Riedel Powers IP Intercom And Commentary Network For China's 15th National Games

Riedel Communications has delivered a fully integrated, IP-based intercom and commentary network for the 15th National Games of China, linking 56 venues with four International Broadcast Centres (IBCs) across Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

The system ran without interruption, supporting coordination for 56 broadcasting teams and 39 ultra-high-definition productions.

"The 15th National Games marks the first time Hong Kong and Macao have participated as host regions. This presented unique challenges in coordinating communications across multiple locations," said Yuquan Lin, Technical Director of the National Games RHB. "Riedel's solution addressed these complexities with a system that ensured seamless connectivity between four IBCs and 56 venues. From deployment to integration, the technology enabled efficient collaboration among teams from all three regions. The reliability and performance of Riedel's infrastructure set a strong technical benchmark for large-scale, cross-regional events."

Held from 9–21 Nov., the Games brought together elite athletes from provinces, municipalities and special administrative regions to compete in 34 sports, including athletics, swimming, basketball, cycling and gymnastics.

The event adopted a one main and three branch IBC layout, with Guangzhou as the primary signal hub connecting regional sub-centres in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao. To serve this distributed design, Riedel used its Artist intercom platform as the backbone.

An Artist-1024 matrix at the Guangzhou IBC supported more than 200 channels, combining AES67/ST2110-30 IP transport and MADI integration, while an Artist-128 handled dedicated commentary channels. The two matrices were linked via cascaded fibre to create a redundant configuration for uninterrupted operation.

Across all IBCs, 28 RSP-2318 SmartPanels with AES67/ST2110-30 support and PTPv2 clocking provided precisely synchronised, low-latency links between production teams and rights-holding broadcasters.

At venue level, 56 NSA-002A adapters converted traditional four-wire signals into IP streams with latency under 10 milliseconds, maintaining real-time connectivity even at peak load.

Riedel also supplied 13 CCP-1116 commentary panels for the opening and closing ceremonies and 13 major competitions. Each booth combined high-quality pre-amplification with intercom, enabling commentators to talk directly with production while preserving broadcast-grade audio.

"The scale and complexity of this year’s National Games required a robust, flexible solution capable of bridging multiple regions," said Guillaume Mauffrey, Director Sales Asia at Riedel Communications. "Our team worked closely with technical partners to design and implement a system that delivered reliable, real-time communication across all venues and broadcast centers. This deployment underscores Riedel’s expertise in managing large-scale, multi-node events and our commitment to advancing IP-based workflows for live production environments."

www.riedel.net