Sportscaster Magazine July 2015

the sports broadcasting magazine

Toronto 2015 Pan Am & Parapan Am Games:

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A BROADCAST & ATHLETIC LEGACY

Getting Canadians into the Game Host Broadcaster in the Spotlight IBC Facilities Offer Top Capabilities New Sports Tech in Action

Premiere Issue PM 40069240

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Table of contents

contents 6

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Lead Partner CIBC Helps Canadians Get Into The Games

From sponsoring amateur athletes to helping kids play organized sports, CIBC offers Canadians a celebration of sport, culture, and inclusion

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CBC Focussed on Top Notch Performance with Eye to the Future

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IBC Built as Temporary Facility with All-Important Capabilities

The Pan Am Games run from July 10 -26, the Parapan Am Games take place August 7-15, in Toronto and the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area

It posed some unique challenges for the construction team’s many participants

Sports Tech

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Flyka’s newest electric tracking vehicle Ikegami sees growing interest in 4K UHD and 8K SHV Judging by the Video ChyronHego VistaCam designed for in-studio sports program LiveTouch studio sports highlighting system

Cover image by Sandy MacIsaac: Pan Am Afternoon host Andi Petrillo live broadcast

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Sportscaster Magazine is Published by Annex-Newcom LP.

80 Valleybrook Drive,Toronto, Ontario M3B 2S9 Editor Lee Rickwood, lrickwood@sportscastermagazine.ca Senior Publisher, Advertising Sales James A. Cook (416) 510-6871, jcook@sportscastermagazine.ca

Customer Service: Lily Malicdem, (416) 442-5600 ext. 3547 For reprints call: 416-510-6871 From time to time we make our subscription list available to select companies and organizations whose product or service may interest you.

If you do not wish your contact information to be made available, please contact us via one of the following methods: Phone: 1-800-668-2374; Fax: 416-442-2191; E-Mail privacy officer: vmoore@annexnewcom.ca; Mail to: Privacy Officer, 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, Ontario M3B 2S9

Art Director Sandy MacIsaac, smacisaac@annexnewcom.ca

Copyright © 2015 by Sportscaster Magazine. All rights reserved.

The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the per­mission of the Publisher.

Circulation Manager Anita Madden, (416) 442-5600 x.3596

Indexed in Canada Business Index, Print edition: ISSN pending Online edition: ISSN pending Publications Mail Agreement 40069240.

Production Manager Gary White, (416) 510-6760 President, Annex-Newcom LP: Alex Papanou July 2015

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EDITORIAL

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Photo: Andrew Yorke, Men’s ITU WTS Huatulco Mexico 2015, Rich Cruse | ITU Media

All That Matters in Sport

Boxing and butterflies. Age and advantage. Mental and physical scars.

In a series of profiles of Pan Am and Parapan Am athletes, the human side of sports – agonizing and victorious as it is – shines through: the industry may be dominated by developments in business and technology, but reality is dominated by people. Their personal and professional stories can be called not just award worthy, but truly inspiring. Please visit www.sportscastermagazine.ca to find out why. n SPORTScaster

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It’s a busy, crowded and potentially dangerous intersection – sports, media and technology are coming together, even crashing into each other; that’s opening up multiple new directions for a nascent industry sector.

Sportscasting stands solidly on the shoulders of its predecessors, while hoping it can reach even higher and further than before. It’s a whole new ballgame now, one that threatens old ways of covering sports with multiple new delivery options; new production techniques and technologies; and a convergence of topics that all fall in the sports bucket: finance, business, medicine, analytics, geo-politics, and even sports media personalities and their performances.

Many factors affect sports and the sports media industry, certainly, but it is still the athlete that matters the most – the athlete and their pursuit of excellence.

“

...the focus on people should not be lost. Sport is a human endeavour, after all, one that just happens to be mediated by technology.

”

While that fact may be obscured on occasion as talk swirls around the newest sports gadget, or the latest sports scandal, the focus on people should not be lost. Sport is a human endeavour, after all, one that just happens to be mediated by technology.

In making its debut in print and online, Sportscaster Magazine shines a light on just some of those people – such as the athletes competing in the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games.

Sportscaster is pleased to profile Canadian athletes who are in the competition, in many cases thanks to game-changing support received from organizations with a shared vision of the value of sport.

Please see the feature report on Page 6 of this issue, and be sure and visit www. sportscastermagazine.ca, where individual athlete profiles – and yes, more than a few stories about gadgets, technologies and other sporting influences – will always be found. n

Lee Rickwood Editor

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sports marketing & Branding

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Lead Partner CIBC Helps Canadians Get into The Games From sponsoring amateur athletes to helping kids play organized sports, CIBC offers Canadians a celebration of sport, culture, and inclusion.

“

It’s about working alongside amateur athletes to help them reach their dreams, inspiring kids to get active and engaged, bringing together Canada’s diverse communities in celebration of sport, culture and inclusion...

”

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his summer, close to 7,000 athletes from across the Americas and the Caribbean will test their years of intense training and perseverance while competing in the largest multisport Games ever held here on Canadian soil - the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games.

With 36 Pan Am sports and 15 Parapan Am sports this is an incredible opportunity for Canadians to see world-class competition in sparkling new facilities like the CIBC Pan Am/Parapan Am Aquatics Centre and Fieldhouse in Scarborough and the CIBC Hamilton Pan Am Soccer Stadium.

As Lead Partner of the Games, CIBC is working hard to create connections with its 11 million clients, 44,000 employees, visitors and fans by offering memorable experiences through Games initiatives like the Torch Relay, PANAMANIA and family friendly activations during Games time.

According to Monique Giroux, CIBC’s Vice President of Sponsorship Marketing & Strategy, the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games are a natural fit for the bank.

It’s an investment that goes beyond mere logo and brand exposure: it’s about working alongside amateur athletes to help them reach their dreams, inspiring kids to get active and engaged, bringing together Canada’s diverse communities in celebration of sport, culture and inclusion, she says.

“Our goal as Lead Partner is to help bring the excitement of the Games to our communities, our clients, our employees and our dedicated volunteers,” says Giroux. “We have really gone deep on our strategy – we like to say we’re scuba diving,

Proudly showing their colours, CIBC Team Next are ready to put their crucial mentorship from renowned Canadian elite athletes to the test.

not snorkeling. From the moment people arrive to the moment they leave, we are creating opportunities to interact with the spectators, athletes and local residents.”

That experience starts with banking facilities and free baggage carts throughout Toronto Pearson airport, continues with free Wi-Fi on the trip to the downtown core on the new UP Express train and the CIBC Upstairs lounge at Union where they can relax and recharge. The bank is also providing a family-friendly viewing area with daily activities at CIBC Pan Am Park – the heart of the Games’ competition and entertainment. There will also be more than 50 ATMs across the competition footprint and dedicated banking facilities for athletes and media.

“It’s about making the Games experience as per-

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Culture, spectacle and entertainment are also a big part of the plan for the Games. PANAMANIA, presented by CIBC, is a 35 day showcase of Pan Am-inspired artists and cultural performances staged throughout the city. Credit: Friedel Peters Original.

sonal and welcoming as we can from start to finish, whether we’re talking about getting to the Games, offering engaging activations or conveniences such as easy and flexible onsite banking services.”

The bank’s Pan Am Games sponsorship provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate and amplify its newly refreshed brand position of delivering Banking that fits your life.

“We want visitors to maximize their Games time experience,” adds Giroux. “That means leveraging innovative technology on-site and making the day-to-day things like banking easy and convenient, so more time can be spent enjoying the exceptional athleticism and spirit of the Games right on home soil.”

Spectators will have the option of keeping close to the action by downloading apps from

CBC and TO2015, both presented by CIBC. Using innovative iBeacon technology, the TO2015 app connects wirelessly with smartphone users onsite to encourage them to visit nearby activation zones at the Games– from sport demos with CIBC Team Next athletes to photo opportunities to exclusive live-feed video viewing areas. Users can access all the latest info on competitions and performances, as well as special events happening in the host community. The app will make it easier for visitors to plan, engage and connect with the Games while on the go.

Visitors can also get a taste of the vibrant cultures of the 41 participating countries through PANAMANIA, presented by CIBC, a 35 day festival that will showcase the many Pan Am-inspired artists and cultural performances. And each night,

Athletes and KidSports participants learn a key aspect of health and fitness – making and eating nutritious meals.

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“

... The bigger question is how the sport legacy will continue in Canada after the last medal has been awarded...

”

CIBC Team Next mentor and Olympic triathlon champion Simon Whitfield is surrounded by kids supported by KidSport.

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spectators will have the chance to cheer on athletes who medaled in their sport earlier that day at Victory Celebrations at Nathan Phillips Square.

As part of the bank’s multi-layered involvement in the Games, CIBC is also a community partner of the Pan Am and Parapan Am Torch Relay. The bank invited a number of clients, employees and community partners to be among the 3,000 torchbearers to carry the flame and build excitement for the Games across the province and the country.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of a time-honoured tradition, and what better way to celebrate the People’s Games than helping to bring the iconic flame to many communities in which we live and work every day,” adds Giroux.

Beyond the Games, the bigger question is how the sport legacy will continue in Canada after the last medal has been awarded. In addition to the bank’s contribution to establishing world-class sport venues, CIBC has invested in two key programs: CIBC Team Next and KidSport.

CIBC Team Next, created in partnership with AthletesCAN and Canadian Sport Institute Ontario, is the first–of-its-kind program in Canada, providing 67 up-and-coming amateur athletes multi-year funding and crucial mentorship from renowned Canadian elite athletes.

Boxing great Mary Spencer is one of the program’s nine mentors, whose professional resume includes landing Gold for Canada at the Guadalajara Pan Am Games in 2011.

“The CIBC Team Next program is unique because it fills a gap for so many athletes who need a multi-faceted support system to overcome the hurdles standing between them and their goals,” she says.“ I’m proud to be a part of CIBC’s investment in Canadian athletic potential and can’t wait to watch our incredibly talented and hard-working athletes compete at the Pan Am/ Parapan Am Games and beyond.”

Other mentors from the program include: Simon Whitfield, Kyle Shewfelt, Bruny Surin, Mark de Jonge, and Paralympians Josh Cassidy, Stephanie Dixon and Benoît Huot.

“I love what I do, but my sport is very costly when you factor in the equipment and travel costs that go hand-in-hand with training as a high-performance rhythmic gymnast,” says CIBC Team Next athlete Patricia Bezzoubenko, who is the one to watch this summer after bringing home six medals for her performance at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“I travel back-and-forth to Russia to train at one of the most recognized training centres in the world for my sport, and that takes a toll.

Being part of CIBC Team Next helps me keep the focus on my performance and my goal of representing Canada at the Pan Am Games.”

As many as one-third of Canadian kids do not participate in organized sport largely because it costs too much and a staggeringly high 82 per cent of Canadians know of a child who can’t participate in organized sport due to the cost, a CIBC-KidSport report found last July after polling 2,010 people across the country.

“CIBC recognizes sport has the power to bring communities together, which is why we’ve gone the extra step of partnering with KidSport and the Canadian Paralympic Committee,” says Giroux.

CIBC is providing $1 million in funding to KidSport, a national not-for-profit that covers the registration fees for kids to play organized sport, and became the Official Bank of the Canadian Paralympic Team in 2013.

“It’s incredible to see a major sponsor like CIBC step-up and recognize the hard work that goes into training as a competitive para-athlete,” says CIBC Team Next athlete Nikola Goncin, Saskatchewan native and wheelchair basketball star. “Having that vote of confidence is a gamechanger, both for me and for all of para-sport in Canada.” n

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For further information TECHNOLOGY PARTNER TO please contact: Broadcast Services International, CBC FOR PAN AM/PARAPAN 3385 Mainway Drive, Burlington, Ontario Tel: 905-332-2171 • www.bsi-tv.com AM GAMES BSI the Technology Partner with CBC designed and engineered the technical facilities of the International Broadcast Centre. BSI provided Initial design of the broadcast space and then the full broadcast design and integration of the Host Broadcaster facility. BSI is also responsible for the venue technical planning and installation of broadcast facilities, compounds and cabling. The IBC will house not only the Host Broadcaster Operation, but Unilateral facilities for Claro Sports Mexico, ESPN, Rede Record Brazil, SporTv Brazil, TYC Argentina, TVN Chile, and ICRT Cuba as well as a pool of other broadcasters under the PASO umbrella.

Let the Games Begin

BSI installed a large contribution and distribution network within the IBC including an NVision Router with Cobalt and Imagine glue, Telex Adam Intercom, EVS archival and play out facility, Blonder Tongue CATV and IPTV systems, as well as a large Evertz pipeline between the IBC and the CBC RadioCanada downtown facilities, where our edit suites and ENG operations are headquartered.

BSI staff are the Coordinating Venue Technical Managers for all the broadcast venues, covering both technical design and implementation. As well, BSI is the prime contractor for all specialty camera systems, commentary systems and provision of on-venue services to unilateral broadcasters.

Throughout the Games BSI will be responsible for overseeing the engineering functions of the IBC as well as supervising technical managers at the venues. The BSI Field Shop will act as the Logistics centre for all the additional specialty equipment coming into the region for the Games.

BSI has been part of every Olympics since 1980, either as Director of Venue Engineering, Supervising Technical Producers, or part of the Host Broadcaster Engineering team. BSI were the Technical Producers for the Pan Am Games in Cuba, as well BSI has provided major facilities or airpacks for Broadcasters at dozens of World Track Championships, World Cups and other Major Games.

BSI YOUR TECHNOLOGY PARTNER For further information please contact: Broadcast Services International, 3385 Mainway Drive, Burlington, Ontario L7M 1A6 Tel: 905-332-2171 • www.bsi-tv.com

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More than 10,000 athletes, coaches, and team officials

41 countries and territories, 36 Pan Am sports and 15 Parapan Am sports Qualifying events for the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics Canada’s largest team ever at the Games, with more than 750 athletes competing.

SPORTScaster

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CBC Focussed on Top Notch Performance with Eye to the Future As both Host Broadcaster and national rightsholder for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games, the public broadcaster has huge international expectations to meet, and numerous Canadian stories to tell. How well it succeeds will depend on a delicate balancing of experience, resources… and screen size.

E

ach event grows larger in scope, reach and impact, so it is hard to avoid superlatives.

But the fact stands: the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games are the world’s third-largest international multi-sport event, and the Toronto 2015 edition will be the largest such multi-sport event ever held on Canadian soil.

In keeping with the Games’ enormous size, host broadcaster and Canadian rightsholder CBC/ Radio-Canada has big plans in place to produce and deliver extensive multimedia coverage:TV, radio, mobile and social media platforms will be playing along with the athletes over the course of these Pan Am and Parapan Am Games (and that latter fact is huge, too: this is the first year the Parapan Am Games will be televised in English and French in Canada).

Balancing Broadcast Requirements, Expectations, Opportunities As both the official Host Broadcaster (providing the core coverage from the Games and delivering a world feed to other international broadcasters) and the national rightsholder in Canada, the CBC is certainly highly motivated and deeply committed to providing the best coverage possible, described Don Peppin, Executive Producer, 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games Host Broadcaster.

Peppin has played a major role in sports production at the CBC for many years, including Executive, Coordinating and Senior Producer positions over the course of 11 Olympic, three Pan Am and four Commonwealth events, with responsibilities for project management, capital purchasing support, engineering and technology liaison, team building and staff mentoring. con’t July 2015

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Pan Am Afternoon host Andi Petrillo SPORTScaster

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Even though he’s walking the tightrope between the coverage expectations of a home host country and the demands of a global audience with its own set of needs, he’s confident because he’s ‘been there before’.

Under his watch this year, CBC-HB will produce and deliver the mission critical international television feed, based on what he calls the “intellectual legacy” the Corporation has built up over the years.

He’s standing on the shoulders of some accomplished predecessors, and he knows the reputation for excellence in broadcast sports production extends a long way.

It includes applying guiding principles and industry standards that underscore the goal of balanced broadcast production with no bias in coverage or commentary, based on close consultation with the many international clients being served (there’s been a comprehensive meeting schedule leading up to the Games, and there will be daily TV meetings while the Games are underway).

“We have set-up a system and we have hired the people so that we can create that balance,” Peppin said.“My job is to make sure we have the tools we need to deliver that core coverage that the rightsholders can depend on, with the assurances they need to confidently be able to plan their programming.There’s no ‘step-down’ in production values, and there’s no ‘B-coverage’ that will then have to be bumped up into ‘A-coverage’.

“I know the other side,” Peppin noted, referring to the times he has previously produced CBC’s multisport coverage while relying on someone else as Host Broadcaster.“I know I expect all the bells and

whistles from them, and that the production looks just as good. I don’t want ‘half-assed’, so we are very conscious about maintaining those high production values. We are the foundation; what we see on the screen and what we hear on the international sound must be balanced and complete.”

CBC-HB is providing a full bundle of live HD-SDI feeds to the rightsholding broadcasters, and it’s up to each to take the feeds for processing or encoding for their needs (based on the rights they hold), and to supplement that core coverage with their own market requirements.

As the HB, CBC is responsible for deploying the production people and the broadcast technology needed to deliver. Peppin described the OB vans, production trucks and flypacks he is actively positioning like some chess master at the championship board – ten live production units moving in and out of venues where 16 top live events will be captured, as well as multiple locations (there are 42 venues from which television must provide coverage) for non-live sports where some 18 ENG crews including multi-cam units are responsible for coverage, not to mention all Medal Final events.

CBC has tapped into the freelance and independent contractor market in a big way for its coverage, Peppin acknowledged, noting that CBC Sports is in fact not a very big department any more. While many senior people still are in place, the overall size of the department has been “moderated” and it is now a “very focussed” operation.

“We have maxed-out the local market to a large extent,” he itemized in the days leading up to the Games opening, and stand-by crews (already credentialed) are in place just in case. Drawing on the best crews and putting the best production teams in place is “a Rubik’s Cube” he described, and getting the technical and production staffing requirements for the Games coverage is particularly difficult at this busy time of the sports production season, with the Blue Jays, the CFL, the Calgary Stampede and many more events needing crews and coverage.

The tech staffing team is lead by Kristine Perrotta, Peppin said, noting her extensive knowledge of and established relationships in the freelance market: “She’s really, really strong, and has good relations with the crew brokers,” adding that the process for matching crews to producer/directors was coordinated in his office, but was as collaborative as possible in the current context.

Likewise, some special production equipment is required for the Games coverage, and again, local providers were tapped as much as possible.“This country is blessed with really good contractors and equipment providers, so we have access to cutting-edge, state-of-the-art gear right here.” CBC has worked with many of the domestic suppliers before, of course, but again balance is needed, and so the international market was also tapped. UK-based providers, for example, are supplying the Host Broad-

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caster with the underwater camera systems it will use, as well as some railcam solutions.“These were used successfully in London and Sochi,” Peppin describes of previous multi-sport broadcasts, and the expertise gained there will be brought to bear for Toronto 2015.

Many venues will be supported with high-speed super-slow-motion camera systems (as well as mini POV cameras used to augment traditional shooting angles and positions) Peppin added, referencing a pack of six high-speed camera systems from nac Image Technology that will be used in production.

“They are all the rage in replay,” he said, describing the “flopping jowls” and “toe-touches on the line” that cameras with this level of precision are capturing, and that audiences are demanding from top notch sports coverage.

“We are trying to move with the bar,” he said of his technology strategy for the Games coverage, “and in some cases, we are going to push it along ourselves. But in some cases, the risk – the financial risk – of deploying some technologies just in the hope that a broadcaster will pick up the feed is not

effective. We are being responsible with the budget, and every dollar spent I want to see on an output screen – no matter what platform that screen is on. I am not spending the money if it does not end up in the frame.”

Delivering the Digital Games And screens there will be – from the big screen TV in a home entertainment theatre system to the smaller smartphone screen held in hand, and everywhere in between, CBC wants its coverage of the Games to be seen.

Its digital strategy acts as a keystone in a comprehensive arch that covers the entire Games, and the digital offerings have been developed as a one-step access point to all things Pan Am, no matter when, no matter where (CBC/Radio-Canada’s digital offerings will only be available to audiences with Canadian-based IP addresses).

The plan is to deliver more than 650 hours of live streaming competition coverage on the Web and using a newly-developed mobile application, presented by CIBC and available for iOS and Android mobile devices.

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ada Media Solutions, said when announcing CBC partners’ plans for the Games.“The integrations with our partners showcase the evolution of content marketing, as well as our ability to contribute to driving our partners’ business objectives.”

Perhaps in a sign of things to come for fan-athlete interaction, the CBCSports website already has first-person stories from the athletes themselves, using their own words to tell of their experiences.

It’s creating a comfortable online space where the tools of story telling and sharing can be used in new ways to supplement and enhance an established TV presence.

Pan Am Prime Time and Late Night host Scott Russell SPORTScaster

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That’s all the events being covered by the HB, offered via live stream on CBC’s website and app, in real-time.

Of course, CBC will be active in social media with a team of ten or so digital reporters feeding the CBC’s Facebook,Twitter, Instagram and Periscope accounts.

It’s not only to connect with fans, but also to deliver exclusive reports and original content. In fact, according to digital Games coordinator Mihira Lakshman, CBC Sports will be producing exclusive Vine-only video features over the course of the Games, with some unique on-site and behind-the-scenes perspectives.

Even the Kids’ CBC 2 website will feature the Games, presenting facts and information about the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games for kids and families with its interactive content.

CBC’s partners for the Games are part of the digital strategy, too. CIBC Team Next celebrates a new generation of Canadian athletes through robust broadcast and digital content, and the CIBC Mentoring Greatness project offers online interaction and conversation among athletes, supporters and fans.

The Chevrolet Volunteers website features what’s being called Social Ambassador Storytelling, with social media tools being used to help convey personal information about the volunteers’ selection process, training, and contributions to helping make the Pan Am Games run.

“It’s great to see the growing support for high-performance athletes on their journey to the podium by both Canadians as well as corporate Canada,” said Jim Kozak, senior director marketing at CBC/Radio-Can-

Television Ties it Together There are a number of factors influencing how CBC produces its domestic TV coverage this year, and how it manages that established presence, even more than would be encountered during an Olympic year, explained CBC’s executive producer for the domestic broadcast of the Games, Paul McDougall.

“For one, we don’t have the same number of hours, and in that context, the key Canadian stories are an even more important focus. So we’re striving to give viewers a long-form experience, not a chunky highlight show” even with shorter TV windows.

CBC-TV will offer daily broadcasts in the afternoon, prime time, and late night, covering each day’s events throughout the Pan Am Games; Pan Am Afternoon is hosted by Andi Petrillo and Pan Am Primetime and Late Night programs are hosted by Scott Russell.

Each broadcast will be filled with all the focussed stories that fit, but even within the limitations, the big picture will be available, knowing as McDougall described, that “the digital offering will be by far the best that’s ever been available.

“My goal is covering the Canadian stories well, in the timeframe available, and to do a good job of educating the viewer about the value-added digital offerings.” There’ll be a lot of steering back and forth, he said, and his team has taken to using navigation as working metaphor.

“We will help the viewer navigate to what they want to see; it’s important they know that, say we’re doing 3M dive coverage in the afternoon, how to get the track coverage they want. We will have some form of direction or font to show people how to navigate to the content they’re after.”

His team can go live on location at any time during the shows, of course, but that means the “available shelf space” to tell a story decreases as a result, so the need to balance and focus is paramount.

“There cannot be too much jumping around in a two-hour window,” McDougall said.“The experience must be satisfying.There’s a fine balance between the ‘highlights-at-six’ approach and an engrossing in-depth presentation that really connects you to the sport and the athlete.”

So using production elements such as on-screen

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prompts and navigation tips is a balance like everything else, and McDougall said the TV screen will not be overpowered with text and graphics. In fact, production plans call for only three ‘ticker crawls’ an hour.“If we’re doing too much data, we’re probably not doing enough of the other elements,” he said.

And they are well-armed with those “other elements” – for example, there’s a 150-page guide to the Games developed by CBC production researcher Natalie Tedesco, and prepared with comprehensive background material and story research.

But more to the point perhaps: a talented and experienced on-air team that turns solid research into vibrant, engaging television.

“We’re extremely lucky to have someone with the calibre of Scott Russell working for us; there’s no one else out there that rises to his level at this time. He truly cares about the Games, the Olympics and high performance sports, and he has a great knowledge base, a great history to share.

Even so, he puts in a tremendous amount of research time, and he puts himself in situations where he can meet the athletes and get to understand their perspectives.”

McDougall has worked many times with Andi Petrillo, too, and he cites her extensive experience with CBC at the FIFA World Cup and her success with the Sochi Olympic morning show as reasons he’s glad to have her on-board for the afternoon Games program.“She’s not full-time staff, she’s freelance, so we’re lucky to be able to engage her, lucky to have her here. Like Scott, her prep work is amazing – quite intense.”

McDougall cites with equal enthusiasm the contributions he anticipates from well-known TV reporters and analysts like Brenda Irving and David Amber, adding that athletes will also be part of the mix: Perdita Felicien, Mark Tewksbury, Donovan Bailey and Simon Whitfield among them.

The CBC headquarters on Front St. in Toronto will be home to the Pan Am and Parapan Am coverage, with anchor desks and studio settings for both the English and French teams; they, along with the CBC Radio and the live TV morning show crews are all making use of the publically accessible Atrium area, in what’s believed to be the first time all the corporation’s broadcast media platforms have worked from the same space at the same time.

“You can see it all right here,” McDougall says as much more of a friendly invitation than a boastful marketing line.

In fact, he’s almost poignantly aware of the legacy the Games can have going forward for the CBC and for amateur sports.

Certainly, the TV crew and talent he’s working with on these Games will have a role going forward at some specific events, like Rio, yet there’s a key to survival that’s bigger even than any one Games.

In this post-HNL, post-CFL era, when the CBC does not have the same sports to participate in,

“there’s been a re-focus, with a need for continued re-focus that will see great stuff coming down the line.”

“Speaking for myself, as a lover of sport, we can only strive to educate the public, as a public broadcaster tell them about these athletes - our fellow Canadians, our next door neighbours - who are out there competing on the international circuit, sacrificing every day. It’s a fantastic story!

“To be frank, having grown up here, at CBC and as an Olympic fan, maybe we lost out a little bit with our focus: I remember watching - not just the CBC, but back in the ‘90s - when track team was hot, and Bailey was running. We knew more people, we knew their stories, we seemed to have more capacity to understand and know them.

“What I go back to is, today, we have more options now, we have more places to consume content, but we seem to know less about them.”

The CBC takes that gap seriously, he said: it’s striving to fill that void. With the efforts of an entire team needed to reach the goal. n

Dual stream wireless systems from BSI have been paired with the high speed nac camera, mounted on a Steadicam or in a long lens, fixed postion. nac Imaging Technology systems can operate at 400 frames per second for super slo mo sequences, and will be used during the Pan Am Games coverage.

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IBC Built as Temporary Facility with All-Important Capabilities

T The TO 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am CISCO International Broadcast Centre was a temporary construction, specific to the event operations, to be removed afterwards with original conditions reinstated. As such, it posed some unique challenges for the construction team’s many participants.

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he TO 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am CISCO International Broadcast Centre, built inside the existing Direct Energy Centre facility at Exhibition Place in Toronto, acted as the central hub and nerve centre for all live and taped broadcast media feeds from venues throughout the Greater Golden Horseshoe region; as well as transmissions heading out across Canada, 40 Pan American countries and beyond.

As critical as it was to the Games, the high-tech facility was in fact a temporary construction, specific to the event operations, to be removed afterwards with original conditions reinstated.As such, it posed some unique challenges for the project’s many participants.

The project involved top technical, mechanical, construction and engineering firms, with Paul Didur Architect Inc., a multi-faceted architectural design firm with expertise in a broad range of disciplines, managing the process.

Based in Toronto, the firm has an exceptional track record in many projects, including broadcast studios and facilities, having worked with CBC,TVO, Pelmorex (The Weather Network) and others.

In its approach a unique project like the International Broadcast Centre, with its tight timelines and

other constraints, the approach is nevertheless similar to that of other projects, Didur explained: “Being part of a strong team is the best way to ensure co-operative communication.To this end, we put together an experienced consulting team, all of whom we have worked with previously.The team included mechanical (Smith & Andersen Engineering), electrical (Summit Engineering), and structural (Blackwell Engineering and Event Architecture Inc.) expertise. Other important components of the team were the Project Management folks at TO2015, a seasoned and professional group.

“We also paid close attention to schedules and communication. Planning and clear communication of conceptual ideas and requirements were two keystones for completion of the project slightly ahead of schedule. Working closely with the project team, which naturally evolved to include the General Contractor (Buttcon Ltd.), we met regularly to ensure that the project was moving along as desired and that we were meeting the client’s expectations, budget and addressing any scope creep.”

Starting with the preliminary design stage, specific program requirements of each broadcaster, Host and rightsholder were clearly identified: broadcast adjacencies, noise control and room occupancies were communicated to us by the client.

In the design development phase, broadcast equipment power and cooling loads were identified, and cable distribution documentation for communications, data and broadcast content was established.

Of course, providing security and maintaining the ability to profile the Host’s technical spaces and studio requirements to the rightsholders and guests was critical to success.

“Sports broadcasters are accustomed to these types of facilities, so managing expectations was limited to fine-tuning the spaces and services,” Didur noted.“We were producing what was a hybrid office and studio construction within an already climate-controlled space, and trying to control

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airborne, HVAC and assumed ambient noise in the hall and adjacent venues, which was attenuated by means allowed by the budget.

“This was not a typical build-out seen by municipal authorities every day; therefore Building Code interpretation and equivalencies were critical

throughout the design process. All materials used were reviewed to ensure they had recyclable value because scheduled demolition time would not allow for orderly disassembly.”

In fact, Didur noted, re-use was not an option for most materials, however a donation of over 20,000 sq. ft. of carpet tile to Habitat for Humanity was arranged.

The requirement of a three-day demolition meant inventive solutions in a rented venue were needed.

Base building requirements dictated the use of non-permanent adhesive and strippable caulking to maintain partition integrity and acoustic controls.

To minimize dust and clean up, clad panels with mechanical fasteners were used, allowing earlier entry and set up of technical equipment.

With just days left before the Opening Ceremonies and the kick-off of the athletic competition schedule, Didur noted in an e-mail conversation with Sportscaster Magazine that the IBC project’s success and ability to deliver valued solutions relied on the team’s extensive track record, open communications, comprehensive pre-planning while still being able to evaluate alternatives, and the professional costing analysis provided before tender, all of which contributed to a medal-winning performance. n

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“

Flyka is fast enough to keep up with bikes, motorcycles, cars and even Olympic athletes.

”

Flyka’s newest electric tracking vehicle

above

Tracking Team GB 100m sprinters with Flyka

Flyka Ltd is rolling out its tenth generation electric tracking vehicle for film, television and live event production, and describing features and functions developed over several years of R&D and live trials.

Flyka is fast enough (with increased speed from 12mph to over 25mph) to keep up with bikes, motorcycles, cars and even Olympic athletes, the company describes, yet it can also support easy track and dolly type shots at very slow speeds, and without time spent laying track, with no track

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coming into frame on rear facing shots.

The electrically powered dolly is slim (33” or 84 cm wheel set-up) enough to fit through doorways or narrow pathways, strong enough to move up pavements and into parks, while operating quietly if recording sound.

Vest-mounting and hard-mounting offer different solutions depending on the shot, and getting the camera very low is an easy task without the operator hanging off the back of a higher tracking equivalent. Step on/off, front, rear and sides, adds to the versatility of the platform. The dolly comes with a Klassen hard-mount for Steadicam, which offers extra fine tuning in balancing the camera.

The vehicle can also be used to reposition cameras from one place to another, such as on sporting or OB events.

Kahuna is the most versatile, powerful switcher on the market – including more 4K capabilities than any other system. The new Kahuna switcher family covers every need from small studios to multi-studio set-ups, OBs /remotes to the largest broadcasting operations, covering everything from SD to 4K. The Kahuna family is also IP-ready, enabling broadcasters to transition to the IP future by simply adding IP i/o interfaces alongside conventional SDI using the same control

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Ikegami SHK-810

8K SHK Ikegami sees growing interest in 4K UHD and 8K SHV

Ikegami 2/3” 3-CMOS

4K UHD

The Ikegami exhibit at NAB put 4K and 8K cameras in the spotlight: a new 4K UHD camera with three 8 megapixel 2/3 inch CMOS sensors and, making its first appearance, the Ikegami SHK-810 8K SHV Super Hi-Vision camera.

The 4K camera’s traditional prism optics deliver a long depth-of-field capability, particularly important for outdoor sports broadcasts.

The camera head has a low profile form factor and employs full end-to-end digital processing, with connections to a newly designed 4K UHD base station.

The SHK-810 was designed both for outdoor and studio production; its camera head weighs less than nine kg (it’s 168 x 228 x 395.3 mm

WHD in size), and carries a single 33 million-pixel Super 35 CMOS sensor, achieving 4,000 TVL horizontal and vertical resolution.

It’s being readied in anticipation of plans to introduce a Super Hi-Vision television service in Japan, in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Developed in cooperation with NHK, the SHK-810 employs a dual-green colour filter to deliver the wide dynamic range of Super Hi-Vision.

Output from camera head to the control unit is 40 gigabits per second via standard SMPTE hybrid fibre, allowing long-distance links for live broadcasting. 8K SHV, 4K UHD and 2K HD feeds are available from the CCU. The optional system expander for the SHK-810 lets large viewfinders and full studio lenses be used, converting the portable camera into a full-facility studio/field camera. The SHK-810 has a PL-Lens mount, so 8K lenses, cine lenses, 4K lenses and custom-designed zoom lenses for single-chip Super Hi-Vision cameras can be used.

A flange-back adjustment system is built-in, enabling back focus adjustment of PL-mount lenses without shims.

interface – so requiring no new knowledge or skills from the operator.

The new Kahuna multi-format multi-viewer is fully integrated into the switcher mainframe and will be a standard feature on all Kahuna 4800, 6400 and 9600 production switchers. The Kahuna multiviewer is perfectly suited to handling all the needs of more compact productions, and will play a valuable complementary role in larger productions, reducing the complexity and cost of the overall

multi-viewer strategy.

The modular architecture of the Kahuna Maverik configurable control panel allows complete flexibility in design and enables the panel to be reconfigured on a production by production basis. This is particularly invaluable in OBs/remotes, when space is at a premium but operational flexibility is paramount. The newly introduced automation and audio modules add further flexibility, delivering comprehensive single-person operation.

It’s being readied in anticipation of plans to introduce a Super Hi-Vision television service in Japan, in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

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The system allows for simultaneous recording, search and playback of up to 11 HD video sources.

Judging by the Video As elite European Slalom canoeists battled it out in the white water during the Canoe Slalom European Championships in Germany this season, competition judges were high and dry in the video suite, using a new multi-camera system for monitoring, judging and evaluating performances.

Officials also noted that they could use recorded material from videoReferee in marketing campaigns for event organizers as well as branding efforts by international sports organizations.

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The International Canoe Federation ICF worked with local event organizers at Canoe Park Markkleeberg (Saxony), one of the most modern white water systems in the world, to install and implement a videoReferee system from slomo.tv, which was used as an additional tool for monitoring up to 25 gates on the 270 meter-long race course.

The use of videoReferee at the Canoe Slaloms in Germany was also a test for the Canoe Slalom World Championships to be held in London this coming September.

Canoe Slalom competitors must get through a complex white water course in a very short time while passing through downstream or upstream gates correctly. The gates must be passed completely, and the canoeist must not touch the protruding gate rods. If they fail to do so, of course, penalty seconds are assessed.

But whether a rod is touched or a gate has been passed correctly is often difficult to judge during the split-second competition and swirling waters.

So video judging systems have been used by the International Canoe Federation in international competitions since 2007, but existing production equipment and sports technical tools are pushed to their limit, and often beyond, due to less perspectives and available camera signals.

Judges, athletes and fans felt that simultaneous view of several signals and perspectives was difficult to achieve and that fair decision-making was impacted as a result.

Now the organizers of the European Championships have implemented the new video judging systems with up to 11 camera signals using a videoReferee system. The system allows for simultaneous recording, search and playback of up to 11 HD video sources.

During the competition, all video feeds could be viewed and marked simultaneously while maintaining continuous recording. Organizers and referees report unprecedented opportunities to clarify controversial scenes, thus ensuring more fairness during competition.

Jean Michel Prono, Chairman Canoe Slalom, International Canoe Federation (ICF) on using videoReferee during the competition: “videoReferee answers our needs for a fast review of a situation while the race is still running. It really solves the problems we have with dubious situations.” videoReferee is a portable multi-channel recording and playback system; it’s been in use as a multi-channel referee system in the top Russian hockey league, the Kontinental Hockey League KHL to assess contentious situations.

The marking of contentious scenes can be done automatically using algorithms or manually by the referee at the workstation.

Using the controller individual channels can be selected or special situations can be searched and marked – all in real-time. The operator can flag selective scenes during live-recording or by accessing previously recorded material. The users can choose between the simultaneous views of all channels, single view or zoom view. Users can export marked scenes to DVD or MP4 file for backup reasons as well as to record entire sport events.

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“

With the unit installed in an arena and transmitting the four HD video streams over a Gigabit Ethernet connection, the VistaCam presentation engine is able to stitch together the feeds to create a very highresolution, near180-degree video panorama.

”

ChyronHego VistaCam designed for in-studio sports programs ChyronHego’s launch – and ultra-high resolution video wall demonstrations – of VistaCam, its new broadcast graphics solution for creating panoramic in-studio video backdrops, was a big 180-degree shout-out to English Premier League football.

ChyronHego developed VistaCam while working closely with a major U.K. sports broadcaster, whose production team was launching a new studio for its Monday night EPL show.

Imagery from the ChyronHego VistaCam system looked stunning on an ultra-high resolution video wall, supported by the company’s new Lyric64 64-bit graphics creation and playout platform.

But the picture was not always so clear.

The U.K. TV studio team wanted a three-projector, panoramic backdrop behind the presenters’ desks to show graphics and live video from football venues. But signals obtained from wide-angle HD cameras located at the football pitch looked

pixelated and out-of-focus when projected on the studio video wall.

ChyronHego’s patented CogEye technology for stitching HD sources together, and the Super-HD camera units used in the company’s TRACAB optical player tracking systems, showed the way: with TRACAB’s patented image processing technology, compact HD cameras with stereo technology can constantly cover a playing surface from several angles.

ChyronHego custom-designed and built a small, portable unit for the VistaCam solution, including four of the HD cameras. With the unit installed in an arena and transmitting the four HD video streams over a Gigabit Ethernet connection, the VistaCam presentation engine is able to stitch together the feeds to create a very high-resolution, near-180-degree video panorama.

The VistaCam software has real-time colour correction, and when integrated with the resolution-independent Lyric64, the system can deliver high-resolution video in virtually any size and dimension, perfectly matching in-studio video walls that are often custom-built with unusual widths and heights.

Company president and CEO Johan Apel noted that, after developing the VistaCam solution for its U.K. broadcast customer, ChyronHego has tested the system with several other clients and it is now being installed by other sportscasters so they can put broadcast-quality panoramic video into studio and anchor desk presentations.

New Sportscasting Solution for 180-Degree Ultra HD Backdrops: ChyronHego’s VistaCam in action at FoxSports

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“

Editors can punch in and out, mark interest points, block play with live speed control and add to/modify play-lists – even while the playlist is on air.

”

LiveTouch studio sports highlighting system LiveTouch is Quantel’s studio highlights system. LiveTouch makes selecting highlights from multiple incoming feeds and playing highlights to air fast and straightforward.

The LiveTouch panel is designed for the demanding studio control room environment. It provides fast highlight selection, playlist editing and live playout control. Its simple inter-

face includes a mix of dedicated and soft-programmable buttons, a responsive jog wheel and high-precision T-bar that together make LiveTouch easily accessible to any experienced operator. Editors can punch in and out, mark interest points, block play with live speed control and add to/modify play-lists – even while the playlist is on air. The LiveTouch panel makes it all simple and fast.

LiveTouch has been built with total flexibility and scalability in mind.

LiveTouch scales from a single server to a cluster with up to 40 record ports and multiple control panels. Panels can work with recordings being made on any server and play them out of a port on any other server. LiveTouch is resilient and reliable. It can be quickly configured to support productions across multiple studios and is 100 per cent compatible with Enterprise sQ systems.

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Toronto 2015 Pan Am & Parapan Am Games:

PLUS

A BROADCAST & ATHLETIC LEGACY

Getting Canadians into the Game Host Broadcaster in the Spotlight

PREMIERE ISSUE

IBC Facilities Offer Top Capabilities New Sports Tech in Action PM 40069240

SPORTScaster

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