In Broadcast - March 2015 - 40

40

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 3 | March 2015

InStudio

Top Broadcast Facilities
For AFC Asian Cup 2015

World Class broadcast facilities were deployed at the recent AFC Asian Cup 2015 which was held in Australia...

F

ollowing selection by the Football
Federation of Australia (FFA)
Asian Cup Broadcast Services (ACBS),
the entity that is the combined
efforts of Gearhouse Broadcast as
technical facilitator, McGuire Media as
production service provider and HBS as
production consultant, provided all the
host broadcast services and facilities
for the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia.
From its humble beginnings in
1956, the AFC Asian Cup has grown
into the continent's biggest football
event bringing together Asia's top
national teams every four years. The
2015 competition is proving to be a
global phenomenon with Asia's 16
top nations participating. Television
viewership ﬁgures for the group
stages of the AFC Asian Cup in China,
Japan and Korea Republic hit record
numbers, while the number of people
attending the games in Australia has
reached over 400,000. The ofﬁcial
Twitter feed @afcasiancup, which is
running in ﬁve different languages, has
reached more than 1.82 billion, making
it one of the most talked about Asian
football events in history, and videos
on YouTube have clocked in excess of
3.3 million views, with more than ﬁve
million minutes watched.
The tournament's qualifying nations
include regional football powerhouses
Australia, Japan and Korea Republic
alongside Iran, Korea DPR, Kuwait,
Oman, Uzbekistan, UAE, Bahrain,
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, China PR, Iraq,
Palestine and Qatar.
Gearhouse
Broadcast
Sales
Director and AFC Asian Cup 2015

The AFC Asian Cup 2015
was covered by 18 cameras

Gearhouse Broadcast facilities at
the AFC Asian Cup 2015

Gearhouse
Broadcast's
supertrucks
deployed at
one of the ﬁve
stadiums

Project Director Manny Papas said:
"Gearhouse Broadcast has provided
technical and broadcast facilities for
many FIFA Football World Cups and it's
this experience that we have brought
to the AFC Asian Cup 2015."
Gearhouse's involvement in the AFC
Asian Cup 2015 includes providing
all the technical and broadcast
facilities for the host broadcaster and
international unilateral rights holders
such as TV Asahi and NHK from Japan.
Papas continued: "We have brought a
world class production to Australia and
this includes bringing in some world
class people, such as famous FIFA

football world cup director John Watts
to direct the top tier games. Our goal is
to make this the best football coverage
ever seen in Australia."
Gearhouse is providing 18-cameras
(consisting of Hitachi SK1200, SK1500
and NAC ultra slow motion cameras)
at each of the ﬁve stadiums (Sydney,
Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle and
Canberra) linked into its ﬂeet of HD
supertrucks that also use the latest
in EVS replays, Lawo audio, VizRT
graphics and Riedel comms systems.
Gearhouse has also arranged ﬁbre
connectivity between the venues and
the Stadium Australia transmission
hub in Sydney.
COO of the FFA John Kelly said:
"Gearhouse has used all of its FIFA
Football World Cup experience to
organise the entire technical and
broadcast facilities from the ground up
including the provision of all crew. As a
result the level and quality of football
coverage has been excellent and the
event a huge success for football in
Australia and throughout the region."
CEO of the AFC Asian Cup Local
Organising Committee Michael Brown
added: "I'm delighted to say we have
appointed a host broadcaster that

has done the job with incredibly high
standards and without any issues for
us and our associated partners."
Together with McGuire Media,
Gearhouse has also increased the
number of camera angles, replays
and pre-planned sequences for the
AFC Asian Cup to give it a true FIFA
World Cup and world class feel.
There are also more mics, audio and
crowd effects than ever before at an
Australian sporting event - something
which signiﬁcantly adds to the viewer
experience.
Papas concluded: "From a technical
standpoint we have signiﬁcantly raised
the bar. As part of the host broadcast
team Gearhouse is in essence its own
client, which means we have to provide
a seamless, full turnkey solution of the
highest order that cannot fail.
"Fortunately
we
have
much
experience to draw on. Also, as all
Gearhouse OB trucks are identical we
have the added beneﬁt of being able to
mix and match crew without issues.
"This helps producers, directors and
operators do their jobs to the best of
their abilities which, in a high pressure
broadcast environment, is absolutely
critical."
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.gearhousebroadcast.com/au/videos
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