DR, TV2 Combine Forces To Deliver Sochi Games to Denmark

The Danes may not have taken the podium at the Winter Games since winning a silver medal in curling at the 1998 Nagano Games, but Denmark’s rightsholding broadcasters DR and TV2 are giving the gold-medal treatment to their coverage of the Sochi Games. With more than 400 hours of coverage across five television channels — DR1, DR2, DR3, TV2, and TV2 HD — and three live-streaming feeds, the Danes won’t go hungry for Olympics content, even if they remain hungry for a medal.

TV2 Denmark’s Henrik Frederiksen (left) and Bjarne Pedersen at the technical facility the network shares with DR

The two Danish broadcasters have set up shop at the IBC with a combined technical-operations area that sits between the DR and TV2 editorial and production offices, creating a shared-resource model that makes financial and creative sense for both parties.

“There is lots of collaboration here,” says Henrik Frederiksen, head of production, sport, TV2. “They use some of our positions, and we use some of theirs. We share a lot of facilities.”

Like the majority of rightsholders on hand at the IBC in Sochi, DR and TV2 are deploying “@home” workflows featuring robust connectivity to their home-base facilities and reducing their on-site footprint.

Denmark receives six of the OBS-produced MDS (Multi-channel Distribution Service) feeds and Olympic News Channel from OBS, at its facility in Odense via OBS’s encrypted satellite subscription service. In addition, the two broadcasters have established three 100-Mbps fiber lines from Sochi to Denmark to transport JPEG2000 feeds from its various studios and commentary positions. DR and TV2 have an additional return fiber line back to Sochi. In Sochi, the Danish have also established a 100-Mbps line linking its IBC operation in the Coastal Cluster with the Mountain Cluster venues.

Henrik Frederiksen, head of production, sport, TV2

The two broadcasters share a variety of announce positions and studios. TV2 has set up its morning-show studio near the medal-presentation stage, a studio position and mixed zone at the curling center, and a mixed zone at Bolshoy. In addition, at times, it uses Norway’s Mountain Cluster positions.

All programming features Danish commentary, with two off-tube booths at the IBC, one at alpine, one at biathlon, and five in Odense.

The combined crew adds up to fewer than 50 people, including five ENG teams producing news footage with P2 cameras and working on Avid Media Composer NLEs with Avid ISIS storage. On-site producers can also browse the archive back home via IP.