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all Olympic sports – which were in evidence throughout the four venue clusters in the host city.At the core of this effort is a guiding principle that each Olympic sport is covered with consistent quality, resulting in fantastic exposure for less mainstream sports thanks to the high standard of production and the use of cutting-edge broadcast technologies. Mark Wallace, Chief Content Offi cer for OBS, oversaw this process in Rio, and believes the relationship between the host broadcaster and the International Federations (IFs) was fundamental to the coverage of each sport.“Some of the technologies themselves were not new, but were new to certain sports,” explains Wallace, whose team also had to plan and execute the coverage of two new – and very different – Olympic sports for 2016, rugby and golf. “A lot of the time, these sports are using new camera systems that they’ve never had before – even in their world championships.“Some IFs are more open-minded [to technology], and others are a bit more conservative, but on the whole they’re vÔA LOT OF THE TIME, ery aware of what new THESE SPORTS ARE USING NEW CAMERA SYSTEMS THAT THEYÕVE NEVER HAD BEFOREÕMARK WALLACE, OBS CHIEF CONTENT OFFICERAbove OBS deployed more than 1,000 cameras at Rio 2016Left The OVP was available for the first time at a summer GamesGames, a world-class NBC-produced video stream – delivered to any screen capable of rendering it.“The USA’s millennial audience is watching television across multiple screens, supplemented and fuelled by their social engagement, which in the case of Rio 2016, reached new heights across multiple platforms.”This early data about younger audiences connecting with Rio 2016 augurs well for the future of the Games, but despite the impressive digital statistics, television ratings remain strong worldwide and, for many people, TV is still the fi rst-choice Olympic viewing experience. And OBS remain steadfastly committed to upholding the highest standards of broadcast quality in conjunction with the increasing focus on digital, and to delivering new innovations in the coverage of 85+HOURS of live VR coverageOLYMPIC BROADCASTINGOLYMPIC REVIEW 37