Euro 2024: Sky Italia prepares for an unforgettable summer of football By Roberto Landini, Italian Correspondent
Friday, June 14, 2024 - 08:51
Print This Story
Producer Ferruccio Zanotti will be on site for the matches
Some 24 national football teams are set to battle it out in stadiums across Germany from 14 June to 14 July, with the hope of being crowned European champions at the UEFA European Football Championship.
Sky Italia will be at the forefront of broadcasting the tournament in its entirety, with 20 exclusive matches that will keep fans glued to their screens. Indeed, Sky Italia is the only broadcaster in the European group that will show all of the tournament's matches.
The Euros will take place across ten venues, with a team of 50 professionals, including commentators, reporters, producers and technicians from Sky Sport, travelling to each to ensure the best possible coverage.
They will be joined by around 100 people in Milan and Santa Giulia, where the playout, MCR, editing and ingest will be managed.
All of Italy's matches will be followed by a mobile vehicle from Cinevideo and 4-5 reporters who will accompany the national team throughout the week.
Read more Euro 2024: UEFA's technical broadcast plans
The studio for Italy's matches will be on site and will have four cameras and a mini Jimmy Jib for live coverage.
In addition, a pitch presentation with two reporters will deal with interviews and in-depth analysis; a further Flash station will be dedicated to classic post-match interviews.
Ready to comment
Six matches in the first phase of the tournament will be commented on from the stadiums. The opening match will feature an innovative remote studio set up from the production centre of Milan Santa Giulia, Sky Italia's headquarters.
Sky will use the LiveU LU800 system for the remote production, which will allow four live video signals to be received from the stadiums, with four SRT signals as backup and a zero-latency studio return.
If the Italian team does not reach the final, Sky will evaluate whether to use Cinevideo's mobile unit or remote production for the broadcast of the remaining main matches.
In addition to the six matches where commentators will be in the stadium, there will also be seven others with a reporter who will conduct pre- or post-match interviews and in-depth analysis.
Sky will also have a studio at the Reichstag in Berlin. This studio, equipped with a bonded camera, will be used to produce a full edition of Sport24 and as support for links with VIP guests. Additional matches will be commented on from the Milan Santa Giulia facility.
A typical day
A typical day for Sky Sport will start at 10:00 with Sport24 and end at 12:30 at night with Calciomercato Originale, which this summer will be travelling to seven locations.
The technological heart of the Euro 2024 operation is the IBC (International Broadcast Centre) located in Leipzig.
Here Sky will have a small master control room that will receive all the signals. They will be distributed to Milan on four JPEG 2000 fibres, which will allow the transmission of match signals in both HD and HDR, and six fibres for the transport of MPEG4 accessory feeds; these include the helicopter feed, the fan camera and a daily schedule based on editorial needs.
In the IBC, in addition to the match signals, UEFA also provides 14 accessory signals such as ISO Cam, helicopters, drones, beauty shots of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, beauty shots of the stadiums and more to choose from.
To guarantee maximum security, an additional disaster recovery quality signal transport in a double chain is also planned to Sky headquarters in Rome and then from Rome to Milan.
The team
The director in charge of the integrations on Italy's matches is Roberto Popi Montoli, who will manage the four cameras in the studio and the three cameras on the pitch, including a long lens that captures the various profiles of players and coaches.
The on-site team will also include EVS operators with 12 channels, a video mixer, two camera controls, an audio mixer and a total of about 20 people from the Cinevideo technical team.
Two producers, Ferruccio Zanotti and Giorgio Antoniol, and two editorial coordinators, Alessandro Scipioni and Federica Salpietro, will also be on site.
In addition, Sky will send two staff members, Andrea Picchioni, technical supervisor, and Fabio Griffanti, to the IBC, alongside two technicians from Globecast.
Read more Euro 2024: UEFA's ENG crews at the ready
At the Adidas Village in front of the Brandenburg Gate, there will be an editorial coordinator who will also handle relations with the official global and national team sponsor, two camera operators and a producer.
In the second phase of the tournament, consisting of the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, Sky will comment on all matches and will send five producers for on-site commentary.
Therefore around 20 journalists and 35 technical professionals from Sky will be involved in the production, along withthose from Cinevideo. In practice, the total effort in Germany will amount to around 80 people.
Cutting-edge technology and a year of preparation
Zanotti, an experienced producer with three European Championships under his belt, says: It's been a year of intense work: from the first workshops with UEFA last summer to the final broadcast standards communicated in December in Hamburg.
From there we developed our editorial planning, aligning it with the budget and UEFA specifications, including the costs of the mobile unit with Cinevideo, the Leipzig-Milan-Rome connectivity with Globecast and coordinating everything in a production plan with the editorial side.
Among the biggest challenges are logistics and transport, made complex by the movement of a large number of people.
Triple back
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Euro 2024: Sky Italia prepares for an unforgettable summer of football By Roberto Landini, Italian Correspondent 
