Inside the remote production of Ligue Nationale de Basket
The Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB) has introduced a new production setup for its French championship Betclic Elite, marking a significant advance in the use of remote production workflows in France.
In June, the LNB, the governing body of men’s professional club basketball in France, signed a seven-year agreement with new broadcasting partners: the commercial digital terrestrial sports channel L’Equipe TV and the fledgling French SVoD basketball platform Skweek. Under the deal, L’Equipe TV airs Sunday 7pm matches, while Skweek broadcasts all fixtures. Previously, only a few games enjoyed TV coverage, and the championship could be watched on LNB’s own OTT platform.
This shift follows a successful season for French basketball, highlighted by player Victor Wembanyama’s breakthrough and AS Monaco’s rise, which qualified for the Euroleague Final 4, according to Ligue Nationale de Basket Entertainment director Guillaume Carrey.
“LNB really played the game in organising the competition, because if all the matches had taken place at the same time, we would have need as many directors as matches, and if they had been spread out during the week, no economy of scale would have been possible either”
The goal for LNB was to improve production standards and increase exposure for French basketball, Carrey explained during SVG Europe’s recent France Summit, stating, “More than just broadcasters, we were looking for longtime partners to help basketball and the clubs develop.”
Thanks to the new partnerships, the entire competition now boasts broadcast-quality production, Carrey noted. In terms of exposure, the agreement with L’Equipe TV provided a weekly nationwide free-to-air window, while having all games on a single speciality platform, Skweek, makes it easier for basketball fans to access.
Skweek has also created a plethora of content around the competition to promote it, collaborating with clubs and conducting player interviews before and after games. They produce a weekly show hosted by French basketball star Tony Parker, available on Skweek and free on social media platforms.
“As a former player, coach, and editorial director deeply involved in basketball, I can confidently say that this is a first in France, both in terms of quality and available content,” commented Skweek’s head of editorial and content, Cyril Mejane. He emphasised the importance of achieving broadcast quality, meeting the demand from fans, and generating interest to subscribe and appeal to other sports fans.
Production challenges
21 Productions, a subsidiary of L’Equipe, was tasked with production for both outlets. Head of production Jérôme Aubin explained that remote production was considered from the outset to find new ways to produce a championship that includes many games (eight or nine per weekend) throughout the year.
“I had watched progress abroad, such as the biathlon which has been using remote a lot since 2019, he said. “We asked AMP Visual TV and others, if technically it was possible, so we worked on a setup, and l’Equipe TV and Skweek agreed to it.”
Aubin noted that technology was ready, but internet transmission, particularly access to fibre, was a significant challenge in France.
This hurdle was overcome with the assistance of Peeble, a relatively new player offering affordable internet access.
Matches are split into different categories; bronze matches are equipped with three cameras, with commentators working remotely using BCE’s Holovox voice-over remote system. Silver games feature five cameras, with most commentators on-site. Typically, one director manages two or three games per day.
“LNB really played the game in organising the competition, because if all the matches had taken place at the same time, we would have need as many directors as matches, and if they had been spread out during the week, no economy of scale would have been possible either,” said Aubin.
AMP Visual TV’s dedicated digital unit, Letsee, hosts the remote centre in Plaine Saint-Denis’ Studio de France offices. The company developed expertise in remote production, initially during the Ironman Triathlon and later during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We learned a lot during the pandemic when we had 11 TV shows produced remotely most of them daily, enabling the TV host to work remotely from home as long as he had internet and a bit of 4G,” said AMP Visual TV’s deputy MD Igor Trégarot.
The company also worked on remote solutions on Roland Garros, “but that was taking place in one single location, here we are talking about five games in five different stadiums simultaneously across France, so that was more of a challenge,” he said. “We played the game of the multiplex, that was somewhat of a pressure.”
“It was actually an addition of challenges as it was the first time a championship was fully remotely produced, he added.
Another was that the setup has the specificity to include multiple service companies. For environmental concerns and to fit CSR standards, it was decided to use local production companies across four regions of France in order to avoid too much travel.
Graphics also presented a significant challenge, particularly ensuring synchronisation with the game action.
“In basketball, you cannot do anything without showing the goals and the time,” Trégarot said. “That was our biggest development.”
Aubin added: “French basketball has several scoring tables. The question was how to get the scores from four different vendors, each with their own protocol, and synchronise it with the image. The thing with basketball is that it demands perfect synchronisation. AMP Visual developed a system, getting the various scores up to a machine located in their offices.”
“Before this setup, basketball was having trouble finding its place on French TV. This model could bring opportunities to other sports,” concluded Trégarot, highlighting the potential impact of remote production operations on the broader sports broadcasting landscape in France.
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