BCE is selected by the Basketball Champions League to provide comprehensive remote commentary services via Holovox
Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), a European leader in media services, has been selected by the Basketball Champions League to provide extensive remote commentary services using BCE’s Holovox platform as well as Teleport and Streaming services.
Luxembourg, September 9, 2024 – Broadcasting Center Europe SA (BCE), a leading European media services, system integration and software development provider, has announced entering a contract with the Basketball Champions League to deliver a comprehensive remote commentary solution for the 2024-2025 season. This contract includes remote commentary via the Holovox solution, the recording of all Basketball Champions League games, and their distribution via SRT streaming protocol to seven broadcasters across Europe, Asia, and the US.
The Basketball Champions League is a prestigious European basketball competition established as a joint partnership between FIBA (International Basketball Federation) and 11 European national leagues and featuring top teams from across Europe. Since its inception in 2016, the Basketball Champions League has been committed to promoting fair competition, nurturing young talents, and ensuring the integrity of the game. Previously managing commentary services through three different partners, the Basketball Champions League sought a more streamlined and efficient solution, leading them to choose BCE as their sole provider. The league has already experienced BCE’s reliability through its archiving services, and this partnership extends that trust to live commentary and broadcasting.
BCE’s state-of-the-art Holovox platform, part of BCE’s Media-as-a-Service, will be at the core of the remote commentary services for the Basketball Champions League. Holovox enables sports commentators to provide live commentary from anywhere in the world, with up to 18 sportscasters connected simultaneously on the 9 instances of the solution. The new Holovox booking platform offers an intuitive user interface, allowing commentators to control events, assign roles, and ensure smooth live broadcasts.
Complementing Holovox, BCE’s Teleport in Luxembourg is used for downlinking broadcasts, which are then distributed via SRT over the internet. This process, supported by BCE’s redundant and reliable distribution platform, ensures high-quality signal delivery across IPTV and OTT streaming platforms.
This collaboration between BCE and the Basketball Champions League includes the recording and streaming of a minimum of 172 games, taking place every Tuesday and Wednesday from October 1st to mid-December for the regular season, with full season coverage guaranteed. The project’s goals include delivering high-quality service, ensuring broadcaster satisfaction, and providing the Basketball Champions League with stress-free management and flexible operations. BCE will handle satellite downlink, decoding, remote commentary and streaming delivery through two streams tailored for European and US/Asia audiences, ensuring comprehensive coverage.
“Thanks to its wide range of value-added services, BCE has attracted the attention of the prestigious Basketball Champions League with its Holovox solution. Remote commentary, recording, archiving, and distribution of multi-standard signals via the Internet will be implemented as part of this partnership contract,” said Nicolas Serres, Head of Architecture at BCE.
“BCE convinced the Basketball Champions League with the breadth of reliable services it has to offer built around its groundbreaking Holovox remote commentary solution. This partnership will significantly enhance the quality and reach of our broadcasts,” said Benjamin Gauthier, Chief Commercial Officer at the Basketball Champions League.
