Winter Olympics 2018

I admit I can't remember the olympics ever doing this, I know Formula 1 did (and maybe still do) though.

Athens was entirely 16:9 production, although 4:3 versions of every DX feed were available in the IBC. On the other hand there was a fair few analogue feeds being ARCed to get them to wide-screen. No HD production there except for experiments. IIRC Turin was done to the same specification, but the HD experiments were ramped up significantly, including proper distribution at the IBC.

Was Athens 16:9 production though? All the BBC coverage was in 4:3- surely they'd have taken 16:9 feeds if they were available?

Yes - in Athens the HD coverage was simplified and only really worth watching for 'HD'. The Turin HD coverage was pretty comprehensive, which is why the BBC and other 16:9 SD broadcasters decided it was acceptable to use it. (I believe the 'MUNIs' were funded by the BBC and the Aussie broadcaster who held the rights at the time, who technically were HD but ran their Olympic operation in 16:9 SD)

Eurosport 2 are showing the Luge with a "Live" DOG, but it's the same footage BBC1 were showing about 15 minutes earlier- so not live.

The Eurosport LIVE dog is a channel LIVE dog (very common in Europe) and used to indicate that the programme is live, rather than a repeat. It doesn't mean the content within the show is 100% live (it will stay up over highlights, packages etc.)

They are usually good at putting up a "highlights" or "earlier" graphic up on Eurosport UK though.

If we are talking about the LIVE bug integrated into the Eurosport 1/2 DOGs top right then I think that is a presentation addition for the duration of the show, not a reactive graphic inserted dynamically by the UK control rooms.

As far as I'm aware, until this year all feeds provided by OBS had only 4:3 safe graphics. This year is the first year they've moved out of the 4:3 safe area, looking like they're using 14:9 safe now instead. There are already so many different feeds going through the IBC simultaneously for different events, and various unilaterals, that providing different graphic feeds on top would make the whole operation significantly more complex and unmanageable.



From a technological point of view it's certainly possible, but I don't think they currently do this. From what I've briefly seen on KBS (Korean state broadcaster), it definitely seems like the graphics are being triggered manually.

The IOC have a central "Olympic Data Feed" system, which is what I believe the graphics get their information from, along with other things such as the website, the app, scoreboards, etc. As this is a general API used by everyone, I suspect it doesn't have broadcast specific metadata such as what the graphics should be doing. In fact I suspect OBS, like most people, have only read access to it, given that scoring information also lives on this system.

Yes - though if the OBS graphics were themselves dynamically triggered from events data that the IOC provided then those triggers may also be available to third party rights holders? (This is just speculation on my part.)

I remember watching World Cup BBC and ITV feeds in parallel and seeing BBC Sport and Host graphics (on the ITV feed) perfectly slaved, so there is historically a way of doing this (and has been for 20 or so years at least). The BBC and ITV at that point both fed match coverage back live or as-live with graphics - one outlet was on-air live, the other recording for later replay (as edited highlights I think)

Indeed, after all - Sky Sports have LIVE text on all their bugs throughout their live football programmes, including during pre-recorded segments like interviews and features.

One thing I have noticed about the OBS broadcast graphics - complete lack of 'Omega' logos on the timing captions.

Normally you cant move for them with it popping up at split timings, or the end of a race/run. So far, noticeable by it lack of ubiquity.