Watch out for trees: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports on developing a custom drone solution for the UCI Mountain Bike World Series 2025 By Heather McLean
Friday, August 8, 2025 - 09:50
Print This Story
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports has bought epic drone shots into its production of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series 2025
The first 11 rounds of the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Series have been a roaring success, with images from host broadcaster, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, bringing fans ever closer to the thrilling action.
In 2023, a long-term partnership signed between Warner Bros. Discovery Sports and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) meant that almost all major mountain bike formats were unified under a single brand for the first time, creating the UCI Mountain Bike World Series. The series consists of two main events: downhill and cross-country.
Also in 2023, the broadcaster took over the live production of each season's events, aiming to bring more innovation and better coverage to the series. From the beginning, drone coverage was seen as a way to push the production forwards.
Chris Ball, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports' vice president of cycling events, comments on how that first season went: When we started this project in 2023 we had our first season in 2023 the first thing that we wanted to bring in year one was live first person view (FPV) drones, which wasn't the first time [drones had been used in this type of sport], but it was the first time drones were really being used at this level in heavy tree cover for mountain biking.
It was a success, but the resolution wasn't ideal, continues Ball. We had challenges about trying to bring FPV drones into such a challenging outdoor environment in 2023, but we did use it at every event, and we also invested heavily in a cabled camera, which obviously gave us weather protection because drones can't always fly in mountain weather, with wind, snow, and rain. So with drones, with cable cameras, with an increasing [quality of] audio, we were like, this is cool . Everything engaged the audience really well, especially the FPV drone.
For the UCI Mountain Bike World Series drone development, Broadcast Rental is working with Proton, a specialist in miniature cameras, and drone companies Aeroplayfilms and Dutch Drone Gods
Zooming in
Broadcast Rental is playing an integral role in the production's content acquisition through a very specific RF drone solution, supporting Gravity Media, the technical services provider to Waner Bros. Discovery Sports.
Paul Chamalaun, CCO at Broadcast Rental, comments on the drone solution: It's a really specific part of the job. We are really zooming in on a small part of it, but that is because it's so specific and it is such a custom solution on one hand, and on the other hand we are trying to think outside of the box for future jobs as well, to make sure that we not only develop something for the mountain biking, but that we can also use it in other sports or for other of purposes.
Broadcast Rental has worked to create a complete drone solution that is fully integrated into the Warner Bros. Discovery Sports broadcast. Says Chamalaun: We have built together a balanced drone, and the rest is now up to [the crew so] they can go full creative, flying here and there or whatever they need to or want to do.
The success of the drones meant Warner Bros. Discovery has been able to reduce its use of caballed cameras along each course. Comments Ball: We slightly reduced our cable camera usage into the second and third year, which is where we are now, and increased our investment in the FPV drone. We also use a beauty drone as well to give that sense of scope and scale and where we actually are in the environment.
Custom development
Broadcast Rental worked with two drone companies for the UCI Mountain Bike World Series: Aeroplayfilms from Belgium; and Dutch Drone Gods from the Netherlands. Broadcast Rental went for two drone companies as there were so many races in the series, each happening in quick succession, that they could not realistically expect one company to be constantly available to fly their drone.
Comments Chamalaun on the development of the drones specifically for the mountain biking: It was really a collaboration, about how can we make the transmitter and the whole equipment essentially as light and as small as possible, and how can they adapt their drone build to make sure they can put [the equipment] somewhere safe on the drone, and fully integrate it into the whole power system battery packs that are integrated into the drone. So in both cases they built their own drones [for our use], so it's real custom from the drawings to the drones that flying now.
Pilots from Aeroplayfilms and Dutch Drone Gods attend the events and fly their drones for the broadcast. Notes Chamalaun: When you are working with the bigger drones, flying is so specific that the pilot needs to have experience with their own kit and they need to work with their own kit. The drones are really delicate, so they all want to fly their own equipment.
Read more:
Taking the strain: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports on enhancing graphics with biometric data for the UCI Mountain Bike World Series
Pushing creativity: How wild weather and rugged locations are inspiring new production solutions at Warner Bros. Discovery Sport for the UCI Mountain Bike World Series
2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Series attracts recordbreaking viewership milestones
Broadcast Rental has also worked with Proton, a specialist in miniature cameras, for the cameras used on the drones. Chamalaun says: We feel that with the cameras from Proton, they're also really looking ahead into the future in new developments.
Chamalaun comments on the challenges of getting RF coverage on a drone for
North America Stories
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the First Look for Land of Sin' - Premier...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
04/12/2025
Lightware, a global specialist in AV connectivity, is looking back on a year defined by new advancements, strong collaboration and continued growth. Across the ...
04/12/2025
Riedel Communications today announced a new partnership with Haivision, a leading global provider of mission-critical, real-time video networking and visual col...
04/12/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) and Normann Engineering today announced a major milestone in their strategic collaboration, celebrating 20 successful broadband deployme...
04/12/2025
Creative software developer Foundry today announced Mari 7.5, the latest iteration of its artist-friendly paint toolset that can handle large, detailed assets w...
04/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS), a leading provider of wireless audio solutions and RF management, was on site at Dreamforce 2025 in San Francisco providing...
04/12/2025
LTN's purpose-built IP video network brings all-movie diginet to over 100 stations and streaming platforms in just three months while eliminating satellite ...
04/12/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with ThinkAnalytics, the global leader in AI-powered data a...
04/12/2025
The HELM, a global expert in cinematic live broadcast and high-end production workflows, has signed a partnership agreement with Keslow Camera, one of North Ame...
04/12/2025
At ISE 2026, LiveU will showcase its expanded IP-video EcoSystem, enabling broadcasters, sports, production companies and pro-AV professionals to share their st...
04/12/2025
Since the beginning of commercial television, advertising has been a key part of broadcasting. Over the years, the technology for inserting ads into programs ha...
Watch out for trees: Warner Bros. Discovery Sports on developing a custom drone solution for the UCI Mountain Bike World Series 2025 By Heather McLean 
