
Getting the balance right: The inside track on the eSkootr Championship By George Bevir
Friday, May 13, 2022 - 10:03
Print This Story
The first stage of the new eSkootr Championship (eSC) takes place in London on Saturday (14 May), which is a fitting location given that co-founder Khalil Beschir came up with the concept while in the city. Someone arrived at a meeting in London and said they just saw two people on scooters racing each other, and something in my head just clicked, he says. I was sitting next to my partner (eSC co-founder and chief executive) Hrag Sarkissian, and I said, why don't we do a racing scooter?' He thought I was joking, but it grew from there.
That idea has now evolved to a six-stage championship, with races in London, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain and the US. In each location, thirty riders from 10 teams backed by the likes of F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg and former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will race against each other in a series of short heats.
The riders, who are from a variety of sporting disciplines such as speed skating, BMX biking and snowboarding, will race specially designed electric scooters that can reach speeds of over 60mph, on inner-city circuits.
We wanted to look at production from a completely different perspective. What we didn't want, was another slightly different version of motorsport.
Sharon Fuller, ex- global head of central content creation for Red Bull and a former BBC Sport exec, is responsible for the creation of all eSC content. Her remit also includes overseeing distribution, media partnerships and production partners, including outside broadcast and production services provider NEP and production firm Boombox.
Fuller says that one of the things she has most enjoyed about her role at eSC is the joint vision of the organisation. What can happen [when you work on sporting events], is that as content person you are asked, here is an event, can you cover it?' But with eSC, I have been involved in much wider conversations from a very early stage.
Being involved in the start has allowed Fuller to ensure that content and broadcast plans were considered from the start and as the sport was developed. The placement of cameras on the scooters is a prime example of this, with the fittings and cabling integrated into the design of the scooters rather than retrofitted.
We have a fully integrated content and sport plan, says Fuller. We're as much of a tech business as we are a sport, and we have the unique opportunity to consider the tech, sport and the content all together. I'm not sure that anyone else has done that in the same way as us.
The Electrik City created in Unreal Engine will help us to blur the boundaries between real life racing and esports. It's really breaking new ground.
NEP was selected to provide broadcast and technical services, and Fuller says eSC has pushed them to do things they haven't done before, for example with regards to the onboard cameras. That's why they're such a great partner, because we know we can do that, she says.
Using the BSI miniTX UHD for onboard coverage, up to six scooters at one time will have up to three live pictures each during each race, including a forward, rear and rider-facing HD Minicam Marshall cameras. An onboard mic will provide feedback from the riders, plus noise from the scooters.
NEP director of sales Brian Clarke says the BSI transmitters are key to the onboard coverage. They can be configured to send 4 x 1080p signals, so you can send all signals from one very small form factor transmitter, he says.
Given the size of the scooters, weight and power consumption are very important, so we together with our BSI division have worked closely with the eSC team to make sure we have the right form factor integrated into the scooter. You have to do that; you couldn't strap this stuff on.
With Fuller opting for a belt and braces approach for the first event in London and a lack of fibre at the venue of the second stage in Switzerland, the first two races won't be remotely produced.
That means in London, NEP's Caspian and Mercury trucks will support the outside broadcast, with NEP Connect sending a dual dish truck transmitting five feeds, four in a MUX. These will be received by the Media City UK operations centre and passed on via the Anylive network to NEP Oslo for Mediabank and to NEP's London production centre at Gray's Inn Road.
There will be a shift to remote production for the rest of the season, in keeping with eSC's commitment to sustainability and the constraints of racing in city centre locations.
Clarke explains what a remote production for eSC could look like further into the season. Talent could be on site or offsite; you might have some production that are producing on site, but you've effectively moved the bulk of people including EVS operators, graphics and so on.
All signals will be taken back, via connectivity, so they can be used to produce full shows but also additional content and individual angles along with various broadcast and OTT and streaming formats.
As we progress, remote racking of the cameras will be back at Gray's Inn Road as well. People will always need to build and connect things on site, but you can get the footprint right down and maintain the sustainability and ethos of this new sport.
Electrik City
Boombox has created content across several Olympic Sports and X Games, as well as with esport leagues and Red Bull. It was selected following a tender process, but despite its list of credits the choice of the Canada-based company for production of live coverage and highlights may have surprised some, says Fuller.
We wanted to look at production from a completely different perspective. What we didn't want was another slightly
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
17/06/2026
EVS has announced it has received the EcoVadis Gold Medal for sustainability performance, ranking among the top 5% of companies globally in the Technology/Mid-S...
17/06/2026
Chyron has released Weather 2.4, an update to its weather suite for broadcasters and meteorologists. The release focuses on enhancements to the DataFlow module,...
17/06/2026
VSiN, The Sports Betting Network, has announced the launch of Best Bets TV, a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel. The 24/7 channel is currently avail...
17/06/2026
DAZN's Team Whistle and Snap Inc. have announced a creator program centered ...
17/06/2026
LiveU is providing video transmission technology for broadcasters, production companies, and public safety agencies across North America's busy Summer of So...
17/06/2026
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) has announced that Laurens Grant and Jacob Ullman have joined its Board of Directors. Chief of Staf...
17/06/2026
Akta, the AI-First SaaS video platform for modern broadcast and streaming operations, today announced that its video platform is now generally available on Orac...
17/06/2026
This recent graduate from Houston found inspiration in technical directing and now eyes a future career in sports production...
17/06/2026
Audio-Technica (booth C7959) arrives at InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas with a slate ...
17/06/2026
SNS has published a guide addressing growing demand for AI-powered video indexing, transcription, facial recognition, and searchable metadata across media libra...
17/06/2026
Providius has announced Providius Direct, a workflow for investigating network i...
17/06/2026
NEP Group has announced the commercial availability of NEP Platform, a software ...
17/06/2026
A new white paper examining Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) and Reliable Interne...
17/06/2026
New research from subscription bundling platform Bango finds that younger sports fans are increasingly consuming sport through highlights, clips, and social med...
17/06/2026
SMPTE has announced that its complete Standards catalog is now freely available to the global media technology community, including all published SMPTE Standard...
17/06/2026
Harmonic has completed the sale of its Video Business to MediaKind for $145 mill...
17/06/2026
Omaha Productions will produce the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vega...
17/06/2026
New features, changes & bug fixes
SoundBridge have just released another update for their remote collaboration-focused DAW - reviewed here in SOS March 2026...
17/06/2026
Valve-based front end for digital & modelling rigs
The latest addition to Fryette's product range delivers a packed-down, pedalboard-friendly version of...
17/06/2026
GearExpo UK - 27 June 2026
Sound On Sound are proud to announce GearExpo UK, a major new recording and music technology exhibition in London! This is the bi...
17/06/2026
SAM monitoring line-up gains Dante and AES67 support
The latest expansion of Genelec's UNIO monitoring ecosystem introduces a new device that provides D...
17/06/2026
The R&S PR300 portable receiver from Rohde & Schwarz sets new standards in spect...
17/06/2026
Elt Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
The Immersive Supervisor Emerges as Hollywood's Next Production Role
Brie Clayton June 17, 2026
0 Comments
Above image: On set live immersive revi...
17/06/2026
Vertical Musical Playback Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton June 17, 2026
0 Comments
Large format sensor and DaVinci Resolve workflow used fo...
17/06/2026
DAZ 3D Launches New Game-Ready Character Assets Built for Modern Engines and Pro...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
17/06/2026
Montr al, Quebec, June 11, 2026 Kiloview, a leading provider of AV-over-IP and NDI -based video transmission solutions, today announced a distribution partner...
17/06/2026
Changsha, China, June 15, 2026 Kiloview officially announced the launch of U4 IP Video Dock, a compact IP video decoder and output dock designed to bring prof...
17/06/2026
Save 50% on All Ivory II Pianos and Collections
Were halfway through the year, and we're cutting prices in half for the Ivory II Summer Sale!
For a limite...
17/06/2026
Wednesday 17 June 2026
Two in three fans will connect to venue WiFi this World ...
17/06/2026
Visibility builds credibility - the tools you use every day, now visible on your LinkedIn profile Published on Jun 17, 2026 Categories: Company News, Product ...
17/06/2026
Transaction Positions Harmonic as a Pure-Play Broadband Company SAN JOSE, Calif. - June 17, 2026 - Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in virtual...
17/06/2026
FOX Advertising To Launch Industry's First End-to-End Agentic Advertising Pl...
17/06/2026
How SGN is future-proofing critical national infrastructure with Arqiva Managed Connectivity.
When disruption becomes the norm As Storm Eunice tore across the ...
17/06/2026
The RT Concert Orchestra will bring the timeless music of The Beach Boys to aud...
17/06/2026
Calibr-Skaggs awarded $5.1M by NIH to develop long-acting hepatitis B virus therapy A new program aims to replace a daily HBV drug with once-monthly or even qua...
16/06/2026
Thomson's highly regarded expert-led online learning courses are now easier to access on the go via our new App.
Available now on Google Play Store, the J...
16/06/2026
Neumann.Berlin has released firmware version 2.0 for the MT 48 audio interface, adding plugin compatibility, expanded Dante networking options, broadcast encode...
16/06/2026
TVNewsCheck has announced that nominations are now open for its 2027 Women in Technology Awards, to be presented at NAB Show 2027 on Tuesday, April 6 in the Med...