The Olympics is the world’s biggest sporting event, so doesn’t it deserve to be shown on the world’s biggest screens? That was the subject of “Going for Gold: How IMAX Will Stream an Awe-Inspiring Viewing Experience for the Olympics Opening Ceremony” in the Connect Zone Theater yesterday.
NBC’s 4K broadcast of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics will be simulcast live in more than 150 IMAX theaters nationwide in 5.1 audio on July 26. Rick Young, senior vice president, head of global products at LTN, led a discussion with IMAX representatives Greg Ciaccio, vice president, post production, Original Content and Image Capture, and Vikram Arumilli, senior vice president and general manager, Streaming and Consumer Technology, about the company’s work on the production.
IMAX has collaborated with NBCUniversal on a number of projects, including the film “Oppenheimer,” and Ciaccio said discussions about bringing the opening ceremony to IMAX theaters started “at the CEO level.”
“We try to pick very special events and this isn’t going to be your typical opening ceremony,” Ciaccio said. “It’s not going to be a bunch of athletes walking around a track. It’s going to happen on the Seine, and it’s going to be an amazing visual spectacle, and we feel like it really fit in well with what IMAX stands for.”
Young discussed LTN’s work with NBC’s Olympics coverage, including the network’s “Friends and Family” features with the athletes and their relatives that arose during the past several games, when the pandemic prevented many family members from attending.
“The Olympics is always about a bigger story than just the competition at any given time,” he said.
Beyond the Olympics, IMAX is involved in a variety of projects bringing live events to theaters. Ciaccio discussed the impetus behind its live concerts, such as IMAX’s presentation of a Brandi Carlile concert and its impact on audiences.
“We try to be pretty selective in the things that we do,” he said. “I think anybody in this room would love to be at events like the Olympics, right? So if you can’t actually be there in person, this is really the next best way to experience this.”
Arumilli emphasized the importance of IMAX’s industry partnerships in bringing more live events to its theaters.
“IMAX doesn’t have rights to content, so we work very closely with different partners,” he said. “The fundamental rationale behind live content in IMAX theaters is that there’s a ton of unutilized capacity in our theaters É In a good year, we’re maybe in the mid-teens on utilization of our seats, so even if you bring that up by a half-percent, there’s a significant dollar unlock that we have there. So we’re open to new ideas. We’re always talking to different partners, but it’s got to fit what IMAX stands for.”
Young noted that 4K has impacted viewer expectations, and expansion of the format is encouraging competition among media providers.
“The volume of 4K is growing and there are more and more experiences across a lot of different platforms,” he said. “A lot of platforms — whether on the virtual MVPD or the traditional pay-TV side or even on the streaming side — are looking to differentiate themselves with 4K.”
With the increasing desire to view live events beyond the living room, Ciaccio said IMAX is best positioned to bring immersive experiences to viewers.
“We don’t want to be like you’re watching it on a big TV,” he said. “People are getting bigger TVs at home and they’re getting better experiences at home, so we need to keep the theatrical side of it as big or bigger than it ever has been.”
Copyright NAB 2024.
