2011: Year in Review – May
May, traditionally the month when many of Europe’s top leagues and championships hold their finals. Our May highlights therefore take us from the Bundesliga to the FA Cup and the Aviva Premiership via, er, the European Song Contest.
UK: 100 members of the BBC Sport production team will this weekend become trailblazers for the publicly funded broadcaster when they become the first staff to take up residence in its new £200m home in the North of England, writes UK Correspondent, Will Strauss.
Inside the game: ITV & ESPN combine to showcase FA Cup from Wembley Stadium
UK: With ITV operating as host broadcaster and ESPN providing a mammoth 29-camera add-on and 3D coverage as well, Saturday’s FA Cup final between Man City and Stoke City was a broadcast classic highlighting the benefits of collaborative working, even if the game didn’t quite live up to expectations.
Bundesliga champions crowned in 3D glory
Germany: At the close of play on match day 34, Borussia Dortmund captain, Roman Weidenfeller, raised the Bundesliga championship plate to the skies to a thunderous roar from the massive crowd packed into the Signal Iduna Park, writes Reinhard Penzel for Live Production. For the seventh time, Borussia’s name will be immortalised on the nation’s most coveted “salad dish” – and all the action on the field was broadcasted on Sky Deutschland and “Liga Total” in stunning 3D.
Eurosport, Panasonic and FFT combine for 3D French Open broadcast
France: Eurosport, Panasonic, and the Fédération Française de Tennis have combined forces for this year’s 3D coverage of the French Open tennis, featuring a mammoth 15 days’ worth of matches from the main court Philippe Châtrier at Roland Garros.
Sky prepares for Champions League Final
Wembley: Sky Sports’ two biggest host broadcasts of the year, rugby’s Heineken Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff last Saturday and this weekend’s massive Champion’s League Final between Manchester United and Barcelona at Wembley, have given the broadcaster ample opportunities to trial new 3D kit, including Sony-based super slo-mo and a new railcam from ACS. The broadcaster is also actively looking at expanding its range of 3D coverage.
This is Germany calling: Eurovision 2011, the definitive case study
During a meeting in Monaco in 1955, EBU Director Marcel Bezençon (1907-1981) launched the idea of bringing Europe together in a televised, pan-European music competition in the style of the Italian San Remo Festival. At the same time, the Eurovision Grand Prix (as it was named back then) would be an ambitious experiment to broadcast live to several countries at the same time. That’s how it all started…Reinhard Penzel for Live Production takes up the story of the world’s biggest non-sporting live TV event.
Inside the game: ESPN covers Aviva Premiership climax
Twickenham: 43 matches after it started its rugby coverage at the start of the season, ESPN broadcast exclusive live coverage of the Aviva Premiership rugby final between Leicester and Saracens from Twickenham on Saturday. Andy Stout reports on the broadcaster’s biggest game of the year.