Streaming Factory, in partnership with LiveU, Livestream and GO:TV, brought the Cologne Marathon to life Oct. 14, 2012, for more than 25,000 online viewers, delivering live footage during the race.
The 16th RheinEnergie Marathon Cologne is the largest sporting event held in the North Rheine Westphalia region of Germany, with more than 25,000 people taking part. This not only includes runners but also hand bikers and skaters of various kinds. Streaming Factory was hired to transmit the event to the official website by the organisers.
“The live coverage of the RheinEnergie Cologne Marathon course was a complete success,” said Markus Frisch, CEO Köln Marathon. “There were great images from the race of the battle for the lead and the winning break shortly before the finish line.
“Live coverage like this was really valuable; it was widely appreciated, especially by the friends and family of all the participants. Journalists could also follow the exciting race live, including the setting of new course records.”
A LiveU LU70 unit allowed Streaming Factory to follow the entire race closely using a motorcycle and cameraman, bringing close-up, visually exciting images to viewers while moving alongside the race. In addition, Streaming Factory placed cameras around the finish line and these, along with the cellular signal from the LiveU unit, were switched onsite and streamed via Livestream’s CDN.
Netorium, LiveU’s German partner, supplied Streaming Factory with the system and support.