or1980v2pt1

Television and Radio
Technical Facilities on
Venues
Broadcasting technical facilities
were installed at all competition sites,
in the Main Press Centre, and the
Olympic Village.
The venues can be divided into
three categories according to broadcasting
and communications facilities
available:
— integrated into complexes with
links to the OSC (total of 15 venues);
— single sites with links to the
OSC (10 venues);
— single sites with no links to the
OSC (1 venue).
The sites of the first category had
integrated systems of television programme
distribution (STPD) and communications
with the OSC. This increased
the number of the STPD
programmes available to the media by
including programmes from adjacent
venues, ensured more efficient use of
communications facilities and reduced
the amount of standby devices required.
The sites of the first and second
categories were equipped with all
necessary facilities for live coverage to
the OTVRC.
Vision and sound at the third-type
site (Dynamo Shooting Range) were
recorded on tapes to be delivered to
the OTVRC.
Coverage from the venues was
based on the following concept: creation
of international picture and sound
(one or several depending on the
number of competitions staged simultaneously
in each sport), packaging of
unilaterals for major television networks
(USSR, USA, GDR, Hungary,
Japan, Great Britain, and some
others), production of interview programmes,
and national voice commentaries.
Typical competition site technical
facilities for electronic coverage included
TV mobile units, VTR mobile
units, a slow motion replay area,
portable TV cameras, telecine chains,
and a TV equipment area comprising
the main close-circuit television station,
and an interview studio.
Auto-cameras were used to give
live television coverage of walking,
marathon, cycling 100 km team trial,
rowing and canoeing races and some
other events in action. One portable
camera was installed in a helicopter
and transmitted signals on a relay
circuit to a TV mobile unit during
cycling road race and the 100 km
team trial. A similar camera was installed
on a vessel running along the
Moskva River to cover the 20 km and 50
km walking and marathon events
whose routes were laid on the river
embankments.
Interview studios were arranged at
the sites of the most popular sports
159
that had attracted competitors from
many countries. They included the
Grand Arena and Palace of Sports of
the Central Lenin Stadium, the Olympiiski
Indoor Stadium and Swimming
Pool, and the Velodrome.
The following equipment was installed
at the televised Olympic sites
(see table 1 on page 158).
Power lighting systems were installed
at all the venues to ensure the
required conditions for colour pictures
irregardless of the time of day and
weather.
A particular stress was laid on
providing the best possible facilities
for representatives of the electronic
press.
To this end, commentator positions
were specially built on the
stands. Each position consisted of a
desk with two television monitors and
an audio console. The position was
designed for two commentators working
simultaneously for one channel.
The audio console had two microtelephone
headsets and allowed to
report and to switch different audio
signals separately to the right and left
headgear to listen to the international
sound, voice feedback from the broadcasting
centre, engineering and producer's
communications, link with the
country concerned, signals from the
stadium's public address system,
sound track of the television programme
switched on the television
monitor, etc. An extension microphone
for interviews or a tape
recorder for commentary recording
could be also plugged in. A telephone
set connected to the international
network equipped with a calling light
was installed at each commentator
position.
The televised Olympic venues had
a total of 1,294 commentator positions,
including 1,214 positions in
Moscow and 80 positions in other
cities, as well as 1,146 positions equipped
with tables and television
monitors for the writing press.
Thirty-two-cm colour television
monitors were connected to a special
System of Television Programme Distribution
(STPD) where 13 to 25 programmes
were entered at different
sites. They included 12 programmes
transmitted from the OTRC on the air
and all the television programmes by
sport produced at the sites, ranging
from 1 to 13.
Eight additional transmitters (2
metre-band and 6 decimetre-band
transmitters) were switched on in the
Ostankino TV Tower for the period of
the Games. They transmitted information
to the competition sites. In addition,
an educational channel—one of
the four metre-band channels used by