Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

World Cup 2006 Blog

From our reporters in Germany

Shivering in a sauna

paul_atherton.gif
MUNICH - I arrived in Munich yesterday afternoon, and made my first trip into the International Broadcast Centre today. Match of the Day's World Cup studio is in Berlin, but most of the production team are based here in Munich. So all the VT (video tape) packages (ie features, interviews, match highlights) will be made here at the IBC.

The IBC is the media hub for broadcasters from all over the world. The scale of the operation is unbelievable. Every country imaginable seems to have some kind of presence here, including several I had never even heard of - ? ? ? I make it 190 different countries, and 90 broadcasters.

The IBC itself is huge - it used to be Munich airport. There are restaurants, a gym, even a beer garden! Each media company has its own area, separated off from each other by wood panelling, so it feels a bit like a sauna (except for the temperature - the air conditioning has gone into overdrive, so everyone's wandering around in big jumpers and coats). The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's office is next to Brazilian channel TV Globo, so I'm sure there'll be plenty of friendly banter going on as the tournament progresses! Fifa present Sepp Blatter made a visit to the IBC today, but he didn't make it to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ office.

Some facts and figures about the IBC:

- Anticipated cumulative TV audience of 32bn viewers - the biggest TV audience for any single event in history
- 30,000mΒ² of space
- 966 tonnes of fir wood and 22,500mΒ² of wooden panels/walls (hence the sauna-like environment)
- Nearly 700 doors
- 15 TV studios
- Operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Comments  Post your comment

  • 1.
  • At 04:30 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • mally mclane wrote:

hi!

Any chance we can have some "behind the scenes" photos from the bbc bloggers...?

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  • 2.
  • At 04:40 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • Paul Atherton wrote:

Hi Mally, yes, I'll be adding some photos of the IBC building and the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ office over the next few days. I just need to figure out how to get my new digital camera up and running!

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  • 3.
  • At 04:44 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • El Buitre wrote:

I can't believe the IBC has nearly 700 doors. Just think about it... seven hundred! Moi bien.

Some photos would definitely be good.

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  • 4.
  • At 05:30 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • Dan wrote:

How many people are using this facility? Where are you all staying?

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  • 5.
  • At 05:35 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Yeah, behind the scenes photos would be cool ... especially of the biergarten!

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  • 6.
  • At 05:38 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Oh, and speaking of Nevis, I hadn't ever heard of it either, until this morning, actually, when I got a weekly fare sale e-mail from American Airlines - they were offering flights there from San Juan, PR. Strange confluence of the Nevian today....

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  • 7.
  • At 05:40 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • Mike wrote:

How close are you to the ITV and Sky sections? Are there any plans for sabotage?!

Seriously, what is the realtionship like between rival broadcasters? Is there a feeling of tension? Or is it more of a "brotherhood"?

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So what the IBC has a gym and a biergarten????

Our camper van has a Fridge/Freezer and a fresh water tank!!!

So there!

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  • 9.
  • At 06:03 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Sorry mate...but u sent me on a wild goose chase...do you mean 3.2 Bn viewers? Cos 32 Bn is really too many...sorry...not beng cynical or sarcastic...just BEWILDERED !!!

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  • 10.
  • At 06:18 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • Gorianh wrote:

I agree, photos of some behind-the-sceens setup and pre game shots of the area leading up to the first day, and maybe even throughout, would be nice. And about Nevis, as you link shows it's part of St. Kitts (of St. Kitts & Nevis)...a very beautiful island in the Caribbean.

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  • 11.
  • At 06:25 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • James M wrote:

Note that the figure given is cumulative. We'd have to rope in some more planets to reach that 32bn all at once!

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  • 12.
  • At 06:28 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • Chris wrote:

George he does really mean 32billion, its a cumulative total i.e. taking the sum of people watching per game and adding them up to get the total.

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  • 13.
  • At 06:50 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • Finch wrote:

Never mind the photos of the IBC infrastructure...let's have some pics of the Brazilian Globo girls!

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  • 14.
  • At 07:07 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • Geoff Boulton wrote:

Chris, George has a good question.
China 1 Billion, Indian 1 Billion where are the other 30 Billion living ?

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  • 15.
  • At 07:49 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

The other 30 billion are living inside a perpetual Nike Joga TV ad.

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  • 16.
  • At 08:49 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

"Where are the other 30 billion living?".

Stowe in the Wold - but that is top secret.

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  • 17.
  • At 10:17 PM on 06 Jun 2006,
  • Andreas wrote:

Hmm ... that would mean 1Bn per match? How many people in the world can afford a TV (or have acess to one)? Isn't that around 1Bn? I always wonder how you come to these numbers. They always say 3.x Bn watch the final but I don't really think thats realistic.

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  • 18.
  • At 11:13 AM on 07 Jun 2006,
  • Mark Tranter wrote:

"that would mean 1Bn per match"

Theres 64 matches, so more like .5Bn per match

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  • 19.
  • At 11:21 AM on 07 Jun 2006,
  • Rossa wrote:

Dont want to get too pedantic, but I think there are 64 matches so the 32Bn works out at 500Mn per game which is probably realistic. The verified figures for World Cup 2002 in Japan/Korea were 30Bn, despite their awkward time zone (from the point of view of the large football watching populations of Europe and the Americas). The figure for France 98 was 37Bn. This is definitely going to be big, folks. Come on The Elephants.

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  • 20.
  • At 11:55 AM on 07 Jun 2006,
  • Greavesey wrote:

The IBC is just a few stops away from my house on the underground, is it worth going to have a look or are there lots of gruff faced security personnel who say stuff like "no badge no entry!!". I would like to count the doors just to see if there are 700, seems like a lot of doors - know what I mean?

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  • 21.
  • At 01:16 PM on 07 Jun 2006,
  • pablo bengochea wrote:

Ola Paul, I am disppointed that my nation Uruguay aren't at World Cup. Are our TV people in the IBC? Do your brazilian neighbours know that you have a english player called Rio, and that is the capital of their country! For sure a small world!

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  • 22.
  • At 02:57 PM on 07 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Here's a link to the IBC's website (Click my Name below). It shows some pictures. The IBC is actually one of the halls at Messe MΓΌnchen (https://www.messe-muenchen.de/id/26013/cubesig/904ba3df37371834eac981db25386e4f), which looks like this (https://download.messe-muenchen.de/media_pub/mediacenter/messe-muenchen.de/bilder/inhalt/messegelaende/nmm/luftbilder_hallen_nmm.gif) seen from sky...

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  • 23.
  • At 02:57 PM on 07 Jun 2006,
  • wrote:

Paul,

Any chance of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ generating some video podcasts for this World Cup?

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  • 24.
  • At 03:23 PM on 07 Jun 2006,
  • Paul wrote:

Sorry to be picky, but I thought Brasilia was the capital of Brasil...

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  • 25.
  • At 04:09 PM on 07 Jun 2006,
  • padrino wrote:

So who mentioned Brasilia?

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  • 26.
  • At 05:00 PM on 07 Jun 2006,
  • sunny wrote:

i'm mad for it...

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  • 27.
  • At 09:05 PM on 08 Jun 2006,
  • Robert Spreadbury wrote:

Hey PTA,

Are you close to the ITV team, specifically Gabby Logan?

Spreaders

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