Alibaba Cloud pushes new transmission tech to help broadcasters live-stream the Beijing Winter Olympics to a global audience

The Alibaba Cloud-powered transmission system, Live Cloud, is being widely used for the first time by Olympic Broadcasting Services, the IOC’s host broadcaster

There are more than 20 broadcast organisations using Live Cloud to broadcast the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games to their viewers around the world

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People watch a broadcast of a curling competition, shown on a big screen, during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics on February 5, 2022. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00am, 17 Feb 2022Updated: 2:44pm, 17 Feb 2022

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding said it introduced a cloud-based transmission technology for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, enabling broadcasters to live-stream the games to billions of viewers around the world.

Powered by Alibaba Cloud, the new transmission system called Live Cloud is being widely used for the first time by Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) as a standard service to licensed broadcasters, the Hangzhou-based company said on Thursday. OBS was established by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2001 to serve as the host broadcaster for all Olympic sporting events.

Live Cloud represents “only a fraction of the cost compared to other transmission methods” because licensed broadcasters receive live footage through the public cloud infrastructure, said an Alibaba statement released on Thursday. Alibaba is the parent of the South China Morning Post.

The OBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the expense involved in using the new system.

Daniel Zhang Yong (left), chairman and chief executive of Alibaba Group Holding, is seen with International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach at a demonstration of the company’s Cloud ME real-time communication for social interactions at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Photo: Handout

There are more than 20 broadcast organisations that are receiving ultra high-definition or high-definition signals via Live Cloud, according to Alibaba. The cloud system embeds a multi-camera replay system for freeze-frame slow motion replays.

It also captures and compiles live multi-angle footage of the curling and speedskating events for real-time processing and editing.