China Media Group holds departure ceremony for team covering Paris Olympics

China Media Group (CMG) on Friday held a departure ceremony for its team covering the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

CMG President Shen Haixiong made a mobilization speech at the ceremony.

As a leading broadcaster and the international media organization with the most broadcasting rights for the Paris Olympic Games, CMG is set to orchestrate its largest-scale Olympic Games coverage to date.

CMG will send an over-2,000-member team with personnel responsible for production, broadcasting, reporting and technical services to cover the Games and produce pool signals for the four major events: table tennis, badminton, rock climbing and gymnastics.

Meanwhile, the live broadcast will last over 400 hours, with more than 11,000 hours of high-quality signals for the competitions broadcast and distributed through television channels and new media terminals.

For the first time abroad, CMG's Olympic broadcast production will be delivered entirely in 4K ultra-high-definition.

Also for the first time, CMG will produce 8K ultra-high-definition pool signals of the closing ceremony and the track and field events for summer Olympic Games.

"CMG is constructing an outdoor studio near the famous Eiffel Tower, and setting a 1,500-square-meter working area at the International Broadcast Center (IBC) for the Paris Olympics. For the first time in history, CMG's sports channel and Olympic channel will accomplish a complete production and broadcast process at the front line. We will have more than 40 integrated media reporting groups across various competition venues, and deploy 29 news commentators and anchors, so as to provide the global audience with the most up-to-date and direct on-site coverage," said Meng Fanhao, deputy director of the coordination and planning department of CMG's sports and youth program center.

"CMG's technology system will for the first time support full front-line 4K ultra-high-definition production for the summer Olympic Games, including production with three-dimensional audio effects. The production of signals will use AI-empowered technologies, including AI tactical analyses and AI game-watching. We will present a better audio-visual enjoyment for the audience," said Chen Chen, an official with CMG's technology bureau.

As CMG's broadcasting equipment continues to arrive in Paris and undergo installation, preparations for the Olympic coverage are nearing completion.

China Media Group holds departure ceremony for team covering Paris Olympics

China's self-developed large passenger aircraft C919 has so far been entrusted with five regular routes by China Eastern Airlines after the company received a total of seven jetliners.

As the first customer for China's C919 aircraft, China Eastern Airlines has launched five regular commercial routes, including Shanghai-Chengdu, Beijing-Shanghai, and Beijing-Xi'an flights.

With Air China and China Southern Airlines receive their first C919 aircraft, more C919 routes are expected to be set up, covering multiple cities across the country.

"The first batch of C919 aircraft will be operated by the Guangzhou headquarters base, covering markets such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Xi'an. After obtaining official commercial flight certification, the Guangzhou to Shanghai Hongqiao route is planned to officially launch on September 19," said Wu Yingxiang, deputy general manager, China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd.

Developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the first C919 aircraft rolled off the production line in Shanghai in November 2015. The plane conducted a successful maiden flight in 2017.

On May 28, 2023, the large passenger aircraft C919 completed its first commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market.

At present, in order to meet market demand, the C919 manufacturing team has continuously optimized production processes to improve efficiency. Purchasing a C919 is similar to buying a car, with customizable options such as different seating layouts and interior styles to meet various travel needs.

After C919 was put into commercial operation, many passengers are specifically buying tickets to experience China's domestically produced aircraft.

"I bought an Eastern Airlines ticket specifically for this flight. My home is in Guangdong, but this time, in order to experience the C919, I flew from Guangzhou to Shanghai, and then from Shanghai to Beijing," said a passenger.

Many passengers shared their flying experience with C919 as they thought that the airplane is comfortable, and they are proud of the homemade jetliner.

"Once seated, it felt quite good; and it was really comfortable sitting inside and the space was fairly roomy," said a passenger.

"I feel very proud to ride on a domestically produced large aircraft," said another passenger.

China's homegrown C919 entrusted with five regular routes by domestic airline