Red Bee Media’s squad is going all the way to the final.

The 2018 World Cup in Russia has been eagerly awaited by players and fans alike. But it’s the TV broadcasters who’ve been putting in the hard work to get ready for what is one of the world’s biggest sporting event. The World Cup is all about TV. Without TV, it wouldn’t be so successful. It might sound obvious, but it’s easy to forget. We take great coverage of every second of every game for granted – it’s just there. But, the hard work that goes into getting those superb pictures from stadium to screen is immense.

And Red Bee Media has been – and will be until July 15th when the trophy is finally awarded to a winning team – right at the heart of the tournament. It’s been reported that the global audience for the entire competition will exceed 3.4 billion people. That will up from Brazil 2014, and the figure represents almost half of the global population. And revenues will be over $6 billion including TV rights and sponsorship1.

At Red Bee Media, we’ve been preparing for the challenge for a long time. And so far, it’s going great. We’re delivering sparkling UHD and HDR broadcasts for Dutch National Broadcasters NPO and NPS. Holland is one of only 15 nations which can watch the highest resolution images of the games and we’re proud of the achievement.

One of the World Cup’s key sponsors, McDonald’s, was keen to make the most of their link to the action, so they asked to beam each and every game into every one of their 207 restaurants in Sweden. Within hours the links were up, and customers could order Big Mac and Fries and HD World Cup action all at the same time! All via our Managed OTT services.

Two side-by-side photos. One shows an empty television studio, and the other shows three people sitting at a desk in front of screens and controls.
On the left: The World Cup Studio set designed by Berny Sauner for Canal+ International. On the right: The playout studio room at Mediadome, the Red Bee Media multi-tennant playout and production facilities in Paris, France.

Meanwhile, in France, every day a team of 10 to 15 Red bee Media’s staff is managing the live production and playout for broadcaster Canal+ International. Two dedicated channels cover Africa and the Indian Ocean, with a feed that supports viewers in French-speaking Haiti in the Caribbean. We installed a dedicated studio set, ordered by Canal+ International, and designed by noted studio design specialist Berny Sauner to support each game with commentary and dynamic graphics. We are producing trailers to get viewers excited by the games and ensure they tune in, as well as delivering a daily talk-show of sports analysis.

Two side-by-side photos of a television studio, one showing it with a round table and stool seating and the other two with two standing desks.
Images from the World Cup Studio set designed by Berny Sauner for Canal+ International

We are really excited by how well the World Cup has begun. Not a single, dull goalless draw on the pitch (at the time of writing at least!) and total excitement and commitment from the Red Bee Media team. Our goal has always been broadcast excellence at the highest quality, and the world can see just how successful we’ve been.

We’re going to keep going till the final whistle on July 15th!

by Laurent Dovergne, Mediadome (Paris, France) Site Manager, Red Bee Media

1Hollywood Reporter June 14, 2018