Olympic Broadcast Services is deploying a fully virtualised master control room for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), which began on Saturday.
During the event, OBS will deliver more than 500 hours of coverage across all 25 competition sports, including live coverage of 22 sports.
OBS is producing 507 hours of HD 1080p SDR coverage using 64 camera systems, including two drones, and 100 microphones. Over two-thirds (67 per cent) of broadcast staff are based in Dakar, with 33 per cent working remotely in Madrid.
Core MCR functions are running in a cloud-based, softeware-defined environment from Alibaba and operated remotely from Madrid.
“At Dakar 2026, OBS is bringing together a range of developments that are transforming host broadcasting, from virtualised operations and remote production to software-based audio and production systems,” Isidoro Moreno, OBS head of engineering, told Olympics.com.
“The first fully virtualised master control room deployed at an Olympic event is an important milestone in this shift towards more flexible and efficient broadcast operations.”
Instead of a traditional audio infrastructure, OBS is using software-based and cloud-enabled workflows, with monitoring, control and QC managed remotely from Madrid.
Artificial intelligence is being deployed to generate automated highlights for 16 of the 25 competition sports, as well as audio mixing, and a proof-of-concept exploring how AI can support the programming and operation of continuous Olympic broadcast channels.
More details are available at Olympics.com.
