Euro 2016 proved the power of live TV, its capacity to bring people together and its emotional impact across generations. Broadcasters throughout Europe have reasons to be proud of the audience figures achieved during the championship. Live sports events such as the Euros are usually enjoyed on TV sets. However, TV is now available everywhere and on every screen, and more and more viewers can watch games on tablets, smartphones or computer screens – either live or on-demand. The fully audited global figures for the matches will not be known for some time, but broadcasters are already confident that the numbers for the France – Portugal final have surpassed the 299 million viewers worldwide who watched the Spain – Italy final in 2012.

Since BT Sport launched its Ultra HD service in August 2015, the broadcaster’s custom-built Ultra HD vehicle has been at the heart of its game-changing live productions.  Designed and built in close collaboration with OB production partner Timeline Television, the truck – the first of its kind in Europe - has helped BT Sport deliver a range of live sporting events as an immersive cinematic experience to viewers across the UK, from Barclay’s Premiership football, Moto GP to more niche-interest sports such as international championship hockey and Speedway.

Currently there are four different ultra-motion camera systems for live productions available in Europe: The Hi-Motion from ARRI Media, the Superloupe from DVS, the SprintCam from i-movix and the Antelope from LMC. We asked all four companies to answer 14 questions and to explain the advantages of their respective camera system. Finally three companies responded. Please find following their answers. This should help you to rent in the right system for your live production. As the recording and playback device (in addition to on-board RAM recorders) all three systems interface to the LSM XT[2] hard disk recorder from EVS.

No yacht race comes more extreme than the Volvo Ocean Race – encircling the globe over a course of 45,000 nautical miles, facing waves of over 40m and extremes temperature ranges from -5 to 40°C. The 22m length yachts cross 4 oceans in an event stopping at 12 ports as teams battle it out on racing legs lasting more than 20 days across a global course lasting 9 months. And for the crew, all of this with only a single change of clothing! It is perhaps no surprise that this extreme challenge should become a sporting event made for TV viewing.

Wige Media, based in Köln, Germany, understands that outside broadcast work places particular strains on camera support equipment. On the one hand they have to be light and manoeuvrable enough to be moved into position, which may be some way from vehicle access and possibly high up in a stand.
On the other hand they have to be particularly stable and rigid as they are often used with very long lenses. The slightest trace of instability in a camera mount when used at the extreme end of an 80x or 100x lens will look like a major disruption.

With an unrivalled 62-year history of elite competition, MotoGP is the world’s premier motorcycling championship, comprising a nine-month, 18-round season, in 13 different countries, spanning 4 continents. Dating back to 1949, it is the oldest motorsport World Championship in existence. Since 1992 the commercial rights and the production of the international TV signals are owned by Dorna Sports SL, with the FIM remaining as the sport sanctioning body.