TV Skyline, thinXpool, DMC Production Collaborate on Deutsche Telekom's World Cup From NYC

From a rooftop studio in Manhattan, multiple Germany-based companies share responsibilities for all aspects of the production

European broadcasters onsite for the World Cup are finding ways to make their productions reflect both their home country's vibes and the diversity and vastness that seems to endlessly fascinate them about the U.S. Aside from consuming nearly all the beer in Boston, barbecue in Texas, and Ranch dressing everywhere, they've also been incorporating their U.S. locations into their production aesthetic. ITV Sport, for instance, is airing the 2026 FIFA World Cup live from New York City from a rooftop studio that overlooks the Brooklyn Bridge and much of Manhattan while also staying well connected to its White City Place campus in West London.

German broadcaster TV Skyline, which is providing much of the infrastructure for Deutsche Telekom, the primary media-rights holder for the World Cup in Germany (branding as T-Mobile in the U.S.), has a similar perspective, although its view is of Lower Manhattan's financial district, where 19th- and 21st-century architecture are shoulder to shoulder and a glimpse of the Hudson River frames its stand-ups, thousands of miles from its Bavarian home base.

The view is fantastic! exclaims Dennis Ebel, key account manager, TV Skyline, on a day when the temperature was closing in on 100 F.

Multiple Partners

TV Skyline is handling the stadium production through its streaming and IPTV platform MagentaTV and its production partner thinXpool, with DMC Production Germany responsible for the studio and technical infrastructure.

A location for stand-ups, Deutsche Telekom's studio in Manhattan houses two Sony FR7 PTZ cameras, a pair of Sony FX3 cameras on gimbals, and a polecam fitted with a DreamChip Atom One HDR camera.It's an unusual management structure, Torka agrees, but one that works well because of the number of companies and stakeholders involved in a continent-wide transatlantic production. And it has been refined by more than a decade of close collaboration on other sports, including German Basketball Bundesliga coverage since 2014 and coverage of UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

thinXpool is an editorial and production company based in Munich, Stefan Torka, head of production, thinXpool, explains. We've worked with Deutsche Telekom for a long time, producing their leagues and their day-to-day business in sports, on their Magenta Sport channel. We bring in and manage the other suppliers, like Skyline, as the general contractor and also act as the operations manager. We did the production design and editorial concept and do basically all the stakeholder management for Deutsche Telekom. It is a bit complicated, but, ultimately, it's all about getting a great game on television.

The Workflow

TV Skyline's 12 production truck serves as the central production hub for all stadium feeds, with camera control, shading, audio, replay, graphics, and communications handled remotely from Munich. Local reporting from the various venues is done by two teams. Each venue has a streamlined setup of approximately six cameras - hard cameras, PTZ units, RF cameras - connected via redundant fiber circuits.

The fiber backbones provided by MTI Teleport, another Munich-based company, give the production a round-trip latency of under 500 ms, Torka estimates. Nearly all technical operations are performed remotely, minimizing the number of staff traveling to venues, he emphasizes.

Providing a localized backdrop for stand-ups, the Manhattan site is equipped with two Sony FR7 PTZ cameras, a pair of Sony FX3 cameras on gimbals, and a polecam fitted with a DreamChip Atom One HDR camera. The studio's program feed is transmitted to DMC Production in Munich, where it is integrated into the overall production. That facility - whose 16.5-meter LED wall re-creates the atmosphere, lighting, and time of day from each current match venue - houses four broadcast cameras, including a jib and a Steadicam, and a central graphics system capable of driving displays in Germany and New York simultaneously.

At the rooftop studio in Lower Manhattan: (from left) Carlos A. Vargas, senior manager, business development, Projects AP 360; Stefan Torka, head of production, thinXpool; and Dennis Ebel, key account manager, TV SkylineThe studio also features 12 wireless-microphone channels and six wireless in-ear monitoring systems. A dedicated audio-control room mixes every live match in Dolby Atmos 5.4. Additional control rooms built specifically for the tournament produce MagentaTV's tactical-analysis channel and content for social-media platforms. Three independent playout systems operate MagentaTV's three dedicated World Cup channels around the clock, including German and Turkish commentary facilities.

Nine ENG crews, including one permanently assigned to the German national team, travel throughout Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. and send footage to Munich using Haivision/Aviwest bonded-cellular systems, all managed remotely. Torka adds that, because U.S. broadcasts operate at 59.94 Hz, TV Skyline converts its 24 incoming feeds to the European 50-Hz standard before they enter the production chain.

Future-Proofing

Every sports event at this scale is both its own production and a proof of concept for the next one. Torka says he and his colleagues at the connected companies for the DT telecasts are already considering FIFA World Cup 2030, which will take place across an even broader landscape: Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, with special opening matches played in South America: Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. It could be REMI's crowning achievement as well as its ultimate challenge.

We see that it works; this concept is now a proven thing for the future for us, he says. It doesn't matter where the next World Cup

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/07/09/tv-skyline-thinxpool-dmc-produc...
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