The Olympic Games in Tokyo was supposed to happen in 2020, but setbacks from the Covid-19 pandemic brought a halt to the international sports event. Recently, the postponed Olympic Games commenced on 23rd of July, despite the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in Japan itself. Japan, the land of innovations, used the postponement of the Olympics to their advantage, by digitalising the sports event on an unprecedented scale.
The Olympics has amped up their broadcasting abilities through cloud technology to reduce the manpower needed on the ground. Lesser tools and hardware, remote monitoring of services, and wider coverage of the games have allowed Olympians to compete in a safer and controlled environment even during the pandemic.
Digitalising the Olympic
The partnership between the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and cloud services has significantly changed the broadcasting of the Olympic. Unlike before, #Tokyo2020 changes the format of broadcasting where hundreds of cameramen and broadcasters no longer crowd the limited areas for the media in each tournament. Rights-Holding-Broadcasters or RHBs will receive contents delivered through the OBS Cloud.
The OBS Cloud is tasked with distributing the content of the Olympic to broadcasters in multiple formats to suit the need of media worldwide. In #Tokyo2020, thousands of short video clips were produced by the OBS Content+, under OBS Cloud. During the games, seventeen RHBs and four news agencies are subscribed to Content+, where they received short clips from the platform remotely, to support their countries’ Olympic coverages.
Content+ also allows RHBs to access all the live content produced during the Olympic. The thirty-one RHB agencies that subscribed to this type of service can retrieve any content of any games that are happening in Tokyo at near real-time. The RHB agencies can then use the clips for replays or any content for their broadcasting needs. Video clips or live-streaming can be edited remotely to suit the different formats of platforms available in each country.
The official Olympic website states in one of their articles that the usage of cloud technology during Tokyo2020 significantly reduces the broadcast footprint of the Olympic Games by 30%, in comparison to the Olympic Games in Rio 2016. According to OBS Chief Executive, Yiannis Exarchos, “it’s not about consumption of technology, it’s about experiencing a better way of telling the stories of the greatest athletes of the world.”
Cloud Potential with Malaysia Broadcasting Services
The success of the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, and the on-going Paralympic Games, is a testimony to the potential that cloud technology can bring to the broadcasting and sports industries. The adoption of cloud technology is possible for broadcasting international events, even one as big as the Olympics. The adoptability of cloud technology should be implemented in our local sports events in Malaysia and Asia, in general. Sports like AFC Asian Cup, Tour de Langkawi, and even the upcoming SEA Games in Vietnam, can receive wider coverage by everyone on the globe through the implementation of cloud services.
However, cloud adoption is an intricate process that requires professional technicians and engineers to implement them. Enfrasys, as a trusted Microsoft partner since 2010, has the manpower and the professionals needed for a successful migration to cloud. Enfrasys has more than 35 certified Microsoft professionals in various cloud technologies with a high rate of successful cloud migrations. Contact our experts today!
Related article: 4 Questions to Ask Before Transitioning to Cloud