NBC Olympics Calls Team USA House Home for Paris Studio Coverage of Paralympics 1,500 hours of coverage across 22 sports begins today with Opening Ceremony from Place de Concorde By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Wednesday, August 28, 2024 - 8:00 am
Print This Story
NBC Olympics today will turn its attention to the Paralympics which will have its opening ceremony at the Place de Concorde in the heart of Paris beginning at 2 pm EST (coverage begins at 1 p.m.). And while the production efforts have scaled down a bit compared to the Olympics there is still much to be done to deliver an estimated 1,500 hours of coverage across 22 sports on Peacock which will once again feature the GoldZone and Multiview.
The goal for the Paralympics movement is to build towards a real launching point in Los Angeles [in 2028] and we're excited to put it on equal footing to the Olympic effort as we have a breathtaking American team that I wouldn't say makes our jobs easier to cover but makes it more fun, says Darryl Jefferson, SVP, engineering and technology, NBC Sports and Olympics. Peacock will take the lion's share of the programming and then stream it and then GoldZone continues because it was a big hit.
Of course, one thing that isn't lost on Jefferson or the rest of the team is that the Paralympics, unlike the regular Olympics, coincide with a lot of other sports content creation efforts from the NBC Sports team.
One of the interesting things, and by interesting, I mean terrifying, is that this collides with the fall sports like the NFL kickoff, our game in Sao Paulo, a triple header for college football, golf, and more, says Jefferson. It will be exciting having all of that concurrent energy.
At the center of the Paralympics coverage will be all the VANDA feeds provided by OBS which will begin their journey to Stamford via the IBC in Paris where the operations have shrunk but are no less critical.
Even though the RIB (Rack-in-a- Box) system is leaving we've broken out a bunch of transmission gear in Paris like our MediaLinks frames that will stay as the core of the system, says Jefferson. Those frames will send the OBS VANDA package of feeds to Stamford where three control rooms will be used to create the finished product for viewers. Commentary will be a mix of in-house color and play-by-play as well as relying on the OBS commentary. And one interesting technology tweak from the Paris Olympics is that during that massive effort the whole Stamford facility ran at 50 Hz. But because there are less in-bound signals for the Paralympics the house format reverts to 60 Hz and all of the incoming 50 Hz feed will be converted to 60 Hz while they are heading into the plant. They will also be SDR.
That will make it easier to move from one control room to the other and we will also have a mobile unit outside that will give us a control room for the GoldZone, adds Jefferson.
Commentary is always a big lift for an event like the Paralympics and Jefferson says that NBC Olympics will have a mix of NBC talent as well as relying on the OBS commentary which accommodates the VANDA feeds.
For viewers at home one of the most visible aspects of Olympic coverage is the studio show. During the Olympics, NBC focused its studio operations on the Trocadero and while NBC and OBS have taken down the massive studio operations at the Trocadero, NBC Olympics is still committed to a Paris presence. For the next two weeks NBC will call the Team USA Olympics house home while studio coverage in Stamford will provide some wrap-around content.
It will be interesting to see how the Team USA house is used but my hunch is it will come up big as it's really a gathering spot for the athletes as it is centrally located in Paris, says Jefferson. Our hope is it will have more of a party atmosphere and with celebrations that are in the moment with people watching the competitions on the big screens.
NBC Olympics will also have plenty of coverage from the venues as well as ENG crews covering various storylines and athletes. Many of the same iconic venues used for the Olympics will be transformed to host a whole new set of athletes competing in the Paralympic Games. For example, the Eiffel Tower Stadium's beach volleyball courts will become a grassy stadium for blind football and the Champ-de-Mars Arena that hosted Olympic judo will be transformed into a court for wheelchair rugby. And the Stade de France will once again be home to track and field events.
With things like LiveU we will be able to get into the nooks and crannies and do things like going to a caf with an athlete or just follow stories more nimbly, adds Jefferson. Also look for the Friends and Family videos to continue, connecting athletes with those who cannot make it to Paris. And those moments and stories, in many respects, are more inspiring than the stories of athletes at the Olympics given the tremendous obstacles athletes have overcome to compete in Paris.
Our marketing teams and our social media teams are getting the word out so that people can know some of these amazing athletes that are competing, says Jefferson. Even things like our partnership with Roblox continues on to get the event into a broader audience and youngsters.
The closing ceremony of the Paralympics on Sept. 7 will also officially get nearly all attention focused on the 2026 Winter Olympics which will be a challenging one for everyone. Hosted in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy, the clusters are upwards of four hours apart meaning that everyone, from OBS to NBC and all of the rights holders and service providers (and even fans) will find it almost impossible to have staff floating from one venue to the next.
The initial story of the next games is the distance as you'll lose them for a day [if they need to go to the other clus
North America Stories
13/09/2024
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...
13/09/2024
SNS is excited to preview the latest features coming to the award-winning EVO Suite. Be among the first to test drive these workflow innovations at IBC2024, and...
13/09/2024
SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 12, 2024 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has received a...
13/09/2024
Rendering of L3Harris Tranche 2 Tracking (T2TRK) imagery for the Space Developme...
13/09/2024
Last month, L3Harris delivered the third U.S. Air Force EA-37B Compass Call Cross Deck aircraft integrated with sophisticated electromagnetic attack (EA) miss...
13/09/2024
Targeted at low-to-mid tier productions, the new products set new standards for ...
13/09/2024
The next generation products will enhance the Densit Modular Platform with unma...
13/09/2024
AMSTERDAM Calrec Audio has unveiled its compact Argo M audio console, ImPulseV cloud audio mixing solution and True Control 2.0 at IBC 2024, Sept. 13-16....
13/09/2024
A study of how the media and broadcast industry feels about artificial intelligence (AI) has revealed most media and broadcast companies view its adoption as a ...
13/09/2024
AMSTERDAM AI-driven digital asset management system (DAM) Starchive announced at IBC 2024 a collaboration with Seagate that fully integrates its toolset with Se...
13/09/2024
AMSTERDAM DPA Microphones has introduced its 2061 Miniature Omnidirectional Microphone for applications ranging from broadcast studios and ENG to theaters, even...
13/09/2024
Rodney Alejandro Named Dean of Professional Writing and Music Technology Alejandro, Berklees current Songwriting Department chair and an alumnus of the colleg...
13/09/2024
The presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump was watched by 67.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen....
13/09/2024
Brightcove introduced the Brightcove AI Suite, which uses AI to provide content creation, audience growth and engagement and increased revenue generation....
13/09/2024
Warner Bros. Discovery and Charter Communications said the reached a new multi-y...
13/09/2024
The History Channel's History This Week podcast returns for a fifth season on September 16....
13/09/2024
NEW YORK The ABC News Presidential Debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump drew an estimated audience of 67.1 million view...
13/09/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. In response to Donald Trump's call for ABC stations to lose their broadcast licenses, Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica ...
13/09/2024
IRVINE, Calif. Teradek will launch its new Prism 877 4K HEVC encoder/decoder cards at the IBC 2024, Sept. 13-16, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center....
13/09/2024
ATLANTA The Georgia Association of Broadcasters honored nine station employees at the early stage of their broadcast career as members of its first-ever class o...
13/09/2024
MONTREAL Grass Valley and broadcast equipment supply and service company ES Broadcast have inked a strategic partnership agreement that continues and expands a ...
13/09/2024
NEWARK, N.J. Panasonic Connect has announced the new AK-UCX100 4K studio camera and two new 4K multi-purpose cameras. In addition, the company said it will exte...
13/09/2024
OTTAWA, Canada Ross Video has launched Ultricore Tally, a full-featured, versatile tally control and management solution and will showcase it at IBC 2024, Sept....
13/09/2024
Hollyland Elevates Wireless Communications for Large-Scale Film and TV Productio...
13/09/2024
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic PYXIS Monitor!
Brie Clayton September 12, 2024
0 Comments
New cinematic monitoring solution for Blackmagic PYXI...
13/09/2024
Sculpting Reimagined: Maxon Releases ZBrush for iPad
Brie Clayton September 13, 2024
0 Comments
Take the power of ZBrush on the go with reimagined UI,...
13/09/2024
WCVB Spotlights Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education The institutes ABLE summer camp program was featured in the 5 for Good segment.
By
Daniel Pe...
13/09/2024
Back to All News
Netflix Greenlights Love Untangled': A Nostalgic Korean Y...
12/09/2024
Final Phase of RFP Process Will See a Decision Announced in Q1 of 2025...
12/09/2024
By Jessica Herndon
We all have moments from movies that we love to rewatch. Som...
12/09/2024
St. Louis, MO - September 12, 2024 - Studio Network Solutions (SNS) announced that Legacy Effects, the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning FX studio, relies on EVO...
12/09/2024
St. Louis, MO - September 12, 2024 - Studio Network Solutions (SNS) today announced a significant update to its NDI plug-in for Vizrt NRS systems at IBC2024. T...
12/09/2024
St. Louis, MO - September 12, 2024 - Studio Network Solutions (SNS) is showcasing significant updates to the EVO Suite at IBC2024.
Designed to empower media t...
12/09/2024
L3Harris is now one of 13 prime contractors involved in the Australian government's GSC program, designed to support in-country suppliers and bolster global...
12/09/2024
The 3.5-meter glass mirror, which L3Harris polished and finished, has been lifted onto Rubin Observatory's Simonyi Survey Telescope in Chile. This achieveme...
12/09/2024
The new LDX 110 and LDX C110 bring the cutting-edge technology of the LDX 100 series to the entry-level market.
Montreal, Canada, September 12, 2024 -. Grass V...
12/09/2024
NEW YORK - September 11, 2024 - The ABC News Presidential Debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump drew an estimated audien...
12/09/2024
Reinvigorated alliance the next step in the evolution of media in Japan and a bi...
12/09/2024
NEW YORK The ABC News Presidential Debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump drew an estimated audience of 67.1 million view...
12/09/2024
Boston Conservatory at Berklee to Present Center Stage Production of Jesus Chris...
12/09/2024
The Jennifer Hudson Show returns for its third season on Monday, September 16 with a renewed focus on joy, positivity and inspiration, the show said Tuesday....
12/09/2024
Netflix's The Perfect Couple had its debut as the No. 1 show on connected TV...
12/09/2024
FreeWheel, Comcast's ad-tech company, said it would be integrating Samba TV automatic content recognition viewer data into FreeWheel's Audience Manager,...
12/09/2024
Mike Fisher, who had been executive director of investment innovation at GroupM, has joined Comcast Advertising as executive director, agency development....
12/09/2024
John Leguizamo took the stage at the Hispanic Television Summit, as the session ...
12/09/2024
Samba TV is reporting that 28.3 million homes watched the Presidential Debate hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10. That makes the faceoff between Donald Trump and Ka...
12/09/2024
PARIS Dalet has announced three new members of its executive team. Tara Bryant joins as chief revenue officer (CRO) with responsibilities spanning sales, market...
12/09/2024
BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid has announced improvements to its Avid | Stream IO software subscription solution for broadcast production ingest and playout that are de...
12/09/2024
NEW YORK A new report from Nielsen indicates that the U.S. Hispanic population is having a major influence on the U.S. sports landscape, helping to drive growin...
NBC Olympics Calls Team USA House Home for Paris Studio Coverage of Paralympics 1,500 hours of coverage across 22 sports begins today with Opening Ceremony from Place de Concorde By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
