THE CUSTOMER
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is the administrative body representing the national football associations of Europe, although several member states are based in Asia. Consisting of 55 national association members, it is one of six geographical confederations of world football’s governing body, FIFA.
UEFA organises and controls media rights to: the UEFA European Championship, UEFA Nations League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Super Cup.
THE PROJECT
In 2012, UEFA selected experienced broadcast solutions provider Gravity Media – then branded Gearhouse Broadcast – to undertake major work in preparation for its EURO 2012 tournament.
Gravity Media’s Project Solutions Division was tasked with the provision of 8 high definition technical facilities, based at each of the Technical Operation Centres (TOCs) located at 8 stadia utilised for UEFA EURO 2012™.
The project involved supplying the entire technical infrastructure at each TOC. Four stadia were situated in Poland; Gdansk, Warsaw, Poznan and Wroclaw and four stadia in the Ukraine; Kiev, Kharkiv, Lviv and Donetsk.
THE APPROACH
For such a popular, high-profile event, it was vital UEFA provided broadcasters at every venue with the latest in high-end technological advancements. The solutions provided had to be reliable and flexible, featuring fast interconnection and, for each broadcaster, the smoothest set-up process possible.
Gravity Media’s overall solution comprised of a total of fifty-six equipment racks across the eight venues – seven at each TOC.
Each of the 8 TOC facilities contained 128×128 Snell router, Harris glue products, Sony monitors, Tektronix waveform monitors, Evertz SPG’s and multiviewer and Riedel communications matrix.
The TOC racks were all built and tested at Gravity Media’s UK Headquarters prior to shipment to Poland and the Ukraine.
Commentary and Information Systems RF Distribution:
At each stadium, Gravity Media provided a ten-channel RF modulator system, amplifiers, mixers and RF splitters. This was to create commentary areas allowing for 80-100 commentators to broadcast live at the same time without interference.
In addition, Gravity Media provided RF feeds for the printed press positions for international media.
Cable Installation:
Gravity Media also provided the multilateral and unilateral cable installation for the entire UEFA EURO 2012™ tournament. The broadcast contract involved installing over 880 kilometres of cable across the eight venues in the host nations of Poland and Ukraine.
OUTCOME
Commenting on the project, Andre Nel, Broadcast Engineering and Technical Manager for UEFA TV Production said it was vital to provide broadcasters at each venue with the latest technological solutions to fit their production and technical operational needs.
“Moving between venues and fast reliable interconnection and set up is of the utmost importance to Broadcasters and Gearhouse Broadcast delivered these services to a very high standard and quality.”
THE CUSTOMER
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is the administrative body representing the national football associations of Europe, although several member states are based in Asia. Consisting of 55 national association members, it is one of six geographical confederations of world football’s governing body, FIFA.
UEFA organises and controls media rights to: the UEFA European Championship, UEFA Nations League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Super Cup.
THE PROJECT
Gravity Media’s – then branded Gearhouse Broadcast – Project Solutions team was contracted to build and install the Technical Operation Centres required for broadcasting the UEFA EURO 2008 tournament.
A Technical Operation Centre (TOC) is the main signal-distribution and monitoring facility used by the host broadcaster at an event. TOCs are also used by individual broadcasters.
For EURO 2008, eight TOCs were needed, one for each stadium utilised during the tournament. Four stadiums were situated in Austria – specifically, in Vienna, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt and Salzburg. The remainder were located in Switzerland – Basel, Zurich, Bern and Geneva.
THE APPROACH
Gravity Media provided high definition equipment and service personnel which included three broadcast engineers and two wiremen for each of the eight Technical Operation Centres. The TOCs were managed by UEFA Media Technologies, a subsidiary of UEFA, appointed to produce Host Broadcasting Operations.
The TOCs each contained seven broadcast racks of equipment, a total of fifty-six racks.
The racks were all tested at Gravity Media’s UK headquarters two months prior to the tournament.
Gravity Media also provided the multilateral and unilateral cable installation for the UEFA EURO 2008. The broadcast contract involved laying over 900 kilometres of cable across the eight stadium venues throughout the host nations of Austria and Switzerland.
Gravity Media selected Belden cable using a variety of cable types including: Triax, Video, Audio, Cat 5 and Fibre in varying lengths.
OUTCOME
Andre Nel, Senior Projects Manager at UEFA Media Technologies said, “Gearhouse Broadcast delivered the Technical Operation Centres, the Cable Installation solution and the RF Commentary solution for the UEFA EURO 2004 and FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, so we were more than confident in their abilities to provide first class technical solutions for the 2008 tournament”.
