B.B.C.'s Biggest Assignment

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31167, 17 September 1966, Page 13

B.B.C.'s Biggest Assignment

radio and television coverage of the World Cup in July was one of the biggest technical operations the 8.8. C. had ever handled, certainly in sports broadcasting.

During the period from July 11 to July 30 teams from 16 different countries played 32 matches on eight English grounds in the world's greatest football competition, held every four years under the direction of the Federation Internationale de Football Association.

And an enormous public throughout the world wanted to share every moment of excitement Preparations for them to do so went on for two years.

Consortium The 8.8. C. and Britain’s commercial television companies as agents for the European Broadcasting Union formed a consortium to handle the complex arrangements for bringing live and recorded pictures to televi-

sion screens in numerous countries. For 8.8. C. radio it was the biggest operation since Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in 1953 —and that was a single

occasion, not a 21-day concentrated effort from eight different locations. In addition to the 8.8.C.’s own heavy requirements for its domestic and external services, technical facilities were extended to 29 countries whose stations and networks had sent 300 commentators to Britain. From Brazil alone 16 groups of stations asked for facilities.

140 Engineers About 140 8.8. C. engineers were deployed at the various World Cup centres, and all were fully engaged on the peak operational day of Saturday, July 23, when all four quarter-final matches were played, and 82 commentaries were broadcast simultaneously to all corners of the world. Commentators’ bureaux were set up at each World Cup Centre—Wembley, Sheffield, Middlesbrough, Manchester, White City, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Sunderland —with interpreters, typewriters with English, French, German, and Spanish keyboards, telex and telephones. At each ground, too, there was a special radio studio and an interview studio for joint radio and television use.

The World Cup operations centre—headquarters of both the television consortium and the radio operation was at the 8.8. C. television Centre in West London. Situated on four floors of a new block at the giant centre, it provided programme and engineering facilities, including a television studio where foreign broadcasters compiled television programmes for their countries, a master control room, sub-control rooms, areas for the installation of portable videotape recording machines, viewing rooms and a production co-ordination area giving executive television control over all football grounds involved. Mobile Studios There was a commentators’ bureau and individual offices for European and overseas television organisation. The radio headquarters include mobile studios for the production of composite programmes, offices and information bureau. Charles Max-Muller, head of the

8.8. C. Radio Outside Broadcasts, was in charge of all the radio facilities. Because the difference in terrain and location since the last World Cup championships in Chile four years ago, and the advances in television since the championships in Sweden eight years ago, there was greater opportunity for “live” television relays of World Cup events. For’ the first time, there were four different and simultaneous live television pictures being transmitted from Britain to Europe and Asia. Satellite links were used to send live pictures to Mexico, North and Central America and the videotapes left London for overseas within a matter of hours after the end of each match. Radio’s unrivalled advantage in live coverage gave listeners round the world the fullest information. The 8.8. C. External Services broadcast commentaries in 40 different languages. On the 8.8. C. World Service there were half-hour programmes of recorded reports and live commentaries.

Busiest Unit A thought, too, may be spared for the feverish activity the World Cup brought for the 8.8.C.’s Pronunciation Unit. This team of experts prepared in phonetics—on advice from appropriate foreign sources—recommendations for 8.8. C. announcers and commentators on the best way to con-

vey to English-speaking audiences unfamiliar names of people and places. The World Cup teams involved about 600 names, ranging from Russian to Mexican. Some had the same names, sometimes long ones, but fortunately the Brazilians and the Portuguese, for example, had nicknames. Thus Edson Arantes do Nascimento of Brazil is the famous Pele (pronounced Pellay) and Olegario Toloy de Oliveira becomes Dudu (pronounced Doodoo) while Alfredo da Souza is Fefeu. Among the Portuguese, Ferreira da Silva is familiarly called Jaime.