Live From Paris 2024: CBC Calls Canada House Home, Enhances Connection With Athletes Moving out of the IBC puts the Canadian broadcaster right in the mix for French, English viewers back home By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Monday, August 5, 2024 - 3:39 am
Print This Story
The CBC has taken a different approach to its Olympic operations. It has a technical center at the IBC, but its studio and production operations are located at Canada House, in the Cit des Sciences et de l'industrie. And it's paying dividends.
We are gaining the presence of athletes and families during the evening, says Francois Messier, executive director, production and sports, CBC. We get access to the athletes more quickly, and they stay with us longer because they're not going through a car wash of interviews. Instead of having them for two minutes, we get them for seven or eight minutes.
The CBC presence at Canada House includes a main studio complete with LED walls and comfortable guest and talent seating that doesn't involve a studio desk. A second studio for morning updates back home has seating for a small audience, and various standup positions are located around Canada House and various activation and fan zones. The CBC also has two standup positions at the TV tower at Trocad ro, one each for its French- and English-language networks.
Francois Legrand (left) and Francois Messier in the CBC's main studio in Paris
The IBC is more of a technical hub, where we take the feeds from OBS and ship them back to Canada, Messier says. All the signals go to both Montreal and Toronto to meet the specific needs of both the French- and English-language audiences.
About 150 production staffers are in Paris, he adds, with another 200 working in Montreal and about 50 in Toronto. French-language primetime programming is produced from Canada House; CBC programming is produced in Toronto. The French-language network has an onsite presence at three venues - swimming, athletics, gymnastics - but all other commentary is called from facilities in Canada.
With the Olympics being here in Paris, Messier says, we felt that [the French-language] network needed to be here, and the gymnastics commentary position will be used by the English-language team when basketball is played in the same arena this week. Back home, we have 12 voiceover booths.
The CBC studio set uses LED walls to create a warm look that seems to feature wood slates.
On the technical side, according to Francois Legrand, lead engineer, Olympics, CBC, a router at the IBC allows the CBC team to sub-switch signals that go to Canada. The signals from Canada House pass through the IBC before heading to Canada.
Because we have older equipment here, we still use SDI, he adds, but that's going to change. One challenge for the Milan 2026 Winter Games is that OBS will no longer deliver signals in 1080i, which is the CBC delivery format. Legrand says the broadcaster is determining how that will impact operations, including the potential to send more signals back home as 1080p and converting them there.
We are also using the OBS cloud service as a backup feed, he continues. If our own equipment fails, we can use that service.
A second studio in Canada House is particularly suited to providing morning updates to viewers back home.
Ten ENG teams service both networks, follow Canadian athletes, and get mixed-zone positions for events in which Canadian athletes compete. CBC relies on OBS connectivity from the mixed zones but also has TVU bonded-cellular transmission systems. And 5G was used for the Opening Ceremony, during which CBC had a journalist on the Team Canada boat.
One interesting wrinkle is the need to ensure that both networks are in sync and delivering the same live coverage of the same events at the same time, especially when it comes to the off-tube commentary over the prepackaged OBS feeds. The CBC is using a tried-and-true workflow: the video is sent to Canada for the off-tube teams to call the action, and the audio returns to Paris to be embedded in the video signal, which is sent to Toronto and Montreal as a complete package synchronized for both networks.
The video doesn't travel both ways, just the audio, notes Legrand. Moving forward with ST 2110 and with newer equipment, we can replicate that workflow just by working with the timestamps of the signal and virtually realigning everything at each side.
Canadian fans have been enthusiastically tuning in to Paris 2024: one in three Canadians (more than 13.3 million viewers) tuned in for the Opening Ceremony, and the time that viewers spend on digital platforms is double what it was during Tokyo 2020.
In the first week, the swimming gave Canadian viewers a reason to tune in, Messier says. That was a jumpstart for us. We're above our expectations in the daytime and afternoon in Canada on both linear and digital. We can stream up to 12 feeds, allowing people to look at gymnastics or volleyball or something else they want to watch. We also are requiring authentication this year, so we're getting a lot of data from those who are more engaged with our platforms.
Also helping? Committing to enabling viewers to better understand the athletes and the storylines. We've been creating stories and making sure the audience know the athletes before we show them during the Olympics, he says. We added a series of pregame shows and give people some idea of what to expect.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
Spotify's partnership with NAVER, Korea's leading digital platform, is built around one simple goal: making it easier for listeners in Korea to discover...
26/03/2026
Exclusive to ComposerCloud for first month
Sample library and virtual instrument gurus EastWest have announced the upcoming release of a new virtual drum i...
26/03/2026
Friday 27 March
Friday 27 March will mark Dynamic Range Day 2026, the annual day of online activity that was started in 2010 by mastering engineer Ian Sheph...
26/03/2026
Includes four separate instruments
Max Richter's SRM Sounds venture have just announced their fifth release, ASMR Choir. Captured at the main live room ...
26/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Thursday 26 March 2026
HBO Max included for Sky and NOW customers from 26 March...
26/03/2026
Thursday 26 March 2026
Sky Sets Iconic Costumes Dancing Together Like Never Before' in Brand CampaignTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy o...
26/03/2026
Wuppertal March 26, 2026
CS live Builds Future-Ready OB Van With Riedel MediorNet and hi Control SystemRiedel Communications today announced that Czech-based ...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Enhancements to Harmonic's Sports Streaming Solution Introduce Server-Side Multiview, Contextual Metadata-Driven Advertising, Dynamic In-Stream Ads and Robu...
26/03/2026
Open the report
Our 2025 report brings together results from 79 business magazine titles across 22 market sectors, published by 49 media owners. Over the year,...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
RT Commercial today announced Fiat as sponsor of The Louise Duffy Show on RT Radio 1, Weekdays 3pm 4pm.
The Louise Duffy Show is the home of daytime music...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
26/03/2026
Wayne, N.J., March 26, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the latest product li...
Live From Paris 2024: CBC Calls Canada House Home, Enhances Connection With Athletes Moving out of the IBC puts the Canadian broadcaster right in the mix for French, English viewers back home By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
