NBC Olympics using FileCatalyst for transfer at Winter Olympics

NBC Olympics has selected FileCatalyst to transfer event footage at accelerated speeds as well as facilitate remote production workflows for its production of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games. The announcement was made today by Jim Miles, Director, Digital Workflow Systems, NBC Olympics, and Chris Bailey, CEO, FileCatalyst.

NBC Olympics will utilise FileCatalyst technology to move data over a 5 Gbps link between NBC Olympics’ headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, and the NBC Olympics compound at the International Broadcast Center in PyeongChang. FileCatalyst will also help accelerate transfers between a number of interconnected Winter Games sites and event venues.

The number of concurrent file transfers is expected to be in the hundreds during peak periods, amounting a total data volume of approximately 10 TB per day. The files will consist of both high and low resolution videos, many of which will be transferred while the events are still in progress and the videos are still being encoded. The ability to handle the dynamic nature of these files and the massive levels of concurrency was a key factor in selecting FileCatalyst. Timely delivery of this content is critical to the production workflow, as it will enable remote logging and editing in near real time. Archived footage will also be moved from Stamford to Pyeongchang, as required for editorial purposes.

FileCatalyst Central, a web based monitoring and administration tool that allows complete control over a global FileCatalyst deployment, including all FileCatalyst Direct server and client applications, will also be leveraged. FileCatalyst has provided some new improvements to both FileCatalyst Direct and FileCatalyst Central.

FileCatalyst Direct will now allow operators to edit transfers that are ongoing, even if there are hundreds of concurrent transfers taking place. Users will have the ability to select files that are queued, and prioritize their position in the transfer queue without interrupting other mission critical transfers.

The new version of FileCatalyst Central will be completely revamped to further enhance web-based administration abilities.

“We are excited to work with FileCatalyst for our production of the PyeongChang Winter Games, and are proud of our long-standing relationship,” said Miles. “Year after year, FileCatalyst rises to the challenge of transferring our media assets enabling our many workflows, and they continue to deliver new features that provide real value and maximise our efficiency.”

“We are excited to once again be an important part of the production workflow for such a large sporting event,” said Chris Bailey. “We’re building on what we did with NBC Olympics in Rio, and solidifying our reputation as a leader in acceleration technology for live sports production.”