This may be the fourth FIFA World Cup™ that Claude Phipps, Director of Special Proj­ects for ESPN (USA), has attended, and the fifth for Geoffrey Mason, Head of 2010 Production Planning, but there is still room for surprises. “This is the biggest operation that ESPN has undertaken for a World Cup,” explains Claude, “and the response has been fantastic.”

Cambridge, UK – 28th June 2010 –– Pixel Power, the leading supplier of broadcast graphics systems, has today announced that it has secured a major graphics technology contract from SABC, for initial use on the broadcaster’s comprehensive Fifa World Cup 2010 coverage, then for deployment across its output. The deal has been overseen by Pixel Power’s South African partner Zimele Broadcasting.

Appointed as the Host Broadcaster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa, HBS has decided to renew its successful collaboration with EVS for the supply of instant tapeless technology and support services during the production of this flagship event. EVS systems are in use at different levels of the host broadcast production operations, including the IBC and various OB facilities working at the venues for the live production of the 64 matches.

Broadcasting to a na­tion can be challenging enough, but broadcast­ing to an entire conti­nent (and beyond) – a region covering nearly a quarter of the 32 quali­fied FIFA World Cup™ nations – poses its own particular issues. “The challenge is always the same, to simultaneously satisfy big members and small members, qualified members and unqualified members,” explained Cesar Gerba­si, Technology Director of OTI. “It is a challenge to keep everyone satis­fied but we are making periodic enquiries to our members and, as far as we know, eve­rybody is happy.”

Paris, France/Nevada City, Calif., June 29, 2010 — LYON Video, a premiere mobile production company based in Columbus, Ohio, is building a new 53-foot expandable high-definition production truck and equipping it with the latest and most flexible Grass Valley™ HD cameras and a large video production switcher that will be fully capable of handling all types of multi-camera digital productions, including those shooting in the 3DHD format.

During the football tournament in South Africa, German broadcaster Südwestrundfunk (SWR) is acting in the name of ARD, the nationwide German radio and TV network, as customer of the World Cup’s host broadcaster, Swiss Host Broadcast Services (HBS). This means SWR is responsible for all organisational, technical and logistical matters for ARD.

A team of eight - three commentators, two experts, a technical producer, and one “data guy” - working alongside Team Leader Per Josefsson make up the group representing SR-SE, Sveriges Radio, here in South Africa. Providing full commen­tary for 53 matches – 30 from the venue commentary positions and 23 using the off-tube facilities at the IBC – Per explains that there is huge interest in Sweden for football, despite the national team not qualifying.

With all eyes on South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, SABC (The South African Broadcasting Corporation) set up the hub for its World Cup broadcast studio in Exhibition 1 at the Sandton Convention Centre, central Johannesburg. All the match coverage and several regular programmes are being transmitted from the studio for the duration of the tournament.

Camera Corps' new Net-Cam cameras entered football history on Sunday June 27 when an estimated 26 million viewers saw Frank Lampard's disallowed goal during the England team's defeat by Germany in Bloemfontein. Referee Jorge Larrionda and his assistant Mauricio Espinosa did not realise the ball had entered the goal until they watched the video replay at half-time.

A report from the technical control centre of this global mega event.

Bernd Suchanek, Ferenc Varga, Abrie Grobler and Rainer Hans make up the MEDIA BROADCAST team in the Technical Operation Center (TOC) at the World Cup stadium in Cape Town. Along with our teams in other venues across South Africa they are responsible for making sure that the HD connections from the "hot spots" of this World Cup, the stadiums, to the IBC (International Broadcasting Center) in Johannesburg work without a hitch.

Approximately 25 tonnes of equipment and some 133 people have been brought to South Africa by SRG for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. They have been split almost evenly between two bases of opera­tion: the IBC and the SRG Me­dia Centre at Vanderbijlpark, which was next to the Swiss team base at Emerald Resort before the team’s departure on 28 June following their exit at the end of the group stages.

Lawo’s mc²66 digital audio console is at the heart of the world championship sound gathering, mixing and international distribution operation in Johannesburg, where broadcast audio engineers have had to cope with a problem unique to the host country – the vuvuzela!

Eyeheight's DK-2M downstream linear keyer helped convey the excitement of the world's most famous tennis tournament in June and early July as part of the equipment relaying the event in 1080i HD to television viewers. Chosen by a major UK-based outside broadcast company, the keyer was used to process the output from a production switcher feeding the games to an international audience.

As the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ reaches its latter stages attention naturally begins to turn to Brazil’s hosting of the event in 2014, and for broadcasters in the host country that should make life a lot easier, right? “Well, in terms of the logistics we could think it will be easier but it will not be because Brazil is such a huge country,” explained TV Globo’s Executive Producer Fernanda Conte. “We will be able to have more people involved, not that we don’t have a big crew here, and, naturally, it is an advantage to be in our home country and speaking our own language.”

During the discussions of the 21st International Symposium, to be held on Tuesday 12 October 2010, at 10:30 am during SPORTEL in Monaco, outstanding female personalities will be sharing their opinions about the status of women in the world sport.