The team behind the broadcast of last week’s Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony are among the finalists for this year’s IBC Innovation Awards, which honor collaborative initiatives in media, entertainment and technology.
The awards will be handed out Sept. 15 at the RAI Amsterdam during the annual IBC Convention and presented in five categories: Content Creation, Content Distribution, Content Everywhere, Social Impact, and Environment & Sustainability.
Nominees across these categories include Olympic Broadcasting Services, the NFL, NHL, LaLiga, Disney/Pixar, France Télévisions and NBCUniversal.
“This year’s entries once again showcased the global reach and appeal of the IBC Innovation Awards with projects of the highest quality received from six continents,” said jury chair Fergal Ringrose. “Meanwhile, constantly evolving delivery methods and audience consumption patterns demand that content producers around the globe must innovate dynamically in order to stay relevant and competitive in the modern media and entertainment technology ecosystem.”
The list of finalists follows:
Content Creation:
- The National Football League, ESPN, Disney/Pixar and Beyond Sports for creating the first fully animated, real-time NFL alternative broadcast set in the Toy Story universe.
- Olympic Broadcasting Services and partners for live broadcast production with more than 200 smartphones contributing video for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony and a sea-based 5G network for sailing competitions in Marseille.
- Aspire for working with Vislink and FocalPoint VR to develop a virtual reality over RF wireless solution for the inaugural season of Aspire’s Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL).
Content Distribution:
- Claro for creating a new approach to pay TV in Brazil, integrating streaming channels and applications, delivering entertainment to consumers with a complete pay TV offer.
- NBCUniversal Operations and Technology for its pioneering project to transform the way its TV channels are delivered to consumers worldwide.
- The National Hockey League in partnership with Verizon, AWS, Zixi, Vizrt and Evertz, for producing a 5G and Edge compute framework for assembly, control and delivery of live broadcast.
Content Everywhere:
- LaLiga for working with Play Anywhere and Ease Live to enable true fan interactivity for itself and its worldwide broadcast and streaming partners.
- Red Bull Media House for bringing together real-time GPS tracking, data management and advanced visualisation to transform viewing experience across live broadcast, web widgets and AR mobile app.
- Franceinfo (France Télévisions) for working with PimpMyCompany to aggregate text/audio/video/photo messages from various platforms and broadcasting them live on air.
Social Impact:
- Disney Star, Star Sports for working with India Signing Hands to bring cricket to almost 67 million hard of hearing and 34 million visually impaired fans watching IPL 2024.
- CultureQ for a new technology platform developed by indigenous-owned tech company Kiwa Digital that enables indigenous peoples globally to revitalize their language and culture at scale, while retaining sovereignty.
- Sesame Workshop for its Watch Play Learn Distribution Hub which allows government agencies and aid organizations to preview and request videos for children in crisis settings.
Environment & Sustainability:
- France Télévisions for reducing CO2 emissions by 300 tons via a pioneering 100% glass-to-glass cloud production and private 5G network.
- GreeningofStreaming for addressing growing industry concerns about the energy impact of the streaming sector, with international reach and over 30 member organisations.
- Anton/Bauer for Salt-E Dog which harnesses the power of sodium chemistry to enable sustainable television production practices.