Live from Budapest: BBC Sport lead director for the World Athletics Championships Matt Griffiths talks fresh production and overheating trucks

Presenter and former athlete, Jeanette Kwakye, talks to Great Britain’s 1500 metre gold medalist Josh Kerr for the BBC in the Mix Zone on Wednesday 23 August at the World Athletic Championships 2023

Standing in the shade of the BBC’s OB van in the TV compound for the World Athletics Championships 2023, Matt Griffiths, lead director for the BBC on the championships, spoke to SVG Europe as the EMG truck’s air conditioning unit roared in protest at the 34 degree heat.

The BBC has been covering the Budapest games using the dirty integrated feed from World Athletic Productions – the joint venture between ITN and governing body, World Athletics – and adding in its own content and commentary to give the programming a BBC flavour.

There were roughly 74 BBC crew on site during the championships, which, Griffiths says, “is nothing really when you consider the size of the operation”.

“Our presentation’s here, we’ve got Gabby Logan leading the presentation. Jenn [Jeanette Kwakye], of course, is doing the mornings, she’s been in the mix zone. And then we’ve got Sarah Mulkerrins in the mix zone when Jenn is presenting. We’ve got Michael Johnson, Denise Lewis, Jess Ennis Hill, Colin Jackson, Andrew Cotter, Steve Cram, Steve Backley, and so it’s the full team.”

The BBC World Athletics Championships presenter line up was solid, with Gabby Logan, Michael Johnson and Denise Lewis among others. Pictured here live at the stadium on Wednesday 23 August

BBC production

As director, Griffiths, supported by exec producer Alasdair MacIntyre, is working to make the world feed feel like a fresh BBC production. He notes: “We’re trying to make it look as bespoke as possible. We’re here for a reason; we’re here because we want to get across to the people at home the energy and the excitement, what it’s like to actually be at a big event. That’s why we come here en masse. That’s why we’ve got a studio right on the track.”

The BBC had two of its own ISO’s, Griffiths says, one of which was a head on the track home straight, which means the broadcaster can, “do our own close ups for joining points and do our own ISO’s of Brits and stuff, so we make sure we get everyone”.

He adds: “We’ve done little bits of our own coverage of some of the field events when people aren’t being covered. For example, Holly Bradshaw didn’t make a clear jump so she didn’t make the integrated feed, but we have our own camera so we actually put together a couple of her jumps, which is good. And we’ll continue to do that throughout the championship.”

Matt Griffiths, lead director for the BBC on the World Athletic Championships 2023

Capturing atmosphere

As to how the championships has gone, Griffiths says: “It’s been brilliant. The crowds have been fantastic, and that’s all coming across to people at home. We could’ve done [this production] in a green screen studio back in Salford, but you just wouldn’t get that atmosphere,” he adds.

Griffiths continues: “You wouldn’t get that live feel you get when you’re actually at an event, and it’s such a crazy big event. We just had to be here. I mean, look at the first three days; I didn’t expect a medal in the 400 mixed relay, but we did and we got KJT’s [Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s] medal, Zharnel’s [Hughes] medal, I mean, all those things. It’s just fantastic to be here. We got Zharnel and KJT in the studio after they got their medals, and that was a beautiful moment, so we wouldn’t have got that [if we hadn’t been here].”

Katarina Johnson-Thompson won gold in the heptathlon, while Great Britain took silver in the mixed 4x400m relay. Heading into the home straight in third spot, Yemi Mary John capitalised on a fall from Femke Bol of the Netherlands in the last 10 metres to grab the silver in 3:11.06, taking 0.13s off the previous British record.

Zharnel Hughes took fourth place in the 200 metre race, vowing to bring his A game for Paris 2024, but then medalled with a bronze in the men’s 100 metre final.

Hot trucks

As to whether there had been any challenges in Budapest, Griffiths says, “Oh, now you’re asking!”. He goes on: “No, it’s all run really smoothly, exactly as we planned. It’s been fantastic. The weather caused a few issues on the first couple of days – nobody expected that torrential rain – and our truck has been really struggling with the heat, actually. We’ve been spraying down our air conditioning units every five minutes because it’s so hot. I think we measured it about 50 degrees at one point.

“But technically, so far, it’s all worked as we planned. We’ve been planning our studio for about six or seven months, and that’s what come together really well. It’s in a nice spot, just overlooking the big finish, so it’s gone very well so far.”