Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Kitzbhel 2024: How Live Drone Shots Helped ORF Produce Immersive Coverage of the 84th Hahnenkamm Races

22/02/2024

Kitzb hel 2024: How live drone shots helped ORF produce immersive coverage of the 84th Hahnenkamm Races By Will Strauss

Wednesday, February 14, 2024 - 10:19

Print This Story

The Streif racecourse in Kitzb hel, Austria, is the ultimate downhill skiing challenge. A highlight of the FIS Men's Alpine Ski World Cup, and home to the Hahnenkamm Races, the steep and winding route starts at 1,665 metres above sea level and propels the skiers at speeds of up to 90mph. The first jump, the Mausefalle', has a gradient of 40.4 degrees and sends skiers flying 80 metres through the air. It's icy. It's fast. It's dangerous. This is not a race for the faint-hearted.

For many years, TV viewers have been able to enjoy the spectacle from the comfort of their living rooms, thanks to coverage provided by host broadcaster ORF Sport. Broadcast cameras have always captured the action brilliantly, but two-dimensional images haven't always been able to reflect the speed of the skiers and how steep the course is. That is, until drones were introduced.

In 2022, ORF Sport head of directors Michael K gler, the man at the helm of the host coverage, took a punt on a drone. By this year's race, three UAVs were providing what K gler describes as an enormous insight into how fast the skiers go, and what kind of skills they've got to have.

However, very much like finishing the race itself, getting to this point wasn't easy, as Andr Theis (pictured, below), CEO and founder of wireless video systems company theis.media, the man responsible for the provision of the drones in Kitzb hel, explains.

We had to build trust, says Theis. We had to prove to everyone that what we were doing and how we were working was safe.

The reason for the caution is well known. In December 2015, a race skier almost got hit by a falling drone.

Reports the Guardian newspaper at the time: The downhill skiing champion Marcel Hirscher escaped unharmed after a drone carrying a camera fell from the sky and narrowly missed him on his way down the slope during a race in Italy. The Austrian, who has won the overall World Cup title for the past four seasons, was on his second run of the slalom event at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy when the machinery smashed into the snow metres behind him.

Theis's background is in broadcasting as a video engineer. Now, he specialises in wireless systems, including on-board cameras, POV bodycams, and FPV (First Person View) drones.

To be with' the skier is really something. These are pictures that television viewers have never seen before. It has unleashed the camera. We don't have to follow the same track every time. It's something new and amazing.

His company builds and operates its own equipment, including its own telemetry systems, lightweight receiver boards and transmitter backpacks. To get everything as light as possible, they modify transmitters, build their own housing and get OEM parts directly from the manufacturer.

The lengths that Theis has gone to in order to get the drones accepted are impressive. He explains: We have our own drones. We build the frames. We have a GPS rescue system so if we lose contact then the drones come back to us.

We also decided to use 6 or 8 propellers so that in case one breaks, there would be no problem. We successfully tested this.

But perhaps the biggest issue was having good pilots who could make sure that they kept their distance [from the racer] or that they kept an angle. So if they go nearer, they have to be in at an angle so that if something goes wrong, the drone will fall to the side or behind the racer. And, of course, the quality of the broadcast has to be high. So all these these things we have to show.

To make this possible, Theis created a FPV drone that could capture live shots, that weighed less than 800 grams and that was safe, broadcast quality and piloted by experts that know the sport.

It has taken us some time to find FPV Pilots that do good framing, he adds. They read the sport and they fly with the guys. This was a big step. As soon as we got all this together, the safety, the quality of the broadcast, and also the pilots, then we could approach Michael K gler.

Hahnenkamm is always the place for doing something big, and K gler is the one for doing something big, of course. We did some tests and after just one flight he said: That's it. The search is over.

With permission granted by the Kitzb hel Ski Club and Austro Control, the organisation responsible for air traffic throughout Austrian airspace, theis.media provided one live drone in 2022. The year after it was two drones one between Lerchenschuss and the edge of the Hausberg, the other from the traverse to the target slope.

That was something special, continues Theis. The first drone followed [the skiers] coming down the hill, and then on a long straight, and then a little bit further down the hill. From that point, we had the next drone following almost to the finish zone. But we cannot fly through the finish zone because of spectators. You need to have a minimum of 50 metres from the spectators. Despite this, the feedback was [very good].

For 2024, they moved things on further still. The opening shot at the start of course was captured with a crane in previous years. It provided a good but limited picture. To improve it, ORF opted to use a third drone.

And this is really what we saw at the start of this year, says Theis. It was crazy and something special. It really shows the angles, the speed, and everything. So this is a very good position.

The essence and benefits of the drone shots are clear for Theis. It provides a more immersive experience (as can be seen in the clip above from the SVG Europe Sky Sport Austria Summit 2024).

You can feel the speed and how dangerous parts of the race are, he
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/kitzbuhel-2024-how-live-drone...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

08/09/2026

Comcast Technology Solutions Signs Multi-Year VOD Distribution Agreement with A+E Global Media

Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...

08/09/2026

Spectra Logic Introduces Media Insight for Faster Discovery, Preview, and Retrieval of Archived Media

Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...

08/09/2026

Rogers and Quebecor Announce 12-Year French-Language NHL Sublicensing Deal

Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies to Demonstrate Automated Broadcast Workflows

Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Boland Communications Makes European Debut of 4K55HDR7SNB

Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...

08/09/2026

Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions Announce Collaboration for Live Video Delivery

Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Haivision Joins IBC Accelerator Programme on 5G Network Control for Live Production

Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...

08/09/2026

Blackmagic Design Cuts Prices on PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K

Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: AI-Media to Showcase Multilingual AI Captioning and Translation Platform

AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...

08/09/2026

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform Deploy SGAI Solution for Belgian Broadcaster RTBF

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Grass Valley to Demonstrate Story-Centric Newsroom Workflows

Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...

08/09/2026

M2A Media and Ateme Partner to Scale Live Sports Video Delivery

M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Ikegami to Introduce New UNICAM XE Cameras and Viewfinders

Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...

08/09/2026

Caretta Research Shares Top Trends to Watch at IBC 2026

Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...

08/09/2026

SENSHI and DAZN Announce Global Broadcast Partnership

SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...

08/09/2026

ESPN, ESPN2 Begin 4K HDR Rollout in the U.S. with New IP-Based Distribution Pipeline

New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...

08/09/2026

IBC2026: Haivision Integrates Chyron LIVE into its Workflow

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/09/2026

Mo-Sys completes reorganisation strengthens management te...

Mo-Sys, the world-leading developer of virtual production, camera robotics and image tracking technology, has completed a business restructuring, which has incl...

08/09/2026

Aicox and TAG Video Systems power monitoring and multivie...

New York, September 8, 2026 The TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure developed by Telef nica's Audiovisual Services area re...

08/09/2026

Asharq migrates extended channel line-up to Pebble playou...

Expanded Riyadh operation brings Asharq and Thmanyah services together on a resilient on-premises Pebble platform. Pebble, the leading automation, content mana...

08/09/2026

Techex Extends its Lead in Software Defined Live Video at...

Techex, a pioneering leader in live video workflows, will showcase its broadest software feature set to date at IBC 2026 (Stand 2.B45), extending its lead in so...

08/09/2026

Grass Valley Advances Story-Centric Media Workflows for U...

Visitors to Grass Valley's booth at IBC2026 will be introduced to new Framelight X capabilities that connect content acquisition, management, editing and pu...

08/09/2026

BCNEXXT Showcases Latest Vipe Innovations at IBC2026 Rais...

BCNEXXT will showcase the latest evolution of Vipe at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B09), introducing a series of innovations designed to deliver higher-quality audience exp...

08/09/2026

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform Power First Active Dep...

Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Ad Insertion Platform (AIP), a leading innovator in advanced ad insertion technologies, to...

08/09/2026

Brainstorm unveils major enhancements to its Suite 7 envi...

Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics and augmented and virtual production, is announcing a major package of enhancements to its Suite 7 soft...

08/09/2026

Big Blue Marble Collaborates with TDF as Technology Partn...

Big Blue Marble is supporting TDF, French infrastructure and network operator, broadcasting Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and radio services, as a techno...

08/09/2026

nxtedition takes agentic AI from newswire to gallery at I...

Agents work inside a single production environment, from incoming wire copy to a live studio show...

08/09/2026

Ceeblue and Layercake Expand Strategic Integration to Lau...

Building on their strategic partnership, Ceeblue and Layercake make the unthinkable possible: scalable sub-second streaming over standard DRM, SSAI, and CDN wor...

08/09/2026

Brainstorm launches Engram a dedicated asset management t...

Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics, augmented and virtual production, is completing the environment for fast-paced broadcast production wi...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026 - The new Synamedia - solving the business of vi...

A SaaS portfolio built to work together, helping operators grow audiences, monetise smarter and run leaner, on their own terms At IBC 2026 (stand 1.B49) Synam...

08/09/2026

Accedo Selected by PlayOn Sports to Enhance NFHS Network...

Accedo, global provider of video streaming software and services, has been selected by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to exp...

08/09/2026

AP brings new connectivity and workflow tech to global ne...

LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, is enabling The Associated Press to take global newsgathering to the next stage with intelligent connectivity and ...

08/09/2026

Mediagenix Personalization Curates Sports Content Around...

Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced the latest evolution of it...

08/09/2026

Appear X5 to enable flyaway contribution for DP World Tou...

Compact, power-efficient X Platform performance brings broadcast-grade reliability and ultra-low latency to space-constrained remote production (REMI) workflows...

08/09/2026

Zixi and Kiloview Partner to Deliver Broadcast-Grade IP V...

Zixi, the leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Kiloview, a leading provider of professional IP video encoding and decoding solutions, t...

08/09/2026

Quortex and NetActuate announce global agreement

Collaboration gives content owners scalable CDN capacity and broadcasters enhanced flexibility, including for C-band transition planning Quortex today announce...

08/09/2026

Orlando Magic, Gray Media Ink Full-Season Broadcast Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/09/2026

Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnership

Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnersh...

08/09/2026

Jnger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026

J nger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026 Search Dolby, MainConcept, Techex and J nger Audio will showcase the industry's ...

07/09/2026

Get to Know This Fall and Winter's Filmmakers Through These 24 Sundance Institute-Supported Films

By Ramona Flume and Lucy Spicer There's a particular kind of magic that hap...

07/09/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces New Lower Price for Blackmagic PYXIS 6K and Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K

Blackmagic Design Announces New Lower Price for Blackmagic PYXIS 6K and Blackmag...

07/09/2026

GB Labs to Unveil Core.ONE at IBC2026, an Intelligent Storage Platform for Media Teams

GB Labs to Unveil Core.ONE at IBC2026, an Intelligent Storage Platform for Media...

06/09/2026

PlayBox Technology Opens Design Partner Programme for New...

London, UK September 2026 PlayBox Technology is inviting broadcasters, OTT and FAST operators, content owners and media organisations worldwide to become De...

05/09/2026

Orlando Magic, Gray Media Ink Ful-Season Broadcast Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/09/2026

YouTube TV Adds ESPN Unlimited

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

05/09/2026

InSync Brings Conversion Workflow Flexibility to IBC 2026

InSync Technology, the leading provider of premium video conversion solutions, will showcase a new generation of products at IBC 2026, designed to help broadcas...

05/09/2026

GlobalM supports quattro media and World Rowing with Glob...

GlobalM successfully supported quattro media GmbH and World Rowing, the world governing body of the Olympic sport of Rowing, with the international distribution...

05/09/2026

Scripps Research professor Chi-Huey Wong to receive ACS Alfred Bader Award

LA JOLLA, CA-In recognition of his exceptional work to understand the chemistry of carbohydrates and the role they play in health and disease, Scripps Family Ch...

04/09/2026

IBC 2026: Eluvio Showcases Global Broadcast Fabric Updates

Eluvio will demonstrate updates to its Content Fabric platform at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand 8.MS5, and Future Tech Zone, Hall 14, Stand 14.A58, September 11-14). C...

04/09/2026

IBC 2026: LiveU Joins IBC Accelerator Smart Stories Consortium

LiveU has joined the IBC Accelerator's Smart Stories consortium, a multi-vendor initiative developing an open standard for Story Context interoperability in...