Eurovision Sport Deploys LiveU’s EcoSystem to Create Enhanced Coverage of the UCI’s First Integrated Cycling World Championships
Cycling fans around the world benefit from dynamic, engaging live coverage of this globally celebrated event
Background
The inaugural 2023 UCI Cycling World Championship, the largest cycling event ever held, took place in Glasgow and across Scotland from August 3-13, 2023. It was the first time the UCI combined its multiple World Championships into a single, integrated event. There were 13 World Championships taking place across seven disciplines, including mountain biking, road cycling and track (both Men’s and Women’s) alongside Para-cycling.
Eurovision Sport, concentrated on securing sports rights and event production, was given the responsibility of producing the huge project, with its remote Broadcast Operation Centre (BOC) situated at BBC Scotland in Glasgow. Eurovision Sport is the sports arm of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the largest public service media alliance in the world.
The Challenge
Eurovision Sport looked at how they could use innovative technologies to be more cost-effective alongside the guarantee of resiliency in the field. They turned to LiveU, taking advantage of its extensive relationship and EcoSystem solutions, including field units, cloud services and data packages. Eurovision Sport’s discussions with LiveU were around two main use cases: firstly, the need to bring signals back from various sites, including from motorbikes, helicopters and other moving vehicles alongside ENG teams, to the BOC, operated by their regular production partner Actua Films; and secondly, securing the contribution network, with ten venues being used around Scotland, with an ultimate back-up solution.
The Solution
Eurovision Sport deployed 12 multi-camera LU800s, operated by Actua Films, which were used in multi-camera mode, both for content acquisition and for securing signals. This was undoubtedly more cost-effective than using RF and gave them the flexibility they needed. LiveU provided a resilient, IP-based solution with bonding for these, bringing back a pair of feeds from each relevant site. In addition, Eurovision Sport and its takers also used LiveU’s solutions for production and distribution, using their successfully developed hybrid model, with SDI deployed where possible to the BOC center, backed up by LiveU cloud services. Eurovision Sport used both LiveU’s Matrix IP distribution service and cloud channel to contribute the production feeds in LRT™ or SRT to some of the takers, with its own Digital Content Hub also used.
Results
Using the solutions from across the LiveU EcoSystem, Eurovision Sport created agile, cost-effective and captivating coverage, increasing the number of takers around the world for the event. The LiveU workflow was perfect for this, providing a more cost-effective solution for takers who wanted a lot of material for their digital platforms but didn’t want to spend to access satellite feeds. For several events, some takers then created their own remote productions. LiveU provided a complete service for a very complex project with touch points covering almost every aspect of the production.
"LiveU really delivers when it comes to the quality of service. It can provide a complete service easily across the video production chain. There’s also its reach across our member broadcasters in terms of on-premise reception technology. We are constantly looking at ways to innovate with our partner LiveU.”
Franck Choquard, Head of Content & Platforms, Eurovision Sport