Manolo Romero to Receive IBC International Honour for Excellence

LONDON,  July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Manolo Romero, managing director of Olympic Broadcasting Services, is the 2010 recipient of the IBC International Honour for Excellence, the highest award that IBC bestows. It marks a remarkable career which saw him work on the coverage of the 1968 summer games in Mexico and take a leading role in every Olympics since.

Now, as head of the Olympic movement's own broadcast organisation, he led the remarkable host broadcasting of the Beijing games and this year's winter festival in Vancouver, and is actively working towards the London 2012 Olympics. It is for this work, in which he has to serve the needs of every broadcast rights holder from the smallest nations to the major networks, that he is honoured by IBC.

"The Olympic Games occupy a very special place in the world of sport and the world of television, and Manolo Romero's first priority is always to ensure the safe coverage of every moment of every event for every broadcaster," said Peter Owen, chair of the IBC Council, the global grouping of broadcasters and media companies which guides IBC and which nominates the recipient of the IHFE.

"Only when a secure base is established will he consider adding innovations to make the coverage remarkable," Owen continued. "In this way he ensures that the boundaries are pushed further at each games without ever risking the core expectations of each broadcaster."

On hearing of his nomination, Manolo Romero said "I have been very fortunate to work in many sports events where we have been able to use state of the art technology and innovations.

"With the help of many colleagues, we have made important strides in the development of television sports coverage," he added. "I am honoured to accept this award and dedicate it to all the friends and colleagues who contributed through the years, and to those who continue to strive for excellence in broadcasting in the future."

Manolo Romero will be presented with the IBC International Honour for Excellence as part of the annual awards ceremony to be held on Sunday 12 September.

He will also provide a keynote address to the IBC conference on Saturday 11 September. The day is dedicated to the cutting edge of sports coverage, and Manolo Romero will appear in a session with Roger Mosey, the BBC executive responsible for coverage of the London 2012 Olympics.

Special award to broadcaster for transforming public and political opinion on pollution

The same awards ceremony will see a special honour go to TV Globo of Brazil for a unique project which transformed the thinking of the nation's politicians.

While scientific opinion grew ever more alarmed at the escalating levels of pollution in the River Tiete flowing through Sao Paulo, politicians refused to tackle the issues. TV Globo developed a project called Flutuador – literally "floating device". The device, which contained pollution measurement instruments, cameras, microphones, a GPS locator and transmission equipment, floated 560km down the river in 31 days.

TV Globo created more than 150 broadcast news stories in this period, highlighting the environmental disaster, and as a direct result politicians were forced to switch their viewpoint, address the issue seriously and tackle the challenge of cleaning up the Tiete.

Fernando Gueiros, operations manager at TV Globo, said "the Flutuador project was especially challenging as it involved 17 different TV Globo areas to be co-ordinated. In a combined effort, each area had an important contribution to this unique reality news proposition. The successful editorial and technical achievement was only made possible due to the true spirit where 'operation' becomes 'co-operation'."

"This is an inspiring example of a broadcaster being proactive in a critical issue, and using technology to change people's minds," said Michael Lumley, chairman of the IBC Innovation Awards jury. "The impact of the Flutuador project was dramatic, and it is right that IBC should recognise its achievements with a special award."

Flutuador was developed by IPT (the Brazilian Institute of Technological Research, navy division), PoliControl and Dan Robson, together with the R & D team from TV Globo's engineering department and its news operation team.

About IBC

IBC is the premier annual event for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and news content worldwide. In 2009, the show attracted more than 45,000 attendees from 140 countries around the world, exhibiting more than 1,300 of the world's key technology suppliers and showcasing a debate-leading conference that, among other vital sessions, brought together the ASC and the BSC digital camera tests and offered pioneering insight into the latest developments in stereoscopic 3D.

SOURCE IBC