HBS CEO Dan Miodownik Reflects on Producing Three World Cup Events in One Year Split ops teams, matching the production philosophy to the event drove efforts By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, November 2, 2023 - 10:59 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Last week, the 2023 Rugby World Cup came to a dramatic conclusion in Paris, marking the end of both an exciting tournament for rugby fans and an amazingly busy year for HBS (Host Broadcast Services), which produced three global World Cups: besides the rugby tournament, the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup and 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. HBS CEO Dan Miodownik sat down with SVG in Paris to discuss the accomplishments of the past year, the future of big-time sports production, and the technological changes affecting the way events are produced, distributed, and consumed around the globe.
HBS's Dan Miodownik: When you're doing a World Cup in any sport, you're talking to many audiences and have to be broader in your appeal.
How did things go in terms of Rugby World Cup production?
Things went really well. We had a good, strong start, and it just got better and better each week. We also were comfortable with the reliability of our technical platform that supported multiple broadcasters.
Editorially, we wanted to hit the ground running and have consistency from multiple directors as we had an Australian director, an English director, and two French directors. If you look at those countries, they all produce rugby in different ways domestically, so it was important that we ensure consistency while also not beimg so rigid that you can't identify which director is directing. There was still a bit of the director's signature, but we had real consistency in how the live cut works, how well it breathes.
How did match production change from 2019 in Japan?
I wouldn't say there's a huge change in the principles and the guidelines. When you're doing a World Cup in any sport, you're talking to many audiences; you're not just talking to the purists and the experts. Therefore, you've got to be broader in your appeal, but you also have to make sure you don't alienate your casual or hardcore fan. It can be quite tricky.
Working with World Rugby, we've been more consistent this time around with how we've applied that philosophy and those guidelines, and we do have a few more toys to play with, such as the cine-style shooting.
Cine-style shooting has been the growth camera of the last few years in big events, and it lends itself in different ways to different sports. The technology has improved by leaps and bounds as the kits are much lighter and much more portable. Personally, I still feel that it can be a bit polarizing at times: you can feel like you're jumping into something very different to the rest of the live coverage and then jumping back out of it. But that's part of the learning curve.
The 2023 Rugby World Cup IBC was located at Roland Garros in Paris.
In the past 12 months, HBS has tackled the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup in Qatar, the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia, the 2023 Rugby World Cup here in France, and other events. What has that been like?
It has been an incredibly intense 12 months. If you take it from the Men's World Cup last year to this year and throw in, on top of that, what we call the usual events - LFP Ligue 1 and 2, Roland-Garros, the Gold Cup, Handball World Championships, and the Ice Hockey World Championships - you can start thinking you can have that kind of intensity year in year out, but you can't. We've learned the hard way that you need to address these projects in a slightly different way, which is that you can't just go from one to the other.
We made the decision, coming out of the Men's FIFA World Cup, that we were going to split out the teams between things like the FIFA Women's World Cup and the Rugby World Cup. Of course, some people want to be involved with everything, so that was difficult. But everybody who works in these events knows that, at the end, you do need a bit of time to debrief and rest before you throw yourself into the next event. That's part of our learning curve over the last two or three years, and it's something that we're applying more and more.
What does that mean operationally?
You need to plan way ahead. You've got to make sure that your resources give your preparation team the space and time needed as well as reinforcing the team more than we've done in the past. Increasingly, these events require more from us technically, editorially, and operationally. So we've widened the teams that we have for the preparation, and we've widened the pool of people we use for events so that we're not relying on the same group of people every single time. When you look at the roadmap of the next two, three, four years, you see all those peaks starting to appear, which means you have to have a bigger team, and you have to invest more in people. We need more people, and we're using more people than we've used before.
Since COVID, a lot more workflows have been available to you for producing events. And each of these three major events had a different workflow. How did that develop?
Every major event is different. There are certain principles you can import, but, honestly, you do start from scratch because every event has a different set of challenges and obstacles, regardless of how much it looks the same as the one before.
I discussed this with [OBS Chief Technology Officer Sotiris Salamouris], and they hear the same thing: Oh, it's the Olympics, and therefore it is the same whether it is in Tokyo or Paris. But, even when events are in our backyard - where we arguably know more about working in France on a big
Most recent headlines
17/02/2025
TVBEurope talks to the team who brought a piece of broadcasting history back to life on BBC Wales last night
By Jenny Priestley
Published: February 14, 2025 ...
17/02/2025
Eligible studios will receive the relief directly from their local authorities, with no need to submit a claim
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: February 17, 20...
17/02/2025
As DEI initiatives come under pressure in the USA, supporters of Rise, which promotes diversity in the media and entertainment sector, discuss the continuing im...
17/02/2025
EIB Global loan will partially fund SES's continued O3b mPOWER medium earth orbit (MEO) fleet expansion enabling additional capacity worldwide. O3b mPOWER s...
15/02/2025
At Nielsen, Business Resource Groups (BRGs) play a critical role in nurturing a ...
15/02/2025
Innovation to empower creativity: Explore the latest in Lightroom
Rob Christensen February 15, 2025
0 Comments
Whether you want to remove distracting ...
15/02/2025
Wisycom, a worldwide leader in RF technology and provider of wireless solutions, announces a new distribution agreement with EQUAPHON. An Argentinian profession...
15/02/2025
DPA Microphones, the leading manufacturer of high-quality microphone solutions, is pleased to welcome Nicholas Nick Mariano and Vincent Vince Divine to the ...
15/02/2025
Tuxera, a leading provider of quality-assured file systems and networking solutions, will showcase how Tuxera Fusion SMB enables unprecedented performance for m...
15/02/2025
Bitmovin's latest Video Developer Report indicates an increasing role of AI, the slow adoption of next-generation codecs, and continuing challenges when it ...
15/02/2025
When Michelin Enterprises set out to promote its prestigious Hotel Guide in the new Sleepless in the Kitchen , campaign, veteran German/Slovenian gaffer Robert...
15/02/2025
Formula E, the world's first all-electric racing series, revolutionizing motorsport with cutting-edge technology and a commitment to sustainability has sele...
15/02/2025
Agile Content, a global leader in TV and video technology solutions, announces its rebranding to AgileTV.
The transition to AgileTV stems from a commitment to ...
15/02/2025
Hiltron Communications will promote the latest additions to its range of satellite communication products, systems and supporting services at GovSatCom 2025. Th...
15/02/2025
Following the success of the original Airglow Booklight, DoPchoice debuts a new addition to their inflatable line the Float. This lightweight, inflatable, round...
15/02/2025
LAS VEGAS Marshall Electronics has announced that it will debut its newest camera controller, the RCP Plus, at the 2025 NAB Show at Booth N2649 between April 5 ...
15/02/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has named Blake Sebo as the next general manager of KTUU and KYES, Gray's NBC and CBS affiliates in Anchorage, Alaska....
15/02/2025
KOKKEDAL, Denmark DPA Microphones will feature its new CORE+ technology for distortion-free microphone sound at the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, in Las Vegas....
15/02/2025
SWANSEA, U.K. QuickLink will launch StudioPro-NDI and StudioPro-3, two new models of its QuickLine StudioPro video production platform, at the 2025 NAB Show, Ap...
15/02/2025
Live From 2025 NBA All-Star Game Weekend: After 25 Years, Turner Sports All-In F...
15/02/2025
NASCAR Driver Cam on Max Embraces Cloud-Based Workflow for 2025 Season Chris Brown of WBD Sports says Mobii will play key part in delivering signals from the tr...
14/02/2025
Last month, we officially launched the Spotify Partner Program, a powerful new m...
14/02/2025
From an island off the coast of Lutruwita to the global stage in France SBS & ...
14/02/2025
The future of electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) land systems is evolving so that ...
14/02/2025
Here are 5 reasons why you should attend ISE 2025
Discover more about Calrec: Learn more about Calrec's legacy of innovation in broadcast audio solutions ...
14/02/2025
World Radio Day: On the same wavelength
By Graham Murray, International Sales Manager at Calrec
To mark World Radio Day, Calrec's International Sales Ma...
14/02/2025
DALLAS and TYSONS, Va. Tegna has concluded a broadcast rights agreement that makes Tegna's KFAA in Dallas the exclusive local television partner of the Dall...
14/02/2025
Amazon's Prime Video has released a new app for Apple TV that the streamer said delivers an improved streaming experiences with faster scrolling, improved s...
14/02/2025
CLEVELAND Telos Alliance announced a software update for its Axia Quasar XR and SR line of audio-over-IP (AoIP) mixing consoles and will show the offering at th...
14/02/2025
Puget Systems Returns to HPA Tech Retreat 2025 with New Analysis Tools for Puge...
14/02/2025
Glass Animals: Tour of Earth Uses Blackmagic Live Production Workflow
Brie Clayton February 14, 2025
0 Comments
80six deploys Blackmagic URSA Broadcas...
14/02/2025
A dispute between Paramount and Youtube TV that would have pulled CBS stations and Paramount's cable channels from the streaming service has been temporaril...
14/02/2025
Colourist Deidre (Dee) McClelland details how she helped shape the distinct look and feel of whimsical Oscar-nominated stop-motion film, Memoir of a Snail
By C...
14/02/2025
BitFire said it intends to introduce forward-looking services that simplify the launch of live production workflows, and enhance real-time collaboration
By Jen...
14/02/2025
The claim by the liquidators is the latest twist in the ongoing saga of the companys collapse at the end of 2021
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: February 14, ...
14/02/2025
A carriage dispute between YouTube TV and Paramount could come to a head today (Feb. 13), with the virtual pay TV provider threatening to pull all of the progra...
14/02/2025
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. LG Electronics USA has opened a new in-house, state-of-the-art virtual production studio at its 360,000-square-foot North American headqu...
14/02/2025
NEW YORK In a bid to help local broadcasters find new ways of monetizing their content, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and TVB have relea...
14/02/2025
WASHINGTON Three Democratic U.S. Senators have sent a stern letter blasting FCC Chair Brendan Carr for the weaponization of the agency for attacking broadcast...
14/02/2025
Years after launching the streaming service Apple TV+ in November of 2019, Apple has finally released a version of its steaming app for Android devices....
14/02/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. Red Digital Cinema will make its V-RAPTOR [X] and KOMODO-X camera systems available with Nikon's premier Z Mount, providing filmmaker...
14/02/2025
DAYTONA, Fla. The Fox Sports production of this year's Daytona 500 will see the addition of a few new tech elements and the continued unfolding of the broad...
14/02/2025
Watch Bryson Battles Blind Audition on The Voice Get a Four-Chair Turn Michael Bubl said the Boston Conservatory at Berklee musical theater senior might have...
14/02/2025
2025 Daytona 500: FOX Sports Looks To Ride Super Bowl LIX Momentum Into NASCAR S...
14/02/2025
14 Feb 2025
VEON's Kyivstar and the Come Back Alive Foundation Raise USD 2....
14/02/2025
Max Renews THE PITT, Starring Noah Wyle, For A Second Season
Max
Warner Bros. Television Group
The Pitt
New Episodes Of The Medical Drama From John...
14/02/2025
This year, Technicolor proudly celebrates 110 years of shaping the magic of cinema pioneering color, visual effects, and innovation that bring unforgettable l...
14/02/2025
NBA All-Star: More Games, More Teams, More Music, More Sound From the Court Turner Sports' team will deploy familiar tech to capture all the audio By Dan D...
14/02/2025
LIV Golf Continues To Innovate With Drones, Data-Driven Graphics, and All-Access...
HBS CEO Dan Miodownik Reflects on Producing Three World Cup Events in One Year Split ops teams, matching the production philosophy to the event drove efforts By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
