Some of the logistics of broadcasting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is revealed from cloud technology provider Alibaba.

With Olympic Broadcasting Services, Alibaba's cloud solutions division is providing supporting services for rights-holding broadcasters for this year’s Olympics.

This picture of the “OBS contribution distribution unilateral room” gives some idea of the scale of operations. Between 7000-9000 short-form content clips are expected to be produced by the Content+ crew to help enhance coverage for rights holders. Seventeen of these and four news agencies are receiving through a web-based interface, with the thousands of clips accessible to digital and social media teams from any location in the world to supplement their own coverage.

Teams can browse through low-res files in near real-time, with access allowing them to mark parts of live content and download it for their own post-production needs.

The Content+ platform is being used for remote editing and standards conversion – a feature which will become a feature of future Olympics – while two rights holders are taking Ultra High Definition, High Dynamic Range and IP video and audio.

OBS chief executive Yiannis Exarchos says the partnership is transforming how the Games is broadcast, “perhaps the biggest technological change” in the industry since satellite transmission was introduced for Tokyo 1964.

Among Alibaba Group’s many interests is Hong Kong newsmedia publisher the South China Morning Post.