Radio France has put its enhanced technical infrastructure to work covering the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, says the broadcaster’s Technical and Information Systems Department. In 2021, the French national public radio broadcaster, the country’s official radio for the Summer Games, initiated the ongoing migration to IP of its audio and video streams with Broadcasting Center Europe and Paris Olympics digital infrastructure provider Orange Business.
For the Summer Games, Radio France has two studios at Club France — a designated area set up as a meeting place for French athletes, media, and supporters — in Parc de La Villette — one of the largest parks in Paris — to cover the celebrations and French medal wins. The coverage team, including on-air talent and editors, will broadcast from 10 a.m. to midnight. The setup includes a dedicated studio for the 24-hour news network franceinfo and a shared studio for sister stations France Inter, Mouv’ and France Bleu.
“We have a comprehensive remote technical setup that connects back to our main infrastructure at the Maison de la Radio et de la Musique,” said Étienne Roulette, project manager for the Paris Olympics at DTSI. “For the technical transmission of the Olympics, our challenge is managing the incoming signals from commentators at the Olympic venues and integrating them with the feeds from Olympic Broadcasting Services.” OBS is the host broadcaster organization for all Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
The technical team, comprising project managers, HR staff, audiovisual, network, cybersecurity and IT experts, is responsible for this extensive operation. A production manager from the antennas and production department oversees the production.
Flexible network expansion
According to Roulette, with the new IP media infrastructure, Radio France can expand its networks flexibly, particularly for audiovisual operations to La Villette. “Instead of traditional encoders, we use uncompressed IP streams, allowing us to incorporate feeds directly from remote locations into our Radio France infrastructure. This is especially beneficial for handling the large video streams of filmed radio, where we receive feeds from various Olympic sites provided by OBS.”
A dedicated team at La Villette manages a multiplex for mixing and dispatching all signals, including international audio from Olympic venues and commentators’ audio feeds. This setup ensures all content is readily available both at La Villette and at Radio France.
Additionally, the video production for the event is managed remotely from the Maison de la Radio et de la Musique. “For franceinfo, we operate the video production without any video staff on site. Our team of four to five people controls the cameras at La Villette via video feeds from our main location,” Roulette explained. “The new infrastructure’s flexibility has been crucial in successfully deploying it outdoors for the first time.”
This innovative approach allows Radio France to provide comprehensive coverage of the Olympics remotely, enhancing its capacity for future broadcasts.
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