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Host Broadcast Services (HBS) says the tech innovations and new
presentation format behind World Athletics’ Ultimate Championship marks one of
the most significant shifts in athletics broadcasting in years.
“The entire production has been rebuilt around storytelling,
clarity and shared audience experience,” says Stefan Koch, senior director at
HBS which is host broadcaster of the new event along with TATA Communications.
The programme has been built specifically with television
and digital audiences in mind, starting
with a revamp of the traditional competition timetable. Instead, WA adopted a
show‑script model, where every second is planned to ensure storylines are
captured and no decisive moment is missed both for broadcast and fans in the
stadia.
“In athletics, competition event presentation and TV are
three parts of the show working together. Here, we’re running on one rundown.
You more or less see and hear the same thing at home as you are in the stadium.
This is unusual and requires a new level of coordination between event,
presentation and broadcast. Normally each is separate and we try to optimise.
Here we do it from the beginning.”
This proved very challenging, he admitted. “We are a super
experienced team, but live is always challenging.”
The most important goal was to have audience attention
focused on the main events, the critical moments in each discipline.
“We have made a very tight and detailed schedule,” he
explained. “For example, how we can go to the three or four key jumps in long
jump and show them live, so the whole stadium and the whole TV world is on
trained on these athletes at this moment.”
Just one field event is contested at a time, whenever
possible, to give each athlete the full attention of the audience. The Ultimate
Championship in Budapest featured three sessions across three evenings, each
lasting three hours. Each session featured both a horizontal and a vertical
jump, a throwing event and track finals.
“Of course there will be surprises. We are ready for that as
well. We have a lot of plan Bs and Cs. But the goal is to be on all decisions —
all of these ‘aha!’ moments.”
Athletics has long struggled with fragmented attention in
stadiums — fans often miss key field‑event moments happening simultaneously.
Koch believes the new approach addresses that. The new virtual finish line
visualisations for example will also appear on stadium IMAG screens.
“Now we try to be ready with the whole crowd in the stadium
and at home so viewers and spectators know that this pole vault or this high
jump is decisive.”
“That’s the big change we wanted,” he stressed. “To
emotionalise not only the track events, but also the field events.”
In aid of this, the field of play is transformed by a
dramatic black infield, with only the competition areas in use during the
session lit up to literally put athletes in the spotlight.
The Ultimate format also introduces flash interviews
conducted in the arena Wimbledon Centre Court‑style. There are planned TV
breaks, every half hour for three minutes during which competition is paused.
“The idea is not just for commercials. The idea is that the
rights holder can do their interviews, their analysis. They can plan: ‘Okay, I
have three minutes to do my own story, to prepare my own athletes who are
coming up soon.’ At the same time, they know they are not missing the main
competition or decisive moments
“That’s the big aim. In our opinion, it would be a game
changer for athletics.”
An updated graphics package includes augmented‑reality
elements, athlete headshots, refreshed visual styling and new data points. Win
probabilities and projected finishing positions are also being introduced,
calculated using an algorithm weighted towards recent performances and updated
live. Even small design changes — such as shifting the race clock to the bottom‑centre
of the screen to improve vertical‑video usability — reflect the federation’s
intent to optimise for modern viewing habits.
Audio, atmosphere and immersion
A bespoke sound identity will reflect the “vibe and energy”
of the Ultimate brand, according to event marketing. Live acts will ensure that
each session warm-up “will start with a bang” and get spectators in the right
mood.
The Ultimate’s production is also experimenting with audio
capture, aiming to bring viewers closer to the athletes’ physical effort. “Our
goal is to one day hear the breath and steps of the athlete on track,” Koch
said. “It’s not easy because they’re running on a rubber track, and you have a
lot of spectator noise in the background.”
The team is testing filters, multiple mic placements and
even optional athlete‑worn microphones.
“Some athletes might be ready to wear a microphone during
competition. It’s all a project. They don’t have to, but some might give it a
go.
Audio makes the difference between very good and exciting.
It pulls you in. It goes right to your stomach. I believe audio is super
important for this sport, and it’s not easy. But it’s easier if everybody is on
the same audio instead of [the noise of the crowd] being split between one
field event while the other half of the stadium is roaring to another event.
That’s the focus.”
More than 20 major broadcasters — including BBC,
NBCUniversal, NRK, SVT, L’Équipe, Polsat and TBS — carried the event live,
supported by Infront as international media‑rights partner.
HBS and TATA also have a five-year global host broadcasting
services deal covering World Athletics Series events that was in June 2025.
Reimagining the finish line
Intended as a biennial event, the Ultimate features is
designed to appeal to younger demographics and TV audiences with a focus on
fast-paced sessions and events determined to be popular among viewers. There
are limited fields for individual events consisting of defending Olympic, world
and Diamond League champions and entrants determined by the WA rankings.
The Ultimate offers the largest prize pot in track and field
history, with $10 million up for grabs, including $150K for individual
champions, and every participating athlete set to receive prize money. Instead
of medals, athletes receive a unique participation token and Ultimate Champions
will each earn a trophy.
Announcing the new format World Athletics President
Sebastian Coe set the bar high: ““We have said from the very beginning that we
are doing things differently with the Ultimate Championship. These innovations
offer a taste of how we intend to move the sport forward with this brand-new
global championship, elevating athletics and its many stars while reimagining
how fans will experience the inaugural edition.”
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