As 2018 FIFA World Cup Rapidly Approaches, Telemundo Deportes Preps for Epic Production Effort Telemundo's Eli Velazquez: We will use the complete strength of assets and innovation that this company brings to bear' By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Wednesday, March 28, 2018 - 3:13 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
With just 77 days until the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, what was once a far-off goal is suddenly bearing down on domestic Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo.
Telemundo's Eli Velazquez (left) shares the stage with NBC Sports' Jim Bell during an event in New York City this month to preview Telemundo Deportes' domestic Spanish-language coverage of this summer's FIFA World Cup in Russia.
It was in 2011 that Telemundo learned it had acquired the rights to this year's big tournament, and now the broadcaster is ready to roll with a robust production and content plan. At an event earlier this month, Telemundo unveiled some key partnerships and shared some viewership data that has the network feeling bullish as it heads into this summer's tournament.
Telemundo has already established original-content partnerships with VICE, the popular soccer digital destination Copa90, and the Telemundo Station Group for various content plays. Plus, the network's Red Square-based set in the heart of Moscow promises to be a sight to behold.
The network also disclosed some viewership trends and numbers that it dug up in an exclusive partnership with Horowitz Research. Of little surprise to many, soccer resonates strongly with Americans of Hispanic and Latino heritage. According to network data, 77% of Hispanic soccer fans plan to watch World Cup matches live on television. They also said that, if they can't catch the matches live, 46% will live-stream them. 31% even said they would stream matches on-demand if they miss the live coverage.
We caught up with Eli Velazquez, EVP, programming, production, and content, Telemundo Deportes, to explore some of the plans for this summer's massive production.
You're obviously working very closely with some talent from NBC Sports (including noted producer Jim Bell, who will executive-produce this World Cup for Telemundo) and deploying some workflows established by NBC Olympics. That includes at-home production. How do you think that might play out for an event like the World Cup? How comparable could that be to something like an Olympics?
Our [International Broadcast Center] position and presence will not be as massive as [NBC's] IBC presence and position was for [the PyeongChang] Olympics. I think part of that also is because we're covering a singular sport with specific times that won't really move that much. [NBC] had to deal with eight or nine different sports simultaneously, so the engineering side had to deal with much more.
Having said that, we are working with [NBC Sports Group/NBC Olympics, SVP/CTO] Dave Mazza and his team - the guys behind the Olympic model - to make sure that our IBC position in Moscow is equipped so that we have our main control room there. We will have an insert studio there as well. We will have full services, audio booths, engineering, and shading rooms. We are still going to be engaging with [NBC Sports headquarters at] Stamford and the facility [at 30 Rock]. As it relates to transmission, we're going to have a numerous amount of feeds coming back.
We also have our brand-new, state-of-the-art facility in Miami, the Telemundo Center. I mean it's just the monstrosity of technology. We're going to use the complete strength of assets and innovation that this company brings to bear to make sure that everything is flowing seamlessly from an engineering and a technical standpoint.
How about the set at Red Square? What kind of new technologies or innovations can we expect there?
[Augmented reality] will be a part of our coverage for sure. We're working with a couple of providers on that. We're going to take on as much technological innovation as we can from that space. That's why working with NBC Sports was very important to us, because we knew that they had the expertise to bring that enhancement to our experience. We're all part of the same company, so why not take advantage?
One last question on the Red Square spot. David Neal, executive producer, FIFA World Cup on Fox, says that it was a very laborious process making sure everything met governmental standards for Fox's studio set in Red Square. Did you guys go through a similar process? Did you have to present many different versions and things like that?
Not as much as [Fox] did, because, from my understanding, they're building their own structure. We are going to be existing within the HBS [FIFA's Host Broadcast Services] structure there. That allowed us to have the same experience that I'm sure [Fox] will have, perhaps more limited. Because we decided to work with HBS, they were able to help us leverage and avoid some of that bureaucracy because it was a service that they were providing. That allowed us to focus, frankly, on the look, the feel, the enhancements, to make sure that the experience is top-notch. We're not constructing that studio in Red Square to show off what we're doing to the people in Russia. We're constructing it in Red Square to show off to the people back home.
HBS has the matches covered. What's that relationship like for you, and what can you do, if anything, to add your own flair to match coverage?
There are unilateral services that you can book depending on the match in question. I think, as the storylines develop within the group stage and we see which team's really taking off, whether or not our relevant teams are playing a big match - like the ones against Mexico and Germany - we'll m
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
21/10/2025
As Amazon's Prime Video prepares to launch its coverage of NBA basketball under a major new deal, Grup Mediapro has announced that it is working with the st...
21/10/2025
ATLANTA Good news for consumers using an Atlanta DTH receiver to watch ATSC 3.0: with a new software update, they will be able to blanket their homes with Wi-Fi...
21/10/2025
While recent news has been heavily focused on Hispanic migration into the U.S., The 2025 Hispanic Market Report from Claritas highlights the fact that this gr...
21/10/2025
MAIDENHEAD, UK RWS has hired Michael Wayne as its head of media and entertainment in Los Angeles where he will lead the company's media localization busines...
21/10/2025
Imagine Communications and Rohde & Schwarz today announced a definitive agreement under which Imagine will acquire Pixel Power Limited, a wholly owned subsidiar...
21/10/2025
Atlanta DTH (ADTH) today announced a major update that will expand the functionality of its NEXTGEN TV receiver by enabling gateway capabilities allowing viewer...
21/10/2025
Heartland Video Systems, Inc. (HVS), a premier video systems integration, consulting, and expert ATSC 3.0 implementation firm announces that it has partnered wi...
21/10/2025
QuickLink, the leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest integration solutions, today announced the appointment of Austin Hinton as it...
21/10/2025
nternet connectivity startup Miri Technologies Inc. will use this week's NAB Show New York as the launch pad for its latest ground-breaking innovation, the ...
20/10/2025
Inside TAMS: How Time-Addressable Media Stores could redefine sports workflows By Paul Markham
Friday, October 17, 2025 - 08:57
Print This Story
A penalty...
20/10/2025
Transformational production: Inside TVN's remote production push for the DFL...
20/10/2025
How NBC Sports Transitioned Stamford Facility to One Format: 1080p HDRMulti-year plan harmonizes workflows, simplifies operationsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial ...
20/10/2025
NBA on NBC' Studio Production Team Is Ready for Tip-Off With Coast-to-Coast...
20/10/2025
Under pressure: TVN CEO Markus Osthaus considers the German sports broadcasting ...
20/10/2025
(L-R) Maria Dizzia, Carmen Emmi, and Russell Tovey attend the Plainclothes pre...
20/10/2025
In March, we launched Concerts Near You to help listeners find concerts from their favorite artists. Since then, more than 3 million people have used it to disc...
20/10/2025
Em diversas cidades do Brasil, um movimento tem se fortalecido para celebrar o poder, a beleza e a profundidade da criatividade negra. O Dia AMPLIFIKA, agora em...
20/10/2025
In cities across Brazil, a movement is growing that celebrates the power, beauty, and depth of Black creativity. AMPLIFIKA Day, now in its fifth edition, return...
20/10/2025
Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft rendering...
20/10/2025
DENVER and MUNICH Imagine Communications today announced its plans to acquire Pixel Power Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rohde & Schwarz. Financial terms of...
20/10/2025
LOS ANGELES G Morgan has joined Globecast, a provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, as executive vice president of sales, Globecast Am...
20/10/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wisc. Heartland Video Systems and Zixi have partnered to enable broadcast-quality live video delivery over any IP network....
20/10/2025
A. R. Rahman on Facing Fear and Finding the Divine In an interview with Berklee President Jim Lucchese, the Oscar-winning composer reflects on how courage and...
20/10/2025
Monday 20 October 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. ...
20/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz transfers Pixel Power to Imagine Communications Companies work collaboratively to ensure continuity and ongoing support for existing customers...
20/10/2025
RT 's Prime Time is set to host the final Presidential Election Debate this Tuesday night, October 21, providing an opportunity to hear directly from Irelan...
20/10/2025
NVIDIA and Google Cloud are expanding access to accelerated computing to transform the full spectrum of enterprise workloads, from visual computing to agentic a...
19/10/2025
Back to All News
Sins of Kujo' Comes to Life in New Live-Action Series Set for Spring 2026
Entertainment
19 October 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to cl...
18/10/2025
New England Sports Network (NESN) has chosen Harmonic, working with Astound Business Solutions, as its enterprise technology partner to transform primary distri...
18/10/2025
NEW ORLEANS, La. In the run-up to the start of the NBA season, WVUE-TV and Gray Local Media have announced a deal with DirecTV that will greatly expand access t...
18/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates 40 Years of the Fall Together Concert Faculty composers Bob Pilkington and Greg Hopkins are among the featured artists for this year's ...
17/10/2025
NEP Group Receives New Equity Investment From 26North Partners LP, Co-InvestorsCarlyle remains the largest shareholder as the company prepares for the futureBy ...
17/10/2025
Apple Lands Five-Year Deal for F1 Distribution in the U.S.Besides airing on Apple TV, the sport will be amplified on other Apple servicesBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Ed...
17/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Marshall Electronics' Bernie Keach on the Future of PTZ Camera...
17/10/2025
L2 Productions' REMI Facility in Austin Can Produce Content From AnywhereMusic festivals, sports events are produced via flypacks and remote control roomsBy...
17/10/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
17/10/2025
(L-R) Christopher Meyer, Addison Timlin, Cooper Raiff, Lili Reinhart, Alyah Chan...
17/10/2025
M sica e arte se uniram em uma noite especial na semana passada na ZIV Gallery, ...
17/10/2025
Music and art came together for one special night last week at ZIV Gallery, an i...
17/10/2025
Spotify and FC Barcelona are extending our partnership through 2030, continuing a collaboration that's redefining how fans, players, and artists connect. Th...
17/10/2025
MURRIETA, Calif. The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC) has deployed DigitalGlue's creative.space storage platform to streamline video production by centrali...
17/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. Football continued to cement its reputation as a bulwark of TV advertising in Q3 2025 with new data from iSpot that showed both the NFL and coll...
17/10/2025
The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC), the premier competitive saltwater fishing series, has transformed its production workflow by adopting creative.space, the...
17/10/2025
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning multi-camera video productions and remote contribution solutions, announces the release of StudioPro Version 4, ...
17/10/2025
Although the annual Grammy Awards celebration is best known for recognizing achievements in the recording industry, the show often proves a visual spectacle as ...
17/10/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leading provider of software-defined data storage and data services, has promoted Alex Dunfey to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from his for...
17/10/2025
The University of Arizona (UofA) has significantly upgraded its broadcast communication infrastructure with the integration of Riedel Communications' advanc...
17/10/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that New England Sports Network (NESN), owned by Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North, has selected Harmonic as its en...
As 2018 FIFA World Cup Rapidly Approaches, Telemundo Deportes Preps for Epic Production Effort Telemundo's Eli Velazquez: We will use the complete strength of assets and innovation that this company brings to bear' By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
