Telemundo: Debut of the virtual studio among innovations of our Olympic coverage

Pre-production of numerous interviews with athletes and their families will be one of the features that will distinguish Telemundo’s coverage of the Tokyo 2021 Olympics compared to previous editions.

Because the games were suspended in 2020 and the pandemic still limits work at the headquarters, the network took advantage of this time to pre-produce many of these human stories of the athletes who will complement the broadcast of the event, explained Eli Velázquez, Executive VP of Sports Content at Telemundo Deportes “We are very focused on telling the athletes’ stories of how they are preparing for this moment.” he said.

One of the great innovations for these Olympics is the debut of a virtual studio in the Telemundo Center (Estudio L) that will enhance the experience of the audience. “It relies on real engine technology to create elements that will complement the coverage,” he said.

Velázquez recalled that this is the fifth edition of the Olympics that Telemundo covers. The first was Athens 2004 and since that time they have increased the number of hours of coverage, improved the use of technology and the human team that works in the event. This year will include more than 250 people among technicians, engineers, talents, and presenters.

He announced that they selected a theme song for the Telemundo Olympic broadcasts of a famous Latin star that they will soon reveal.

In total, the coverage will be more than 300 hours and about 1,000 short-format pieces on different platforms. “The nice thing is that our corporation knows how to reach people with the content they want, where they want it, whether it is in Spanish or English,” he pointed out.

Velázquez led the virtual presentation that Telemundo Deportes made, where commentators Andrés Cantor, Ana Jurka, Miguel Gurwitz, Carlos Hermosillo, Mara Montero and Walter Herrmann also participated.