Going live from Glasgow: Broadcasting the European Championships 2018

The European Championships is a major new multi-sport event taking place every four years, supported by Europe’s free-to-air broadcasters, which aggregates the existing senior continental championships of Athletics (European Athletics), Aquatics (LEN), Cycling (UEC), Gymnastics (UEG), Rowing (FISA), Triathlon (ETU), with a new Golf Team Championships (ET & LET) – all unified under a common brand.

Glasgow and Berlin were the co-host cities, with host broadcasting and distribution services provided by Eurovision Media Services - and its subsidiary Eurovision Production Coordination (EPC). Co-ordination through the EBU member network meant that almost 40 broadcasters are covering the sports from 2 - 12 August.

Based in Glasgow for this multi-discipline wonder, the BBC treated the European Championships like a big event. The transmission galleries and post production were at BBC Sport in Salford, but the BBC main studio was in George Square in Glasgow, right in the middle of the carnival atmosphere of Festival 2018, which ran during the Championships.

“It works very well actually,” says BBC Executive Producer Jonathan Bramley during the Championships. “It’s nice to be somewhere where you can feel that there’s a lot going on at all times of the day. We were here for the Commonwealth Games four years ago and our studio was at BBC Pacific Quay because there was plenty of things going on there then.

”It was great that the organising committee, Glasgow 2018, has this idea of making George Square a kind of central hub with lots of entertainment on there, bringing life to the event as well. We’ve tapped into that and managed to get some of that across.”

The eyecatching design of the studio has prompted a few viewer comments; the glass wall behind the presenters provides a (closed) window onto the festivities.

“It’s a bit of a challenge trying to…