EBU Recognises ORF And ARRI

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has presented Austrian public service media organisation ORF with the EBU Excellence in Media Award 2026, recognising advances in live production quality and workflows achieved during the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 (ESC) in Vienna.

For the first time, the award has also been presented to the media organisation’s chosen technology partner, ARRI, whose technology, innovation and expertise contributed to the production.

ORF was host broadcaster for the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the EBU and staged at the Wiener Stadthalle. The semi-finals took place on 12 and 14 May, followed by the final on 16 May.

The 2026 contest reached an audience of 131 million people across 35 television markets.

The award was presented at IBC in Amsterdam on the EBU’s stand, 10.D21, in front of an audience of technology and production specialists from across the media production industry.

Bringing cinematic quality to live production

The collaboration between ORF and ARRI marked a technological milestone in live television production, with the broadcaster seeking to bring the visual quality of the globally televised event closer to the aesthetics of cinema and music film productions while maintaining the reliability required for a major live broadcast.

For the first time at the Eurovision Song Contest, 28 live cameras were deployed, including 24 ARRI ALEXA 35 Live cinematic cameras.

ORF and ARRI worked together to develop and implement new camera, colour management and live production workflows, enabling cinematic image quality to be delivered within the demanding environment of a large-scale live production.

One of the most innovative elements was the use of more than 50 individually developed colour looks (LUTs). These were automatically triggered through intelligent automation systems, allowing each performance to have its own distinct visual identity.

The approach effectively brought elements of traditional post-production into a live broadcast workflow, creating new possibilities for the production of major live events.

Antonio Arcidiacono, EBU Director of Technology & Innovation, said: "This award is about what a public media organization and a supplier can achieve together that neither could achieve alone. ORF and ARRI did not buy a solution off the shelf; they defined the problem, built the answer and then proved it in the least forgiving environment our industry has, which is live television watched by millions of people at once. We want more vendors to work with EBU Members in this way, from the concept stage rather than at the point of purchase, and we will keep recognizing them when they do."

Harald Kräuter, ORF Director of Technology and Digitalization, said: "We viewed the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 as an investment, not a one-off project. The workflows we developed and the confidence our teams gained in Vienna will remain with ORF for the long term and are already shaping our approach to everyday productions. A challenge on this scale drives innovation forward. The insights and expertise gained together with ARRI will stay with our teams and carry them into the future.

"ORF would like to thank all partners and technical disciplines that contributed to this project," Kräuter continued. "Special thanks go to ARRI, Riedel and NEP for developing and integrating the camera and broadcast workflows. We also gratefully acknowledge Creative Technology (LED/Video), Neg Earth (Lighting), Big Rig (Rigging), Agora (Audio) and Sennheiser (RF Mics & In-Ear), as well as numerous national and international technical service providers."

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