Even before the public unveiling of their new locations services partnership, Reuters and TIMA were planning their live facilities provision for the 87th Academy Awards.
The physical set up, which commenced several days before the show, was culmination of weeks of planning and coordination between the Reuters bureau in Los Angeles, and staff in Washington DC and London from both Reuters and TIMA. The live camera was set up on a specially-constructed steel bridge over the red carpet on Hollywood Boulevard, near the entrance to the Dolby Theatre.
With Reuters-TIMA broadcasting live for clients in Europe as well as Latin America, it was essential to ensure that the transmission route’s working as planned. The substantial US fibre network meant that Reuters-TIMA didn’t need to hire its own satellite truck to broadcast from the Oscars. Clients who used the services for run-up broadcasts included a broadcaster from the Middle East and Polish Television who, with the nomination (and subsequent win) of Polish drama Ida, was closely watching the race for Foreign Language Film.
Rain on the day of the Oscars required event organisers to construct a temporary rain cover running the length of the red carpet, which threatened to block broadcasters’ view of the arrivals, but on the day of the show, the cover was removed. During the Oscars pre-show, Reuters-TIMA broadcast transmissions for clients in the Middle East, Poland, Japan and Argentina with the Reuters Video News team editing Oscars footage and writing scripts for the news service.
“I couldn’t have hoped for a more successful launch of our new partnership. Clients from all over the world booked with us and everything went smoothly. It feels like the months of planning, hiring and buying are now beginning to pay off – despite the rain,” said Tim Santhouse, Reuters Global Head of Video Products.
Reuters’ Martin Veal kept a diary detailing the challenges of settging up and executing the Reuters-TIMA Oscar coverage. Read it here.