Commonwealth Games

Host Broadcast coverage of 19 sports from 15 UK venues

The brief

To deliver the host broadcast of the UK’s largest multi-sport event since London 2012 in an innovative, reliable and sustainable way. As well as 1,500 hours of live coverage of all 19 sports, we produced a 24/7 Games Channel showing the best of the action at any given time plus a Multi Channel Service, highlights shows and more than 2000 pieces of digital content.

28.6m

BBC linear viewers

57.1m

UK Streams

1500

Hours of Live coverage

1800

hours of additional coverage

370+

cameras

highlights shows

The how

More than two years of planning went into the host broadcast. Come Games-time we had a team of 1500 people in place to deliver the host broadcast across 11 days of competition. A huge logistical operation.

Cutting edge technology was at the heart of the IBC (International Broadcast Centre) we designed and built in the vast Hall 2 of the NEC in Birmingham. This was home to visiting rights holders from around the world, as well as our hub for additional production.

The live coverage required 22 outside broadcasts across the West Midlands. More than 370 cameras were deployed to capture the action - from underwater cameras at swimming, to wire cameras through the forest at the mountain bikes, to helicopters high above the city for the marathon – we had every angle covered.

The Impact

The coverage we produced enthralled a nation watching in the UK on the BBC, as well as international audiences on Seven Network in Australia, Sky in New Zealand, Supersport in South Africa, Sony in India and many other outlets around the world.

Credit Roll

Project Director
David Tippett

COO
Ruth Hayman

Technical Director
Mark Dennis

Head of Production
Stephen Booth

Head of HB Services
Lucy Bellamore

Head of Broadcast
Dave Gordon