These are the finalists for the IBC Innovation Awards 2018

Ten finalists from at least a dozen countries make these Innovation Awards, convened by IBC, one of the most global editions in the history of these awards.

The organization of IBC has announced the finalists to its IBC Innovation Awards 2018. The awards recognise innovation in the media, entertainment and technology industry and this year celebrate excellence in sport and news, multilingual production, multinational distribution, new ways to engage audiences and new business models to maximise revenue. The three categories range from content creation to distribution.

The three finalists of Content Creation are the Chinese television network CCTV for its 4k Ultra HD live coverage of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics; Euronews and the world's first "glocal" news service; and Discovery and Eurosport by the Eurosport Cube, a live virtual reality studio that allowed experts to demonstrate different techniques during the Winter Olympics.

Four finalists are eligible for the content distribution category. Econet Media it has developed a remarkable television platform everywhere for Africa; Discovery and Eurosport have worked with NEP to develop its Mediabank solution to manage assets and files for coverage of the Olympic Winter Games; Vodafone it has a new cloud-based multinational television distribution system that it is deploying from Europe to New Zealand; and Medialaan in Belgium now offers subscribers the ability to watch shows from the start, with advertising automatically adjusting to ensure the right messages are seen while the viewer gradually catches up with live streaming.

Michael Lumley, president of the IBC Awards international jury, said: "This year's finalists are truly remarkable. We have live coverage from rally cars, a fantastic new way to immerse audiences in the excitement of winter sports, a very productive way to create news in multiple languages and cultures, a new initiative to bring OTT and mobile TV to sub-Saharan Africa..."

In the Michael Lumley category, Content Everywhere Three finalists will be eligible for awards: the Irish channel RTÉ, with Saorview Connect, an advanced, connected and free television platform; The global sports media specialist ESPN, with Shortstop Live, a great way for journalists to go on air from their phones with the shortest latencies; and WRC, the World Rally Championship, which now offers everyone live the chance to ride aboard with their favourite drivers, regardless of the length of the stage.

The IBC organization selects finalists based on projects that have solved a real creative, operational, or business problem in the industry. The award ceremony will take place on Sunday, September 16 at 6:30 p.m. The ceremony, which also includes other awards, such as the International Honour for Excellence, the IBC's highest award, is free of charge for all IBC visitors.

Other articles about CCTV, Discovery, ESPN, Euronews, Eurosport, IBC2018, Medialaan, RTE, Vodafone, WRC