Extreme E revs up broadcast partner programme with ProSieben, Al Kamel
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 18 January 2021
As it gears up for the all-electric car racing series, Extreme E has revealed that it has gained further support from the broadcast industry inking a carriage deal with ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE and a technology supply contract with Al Kamel Systems.
ExtremeE testing 18Jan2021
Extreme E aims to highlight the climate emergency that is affecting the whole world. By visiting these five destinations in 2021 – Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Greenland, Brazil and Patagonia – which have all been affected by the climate crisis, and the racing series will attempt to show the devastation caused by environmental issues, and encourage change, whilst leaving behind a long-lasting positive impact through its legacy programmes. The five-event calendar starts in March 2021 in Saudi Arabia, before moving to Senegal in May, Greenland in August, Brazil in October and Patagonia in December. The series is ramping up to its start date and has recently completed its first group testing in Spain ahead of the opening race.

Just 75 days before the first race, Extreme E has inked an exclusive regional broadcast deal with ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE subsidiary with Seven.One Sports, the sports business unit of Seven.One Entertainment Group, which will see live racing will be broadcast on free-to-air channel ProSieben MAXX in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The new racing series will be available to viewers not only during the races on TV, but also on all digital channels such as the high-reach sports platform ran.de, the mobility and sustainability portal goingreen.de, the “ran racing” YouTube channel plus motorsports podcasts.

As well as the Seven.One Entertainment Group having a large reach with ProSieben MAXX and its digital platforms, it also shares the same sustainability goals as Extreme E having signed up to United Nations (UN) Global Compact, an initiative for responsible corporate governance.

“Since the Extreme E racing series combines motorsport with sustainability in a very special and spectacular way, it fits very well into our sports rights portfolio,” commented Seven.One Sports managing director Stefan Zant. “We are pleased to be able to support the start of the new racing series from the very beginning with a comprehensive offering via our TV, digital, social and audio platforms in German-speaking countries. The coverage on all platforms is also interesting for companies who want to be active in sustainable advertising environments.”

As part of its technical commitment to the event, Extreme E has confirmed Al Kamel Systems will support its broadcast with time keeping, TV graphic services and data information. Al Kamel Systems has worked with a variety of championships including Formula E, World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans and says it will bring its expertise to Extreme E with a range of services such as live timekeeping based on GPS position; wireless track network to facilitate data communication between cars, teams and race direction; as well as a paddock network to distribute data to TV.

The system will see use in giving to the teams precise, live information of their cars, and will allow TV graphics to visualise this data on screen, giving TV viewers a new experience. In addition, and in keeping with the series aim to keep a minimal on-site footprint, Al Kamel Systems will provide services remotely from its Spanish headquarters in Barcelona, which will be in contact with Extreme E’s London broadcast production facility, where the live race action will be mastered and then distributed globally.

Al Kamel Systems will face one of the most exciting challenges in its 17 year history with Extreme E said José Luis Garcia, CEO at Al Kamel Systems. “As a motorsport technology company, to supply a broad range of services in such diverse and difficult environments made us rethink and rebuild the architecture of our services technologies,” he explained. “We are using a variety of new initiatives like GPS timekeeping that minimise dramatically the onsite footprint and ensure a smooth broadcast of the championship, a very complex task, as after all everyone is relying on our services.”