GlobeCast was on-site at the Tour de France to provide the French national broadcaster France Télévisions with a complete solution to broadcast every stage of the race. GlobeCast vehicles and teams were present from July 2 to July 24 to deliver live coverage of the cycling competition.
Each day of the race, GlobeCast delivered 10 hours of satellite transmissions and five hours via microwave for France Télévisions. The mobile units responsible for the transmission were spread out along the entire course, involving about 30 professionals and technical experts for the length of the race.
Twenty-one GlobeCast mobile units were stationed throughout the course. On the final few kilometers, a digital microwave transmission truck, also operated by GlobeCast, broadcasted coverage of the arrival at each stage. In addition, footage from helicopters and motorcycles was received at the finish line from the Atlantic Bird 1, Atlantic Bird 2 and Atlantic Bird 3 satellites.
The infrastructure put in place by GlobeCast allowed the broadcast of up to 27 simultaneous video feeds to the hub truck used by GlobeCast to offer coverage of the race in its entirety.
"Signal transmission is an essential element in the coverage of the Tour de France," said Yves Dumond, VP of sports for France Télévisions, in charge of production.
See GlobeCast at IBC2011 Stand 1.A29.
