Austria Summit 2024 explores winter sports production, football broadcasting, AI and more

Sky Sport Austria Summit 2024, in cooperation with SVG Europe in Salzburg, Austria

Sky Sport Austria and SVG Europe welcomed delegates to a stunning venue in Salzburg for the Austria Summit 2024 on Thursday (25 January), where a host of subjects were explored including the art of winter sports production and an in-depth look at the challenges and innovations specific to Austrian football broadcasting.

The German-language event also provided a unique opportunity for networking in a beautiful location in a lodge at the foot of the Untersburg mountain.

Sky Deutschland’s Alessandro Reitano, David Morgenbesser of ServusTV, Martin Szerencsi of ORF and Michael Radelsberger from Sky Austria

Supported by title sponsor Qvest, along with event sponsors M2A Media and Cobalt, attendees were from a range of federations, broadcasters, production firms, facilities providers and technology vendors from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

The first session, The State of Austrian Sports Broadcasting, was moderated by SVG Europe chair and Sky Deutschland senior vice president of sports production Alessandro Reitano, with David Morgenbesser of ServusTV, Martin Szerencsi of ORF and Michael Radelsberger from Sky Austria. Together, they explored the challenges and opportunities faced by local broadcasters, production firms and facilities providers.

Next up was Behind the Scenes: Winter Sports Production Excellence. This session explored the enormous production effort required to capture the excitement of winter sports, which are among the most challenging of sports to produce and distribute. During this discussion, Michael Köegler, head of directors at ORF Sport, spoke about the producing coverage of events such as the Hahnenkamm Races, and the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup race that takes place in Kitzbühel, Austria.

Alessandro Reitano with Robert Kis, TVSkyline, Heike Größwang, IBSF and Michael Koegler, ORF

As well as talking delegates through the massive 50+ camera plan, he spoke about the use of point-of-view drones to help capture the action. Köegler was joined on stage by Heike Größwang, secretary general of the IBSF (International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation) and Robert Kis of TVSkyline.

Following that, Dr. Giordano Koch of Hyve explored the processes, industry trends, and disruptive technologies that are shaping the future of live sports TV production.

After a short break, attendees returned to hear about football production in Austria, with Christian Ebenbauer of ÖFBL and Sky Austria’s Uwe König.

The event concluded with a look at Generative AI and Sports Production, exploring the impact of generative AI on workflows and the way content is produced and delivered to sports viewers by Yves Rahm of Pixelschickeria, Jonas Michaelis of qibb and Vizrt’s Gerhard Lang.

Alessandro Reitano with Vizrt’s Gerhard Lang, Yves Rahm of Pixelschickeria and Jonas Michaelis of qibb

A highlights video of the event with English subtitles will be available shortly.

The Sky Sport Austria Summit 2024, in association with SVG Europe, took place at Latschenwirt Salzburg on 25 January.