A New View: The Tech Transforming the 2026 Winter Olympics Broadcast

The 2024 Paris Games showcased 5G and 4K broadcasts, but the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina are set for a technological leap that will redefine the viewing experience. According to Yiannis Exarchos, managing director of Olympic Broadcasting Services, audiences will encounter broadcast innovations never before seen at the Games.

Viewers will gain dynamic, immersive perspectives through several key technologies. First-person view (FPV) drones will fly alongside athletes, transmitting real-time footage from the tracks and slopes. A new 360-degree replay system, developed with Alibaba, will allow fans to rotate freeze-frames and slow-motion shots of pivotal moments. In curling, a specialized tracking system will display the precise path, speed, and rotation of each stone, complemented by rail cameras and detailed on-screen graphics.

A significant shift is occurring behind the scenes. Much of the video production will be handled in the cloud, using virtual outside broadcast vans. This cloud-based approach, recently tested at the Dakar Rally, cuts energy use by approximately half and allows remote production from events. An entirely cloud-based master control room will manage the global feed.

For digital audiences, Olympic GPT will serve as an interactive resource on Olympics.com, providing real-time results and answering queries. Artificial intelligence will also generate concise article summaries and automatically analyze broadcasts, breaking down live video into searchable clips and identifying key moments based on viewer traffic. The goal, Exarchos notes, is to make the immense volume of Olympic content more accessible and engaging than ever.

Source: Wired gear