IBC Innovation Awards: Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony Team Among Finalists
The teams behind the innovative broadcasts of the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony and other major sporting events are among the finalists for this year's IBC Innovation Awards. These prestigious awards recognise collaborative projects in the media, entertainment, and technology industries, celebrating excellence and groundbreaking work.
The awards ceremony will take place on 15 September at the RAI Amsterdam, during the annual IBC Convention. Winners will be announced in five categories: Content Creation, Content Distribution, Content Everywhere, Social Impact, and Environment & Sustainability.
Nominees across these categories include a stellar lineup of industry leaders, including Olympic Broadcasting Services, the NFL, NHL, LaLiga, Disney/Pixar, France Télévisions, and NBCUniversal.
Jury chair, Fergal Ringrose, highlighted the global reach and exceptional quality of this year's entries. He noted that the constant evolution of delivery methods and audience consumption patterns necessitates dynamic innovation from content producers worldwide to maintain their relevance and competitiveness in the ever-evolving media and entertainment technology landscape.
Here's a closer look at the finalists in each category:
Content Creation:
The National Football League, ESPN, Disney/Pixar and Beyond Sports for creating the first fully animated, real-time NFL alternative broadcast set in the Toy Story universe.
Olympic Broadcasting Services and partners for their live broadcast production utilizing over 200 smartphones for video contribution during the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, and a sea-based 5G network for sailing competitions in Marseille.
Aspire for collaborating with Vislink and FocalPoint VR to develop a virtual reality over RF wireless solution for the inaugural season of Aspire's Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL).
Content Distribution:
Claro for introducing a revolutionary approach to pay TV in Brazil, seamlessly integrating streaming channels and applications to deliver a comprehensive pay TV offering to consumers.
NBCUniversal Operations and Technology for their pioneering project that fundamentally transforms the delivery of their TV channels to audiences around the world.
The National Hockey League, in partnership with Verizon, AWS, Zixi, Vizrt and Evertz, for developing a 5G and Edge compute framework for the assembly, control, and delivery of live broadcast.
Content Everywhere:
LaLiga for their collaboration with Play Anywhere and Ease Live to enable true fan interactivity for themselves and their worldwide broadcast and streaming partners.
Red Bull Media House for their innovative integration of real-time GPS tracking, data management, and advanced visualization to enhance the viewing experience across live broadcast, web widgets, and AR mobile apps.
Franceinfo (France Télévisions) for their partnership with PimpMyCompany to aggregate text, audio, video, and photo messages from various platforms and broadcast them live on air.
Social Impact:
Disney Star, Star Sports for their collaboration with India Signing Hands to bring cricket to nearly 67 million hard of hearing and 34 million visually impaired fans watching IPL 2024.
CultureQ for their new technology platform, developed by indigenous-owned tech company Kiwa Digital, which empowers indigenous peoples worldwide to revitalize their language and culture on a large scale while retaining their sovereignty.
Sesame Workshop for their Watch Play Learn Distribution Hub, which allows government agencies and aid organizations to preview and request videos for children in crisis settings.
Environment & Sustainability:
France Télévisions for achieving a 300-ton reduction in CO2 emissions through a pioneering 100% glass-to-glass cloud production and private 5G network.
GreeningofStreaming for addressing growing industry concerns about the energy impact of the streaming sector, with a global reach and over 30 member organisations.
Anton/Bauer for Salt-E Dog, a sustainable television production solution that harnesses the power of sodium chemistry.
The IBC Innovation Awards recognise the ingenuity and commitment of these teams to push the boundaries of media and entertainment technology. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 15 September, showcasing the very best of the industry's collaborative efforts.
