Interview with Emmanuel Jacky, Senior Director of MAM Engineering, Post-Production, and Playout for Warner Bros Discovery Europe.
Original version published in French in Mediakwest
WARNER BROS DISCOVERY SPORTS EUROPE A TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION FOR THE PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES WITH GRASS VALLEY
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games was one of the most connected and technologically advanced sporting events in history. Behind the scenes, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) Sports Europe has implemented cutting-edge solutions to ensure media coverage that meets the expectations of millions of viewers. Through an exclusive interview with Emmanuel Jacky, Senior Director of MAM Engineering, Postproduction, and Playout for WBD Sports Europe, we explore the challenges, innovations, and technological perspectives put in place for this major event.
Emmanuel, can you tell us about the genesis of this project? How has it evolved to become what it is today?
The project truly began after the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. We needed to completely rethink our broadcasting platforms for Eurosport, which covers sporting events across Europe. The goal was to centralize and unite the different entities under a single technological infrastructure. Each country managed its needs independently, which created inefficiencies in terms of costs and integration. Discovery, our parent company, empowered us to develop this global vision, allowing us to initiate this technological transformation project.
We started from scratch, asking ourselves about the problems faced by each entity, each production, each operator, and how we could unify all of this under a single platform. This was much more than just an update to the MAM (Media Asset Management) or playout. We aimed to create a scalable and flexible solution that could meet production needs in all the countries where we operate, while also facilitating Eurosport’s future growth.
What about the evolution of this infrastructure with the integration of the United States?
This has been one of the significant developments in recent years. Until then, our organization was very European. However, with the recent Olympic Games, we began integrating American teams (based in Atlanta) onto the platform to produce sports content where the US team has additional expertise, such as basketball, for instance.
What’s remarkable about our new infrastructure is the flexibility it offers. Atlanta was able to integrate overnight, without the need for specific additional systems. This fluidity is crucial, especially when working on large-scale global events like the Olympics.
You collaborated with Grass Valley. Why did you choose them, and how has this impacted your operations, particularly for the coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics?
Grass Valley has been a long-time partner for us. We started working together in 2015 on a relatively modest project, managing the PAM Stratus in Paris and at Eurosport International. What truly solidified our collaboration was their expertise in managing multi-audio and multi-languages, an essential requirement for a channel like Eurosport that broadcasts in 20 languages. For major sporting events like the Olympics, we need to manage up to 42 audio tracks simultaneously.
When we launched the ETT (Eurosport Technology Transformation) project, the idea was to choose a partner capable of providing a wide range of integrable products. Grass Valley rose to this challenge and quickly agreed to work with us on cutting-edge technologies like the SMPTE 2110 standard and cloud solutions.
For the Paris Olympics, we used Playout X and Framelight X for MAM management, both powered by Grass Valley’s open Agile Media Processing Platform (AMPP). We worked closely with the teams in Grass Valley to realize a very tight integration as well as a smooth and intuitive workflow.
What are the concrete benefits you have seen since using these Grass Valley solutions?
One of the major advantages is undoubtedly the ability to manage a large number of users spread across the globe. For example, during the Tokyo Olympics, we were able to have editors in Tokyo, as well as teams based in Australia and elsewhere, all working on the same platform without any latency. For Paris 2024, we had a team in Atlanta that could work simultaneously with those based in Europe. This flexibility is essential, especially for events as complex as the Olympic Games.
In terms of scalability, our platform allows us to easily adjust our resources based on peak loads. During the Olympic Games, the platform must handle enormous demands in terms of recording, production, and broadcasting. With Grass Valley, we can quickly expand our infrastructure without having to build or install new servers. This elasticity is essential for managing periods of high demand.
How do you manage the playout aspect, both for linear and digital, with this new infrastructure?
Playout is a central element of our strategy, especially with the increase in digital channels. With Grass Valley, we have managed to make this process much smoother and faster. Today, creating a new channel, whether for linear or digital broadcasting, is much simpler than before. We no longer need to set up heavy physical servers or wire complex infrastructures.
Moreover, the management of automations has also become much more flexible. If we need to add a feature, it doesn’t require a complete platform update. We can simply deploy a microservice at any time without interrupting the broadcasting of the channels. This results in a significant time and efficiency gain.
What specific improvements have you made to the Grass Valley products for the Paris 2024 Olympics?
One of the priorities for the Paris 2024 Olympics has been to ensure maximum stability. We have already used this platform for two previous editions of the Olympics, and we requested some further enhancements to meet the ever-rising user expectations.. The main challenge was managing the uncertainty related to the number of simultaneous users and their needs.
We conducted intensive load testing for six months leading up to the Olympics, and each phase allowed us to strengthen the platform’s stability. Grass Valley has been a valuable partner throughout this process, working hand in hand with our development teams to improve the product. As a result, the platform handled the load perfectly during the Paris Olympics without any issues.
How is post-production handled?
For post-production, we chose Adobe Premiere Pro on virtual machines with a Framelight X plugin to connect to the MAM for viewing and importing content. At the core of this environment, Helmut from Moovit helps us manage project settings, platform configurations, and the various user groups, as well as numerous automation workflows. It’s through a global collaboration with these three companies and WBD that we have been able to meet our needs.
Can you provide some statistics from the Olympics?
The advantage of this platform is that we were able to develop different operating modes through the Grass Valley UIs for user groups with varying needs.
For playout, we had 46 linear channels and 110 digital channels in 20 languages. In terms of post-production, we had an average of 100 editors per day, peaking at 118. We completed 17,000 exports during the Paris 2024 Olympics, averaging 1,100 exports per day. There were 1,700 projects created, with an average of 130 projects per day.
Regarding the MAM, we had an average of 690 users per day, peaking at 720 users, and over 2,000 registered users on the platform. This includes both the Olympics and our BAU (Business as Usual) operations. In just one week, we had 455 new users who joined for the Olympics. There was a dual challenge of supporting the volume and fully training the new users.
In terms of recording, we had 960 recording tasks per day, with a peak at 1,120. On average, we recorded 4,330 hours per day, totaling 70,000 hours of recording. The Workflow Engine is also from Grass Valley. It is a mix between the Momentum product and the new AMPP Workflow platform, with a transition currently underway between the two products. In total, we imported 32,829 files and exported 44,542 files, resulting in a total of 365,000 jobs.
What about the security aspect in such a large and connected infrastructure?
Security is a critical issue for us, especially given the size and scope of our infrastructure. At WBD, we have a dedicated InfoSec team that continuously monitors all of our platforms. This involves not only identifying and fixing vulnerabilities but also implementing regular updates and conducting vulnerability testing campaigns to ensure everything is secure.
For example, during peak times, like the Olympics, we must ensure that the platforms remain safe and operational despite increased traffic. Grass Valley also collaborates with us on these aspects to guarantee service continuity even during updates.
How do you integrate AI-based solutions into your workflows?
AI plays an increasingly important role in how we work, particularly for error detection and workflow optimization. For instance, in such a vast infrastructure, when an incident occurs, locating the source of the problem can take a lot of time. With machine learning, we can quickly analyze logs and identify the error, which has significantly improved our service quality.
Another interesting aspect is the use of AI for language management. Managing streams in around twenty languages is extremely complex, especially when distinguishing between closely related languages like Swedish and Norwegian. AI helps us avoid language errors during broadcasting, which is a significant time saver for our teams. We are also working on subtitling solutions.
