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Broadcasting the Luxembourg Papal visit across the globe

BCE and RTL joined forces to capture the historic event, with 50 strategically located cameras at the airport, Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Palais Grand-Ducal, Cercle Cité, and in several streets

BCE and RTL have released details of their coverage of the Papal visit to Luxembourg.

Pope Francis’ visit to the country was broadcast around the world using infrastructure placed at key points around Luxembourg City by teams from Broadcast Center Europe (BCE).

Some 120 technicians and operators deployed 50 strategically located cameras at the airport, Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Palais Grand-Ducal, Cercle Cité, and in several streets.

Integrating OB vans and Satellite News Gathering (SNG) vehicles with its playout over IP broadcast centre, BCE was able to deliver live streaming of the event on RTL Lëtzebuerg TV and website, with global distribution via the European Broadcast Union (EBU).

Lighting solutions, including specialised balloon lights, were used at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame and in a first for Luxembourg, BCE used a centralised production model based at Place Guillaume II.

Signals from the cameras were transmitted over fibre optic networks to BCE’s mobile broadcast unit. Main camera feeds were simultaneously transmitted using the StreamHub platform over 5G networks supported by Post and Tango, providing added redundancy to ensure continuity was maintained, said BCE.

Additionally, BCE managed several multimedia services including international TV and radio signal production, a media centre, global satellite distribution via Eurovision and ENEX and multi-language streaming platforms. Use of 16/9 format HD video and stereo audio delivered high quality footage to media outlets in multiple formats, including ProRes HD and MP4, said BCE.

Xavier Thillen, head of production and digital media operations at BCE, said, “This project was a massive technical undertaking, but our teams executed flawlessly. Collaborating with RTL and leveraging our vast experience in large-scale live events enabled us to deliver a world-class broadcast.”