Sky Sports’ Italian ‘mosaic’ channel goes live
Francesco Zupi, head of interactivity, Sky Italia
Monday 4 April witnessed the launch of Sky Sport24 HD’s new ‘interactive mosaic’ channel, which allows viewers to access the programming they require, in they way they wish to see it. A landmark development for sports viewers in Italy, the mosaic is the latest in a long line of innovations from the Sky Italia team.
To provide some background information, Sky Sport24 HD currently attracts more than 6 million unique viewers each month. In particular, there are about 2 million who tune in every day to the channel to receive the latest updates from the world of sport, with an average stay in the region of 30 minutes each. In addition to presence on channel 200, Sky Sport24 HD is available on mobile and Sky Go streaming on Sky Online, which is included in the football ‘bouquet’.
Francesco Zupi, head of interactivity, remarks of the latest innovation: “Four channels in HD are shown on the same screen on an interactive new mosaic (ch 200) to customise the vision. [As a result] sports information becomes [technologically advanced] and on-demand – [it is a real pinnacle in] interaction.”
Making mosaics
The new mosaic for Sky Sport24 HD adds to a long list of others designed and created by Sky in recent years. These include mosaics for coverage from Sky TG24 HD, Serie A, Serie A Goals Parade, Series B, Series B Gol Parade, Europa League, F1, MotoGP and Wimbledon (active during the prestigious annual tennis tournament), in addition to the cinema mosaic and a service for children.
The new mosaic for the sports news channel offers a new level of interactivity given that four smaller boxes lead to four dedicated HD channels the viewer may select from their remote control.
“For the first time in Italy sports enthusiasts are able to customise their viewing experiences through four dedicated channels, visible at the same time on the television screen,” said Zupi.
From Monday to Friday, viewers can use the green button on their Sky remotes to access the exclusive mosaic with four channels:
- SPORT24 SKY HD: the main channel, live 24 hours per day.
- FACT OF THE DAY: press conferences, daily news, official player interviews and more.
- HIGHLIGHTS: goals, highlights and insights from the main events.
- FOCUS: news and key themes from the sporting day.
Flow of statistics
The Statistics section will provide updated data – eg. leaderboard information, key achievements and so on – pertaining to the main sports, while in the right-hand part of the mosaic the Appointments panel will supply an overview of the main events of the week. Finally, at the bottom of the mosaic, the Poll of the Day will allow viewers to express their views on key matters of the day.
The technological infrastructure for this new service includes editing and playout systems from Avid, graphics management from TNT/Dalet and LGK, and graphics production by Vizrt.