Levelling up luge
Posted on Mar 10, 2025 by FEED Staff
As winter sports like luge gain explosive popularity, broadcaster FIL TV turned to Chyron to take its live production up a notch
Sponsored editorial
The practical use of sleds dates back to ancient times and was widespread, while the first recorded sled races occurred in Norway sometime during the 15th century. From there, sled-based sports evolved into the broad variety we see today, with luge racing originating in the mid- to late-19th century.
The sport’s popularity only continued to snowball, with the International Luge Federation (FIL) being founded in 1957, and now acting as the worldwide governing body of the sport – officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
The luge of the 21st century now presents a range of events, from singles and doubles to team relays. Broadcast each year on FIL TV, the sport’s complex, fast-paced nature demands increasingly sophisticated graphics and data presentation tools to keep audiences up to speed.
“About two years ago, the secretary general Dwight Bell was interested in how they could push their broadcast forward,” begins Mark Friedman, vice president of strategic accounts at Chyron. “He was aware that NBC Sports uses Chyron for the Olympics, so he reached out to find out how we could boost their broadcast by generating more interesting visuals.”
Since the 2023/2024 season, Chyron had been integral to the success of FIL’s live sports production, specifically in TV graphics. FIL then launched an ambitious effort with Chyron to revamp its entire graphics offering, including the base package of visualisations, but also looking to introduce new dynamic graphics that would be informative and entertaining for its viewers.
“It wasn’t just using our graphics engine to display basic images, it was an all-encompassing solution for them,” Friedman emphasises. “They needed a new design and a fresh look, so our creative team designed the whole package for them – including animations and inserts.
“We also worked closely with their myriad of data sources and providers for each race. There’s a lot of data for luge – split, speed and total times.”
No cutting corners
Not only did Chyron successfully revamp FIL TV’s entire look, it also bolstered fan engagement through the introduction of new data points to display throughout the broadcast.
“Using PRIME,” Friedman explains, “we were able to open up a whole new world of data. FIL TV were now able to show fans stats they’d always been interested in seeing, such as average speed around corners.”
PRIME is Chyron’s pioneering live production engine, bridging legacy workflows with modern live content creation and distribution. It enables broadcasters to produce shows, create graphics, manage content and drive all the key production elements that maintain audience engagement throughout live broadcasts.
“Compared to other CG platforms for versions of software on the market, PRIME is by far the newest. That leads to lots of flexibility for cloud usage and IP 2110 – which many people want.
“There are several reasons why we started a new platform, but one of the main advantages is the ability to natively script around and query data of all types within PRIME. So we don’t need an outside source to pass everything and query all of that data.”
Friedman emphasises that PRIME does much more than just churn out data. “We can handle your data and find more ways to visualise it. In the past, FIL TV felt they couldn’t manage all the data that was at their fingertips. Whereas PRIME can open that up and create a nice design to visualise it all.”
As FIL TV gears up for the 2026 Winter Olympics, PRIME will continue to act as a critical resource.
“The goal is that with enhanced broadcast and graphics, more people around the world will be encouraged to get involved with the sport,” concludes Friedman.
To learn more about Chyron PRIME, head to chyron.com
This sponsored editorial was first published in the Winter 2024 issue of FEED.
