BT Sport: looking back at 10 years of innovation and technology advances By George Bevir
Friday, July 7, 2023 - 10:38
Print This Story
BT Sport's main studio at the Here East building in the Queen Elizabeth Olympics Park back in 2013
With the BT Sport brand set to disappear in just over a week's time, SVG Europe reflects on some of the pay-TV broadcaster's milestones.
On 18 July, the BT Sport brand will disappear from screens in the UK, marking the end of a ten-year period that has been characterised by innovation.
From the launch of the first UHD sports channel in Europe, to debuts for Dolby Atmos, advances in 8K and a pioneering approach to remote production, BT Sport has been synonymous with enhancements in the way sports content is captured, produced and shared with viewers.
Following the joint venture between BT and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), the decision was made to adopt the TNT Sports brand WBD's sports-focused offering in territories such as South America and the US, where it airs coverage of the NBA. When that was announced back in February, WBD - itself no stranger to innovation pledged to continue the spirit of what BT Sport has built over the past decade.
But, with many of the BT Sport employees responsible for pushing those boundaries no longer part of what will become TNT Sports, and those who remain moving from BT Sport's iconic Stratford studios to Warner Bros. Discovery's facilities in West London, it felt like a timely opportunity to reflect on some of BT Sport's milestones.
4K, HDR and 8K
Two years after the August 2013 unveiling of BT Sport, the broadcaster launched Europe's first 4K UHD channel with coverage of the 2015 Community Shield clash between Arsenal and Chelsea. Reporting from the launch, SVG Europe described it as the biggest game-changer in European sports broadcasting .
BT Sport worked with long-term partner Timeline Television, which built UHD-1, a bespoke OB truck kitted out with the first deliveries of Sony's new HDC-4300 2/3 inch UHD 4K camera, the world's first Fujinon UHD 4K 2/3inch 80:1 box and 22:1 ENG lenses and a Snell Kahuna UHD 4K switcher with Sirius router.
4K UHD leaders (L/R): Jamie Hindhaugh, BT Sport; Dan McDonnell, Timeline TV; and Andy Beale, BT Sport, back in 2015
At the time, BT Sport chief operating officer Jamie Hindhaugh said: Broadcast innovation is really important: our whole aim for 4K is not about our own self-congratulation, it's not about getting one over on our competitors. Actually, the whole ethos of BT Sport is how do how do we get the best pictures, the best experience, to our customers.
Four year later, in August 2019, BT Sport launched a new channel, BT Sport Ultimate, the world's first service to feature regular programming in High Dynamic Range (HDR), as well as 4K UHD and Dolby Atmos.
One month after the launch of BT Sport Ultimate, the pay-TV broadcaster collaborated with BT's Media & Broadcast arm to broadcast the world's first live 8K test broadcast into the IBC exhibition in Amsterdam.
8K kit was in short supply, so a single Ikegami SHK-810 camera (supplemented by a regular UHD 16-camera setup), along with a Fujinon 8K PL-mount lens, Blackmagic Design Atem Constellation 8K vision mixer, encoding and decoding from Appear TV and an 8K scope from Leader plus a custom-built Moov graphics system were used to capture the action at a Premiership Rugby 7s match in Northampton, with the signal carried over BT's broadcast network to the RAI exhibition and conference centre in Amsterdam.
That was followed in February 2020 with the UK's first public live 8K sports broadcast, when BT Sport teamed up with Samsung to screen the UEFA Europa League match between Arsenal and Olympiacos to an audience of 50 viewers in the Emirates stadium.
A couple of years later, in March 2022, BT Sport again teamed up with BT Media & Broadcast, plus EMG, Appear, Synamedia and host of other vendors to deliver the UK's first live 8K broadcast of a top-tier sporting event into the home, airing the Saracens v Bristol Bears Premiership Rugby match into selected homes.
The game was produced entirely remotely and without a significant on-site presence, allowing BT Sport to explore OB and production workflows for future live 8K broadcasts, including testing the ability to run 8K HDR with match coverage, domestic presentation and playout including ad insertion.
Immersive audio
It wasn't just about the pictures; in 2017, BT Sport's live coverage of a pair of European ties in February (Manchester United v St Etienne, and Manchester City v AS Monaco) aired in Dolby Atmos, which was a first for the UEFA Champions League and Europa League ties.
It followed on from the January 2016 coverage of Liverpool v Chelsea, which was the world's first live broadcast of Premier League tie in both Ultra HD and Dolby Atmos, which was the culmination of 18 months' work with Dolby to get the proprietary three-dimensional surround sound system into BT Sport's live production chain.
Remote production
The lockdowns and restrictions that resulted from the Covid pandemic forced broadcasters around the world to come up with novel ways to remain on air, BT Sport included.
In April 2020, BT Sport moved its entire production operation out of its studios at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East London, and in just three weeks turned it into a decentralised remote operation. That channel output included seven topical programmes produced live or nearly live with all on-screen participants working alone, based out of their own homes, connected to the production teams by broadband or over EE's 4G mobile network.
BT Sport's Live: Early Kick-Off moved to a truly remote, distributed team at the start of lockdown
That led BT Sport in June 2020 to announce t
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
BT Sport: looking back at 10 years of innovation and technology advances By George Bevir 
