May 2010: BBC Studios and Post Production is partnering BBC Sport to deliver HD multiplatform coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, which starts on 11th June and culminates in the final on the 12th July. Millions are expected to tune in to watch the tournament, which is unquestionably the biggest football event on the planet. Around 110 hours of coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Three, plus more than 100 hours of BBC Red Button coverage and 100 hours on the BBC website.

BBC Studios and Post Production is designing and building a bespoke post production operation for BBC Sport at the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Johannesburg, which is the main hub of the event. The system is configured around an EVS network with LSM servers and IP Director servicing media acquisition and quick replay workflows. An Avid Unity system with 5 edit clients supports fast turnaround editing. All systems will interface with each other and the host server. The ability to move files quickly between any systems will greatly aid BBC Sport in achieving their aspirations for rapid production of high quality content. In addition there will be a compositing operation to service high end graphic workflows, which will also interface with the post production media systems. BBC Studios and Post Production has worked closely with BBC Sport to streamline production workflows and processes to deliver even greater efficiencies for this year’s tournament.

The BBC production team will have access to a vast amount of coverage on the host server, which will all be in HD, including a range of additional isolated match camera angles and footage from the host crews embedded with each of the 32 teams. BBC Sport will be supplementing this material with its own coverage of the England Team matches and local colour material from a roving HD crew. In addition a dedicated crew will follow the England Team. BBC Sport is using flyaway kits, rather than OB trucks and is sharing some satellite uplinking facilities with ITV, both of which will save on costs. SD content is minimal with the HD/SD split being 90/10.

The BBC Sport studio will be based in Cape Town, providing fantastic views of the newly built Green Point Stadium, the iconic Table Mountain and Robben Island. The HD studio and BBC Johannesburg IBC facilities are being installed by Presteigne Charter and supported by BBC Studios and Post Production. Cape Town will also house an additional HD edit suite to support stories and features cut in Cape Town and a complex analysis and LSM TX operation. The analysis set up will utilise Piero, and LiberoVision DiscoverEye – a new 3D fly-through tool which enables viewers to see the action from any angle in the replay, fading out goal posts and goal keepers where necessary to improve the view.

HD and SD circuits will enable material to be moved very quickly from any platform between Johannesburg and Cape Town. There is also a circuit from Johannesburg back to London for HD transmission supplemented by a number of SD circuits to provide material for Red Button and BBC News outlets. Both locations have been designed to have backup transmission capabilities.

BBC Studios and Post Production is providing studio and post production teams for Cape Town and the Johannesburg IBC. Other technical partners include SIS Live, Siemens, Broadcast Media Communications and Telkom South Africa.

At over 470 000 square miles, South Africa is about three and a half times the size of Germany where the previous World Cup was held. There are nine host cities spread out across the country with action coming from around 12 venues in total. To help get a sense of what’s going on across the country, there will be a special equipped BBC bus with simple editing facilities on board, which will travel around the country and provide live reports, giving a flavour of South Africa and the event. CBBC and BBC News will use the Bus to produce less football focused coverage of the event. It will also host broadcasts from the BBC World Service and Radio 5 Live.

For further information, please contact:
Georgie Hollett, Head of Communications, BBC Studios and Post Production
Tel: +44 (0)20 8624 9495
Mobile : +44 (0) 783484 5612
Email : georgie.hollett@bbc.co.uk

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