Rio ready for unscripted drama

It’s been 60 years since Seven first covered an Olympics, in Melbourne in 1956.

Back then just three cameras were ferried between the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic Swimming Pool to provide six hours of Live coverage each day. Sydney drew upon more than 700 cameras.

For Rio, Seven has access to more than 1,000 cameras with over 3000 Live hours via its premium app.

Head of Sport, Saul Shtein tells TV Tonight, the broadcast landscape for Rio is completely different from Olympics the network has covered in the past, including Sydney, Athens and Beijing.

“It’s a completely new world. In Athens we had basically the one channel to air,” he said. “So if events were occurring concurrently you would have to do one Live and replay the others.

“For Rio we will be Live with all three channels concurrently, plus we are Streaming up to 36 Live feeds, there’s Catch-up, and you can watch it on any device. You can see the coverage whether you’re out and about or in the office, on your PC, laptop, phone, iPad or tablet.

“It’s a completely new ball game.”

Seven’s technical managers went straight from Wimbledon to Rio to begin setting up their broadcast centre. Seven has a crew of around 100 on the ground, with senior commentators including Bruce McAvaney, Phil Liggett, Andew Gaze, Steve Hooker, Tamsyn Lewis, and Giaan Rooney.

Like any Games, Rio brings its own set of unique challenges.

“In Rio the actual event areas are quite spread out, so logistically it is a challenge just getting to and from them. But we will be incorporating as much as we can with on-camera coverage because Rio is a spectacular city and we’ll be showing a lot in the panoramic side of things,” says Shtein.

Some commentators will remain in Sydney, but Shtein says this is due to the sheer output of coverage, together with advancement in technology.

“Yes there will be some commentators based in Australia,” he acknowledges.

“In the past the appetite for commentary was nowhere near what we have with all these channels.

“But you really do have to be on site for things like athletics, swimming, cycling and rowing.”

As the first Olympics from South America, timezones are another unique aspect to the Games, but Shtein says the availability on devices means viewers can catch it anywhere.

“The swimming finals begin at 11am in the morning. So if you can watch it on your laptop or desktop, that’s a pretty good time. Sure there are some events occurring in the middle of the night and quite late, but athletics finals will start at 10:30pm on the east coast. Track cycling starts at 5am in the morning, rowing is at 9:30, beach volleyball matches will be midday-ish.”

Live competition starts at 10pm AEST each night, but is preceded by In Rio Today hosted by Hamish McLachlan. Sunrise will also become “Games Central” bringing viewers up to speed on overnight results, as well as crossing to Live events.

Shtein is also tipping several names to watch out for in Rio.

“Obviously the Campbell sisters have got to be up there. Cam McEvoy in swimming. Kim Brennan in the rowing. Anna Meares in the cycling. Jess Fox in canoe slalom. The men and women’s Aussie Basketball team,” he suggests.

“But that’s the beauty of Olympics. You’re always going to get a story with somebody you haven’t heard of before. Somebody comes out of the pack –and it’s not always necessarily a winner. It could be Eric the Eel or Eddie the Eagle.

“One of our philosophies in commentary is ‘Don’t just tell us what they do, tell us who they are.’ So there will be a number of stories that will surprise.

“Eric the Eel didn’t win but he gave 100%. There’s no script to Sport. That’s the thing with it.

“A lot of people won’t watch hockey or archery until another Olympics. But all of a sudden they are captivated, particularly if there is an Aussie or a character in there.

“There are Sports that you would not normally turn to in the TV Guide, but at the Olympics it’s something special.

“Watching it unfold at the highest level, with the unscripted drama that goes with it, is so captivating.”

Olympics Opening Ceremony begins 9am AEST Saturday on Seven.