This year’s IBC International Honour for Excellence goes to FIFA TV, the broadcast operation within football’s global governing body. The award will be presented this evening to Niclas Ericson, director of FIFA TV.
The FIFA World Cup is far and away the most popular single-sport event in the global calendar. Television audiences for its finals rivalled the Olympics in terms of international audiences. Since 2009, television coverage of the World Cup, along with other FIFA competitions, has been in the hands of FIFA TV, ensuring that everyone in the world benefits from the highest quality coverage and innovations in services.
That coverage has been in HD since the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In 2010, games were shot in 3D and broadcast live by ESPN. In 2014 both 4K Ultra HD and 8k Super Hi-Vision were available at some matches, along with high frame rate capture and 360˚ immersive video.
The International Honour for Excellence is awarded by the IBC Council. Chair of the Council, Peter Owen said, “FIFA TV continues to innovate and to engage with its huge global audience. It brings together the latest technologies and leading vendors to deliver unmatched content to unrivalled audiences.”
Ericson said, “I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of FIFA TV. It pays a fitting tribute to the dedication of our industry-leading service providers who help us deliver the very best coverage of the World Cup to football fans all over the world.
“Together, we are able to make the World Cup a truly global experience for everyone. We look forward to continuing this pioneering work with the broadcast industry as we offer the unique platform of the FIFA World Cup to help drive technology forward.”
The IBC Awards Ceremony is tonight at 18:30 in the Auditorium. The show includes a lot of remarkable content, much of it never seen before, using the full resources of the IBC Big Screen. Tickets are free to all IBC attendees but be sure to get there early to secure your seat.
