Dennis Buhr (SVT)
For several years, our production strategy has aimed to become software-based, scalable and accessible everywhere. The ambition has never been innovation for its own sake. It’s about making content easier to produce from anywhere, adapting quickly to audience needs, and strengthening public service delivery every single day. As I write, the Olympics are putting that direction to the test – at full scale.
Our main sports studio in Stockholm operates with one large gallery and a secondary unit. The difference lies in what surrounds it: ten software-based production setups within our production platform, alongside eight OTT channels on COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) servers. Signal flow relies on SRT, integrated with our existing SDI and SMPTE ST 2110 environment. Rather than replacing everything at once, we’ve built a pragmatic hybrid setup where traditional workflows and software-defined production coexist.
The Neo workplace is designed to be clean and intuitive at hardware level. Operators prefer clearly visible, colour-coded physical controls over hidden layers or touch screens. As workflows become software-driven, physical clarity becomes critical.
The challenge has been balancing a modern, flexible user experience with secure operations. In the live Olympic context, reliability is non-negotiable. Beneath the modern interface lies robust engineering: clear signal paths, defined escalation routes and documented workflows.
There’s a fine line between preserving traditional broadcast engineering strengths and embracing streaming-driven intelligence. The key is listening to curious, knowledgeable production professionals who understand fundamentals but aren’t locked into legacy thinking. We call them Neo ProdOps – they bridge generations of production technology.
An MVP approach
We refer to the Olympic configuration as “Neo Olympics MPV” – minimum viable product.. It’s intentionally scoped for this production type. While the platform can support more complexity, we’re avoiding the temptation to solve every challenge at once.
Over the past year, the software platform has grown significantly. Much development has focused on monitoring and production planning, making the system smarter and more structured. In a single browser view, we can plan productions, allocate resources, monitor operations and track viewer numbers in real time.
On the software side, we’ve shifted towards primarily Swedish partners and are leaning more into open source. One key milestone: resolving Ravenna integration in and out of web-based intercom, enabling remote sports commentary workflows to function seamlessly. The entire playout is hybrid, combining our software builds for Olympic extras with our established system.
The production hub currently hosts eight Neo desks and eight commentary booths, plus two additional desks for monitoring and first-line support. LED lighting beneath a desk turns red when it goes live.
Technically, the setup performs as designed. Organizationally, the transformation has been more demanding. I surveyed colleagues who’ve worked in or around Neo over the past two years. The toughest challenges were rarely about specific streams, interfaces or GPUs. They were about change: troubleshooting in a software environment, securing buy-in, and bringing people into new ways of working.
Will quality suffer? Is it resilient enough? What happens if it crashes? Is everything documented? Who provides support at 3 a.m.? All legitimate concerns requiring transparent answers – repeatedly.
My advice: start simple and be transparent. Build a small, curious core team early. Invest in automation and user experience. Address compression rates and latency openly from the start. Communicate more than feels necessary – then double it.
The Olympics demonstrate that large-scale sports production can operate reliably in a software-based environment without compromising editorial ambition or production quality. For us in production and technology, that validation carries the same weight as an Olympic medal.
This article first appeared in the March 2026 issue of tech-i magazine. Dennis Buhr presented on this topic at the EBU Production Technology Seminar 2026.