TVBE ebook 008- Winter Sports 2025

GET YOUR SKATES ON! W

ith the Milano Cortina Games set to take place in February, this year’s winter sports season will be as important as ever, especially in drawing in viewers to sports that they might not traditionally watch.

Producing any kind of live sport is tricky, but if you’re battling wind, snow, rain, ice, fog and more, it’s even harder. That’s why both host broadcasters and rights holders need to have the best technology to help them bring the action to viewers safely watching on the sofa at home.

In this guide, we hear from broadcasters and production companies who will be bringing the twists and turns of all the various winter sports to audiences across Europe, and explore the technology, including IP, the cloud, drones, 5G and more, giving them the ‘inside edge’.

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CONTENT

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Contents 04 Live from the edge

Matt Stagg explores how harsh environments have become the proving ground for live sports innovation

08 Ready for anything

Jenny Priestley talks to Warner Bros Discovery’s Matteo Pacor about changes in production, including the adoption of new technologies, to give viewers an even better view of the action

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16 Braving the storm

Mickael Favard, founder of French production company Favoriz, explains how new technology is helping meet the challenge of delivering content from arduous locations

22 Shooting for gold

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With the countdown to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games underway, Robert Portman, head of winter sport and Andreas Aristodemou, director of Olympics at EBU Sport, tell Matthew Corrigan about their preparations

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OPINION

LIVE FROM THE EDGE Media and entertainment innovation specialist Matt Stagg explores how harsh environments have become the proving ground for live sports innovation—and how lessons from the top are reshaping production for all

A

nyone who has ever tried to film live on a mountain knows the elements do not care how strong your signal is. Wind, snow, and cold can stop a production in its tracks, and for decades, that was the accepted limit of what live sport could be.

Outdoor events like skiing, rally racing, surfing, and sailing have always tested the boundaries of both performance and production. In the past, that meant fleets of trucks, miles of cable, and crews flown in to build temporary infrastructure that barely survived a weekend in the weather.

Today, the limits have shifted. Smaller cameras, smarter workflows, and wireless connectivity have made it possible to produce from virtually anywhere, and what began as an engineering challenge has become a creative revolution. The same workflows now power the world’s most ambitious events, from the Winter Olympics to Extreme E, SailGP, and Red Bull’s global adventure coverage.

These sports are no longer just about competition; they are about conquering the environment itself. And the lessons learned there are now democratising live sport production for everyone else.

FROM COPPER CABLES TO THE CLOUD Long before live production went wireless, it began with frozen cables buried in snow. The 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, marked a turning point, the first Winter Games to be broadcast live across Europe via the new Eurovision network.

The scale of the challenge was immense. In sub-zero temperatures and blinding snow glare, engineers laid miles of copper cable across the Dolomites to relay pictures from remote mountain venues like the Tofana downhill course. Heavy cameras were hauled up icy slopes, signals boosted across peaks, and every frame of live coverage became an act of endurance.

That spirit of invention, finding a signal where none should exist, still defines live sport today. Nearly 70 years later, those same challenges can be met with a handful of cameras, portable uplink kits, and remote production control. What once required an army of engineers and trucks now fits in a few flight cases. The goal has not changed, capturing sport wherever it happens, but the way we do it has been completely redefined.

THE PIONEERS—HOW ELITE SPORTS PROVED IT IS POSSIBLE From mountain slopes to open seas, the toughest sporting environments have become the proving ground for the future of live

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production. The world’s most ambitious events have had to innovate simply to stay on air, and in doing so, they have created the blueprint for how to produce sport anywhere, in any condition.

At the Winter Olympics, harsh weather and vast geography forced organisers to rethink traditional infrastructure. Remote galleries and virtual control rooms replaced large on-site crews, while smart metadata systems made it possible to manage hundreds of feeds across multiple venues with remarkable efficiency.

Extreme E took this further by making adversity part of its DNA. Racing in deserts, glaciers, and rainforests, the championship faces an entirely new set of challenges at every event: no permanent infrastructure, limited power, unpredictable conditions, and strict sustainability targets. Each race demands a unique configuration. One week it is a portable network; the next it is satellite uplinks and solarpowered edit suites. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and that is exactly the point. Extreme E thrives on constant reinvention, proving that production quality does not depend on geography.

SailGP shows similar ingenuity at sea, combining real-time boat telemetry with centralised production to deliver immersive coverage and live data for both broadcasters and fans. And Red Bull Media House, a pioneer long before remote production became a buzzword, continues to demonstrate what is possible with mobile rigs, drones, and creative workflows built to survive the elements.

These pioneers did not just overcome obstacles, they changed the rules. What began as survival tactics for elite operations has evolved into a flexible toolkit now within reach of every rightsholder, federation, or grassroots creator.

LEVELLING THE PLAYING FIELD What began as experimentation at global events is now filtering down to the grassroots. Connected production and automation are democratising live sport, reducing costs, removing barriers, and giving smaller organisations the ability to create content with genuine broadcast polish.

Dedicated wireless networks, often private or event-based, can now be deployed almost anywhere, giving temporary venues or open-air events reliable contribution links without fixed infrastructure.

An example is the IBC Accelerator project at the Pitlochry Highland Games, where Neutral Wireless deployed a “network-in-a-box” private 5G system. The setup combined 5G with Starlink Low Earth Orbit satellite backhaul and 4G LTE bonding to deliver a full live broadcast

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OPINION from a remote Scottish location with no existing connectivity. The project, backed by partners including BBC, BT Sport, BT Media & Broadcast, Paramount, RTÉ, TV2, and Warner Bros Discovery, demonstrated how smaller, community-based sports can now achieve production quality once limited to major global events.

Even public mobile networks, built primarily for download, have valuable unused uplink capacity that can be harnessed for live feeds. With the right setup, a standard mobile phone can become a contribution source, feeding into cloud-based switching or remote production tools.

Meanwhile, automation and remote collaboration are cutting costs and travel. A single operator can manage multiple camera angles, generate highlights, and publish clips to social platforms in real time.

Directors, editors, and commentators can now work together from anywhere, whether in a studio, on a laptop, or at home.

This shift is not just technical, it is cultural. Sports that once lacked coverage can now control their own storytelling, and audiences are rewarding authenticity and access over gloss.

THE NEW FRONTIER Smarter capture and connected workflows have created a genuine turning point. Live sport is no longer reserved for those with deep pockets or exclusive rights; it is now in the hands of anyone with imagination and ambition.

For underrepresented or lower-budget sports, this shift is transformational. A local ski race, surf meet, or mountain biking event can now be streamed live using compact cameras or drones, with the action mixed and distributed in real time through virtual control rooms. Small teams can now achieve what once required an OB truck and dozens of staff.

Automation has become the quiet ally of modern production. Cameras can follow the action automatically, editors can assemble highlights in minutes, and content can be tagged, published, and monetised almost instantly. For smaller federations and clubs, this is not just about visibility, it is about creating new revenue streams and connecting directly with their fans.

Everyday connectivity is part of that story too. As mobile coverage expands and uplink performance improves, a few smartphones and lightweight rigs are all it takes to tell stories from mountaintops, beaches, or city parks that would once have been impossible to capture live.

What used to demand a broadcaster’s infrastructure now fits in a backpack. The same principles that keep the Winter Olympics, SailGP, and Extreme E connected in the wild are empowering local communities and creators to bring their own sports to life anywhere in the world.

Image courtesy of Getty Images

THE SPIRIT OF INNOVATION This evolution in live production mirrors the spirit of the sports it serves: inventive, resilient, and always pushing the limits.

Whether racing on ice, sailing through storms, or skiing down a mountain, these environments demand adaptability, and that same mindset now shapes the technology that captures them.

For years, producing live sport in the wild meant battling logistics as much as the elements. Today, flexible workflows, remote collaboration, and automation have changed the game. The question is no longer what is possible, but who it is possible for.

That is what makes this new chapter so exciting. The mountain does not care whether you are the IOC or a small crew with a camera and a story to tell. With the right tools and a story worth sharing, anyone can. From the snow to the sea, the barriers are falling, and a new generation of creators is redefining what live sport looks like, not from the control room, but from the field itself.

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WINTER EBOOK 2025 | 05

OPINION

CHANGES IN LIVE SPORTS COVERAGE

International Broadcast Centres used to be buzzing with activity during global events. Insiders report that they seem a lot quieter now. Lawo’s Christian Scheck asks, what happened?

H

ere is the good news: quieter International Broadcast Centres (IBC) are no cause for concern. Global and regional sporting events are as popular as ever despite budget squeezes all around. Rightsholders are beginning to leverage the benefits of IP-based production workflows. And thanks to a tight partnership, the biggest host broadcasters have always been open to trialling new approaches with products that have yet to be released. This explains why open-standards-based IP has been their backbone of choice for over a decade.

GETTING IN ON THE ACTION Satellite uplinks started giving way to dark-fibre IP connections when the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of standards was fully embraced by enough vendors to make the migration worthwhile. Some may remember the time when one of the fundamental requirements— interoperability—was interpreted in almost as many ways as there were vendors. That has changed, and NMOS has been instrumental in advancing interoperability even more.

Nowadays, most OB trucks that come online not only have an IP backbone, but also leverage hardware-agnostic app technology for processing. Baseband trucks can also be equipped with gateways and transmit their productions to the IBC over IP, while simultaneously receiving streams from there.

Though remote-production workflows are becoming increasingly popular and used successfully in several countries all year round, host broadcasters still tend to rely on OB trucks for their productions, backhauling those signals via IP. What is changing quite noticeably, though, is the size of the crews rightsholders send on-site. More and more broadcasters implement intracontinental remote production workflows, often for sports that are wildly popular in their country—think of curling in Canada, for instance.

From a budget perspective, popularity may not justify sending an entire production crew to Italy, however.

As latency is not really an issue, a small team in Italy can easily take care of additional specialty contributions, while the production based on such footage and the international feed can be handled in, say, Montreal. Another consideration is commentary. HOME Appbased strategies are emerging to facilitate massive numbers of offtube commentary positions either at the broadcaster’s production facility or in the homes of commentators, using mobile devices.

Long story short: IP allows rightsholders to save on who needs

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to be on-site while still offering enough agility to tailor their productions to their viewership’s preferences.

KEEPING AN EYE ON THE WEIGHT Even host broadcasters are not immune to budget freezes, and since commercial outfits need to secure as many projects as possible, a lot of equipment tends to travel around the world.

This probably explains why host broadcasters were among the first to embrace the concept of processing apps that run on COTS servers or in the cloud. Doing so indeed frees them from the constraints of bespoke devices for each processing function they might not even need.

A whole bunch of different processing apps—or several instances of the same app—can run on a single server, so fewer hardware devices are needed to deliver the required processing oomph. Similar benefits can be reaped from a cloud-based approach once everybody is clear on the financial implications, as predictability is of the utmost importance to avoid unpleasant discussions after the fact.

This is where a flexible, customer-centric licensing scheme comes in that allows using a given credit for different applications, and even to move it to other servers. Coupled with the ability to spin down all apps in between events, time-limited subscriptions have a positive effect on the bottom line, while still providing access to the entire processing range offered by, for instance, Lawo. Plus, credits used in Australia, for instance, can be solicited in Cortina the next day. Contrast that with purchasing the same hardware twice if its functionality is needed on two continents within a few hours.

CENTRAL HUB More changes seem to be on the horizon, for some upcoming global sporting events will be hosted by several countries. Does every host country need its own IBC, given that some venues will be continents apart?

Perhaps the idea to work with a fixed production hub like the one in Australia—which was used for the women’s soccer championship in that country and New Zealand—might serve as an example. Some broadcast service providers already operate out of a central hub to maximise efficiency. One central IBC would certainly be more efficient for data centre and master control purposes. Let’s see how it pans out.

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LIVE PRODUCTION Cameraman Pino Scandinaro keeps an eye on an interview with Alex Aamodt Kilde (alpine skiing)

READY FOR ANYTHING As the winter sports season gets into swing, Jenny Priestley talks to Warner Bros Discovery’s Matteo Pacor about changes in production, including the adoption of new technologies and drones to help give viewers an even better view of the action

W

orking in freezing cold and wet conditions is never easy, and if you’re trying to deliver live sport to millions of viewers across Europe, it’s even harder.

From fogged-up lenses to satellite links impacted by snow, broadcasters need to plan for every eventuality, ensuring that audiences can watch the latest action.

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During the 2025-26 season, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) will bring audiences around 300 hours of live winter sports action across its various platforms, including every Alpine Ski World Cup race, the Ski Jumping World Cup, Cross Country World Cup, Nordic Combined World Cup, and men’s and women’s Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Cup events. It also holds the International Ski Mountaineering Federation rights, which will be included in the Winter Olympics for the first time at Milano Cortina, plus International Skating Union rights (figure skating, short track and speed skating) as well as curling and, for the first time, luge.

Matteo Pacor has spent 20+ years working right at the heart of the action, first with Sky Italia, where he was involved in the broadcaster’s coverage of football, Formula One and the Olympics, and since 2016 with WBD. He joined the broadcaster as part of the team working on the PyeongChang Olympics and then, in 2023, took on the responsibility of winter sports activities all around Europe. Currently, he’s overseeing the Italian production for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, as well as various winter sports.

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LIVE PRODUCTION Production has changed a lot over those 20 years, not least with the impact of the pandemic, when almost all broadcasters and sports federations had to find a new way to bring audiences content.

“We learned a lot in terms of how to be more, let’s say, selective, and how to be more prudent with the coverage,” says Pacor. “Some of the host broadcasters are now providing even more content, and also some of the organisations have developed platforms where they can share content in advance with the rights holders. This was driven by some of the Federations during the pandemic when they were trying to avoid too much contact with their athletes.

“The shared platforms allowed the different nations to upload their content. This was very beneficial for some of our sports because we broadcast in many different languages, and it’s good to have different content from different nations, so we have a lot of content coming from them.”

The biggest change brought about by the pandemic has been the rise in remote production, and WBD has worked with host broadcasters to ensure what they’re providing meets its expectations. “For example, in the pre-feed before the events, the quantity and quality of content have changed, which gives us more freedom in the storytelling,” Pacor explains.

BATTLING THE WEATHER That freedom can be easily hampered by the weather. Although it doesn’t produce the live action itself, WBD will likely be on site with presenters based in the Mix Zone, providing pre-coverage, course inspection, race inspection, and background information.

With the ongoing impact of climate change, broadcasters need to be prepared for whatever challenges Mother Nature may bring. “The weather is changing dramatically and now everything is more extreme,” states Pacor. “Sometimes we have very dry winters or very cold periods or very wet. We have rain, we have wind, we have fog and everything.

They all make producing content tricky. If you take ski jumping, for example, they don’t want wind or fog.”

WBD has an experienced group of freelancers, camerapeople and producers who are well versed in how difficult and tricky the environments they’ll be working in can be. ”Our camera teams are experts in knowing that when it’s very cold or humid, they have

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to be very careful to avoid any patch of fog inside the lenses. Plus, sometimes we have to take more batteries, because when it’s very cold, they don’t last as long, and we can have power failures in the Mix Zone because of the wet conditions.

"We are normally prepared for all these kinds of things. We’ve never had anything dramatic that’s taken us off air.”

Matteo Pacor

5G AND DRONES There are new technologies that are helping host broadcasters and their clients bring viewers coverage from previously inaccessible locations, namely 5G and Starlink. But even that can be tricky when working on winter sports. “In some of the mountain areas, when you have trees, when you have peaks around, you might not be completely under Starlink’s coverage. That’s why we often pay to have better connectivity.

“We’ve also held talks with the international federations to encourage them to select places where they can offer proper connectivity," adds Pacor. "Some of the host broadcasters are still relying on satellites, others are using fibre to transfer their feeds. In some of the valleys, if there’s a nice village full of tourists, they’re sucking a lot of the network, so the 5G or even the 4G can be overloaded.”

Other new technological developments are also helping broadcasters get viewers closer to the action, particularly drones, which are offering a different angle and additional action to the footage and flow of winter sports events.

“I think that there’s still a lot of room for improvement, because sometimes it can be overused,” states Pacor. “I’m not completely convinced about the sound of the drones and how they move, because sometimes they’re inclining in different ways but in general, I think that this is something that is really giving a different angle that was not used in the past.”

Another new development is the use of small cameras that can be mounted onto the goggles or helmets of the athletes to really make the viewer feel they are part of the action. “I know that the host broadcasters are trying to understand how they can transfer the pictures immediately, because they cannot use big antennas. It’s not a Formula One circuit where you have space to mount extra antennas on the vehicle.

“With winter sports, sometimes you have

“I prefer to see people with the snow on their hats instead of in the studio. I feel that someone watching television should be transported to the outdoors”

Pacor (middle) watches on during an interview

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LIVE PRODUCTION

Reporter Francesca Marsaglia interviews Flora Tabanelli (freestyle skiing)

three kilometres in the mountains with bumps, woods, forest and everything. It’s something that has been tested and there has been some delay in the pictures, so the host broadcasters were not happy, but I think we’ll see this technology start to be used very soon, especially for events like ski cross or snowboard cross, where you have multiple athletes racing at the same time. An onboard camera where you can pick the action of your favourite athlete is something that will give more personalisation to the viewers and let them see what the athletes are seeing. It’s very interesting.”

GOING FOR GOLD AT THE OLYMPICS Whether those new ideas will be part of the coverage of Milano Cortina in March 2026 remains to be seen, but Pacor says he’s getting very excited about the event, not least because it’ll be in the European time zone.

“A lot of our storytelling will be around how the athletes are feeling about the return of the Olympics to the Alps and how they’re preparing,” he adds. “We will have huge amounts of coverage, as we have in the past. We are quite well prepared, and we will focus on the Olympics from the end of October with the beginning of the Alpine World Cup.” With WBD operating in multiple countries across Europe, each market will have its own plans for

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how it will cover the event. Pacor is overseeing the Italian coverage and expects to have presenters on the ground in both locations. “I prefer to see people with the snow on their hats instead of in the studio. Other markets prefer to have a virtual studio or physical studio where they can have everything under control. But I feel that someone watching television should be transported to the outdoors.

“For Milano Cortina, we will also have a virtual studio," he adds, "but we are going to combine it with being out in the Mix Zone and in the different areas in Milano, in the Italian team’s base, which will be one of the main spots for us, and then we will close each day with the virtual studio.”

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MEDIA MANAGEMENT

DELIVERING SCALABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY

With more broadcasters making the move to production in the cloud, Scott Kewley, CEO at Techex, explains how the adoption of software-defined technologies is key to delivering high-value sports productions Cloud-based workflows have matured rapidly in live production. Where do you see the biggest benefits for broadcasters covering winter sports?

We’re increasingly delivering and seeing rapidly maturing cloud-based workflows in live production environments of our Tier-1 broadcaster customers. It’s clear that many of the benefits are ideally suited for winter sports coverage, including the ability to spin up contribution and distribution services faster, even in remote, isolated venues where the reduced need for heavy on-site infrastructure and easier collaboration across global distributed teams is of great benefit.

As for all live sports, the option to scale capacity on demand on an event basis creates a commercially viable, financially attractive option.

Winter sports are seen as a showcase for broadcast innovation. Why do you think they’re such a strong fit for testing new technologies?

Winter sports are often held in environments that are both geographically and technically challenging. Broadcasters differentiate through innovation and maximising their ability to adapt to each new location. One example of Techex innovating with a broadcaster is delivering the uncompromising quality and low latency of JPEG XS over SRT, enabling cloud production which looks–and feels–just like sending a truck. Software deployments are key to delivering the scalability and flexibility that is needed to deliver high-value sports IP productions whilst minimising the environmental impact.

As production tools become increasingly software-defined, how does running kit as software on-site—and extending that into the cloud— change the economics and agility of live coverage?

The adoption of software-defined technologies allows broadcasters and rights owners to move away from a heavy capex cost model to a more flexible opex model. This continues to be an increasingly popular trend across the industry.

On a deployment level, software-defined solutions enable faster upgrades and feature rollouts without the need for shipping kit. This makes it much easier for the broadcast engineers we work with to improve and iterate on a continual basis and allows them the flexibility to reconfigure and repurpose infrastructure across events.

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Running software-defined tools like tx edge and tx darwin on standard compute reduces the need for bespoke infrastructure and simplifies scaling across different environments.

Ultimately, software-defined infrastructure provides a unified operational layer across different environments, whether you’re running on-prem, cloud or hybrid workflows. It lets broadcasters run the same tools in a truck, a data centre, or the cloud and reduces vendor lock-in, therefore offering greater freedom to innovate.

What other important considerations should we be aware of on this topic?

Sustainability is now a board-level issue for broadcasters. Techex helps our customers to reduce on-site infrastructure by moving more of their live video production workflows to the cloud or running hybrid environments. We can also see a move to situations where they can operate usage-based infrastructure, supporting the reduction in unnecessary equipment usage and therefore emissions. By supporting remote operations, we can see that this is lowering energy usage across events.

Looking ahead, we’re working with broadcasters to design solutions with energy efficiency and longevity in mind, as well as smarter, greener workflows designed around sustainability metrics – all driving greener and planet-friendly broadcasting in the future.

Looking ahead more broadly, what technologies or trends excite you most in live sports broadcasting?

We’re excited to be part of the industry initiative working on Time Addressable Media Store (TAMS). We see this as being a key trend for live sports broadcasting over the next few years as more broadcasters recognise the need for interoperable storage which they control.

Likewise, we saw great interest and progress being made on Media eXchange Layer (MXL) during the IBC Accelerator and Techex continues to be involved in working to ensure MXL is brought to life and implemented across the industry as we believe it has the potential to become the standard for live media–giving broadcasters and studios the same freedom of choice in software workflows that SDI guarantees in hardware.

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IP MIGRATION

ENABLING SCALABLE PRODUCTION

IP technologies such as SMPTE ST 2110 are opening the doors to new live sport production possibilities, explains Mike Boucke, senior product manager at AJA Video How is IP transforming sports production?

IP is maturing, and as it does, it’s unlocking new production efficiencies for a broader range of sports. Large-scale distributed deployments are becoming more cost-efficient and intuitive to deploy and scale. Rather than cabling baseband equipment, production teams can build their kit around an IP switch.

This quickly establishes a single link connection where all video sources are readily available, and teams can access more crosspoints. It’s then easier to integrate video feeds originating from different venues and support a larger volume of sources and destinations. Production teams can manage more streams and even experiment to identify the content that’s most popular with audiences while also taking advantage of remote production.

In professional and higher-end collegiate and esports productions, we’re seeing more venues and studios migrate to full SMPTE ST 2110 uncompressed IP video infrastructures. This approach is enabling scalable production of high-quality, low-latency live sports content.

For instance, productions can connect gear across a massive arena, leveraging the IP network switch to expand and experiment with new content streams.

In lower-tier or recreational sports environments, compressed IP approaches are more common. There are a tonne of IP protocols and codecs available today for transmitting live video over the public internet or dark fibre to a production facility, instead of using costly satellite. To this end, more live sports are being streamed today than ever, including some that would have been difficult to justify financially before.

Which IP paths are most common, and why?

Budget, desired video quality, and engineering expertise are key factors in the decision. For a large revenue-generating organisation with a dedicated engineering team, a full SMPTE ST 2110 build is becoming more of a norm; it provides the visual quality that audiences expect.

However, in scenarios where budgets are tighter, a compressed approach is a perfectly acceptable, often preferred alternative.

The best approach also depends on the level of desired archiving quality. If the highest possible quality storage of the originating video is required, an approach like ST 2110 is optimal. However, to minimise storage costs, a compressed approach may be better.

The reality today is that many productions are hybrid, using a mixture of SDI and ST 2110 while often opting to bring in complementary

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feeds via NDI, SRT, and HLS. These hybrid IP workflows are making it easier to incorporate footage that may have previously been cast aside due to quality, whether video shot on an iPhone or pulled from Facebook or TikTok. What obstacles lie ahead, and how can live sport production overcome them?

IP still has a steep learning curve and growing pains.

Moving to a network-based infrastructure often means navigating more complex layers. You need engineering talent that is both broadcast and IT savvy to manage the network. Then, there are technical layers to consider. With ST 2110, you need PTP (precision timing protocol) for a clock and external control, typically via NMOS. Also, not every product is going to integrate seamlessly into the pipeline, so end-user systems testing and validation with vendors to ensure interoperability from one product to the next are essential. More general considerations include figuring out the best way to feed IP signals into your HDMI and SDI monitors while preserving appropriate HDR metadata. Productions also need the flexibility to encode, decode, stream, and transport video in whatever protocol or codec the job demands, such as SRT, H.265, H.264, NDI, HLS, RTMP, or another.

The best way to overcome these challenges is to approach IP with the understanding that it will take some time to get it right. Conducting research to identify and test the right tools will go a long way as well.

At AJA, we’re entrenched in IP workflows and focused on developing products and features that help productions address these challenges to fully realise the value IP brings to the table.

IP makes it easier to integrate video feeds originating from different venues

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LIVE PRODUCTION

BRAVING THE STORM French production company Favoriz specialises in finding tailored solutions for clients’ editorial needs and creative vision. Jenny Priestley sits down with founder Mickaël Favard to discuss the technology that helps it meet the challenge

F

ounded in 2010 by Mickaël Favard, Favoriz specialises in live sport production. The company maintains a core team of five staff members while regularly working with a network of freelancers, enabling it to scale up operations according to its needs.

A core ethos of Favoriz is finding solutions that perfectly match their clients’ editorial needs and creative vision, rather than simply providing off-the-shelf technical packages. “We pride ourselves on this tailored approach,” says Favard.

Over the years, the team has built up considerable experience in working on winter sports, providing comprehensive broadcast coverage for the Pierra Menta, one of the most prestigious ski mountaineering races in the Alps. “Additionally, we cover two major ultratrail running

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The team approach every event as a fresh challenge and an opportunity to innovate and improve

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LIVE PRODUCTION

The rapid proliferation of 5G antennas means production is no longer constrained to fixed camera positions

challenges of working on winter sports. This level of engagement has been invaluable.”

CHANGING TIMES AND PRODUCTION NEEDS Having been part of the industry for over 15 years, Favard has seen plenty of technological innovation. Back in the early days of Favoriz, the company had to deploy its own IP bridge network infrastructure when working in the mountains, establishing a complex network mesh with multiple relay points, which proved to be time-consuming, expensive, and limited its coverage flexibility.

“Today, with the rapid proliferation of 5G cellular antennas even in mountain regions and the availability of the Starlink satellite network, we can achieve reliable network coverage almost everywhere and, crucially, maintain it while moving. This mobility aspect has

transformed what’s possible in outdoor sports coverage. We’re no events, as well as the SkyRace des Matheysins, which presents unique longer constrained to fixed camera positions with line-of-sight to our challenges due to its high-altitude mountain terrain and demanding production centre. course profile,” adds Favard. “These events require us to deploy our “The widespread adoption of professional drones is also a real most advanced mobile production capabilities in some of the most evolution for covering such events,” Favard continues. “They provide challenging environments imaginable.” spectacular aerial perspectives that were previously impossible or Favoriz’s mobile production truck, which serves as the company’s prohibitively expensive to achieve, and they can follow the action in technical hub, is equipped with two Haivision ways that traditional cameras can’t. Combined with reliable StreamHubs providing a total of 8 SDI outputs. The transmission, drones have become an essential tool in our company also maintains multiple internet connections production arsenal.” via Starlink satellite, 5G cellular networks, and WiFi As well as facing issues around network coverage, when available. “Crucially, we aggregate these different probably the biggest challenge for winter sports links to create resilient, high-bandwidth connections broadcasters and production companies is the weather for receiving external feeds from our field cameras, itself. When it is fine and clear, everything runs smoothly. ensuring we maintain signal even when individual But, when production teams have to deal with snow, rain connections fluctuate.” and fog, their work becomes much more complicated.

Out in the field, the team carefully adapts its “Heavy precipitation can affect our equipment, reduce Mickaël Favard transmission methods to match the specific type of visibility for our cameras, and often degrades network images being captured and the mobility requirements signal quality simultaneously. of each camera position. “Our runner-cameramen, who need “Fog is particularly challenging as it can completely obscure the maximum mobility while following competitors on foot, use Haivision action while also interfering with wireless transmissions. We’ve learnt MoJoPro units,” explains Favard. “For aerial coverage and electric to prepare redundant systems, protect our equipment appropriately, motorcycles that follow the race, we deploy Haivision AIR encoders. and have contingency plans ready. Weather monitoring and rapid Our shoulder-mounted cameras and tripod-based camera positions adaptation have become core skills for our team.” use Haivision PRO encoders, which offer the highest quality feeds Each season of winter sports brings different challenges and from more stable positions.” opportunities, even when broadcasters are covering the same recurring Because Favoriz is such a small team, they don’t have the luxury of events. No two editions are ever the same due to changes in weather lots of options when working in challenging environments, says Favard, patterns, snow conditions, and the continuous evolution of broadcast which means they have to rigorously test solutions to ensure they technology. The course itself may be the same, but conditions can can withstand the extreme weather conditions of working on winter range from perfect spring weather to heavy snowstorms, each requiring sports. “Over several years, we have extensively tested many different different production approaches. transmission solutions from various manufacturers, and our choice “We continuously invest in new technology and refine our workflows, ultimately settled on Haivision products. so each year we’re able to deliver better coverage than before,” “What convinced us wasn’t just the technical performance, though states Favard. “We approach every event as a fresh challenge and an that was excellent. A fundamental factor in our decision was the opportunity to innovate and improve. This mindset keeps us motivated exceptional support and technical assistance we have received from and ensures we never become complacent. The combination of Haivision, despite our company’s modest size. They listen to our familiar events with ever-changing variables keeps the work exciting specific needs and help us optimise our workflows for the unique and pushes us to constantly evolve our capabilities.”

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CASE STUDY

STAYING CONNECTED I

n 2023, NEP Sweden took a bold step Central to this integration is TFC (Total in live sports production by unveiling Facility Control), NEP’s proprietary broadcast three Remote Operation Centres control and networking software. TFC abstracts (ROCs) dedicated to Swedish ice hockey. Every the complexity of IP 2110 networks, giving season, more than 800 games are produced operators intuitive control over cameras, routing, for TV4, marking one of the most ambitious multiviewers, and replay systems. decentralised broadcast setups in Europe.

“Technology should never be the bottleneck,” For a country as geographically vast as explains Bauer. “TFC gives our teams the Sweden, this distributed design is more than a flexibility to scale up instantly—whether it’s a technical choice—it’s a necessity. single match in Växjö or a multi-venue playoff Each ROC is connected via dual redundant From Malmö in the south to Luleå in the fibre paths to local arenas, where compact OB weekend. Everything talks to everything.” vans act as flypacks far north, the distances between arenas are The ROC infrastructure supports formats from immense. Traditional OB workflows would require long travel times HD up to UHD and HDR, ensuring futureproofed production quality. and heavy resource consumption. NEP Sweden’s solution: a network of With Sweden’s viewers increasingly consuming content on 4K-capable connected ROCs that allow full production control. “This system lets us platforms such as TV4 Play and Telia’s digital services, the demand for connect the entire country without having to cross it physically,” says higher dynamic range and resolution continues to rise.

Patrik Bauer, managing director of NEP Sweden. “We reduce travel, Each production is mixed and distributed in Hybrid Log Gamma HDR, lower emissions, and increase efficiency—all while improving the quality balancing the needs of traditional broadcast and modern streaming. For of what fans see on screen.” graphics and replay, NEP Sweden integrates systems from Vizrt, EVS, and Chyron, allowing real-time data visualisation—from puck speeds to A NEW MODEL FOR SWEDISH BROADCASTING player tracking—during live play.

At the heart of the workflow is the centralised data centre, but the full innovation happens in the production hubs. The main hub is ROCsett, SUSTAINABILITY MEETS SCALABILITY NEP Sweden’s flagship facility in Stockholm. Acting as the network’s Sweden’s geography has always been a challenge for live production. control and connectivity hub, ROCsett is linked to two additional ROCs Winter roads, long travel distances, and limited regional connectivity via the data centre—ROCwest in Gothenburg and ROCnorth in Umeå. made nationwide coverage a logistical marathon. By reducing the need ROCsett houses six Production Control Rooms (PCRs): five mediumfor large mobile production units and less production crews to travel sized and one large, plus six Multi Production Units (MPUs) and six the country, NEP Sweden cuts hundreds of thousands of kilometres of Off-Tube commentary positions. Combined, the site can support 12 annual road travel. Moreover, the distributed workforce allows operators, simultaneous live productions. producers, and engineers to work from the ROC nearest to them, The Gothenburg ROCwest features one medium and one large PCR, promoting work-life balance while maintaining production excellence. while ROCnorth adds another large PCR to the network. Together, the “This system is about smart resource use,” Bauer says. “It’s better for three centres create a fully redundant system capable of handling the planet, better for our people, and better for our partners. any major sports event in Sweden, from national league matches to "In the coming years, we will further grow our Remote Operations international tournaments.

Centre, establishing one of the largest production hubs in the Nordics, Each ROC is connected via dual redundant fibre paths to local arenas, handling approximately 1,500 productions a year.” where compact OB vans act as flypacks. These remote production units capture the action, manage camera feeds, and send them to the ROCs in real time. Inside each control room, a tight team of professionals—a director, audio engineer, graphics operator, and one or two replay operators—run the broadcast just as if they were on-site.

SMPTE ST 2110 AND THE POWER OF TFC All three facilities are built on the SMPTE ST 2110 IP video standard, ensuring seamless routing of video, audio, and metadata across the network. This transition to fully IP-based workflows allows NEP to connect its Swedish operations not only internally but also with other NEP hubs worldwide.

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OPINION

ELASTIC BROADCASTING Daniel Robinson, product manager at Matrox Video, explains why it is time to rethink broadcast infrastructure for the era of peak events

E

very four years, the Winter Olympics tests not only the world’s most elite athletes but also the limits of live broadcast infrastructure. From multiple venues and time zones to simultaneous events and hundreds of concurrent feeds, the Games demand unprecedented scalability and resilience. For decades, this challenge has been met through bespoke, hardware-centric solutions: massive signal routers, production switchers, and redundant control rooms engineered to handle peak load for a few fleeting weeks.

As audiences evolve, expectations grow, and budgets tighten, that model is beginning to show its age. What if, instead of overbuilding for the biggest moment, broadcasters could scale into it, expanding their infrastructure dynamically as the event unfolds and scaling back when the flame goes out?

THE SHIFT FROM FIXED TO FLUID In the traditional broadcast world, scale was measured in physical connections. SDI-based systems, no matter how advanced, could only accommodate as many inputs as the ports on the backplane allowed.

Adding more sources meant adding more boxes, more cabling, and more operational complexity. This made sense in an era of predictable programming and centralised control rooms, but in an increasingly distributed, multi-platform world, it is an inflexible way to operate.

The shift to IP and cloud-enabled media workflows has rewritten those rules. Instead of being bound by the dimensions of a single switcher or the walls of a broadcast truck, live productions can now span data centres, regions, and even continents. Inputs, processing, and outputs no longer need to coexist on the same piece of hardware; they can exist anywhere the network reaches.

This is the foundation of elastic broadcasting, an approach that allows live production systems to expand and contract with demand, leveraging software-defined services running on standard IT infrastructure.

BUILDING FOR PEAKS, PAYING FOR USAGE The Winter Olympics is a perfect case study in why elasticity matters.

For two weeks, broadcasters scale to serve global audiences, covering hundreds of simultaneous feeds. In a traditional workflow, this surge requires armies of engineers and fleets of purpose-built equipment that often lie dormant afterwards.

In contrast, cloud-native architectures enable something fundamentally more efficient. Instead of committing to fixed capacity, broadcasters can deploy additional compute instances,

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storage, or GPU-accelerated processing only when needed. When the competition ends, those same resources can be spun down, returning the infrastructure footprint and cost to baseline levels.

This model not only optimises resource use but also opens doors for creative experimentation. Producers can now bring in new sources on the fly, such as alternate camera angles, athlete PoVs, or audiencegenerated content, without reengineering the signal chain.

LATENCY WITHOUT COMPROMISE Of course, the challenge with distributed systems has always been latency. In live sports, milliseconds matter, both for the viewer’s experience and for the integrity of timing across feeds.

Modern architectures solve this by defining a controlled latency window for each workflow. Within that envelope, all components— whether ingesting, processing, or outputting media—operate asynchronously yet remain synchronised. As long as processing keeps pace with the frame rate and stays within the window, switching between geographically distant sources remains frame-accurate and predictable.

In effect, elasticity does not come at the expense of precision. It enables broadcasters to harness the scalability of generic compute while maintaining the deterministic performance live production demands.

Just as critical as the infrastructure is how it is controlled. Traditional mixers bind control tightly to the hardware: one device, one operator, one set of sources. But in a virtualised environment, control can be abstracted, timeline-driven, and decoupled from any specific machine.

Think of it like non-linear editing brought to live production. Instead of describing what machine should do what task, control actions define how media streams should be layered, routed, or composited in time.

Switching from one source to another becomes a deterministic control event rather than a physical button press. This allows productions to automate complex transitions, manage distributed teams, and even coordinate multiple live shows from a unified interface.

THE FUTURE OF SCALABLE STORYTELLING As the next Winter Olympics approach, broadcasters are rethinking what scale truly means. It is no longer about the size of the switcher or the length of the signal chain; it is about the elasticity of the entire production ecosystem. Software-defined, cloud-native workflows allow creative teams to think beyond physical limits, to innovate at the pace of the event itself, and to deliver global-scale coverage without global-scale complexity.

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LIVE PRODUCTION

SHOOTING FOR GOLD

With the countdown to the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games underway, Robert Portman, head of winter sport, and Andreas Aristodemou, director of Olympics at EBU Sport, tell Matthew Corrigan about their preparations What events will EBU Members be covering over the winter sports season?

Andreas Aristodemou: Over the forthcoming winter sports season, our EBU Members will bring audiences closer to some of the world’s most exciting international competitions—with three of the most significant being the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the International Biathlon Union’s World Cups and the FIS World Cups in Austria.

The EBU and Warner Bros Discovery jointly acquired all media rights across more than 50 European territories for Milano Cortina 2026. Additionally, we were delighted to announce recently that the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 confirmed exclusive media rights across continental Europe (excluding Italy and the United Kingdom) for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games have been awarded to the EBU. Coverage of both events will be delivered free-to-air by our

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members, ensuring that millions of viewers across Europe can experience the Games together, wherever they are. This commitment to accessibility is at the heart of public service media, enabling the widest possible reach and engagement.

For the Winter Olympic Games, in addition to live broadcasts, audiences will be able to follow the Games via simulcast streams, on-demand services, and non-exclusive radio coverage, offering more ways than ever to stay connected.

When it comes to the Paralympic Winter Games, complementing our member coverage, Eurovision Sport, our free digital platform, will stream all six Paralympic winter sports, marking the most comprehensive digital coverage of the Paralympic Winter Games in EBU history.

Robert Portman: Our members and broadcast partners also hold rights to all major International Biathlon Union (IBU) competitions,

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LIVE PRODUCTION production crews, sharing knowledge and supporting each other to make even better decisions in the live environment.

Host broadcasters from the previous IBU World Cup seasons (EBU members and Actua Sport) have played a crucial role in identifying best practices based on the latest technology to showcase the sport at its highest standard. It has also allowed us to focus on sustainability by shaping a framework to measure and reduce the carbon footprint, as well as setting a new benchmark for the future.

In this field, the IBU World Championships Biathlon 2025 were a huge success, in particular thanks to the implementation of impactful sustainability measures. These included a 100 per cent renewable energy-powered, uninterruptible power supply for technical operations with backup generators to be activated only in case of emergencies.

Another focus has been to improve the storytelling of the coverage, making sure that the viewer at home knows who are the favourites, and who are the underdogs who could surprise the field.

including the IBU World Cup, which begins on 29th November 2025 in Östersund, Sweden. Further to that, the members and partners have been able to acquire through the EBU rights to the FIS World Cup events taking place in Austria, including some of the most iconic Winter events. Through these partnerships, the EBU continues to ensure that winter sport coverage remains freely available to everyone, inspiring audiences and reaching new generations of fans.

What are the major challenges to overcome in covering winter sports?

RP: As the winter sports take place outdoors, the weather elements sometimes cause challenges for the productions. Over the last years we’ve seen everything from blizzards to torrential rain, but so far, the IBU has managed to stage its biathlon events and cover the races. Good preparation, including announcing the calendars well in advance, helps us to have the time to prepare adequately.

Are there any specific challenges presented by the biathlon?

RP: Biathlon is a very complex sport to produce and cover well. Depending on the competition format, there are many things happening simultaneously and it can be difficult to catch all the action live.

We have in recent years focused on educating our

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In what ways have producing and providing coverage of winter sports changed in recent years due to the expansion of, for example, remote production and changing audience demands?

RP: Sport production experiences constant development and strives for excellence, not unlike sport itself. In recent years, we have especially focused on sustainability in our production standards, and this has been a significant change. Of course, there are always the new “toys” to give the audience a fresh perspective or that “wow-factor”, but there has been no major change in Winter outdoor broadcasting operations.

One area that does need increasing attention is the evolving formats in which end users consume content, whether through additional material or modified graphics packages adapted to different screens.

Andreas Aristodemou

Robert Portman

Given the difficulties in producing coverage from possibly remote locations in challenging conditions, how do you ensure reliability?

RP: The production crews that we work with, be it Members of the EBU or other partners, are all very experienced.

These are host broadcasters that know the venues and the challenges that come with such productions. They come prepared and are agile and adaptive when the elements change. We are, for example, able to evaluate the weather conditions very precisely and, if needed, try to adapt the starting times to ensure everyone’s safety and well-being.

In terms of more “normal” challenges, we still battle with rising costs and limited accommodation availability, but we have good support from the IBU and the local organisers, and usually find a solution.

What technologies/solutions will you be deploying?

RP: We are continuing a very exciting project in collaboration with the IBU and New Century Innovation, creating a system to cover all 30 lanes on the shooting

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LIVE PRODUCTION

The EBU and IBU have developed a stateof-the-art digital content-sharing platform where all biathlon stakeholders have access to event footage

range. It is a mix of new camera technology and AI that ensures we “do not miss a single shot”.

This service has been extremely well received by the rightsholders and provides content of athletes that rarely appear in international broadcasts. It is also a great tool for clips of athletes that can be shared on social media and online. We see the possibility to extend it and offer even more content for rights holders, especially those that might not be onsite at all Biathlon World Cups.

Are you trialling any new innovations this season?

RP: In terms of development, EBU and IBU have innovated and developed a state-of-the-art digital content-sharing platform (the Biathlon Content Hub) where all biathlon stakeholders have direct and centralised access to all IBU event footage, including clips for biathletes and organisers.

The innovation has been trendsetting and we will continue to develop it to serve the rights holders.

Where do you see AI playing a part in your coverage?

RP: Automatic clipping is the most obvious one for the time being, this is something that would have required an unrealistic amount of manpower previously. AI can support the productions in many ways that we cannot even imagine yet.

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What plans do you have in place to ensure content is secure from piracy?

RP: This has not yet been a massive concern in our winter sports contracts. We naturally monitor it closely with the IBU and prepare for what might be coming, but so far, we have not had major issues to deal with.

The 25+ years partnership between the EBU, its Members and the IBU have transformed the biathlon TV coverage into record-breaking events of the winter sports season. The enormous exposure provided to biathlon by free-to-air and the unparalleled treatment by biathlon rights holders’ editorial teams has established biathlon as the number one winter sport across the main European markets.

Can you tell us how planning for the Milano Cortina Games is going?

AA: More than 50 EBU Members will be broadcasting the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Over 40 of those members will have close to 2,000 colleagues presenting, commenting, reporting and covering the Games. Preparations are at full pace as is the collaboration with IOC, OBS and the OCOG for all the operational, logistical and technical matters.

When it comes to the coverage of the Games on Members’ platforms, Milano Cortina 2026 promises to be the most widely covered Olympic Winter Games in Europe.

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