HBS MEMORIES 0: MAKING BROADCAST HISTORY

HBS MEMORIES 2012: MAKING BROADCAST HISTORY - 24/12/2012 The last in our series of "HBS Memories" for the year comes from Francis Tellier. As HBS CEO, one of the most enviable aspects of Francis job is to attend major sports events across the world to take an in-person look at the on-site broadcast operations. Though these trips primarily have a professional purpose, they also enable Francis to attend the events themselves, a true combination of business and pleasure if ever there was one. This past summer Francis visited the London 2012 Olympics with FIFA TV Director Niclas Ericson, a trip he returned from full of appreciation for his chosen industry.

"Our visit to the London Olympics was eye-opening in three main regards," Francis recalled this week. "The first has to do with the kinship those of us who work in event broadcasting share with one another. When Niclas and I stopped by the Olympic Broadcasting Services headquarters, the companys legendary CEO Manolo Romero showed Niclas and me around its truly gigantic operation. Despite having so much on his plate during those busy two weeks he had the courtesy to put everything aside for a moment. Though Manolos approach to his job is sometimes different to ours, mostly for reasons linked to the main events involved scale, timeframe, season , I fully share the industry's respect for his achievements. We are not rivals but before all colleagues in the same field, both of us working to advance the industry, and his graceful attitude was much appreciated.

"The second memorable moment from our trip occurred when we visited the BBC newsroom [pictured below]. As we toured the room, a British competitor appeared on the screens spread throughout the massive room, and all across the space heads raised from their computers and notepads to watch. It only lasted an instant I believe it was a Rowing competition and then there was a huge cheer, the room burst into applause. A few seconds later everyone was back at work, as if nothing had happened. It was rather delightful.

The BBC newsroom hard at work, left, and taking a quick sporting break, right

"Ive seen this kind of thing before many times, of course, since my Olympics debut in Calgary in 1988. And when the host country is involved, it can become very emotional I remember all of France turning blue (at last) in 1998, or Korea red in 2002. Another notable instance was at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, when the French and Italian national teams made it to the Final, two nationalities well represented in our team, including our colleagues from delta tre. Everyone at HBS was as professional and focused as always but walking around the Munich International Broadcast Centre or the compound in Berlin you certainly saw a lot of our French and Italian staff wearing the national colours in one way or another. As in the general population, to varying extents a great many of us are sports fans. We generally keep our flags safely tucked away in our pockets, but every once in a while you see those flags being pulled out and waved for a few moments and its a quite charming sight."

Francis pointed out that this feeling is reflected in a number of the previous articles in our series, for instance when Julien Bertin revealed that working on the production of the Ironman series had inspired him to take part in the event himself, or when Charles Mautin recalled quality-controlling eight simultaneous matches while paying a tiny bit more attention to the one featuring his favorite team.

"The third main memory I brought back from the Olympics has to do with the future of sports broadcasting. I did not have the fortune to attend the stunning Opening Ceremony, directed by Danny Boyle, at the Olympic Stadium, but watched it live in its regular "2D" version. Then, while at the IBC, I was able to watch the 3D version as well as the experimental 8K coverage. To me the 3D version was the most impressive, the one that most probably came closest to the real thing. Ive never before seen a medium that comes so close to recreating the in-stadium experience. After watching that, together with FIFA, we knew we had to work hard on our next challenges

"Ultimately I sincerely believe everyone who works in this industry is tremendously fortunate to do so. The ability to work on something we actually care about, to improve the quality of sports coverage for the benefit of literally billions of viewers, to work in an industry small enough for there to be mutual respect among colleagues and even competitors, cannot be taken for granted. I am honestly proud to be part of this adventure, and I think that in saying this I speak for the entire HBS team."

On those words, we at HBS wish you all a fantastic holiday season and look forward to continuing to make broadcast history in 2013.

LINK:	http://www.hbs.tv/news-archive/news/article/hbs-memories-2012-making-b...
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