The 12th Anniversary Ceremony of CF has attracted the attention of countless fans and audiences. The opening ceremony "As passionate as the first time" is a tribute, on imagination, and a visual feast of passion collision between art and technology. The visual effects team behind all this comes from SMT Meridian Studio.

What was initially planned as a POC to show the capabilities of a MESH network providing internet connection to wireless cameras at the Blue Ribbon – Round the lake Balaton Race in Hungary, became the game-changer for Hungarian national broadcaster with its channel M4 Sport on-site to ensure stable signal connections for the live broadcast. Blue Ribbon, the longest inland regatta in the world, is an approximately 155km long sailing race around the lake with hundreds (600+) of different boats, and it has been held every year since 1934. Broadcast Solutions Hungary was on site to test and show national broadcaster the benefits of a MESH Network for live broadcasting during a POC. In the end they rescued the live broadcast providing internet connection to wireless cameras on boats and around the lake underpinning the superiority of MESH networks independent of existing infrastructure in live broadcasting during a real production.

MEDIAPRO Canada has sealed a distribution deal with StarTimes, the digital operator serving some 13 million pay-TV subscribers in 47 territories across sub-Saharan Africa, for coverage of the Canadian Premier League’s Island Games tournament currently taking place in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. StarTimes will broadcast seven first-round CPL games, the six playoff matches and the grand final on its ST Sports Life channel, which is available on the StarTimes satellite and terrestrial platforms across the region. Games will also be available on StarTimes ON, Africa’s leading streaming service, which is available to close to 20 million users across the continent.

MEDIAPRO Canada has sealed a distribution deal with 1SPORTS, the pay-TV sports in the Indian subcontinent, for coverage of the Canadian Premier League’s Island Games tournament currently taking place in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The channel will air every game from August 20th through to the finals in the coveted 10pm slot, allowing for primetime coverage of Canada’s top-tier professional men’s league across the region.

The Liga Mexicana del Pacífico (LMP), the Mexican Pacific League of baseball, has established a strategic alliance with SKY Mexico for the 2020-2021 season, with all games to be produced by the MEDIAPRO Group, using its state-of-the art technology. This new deal sets a precedent in Mexico, as the LMP becomes the first professional league in the country to boast standardized production at all its venues.

Amagi​, a global leader in cloud-based technology for broadcast TV and streaming TV, today announced that VENN has launched a sophisticated free-to-view new age gaming TV network built on Amagi’s platform. The new 24X7 live network is now available on major social media platforms including Twitch, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, as well as its owned and operated App. It will soon be available on key Free Ad Supported TV (FAST) platforms as well as cable networks. Launched on August 5, 2020, VENN is designed for the streaming generation and is targeted at gaming, and pop culture audiences.

The UEFA Champions League reaches its final stage as one of the sporting events with the greatest impact and television coverage on the planet. UEFA has selected MEDIAPRO Group as the host broadcaster for the production and distribution of the host signal for the final phase which, after the stoppage due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will bring together for the first time in its history the quarter-final and semi-final matches, in a single-match format, and the final of the competition.

The Canadian Premier League is returning to play, and OneSoccer will be bringing you full coverage of the 2020 season, broadcasting every game of “The Island Games” and giving Canadian soccer fans exclusive content from inside the tournament bubble in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.  OneSoccer – the home of Canadian soccer – will be broadcasting every single match and providing Canadian soccer fans with unparalleled access to the Charlottetown bubble, including cameras embedded within team training camps. Our Canadian soccer expert Oliver Platt will be reporting from inside the bubble, and OneSoccer will also debut its new, soccer-specific studio sets, programs and an expanded team of Canadian soccer experts who are set to provide unprecedented coverage of Canada’s top tier.  

Proptown (USA) - The second stop of the DCL Virtual Season was the fictional city of Proptown, USA, an environment that took nearly 2,000 hours to create. There, the eight teams faced the first purpose-built virtual Drone Grand Prix tracks in DCL history – two daytime and two nighttime. The pilots had only the 45-minute Qualifying periods to learn the tracks, and APEX came out on top in both sessions, earning pole position for Saturday and Sunday.

MEDIAPRO Canada has secured distribution agreements for the Semi-Finals and Final of the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s 2020 Summer Series in five Asia-Pacific territories, a move that will bring the key final games of this season’s tournament to a potential audience of millions of Asian sports fans. Leading broadcasters in Australia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan will show coverage of the crowning moments of the CEBL’s 2020 Summer Series: Fox Sports, the top broadcaster of basketball and other mainstream sports in Australia, will add the CEBL’s final three games in 2020 to its roster of popular sports events this summer, as will Astro SuperSport, Malaysia’s dominant pay-TV sports broadcaster and Singapore’s Singtel mioSports channels.

The ongoing pandemic has affected sports and live events everywhere, and esports has also had to adapt. The international esports company ESL recently worked with partners Drone Champions League (DCL) to convert a planned series of in-person league events to an entirely virtual format, with both competitors and talent located remotely. To help support and deliver the event, Rocket Surgery Virtual Productions (RSVP), Ross Video’s dedicated virtual productions division, was challenged to convert the physical in-venue DCL world into an eye-catching virtual studio set to be used throughout the broadcast. 

Sports fans have eagerly awaited the return of sport throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and as the world has started to emerge from lockdown, sports organizations are easing back in with restrictions in place, including the move to behind closed doors matches. With spectators currently not allowed in the stands, live streaming has become essential to keeping fans connected, especially for cricket, which ranks as the second most popular sport worldwide.

ChyronHego today announced that its Virtual Placement technology is being used by Interregional Sports Group (ISG) to place virtual graphics into live broadcasts of Lega Serie A football matches. Using space in empty stands and other areas on and around the pitch to display team branding, sponsor logos, and promotions, ISG is enabling leagues, clubs, and content owners to open up new revenue streams while enhancing the viewing experience for fans watching at home.

From July to September 2020, 112 games will be played in Suzhou and Dalian in the first stage of the 2020 Chinese Football Association Super League (CSL). Due to the special requirements of epidemic prevention this year, the production of the CSL will be different from the production of traditional competitions. SMT dispatched a total of 40 elite team members, which including S4 broadcast team, B3 broadcast team, and SMT AR Studio, to cooperate with China Sports Media (CSM), the CSL copyright dealer, to provide HD and 4K live production and live feed distribution. Under the high requirements of epidemic prevention, SMT has provided self-developed virtual audience production and virtual sound production services in order to present a "special" and exciting season for the 2020 CSL.

MEDIAPRO Canada has extended its agreement for the media rights to LigaMX, the top tier of Mexican professional men’s soccer, for two further seasons, through to 2021-22. Live coverage of two games per week will be aired exclusively on OneSoccer, MEDIAPRO Canada’s dedicated soccer  channel, starting from July24 . The coverage begins with the opening weekend of the Torneo Guard1anes 2020, the newly-rebranded Torneo Apertura which runs from July through to December. The new name honours the healthcare workers who are battling the Covid-19 pandemic in Mexico, with LigaMX president Enrique Bonilla commenting that the name change represents a “message of unity and solidarity”.