection an...

Big Blue Marble (#5.A63) will demonstrate how its integrated technology and operational expertise help media companies scale premium services with less complexi...

06/08/2026

NIH expected to award Scripps Research nearly $4.2 million over 5 years to advance tools for vaccine design

LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research has received more than $500,000 in first-year fund...

06/08/2026

Improving vaccine design for Ebola, HIV and more

LA JOLLA, CA-Viruses are masters at invading our cells thanks to specialized proteins that coat their surfaces. When scientists design vaccines, they often crea...

06/08/2026

How a chemical reaction triggers brain inflammation in Alzheimer's disease

LA JOLLA, CA-The brain has its own immune system, which detects threats and mounts a defense. A growing body of evidence has shown that in Alzheimer's disea...

06/08/2026

Jin-Quan Yu elected to the National Academy of Sciences

LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research chemist Jin-Quan Yu has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the highest honors a scientist can achieve....

06/08/2026

Scripps Research ranks third in 2026 Cure Innovation Index

LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research ranked third in the inaugural 2026 Cure Innovation Index recognizing the top-performing institutes and centers across the United S...

06/08/2026

Scripps Research chemist Benjamin Cravatt elected to American Philosophical Society

Benjamin Cravatt, the Gilula Chair of Chemical Biology and a professor of chemis...

06/08/2026

Scripps Research immunologist Dennis Burton elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

LA JOLLA, CA-Dennis Burton, professor and the James & Jessie Minor Chair in Immu...

06/08/2026

How changes to proteins can alter drug interactions for new precision therapies

LA JOLLA, CA-Inside every human cell, proteins are constantly being tagged with small chemical modifications after they're produced. Known as post-translati...

06/08/2026

Scripps Research establishes endowed chair honoring renowned structural biologist Ian Wilson

LA JOLLA-Scripps Research has established the Ian Wilson Endowed Chair, a new fa...

06/08/2026

Scripps Research's Skaggs Graduate School awards doctoral degrees to 34th graduating class

Scripps Research's Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Science...

06/08/2026

Scripps Research chemist Jin-Quan Yu is named a Fellow of the Royal Society

LA JOLLA, CA-Professor Jin-Quan Yu of Scripps Research has been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the U.K.'s national academy of sciences and ...

06/08/2026

Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal

LA JOLLA, CA-For years, researchers have been hoping for vaccines that protect people against not just one strain of HIV, but every strain of the quickly mutati...

06/08/2026

Calibr-Skaggs advances CLF065, a regenerative GLP-2 therapy, into two Phase 2 IBD studies

LA JOLLA, CA-The Calibr-Skaggs Institute for Innovative Medicines, the nonprofit...

06/08/2026

Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals'-without losing their shape

LA JOLLA, CA-Building the complex 3D molecules needed for new medicines has alwa...

06/08/2026

A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs

LA JOLLA, CA-Fentanyl and related variants of the synthetic opioid kill more Americans each year than car accidents and gun violence combined. In too-high doses...