The IBC at Riocentro Opened its Doors to MRLs

posted:

10/05/2014

Construction on the International Broadcast Center (IBC) for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ has got off to a fine start following the official handover of the Riocentro venue on 1 December. Work began immediately on the construction and installation of the space which will be home to – at last count – broadcasters from over 70 organisations.

Work on the IBC at Riocentro, based roughly 30 kilometers east of the Maracana venue in the Barra da Tijuca suburb, commenced in Halls 3 and 4, space which will house the Media Rights Licensees (MRL) premises, service desks and production facilities. Hall 5 will be home to FIFA and HBS offices, the Briefing Room and the ITCC.

Halls 3 and 4 each cover areas in excess of 30,000 sqm, with the largest individual MRL space covering an area measuring 2,269 sqm. The production area has 2,700 sqm set aside while the Master Control Room (MCR), Central Equipment Room (CER), CSC and Off Tubes have been allocated 602 sqm while over 2,500 sqm in total will be used to house the office space of various HBS departments.

In April the first major pieces of technical equipment were installed in the newly built multilateral spaces. The HBS Engineering and Construction departments spent the last few years working in close collaboration to design the most efficient integration process. This meticulous planning has proven to have been worthwhile, as the contents of the various containers arriving in Rio have been seamlessly plugged into the overall IBC structure.

In early May the technical infrastructure was in place and the various HBS departments were busy assembling the diverse components necessary to their respective assignments.

Hall 4 of the IBC for the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ is housing many of HBS’ most fundamental technical facilities and all of its MRL-oriented service counters: the Broadcast Information Office, the Booking Office and the Construction Help Desk. The Hall has filled up significantly over the last week, with the Booking team arriving a few days ago and with the bulk of the Information team arriving in Brazil over the weekend.

The IBC will open its doors to MRLs on schedule on Monday 12 May: One month prior to the opening match of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil the IBC is LIVE.

First Part of the Mission Accomplished: Juan Mancheno, Daniel Wlochovski, Francis Tellier and Joerg Sander

On 12 May Broadcasters from the BBC, ARD, ESPN, TV Bandeirantes, Radio EBC, SBS Korea and the Japan Consortium members began setting up their unilateral operations at the IBC, while a steady stream of other MRLs will follow in the succeeding days.

Members of the HBS Construction Help Desk were on hand to assist broadcasters with the smooth handover and inspection of premises. The HBS Booking Office and HBS Broadcast Information Office (BIO) officially opened their shutters this morning to assist MRLs with enquiries about booked services and IBC facilities.