Paris 2024: BBC Sport unveils the Olympic storytelling and breathtaking scenery of the City of Light
BBC Sport is splitting its production for the Games between its headquarters in Salford, England, and Paris, using a remote production workflow
BBC Sport is all set to bring sports fans across the UK the very best of Paris 2024 from the City of Light. With the Opening Ceremony just hours away, the British broadcaster is excited to share the iconic city sports venues and the stories of the athletes that make up Team GB over the next 16 days.
Ron Chakraborty, BBC Sport’s head of major events and general sport, is working on his seventh Olympics. Speaking to SVG Europe, he says, “the wonderful thing about it is it’s different every time and the challenges of the host country, the challenges of the time difference, the challenges of the new sports, the challenges of what medals Team GB might be in for, and how all that works, is always different”.
He goes on: “That’s the great thing. I think [because of] the location, no two games are ever the same. As much as we love those annual events – whether it’s the Wimbledon’s and the Six Nations – it’s the familiarity of the same venues and the history of it all. But you get a different canvas every time [for the Olympics]. A Rio and a Tokyo Games will feel completely different to a Paris Games, and Paris will be absolutely spectacular as a backdrop and it’s in our time zone, which is absolutely brilliant.”
“The great thing about the Olympics is it’s all about storytelling. We’ve got a great team that have made some incredible content to build up these athletes and get you invested in them emotionally, so once they deliver, I think there’ll be a load of special moments as well”
The vicinity of Paris to the UK is set to make this Games spectacular, he says. “It is kind of London 2012 all over again,” notes Chakraborty. “Yes, you haven’t got the appeal of it being the UK as the host nation, but in terms of when the sport’s on, first of all it’s all on during our daytime; with Tokyo and with Rio as well, you lost big chunks of it as they were overnight.
Read more Paris 2024: BBC Sport on its remote production workflow for the Summer Games
“Now people can watch it all day long, and the schedule is very similar [to London 2012] with swimming in the first week, prime time athletics in the second week, gymnastics and track cycling in the early evening teatime slot as well; it’s exactly as it was in London, right down to some of the track cycling events being the ones we might have to shift the six o’clock news [BBC News at Six] for, which is exactly the same case as it was in 2012. I was in the gallery for those doing those shows, delaying the six o’clock news for Bradley Wiggins and the team pursuit to win their gold. So it’s very much déjà vu.”
BBC Sport’s studio coverage from Paris – both real world and virtual – will be controlled and powered from its base in Salford, UK
Great for fans
The time zone for this Olympics means it is set to be a great one for viewership, Chakraborty notes: “The time zone and the backdrop of Paris make it really, really appealing. It’s just going to be such a great backdrop. I think one of the big differences is that with London, you had Olympic Park, but with Paris there isn’t an Olympic Park, but what they have done is try and locate as many of the sporting venues as they can around the iconic landmarks [of the city]. You’ve got beach volleyball in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, you’ve got archery at Esplanade des Invalides, you’ve got equestrian at the Palace of Versailles. You’ve got all the skateboarding, BMX breakdancing and 3×3 basketball in the Place de la Concorde.
“So these are all really historic landmarks around the city, and yet they’ve got sporting venues slap bang in the middle of them,” enthuses Chakraborty.
Editorially, these locations are set to provide the BBC Sport team with a rich backdrop for viewers. “Even before you get to great medal moments and special sporting achievements and so on, just seeing the venues is going to look absolutely special as well,” he says. “So I think Paris really offers more gifts than challenges to be honest. I think it should be a fantastic Games.
Rock and roll
BBC Sport is licenced to play any two live sports at one time, so it will use channels BBC One as the primary channel with BBC Two as backup for when the news is on twice a day on BBC One, plus a separate stream on Red Button or iPlayer, giving the broadcaster the same setup as for the last three editions of Summer and Winter Games.
On what will be shown where, Chakraborty explains: “BBC One have just basically handed us the channel effectively, so we’re on from eight o’clock in the morning till 10 o’clock at night. With live sport, we only really go to BBC Two when the news is on [BBC One], and even that might not be guaranteed. And then we have our nightly highlight show at 10.40pm every night, then we have in parallel to that the second service running roughly the same hours as we play stuff out for catch up. So it is wall-to-wall on BBC One for 16 days.”
Adds Chakraborty on what viewers can expect: “They can rock and roll between the two streams [BBC One and iPlayer or the Red Button], but also dip into catch up on stuff you might have missed as well. So that’s a really great experience and I think more and more people are doing that too; [we saw it on] the numbers for the Euros Final, that slice watching it on iPlayer is just growing bigger and bigger and I think that’ll be the same case with the Olympics as well.”
Sustainable gains
There are no major challenges to this Games being located in Paris; quite the contrary, as Chakraborty only sees benefits. Of those benefits, sustainability is one that the broadcaster is particularly pleased about.
He says: “From both a sustainability and a convenience point of view, you can get there on the train, which is brilliant. About 90% of the team are taking the train there, so it’s very good from an environmental and sustainability point of view, but just in terms of ease of travel, especially for the London-based people, that’s been great.”
On how it is going to go, Chakraborty says: “I think it’ll go really well, purely with it all being in our time zone. We know everyone loves the team. GB medal moments, they’re very emotional, they bring the nation together and looking at the athletes’ line up, I think they’re going to be and will continue to be a huge success.
“But that is the great thing about the Olympics; it’s all about storytelling,” he continues. “We’ve got a great team that have made some incredible content to build up these athletes and get you invested in them emotionally, so once they deliver, I think there’ll be a load of special moments as well.
“It’s been a great summer of sports so far with the Euros and Wimbledon and others. I think this is another one where it’ll take it on to the next level and like I say, really get the nation cheering and crying and just totally immersed in the 16 days of action. So I think it’ll be a really great one,” he concludes.
Watch all the Olympic Team GB action live on BBC One, iPlayer and the Red Button from 26 July 2024