WBD Debuts Technology Platform for Winter Olympics and Beyond
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is deploying a purpose-built broadcast platform and a large physical presence to deliver fully immersive coverage to audiences for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games.
Scott Young, EVP at WBD Sports Europe, said the company’s approach reflects its ambition to make “every moment of the Games discoverable and viewable” across 47 markets and 21 languages including on HBO Max.
“This is not a passive production,” Young said. “It’s a fully immersive, hands-on operation. We want every moment the host broadcaster produces, and we curate that across our platforms in a way that best suits each local market.”
New technology platform
Central to WBD’s strategy is the debut of a purpose-built technology platform known as iBuild, which is being deployed for the first time at the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Milan.
“A couple of years ago, our technology team decided it was time to build our own platform,” Young explained. “iBuild receives multiple inbound feeds from OBS and allows us to manipulate and distribute them in ways that best suit our linear, streaming, web, app and social platforms.”
Unlike previous Games, where similar systems were rented, iBuild is owned outright by WBD and physically installed at the IBC.
“This is a physical build in Milan,” he said. “It was assembled and tested for months in a warehouse in the UK and contains around 22 kilometres of cabling. It’s a highly advanced, purpose-built piece of technology designed specifically for our business. We’re able to start the manipulation of content on the ground in Milan rather than just feeding signals back from OBS.”
Key suppliers include Riedel intercoms at the at the front end, an Arista switch network, for manipulation and Appear for onward distribution of signals. The advantages are cost saving and control not just for Milan Cortina but over serial major live events.
“We’ve always had to rent this equipment so when you look forward into our business, knowing we have the Olympic rights until Brisbane 2032, hopefully beyond, and then also for other events like Roland Garros and tennis Grand Slams - anywhere where we’re on site receiving a large number of feeds and distributing them across multiple markets, this technology becomes a real superpower for us.”
On-site presence across multiple clusters
WBD will have around 150 staff on the ground in Milan, managing operations at the IBC, alongside an extensive studio and production footprint spread across several locations.
The broadcaster will operate two major on-site studio hubs. One is a bespoke “snow dome” studio in Livigno, created in partnership with the local city authorities.
“We’re building an igloo that will act as a broadcast centre,” Young said. “It’s perfect for leaning into the culture and energy of the snow sports.”
A second, more traditional multi-story studio complex is built in Cortina, featuring three studios capable of serving any market.
“The backdrop is the Cortina mountain range,” he said. “It’s an incredible location, close to the alpine venues and sliding centre, and flexible enough to host everything from stand-ups to interviews — even for external partners like CNN.”
In addition, each major market will continue to present from its home base, reflecting the increasingly remote nature of winter sports broadcasting.
Managing a geographically complex Games
The distributed nature of the Games — spread across multiple clusters — has influenced staffing and logistics decisions.
“Our initial reaction was: don’t move people,” Young said. “The travel time, the weather conditions, and the complexity make that risky. Instead, teams are dedicated to specific locations and sports.”
He said the model mirrors lessons learned from Paris, with every venue connected back to the IBC. “From a technical standpoint, the philosophy is the same — minimize movement, maximize connectivity, and keep people safe.”
Close collaboration with OBS
Young said WBD has worked closely with Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) since the earliest planning stages, particularly around connectivity and access to individual feeds.
“We rely on volume,” he said. “We don’t just take a single world feed. We want the individual feeds because our commitment is to broadcast every moment of the Games.”
He added that OBS was fully aligned with that ambition.
While OBS continues to innovate with drones, enhanced camera systems and data-rich coverage, Young said WBD’s own innovation is rooted in storytelling.
“OBS delivers world-class coverage,” he said. “Our innovation is what we do with it.”
Storytelling and local relevance
WBD will employ 107 Olympians across its coverage, representing experience from 218 Olympic Games and 109 medals, 41 of which are gold. They include Slovenian skier Tina Maze and Germany’s four-time Olympic luge champion, Natalie Geisenberger. “That’s the real innovation for us,” Young said. “Our philosophy is simple: ‘take me there and make me care.’ Former Olympians can explain what it really means to win — or lose — a medal. That’s how audiences resonate with the athletes.”
WBD will be ingesting all 6,500 hours of content produced by OBS but will use its own experienced editorial teams to tailor content for different market. Highlights for instance will be curated manually by WBD’s editorial teams rather than relying on automated or AI systems. “Our audience is local, not pan-regional so highlights need to reflect what matters in each market,” Young said.
Social, vertical video and virtual studios
WBD will also place a major emphasis on social and mobile-first content, with around 25 social media staff on site. “The Olympics aren’t a weekend event,” Young said. “Social media keeps the Games front of mind every morning, all day, and into the evening.”
The broadcaster will produce bespoke vertical video content and integrate OBS material where appropriate. “Virtual studios are a key part of our philosophy,” Young said. “Whether it’s AR overlays, green-screen studios, or hybrid physical-virtual sets, nearly every market will use some form of virtual enhancement.
“This is about building for the future,” he said. “Not just these Games, but how we tell Olympic stories for the next decade.”