A Eurovision team that defied breakneck deadlines and Russian red tape to successfully host broadcast the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Championships in Moscow takes stock of their achievement and looks ahead to future challenges.

Eurovision Production Coordination (EPC), the EBU’s live sports TV production subsidiary, was chosen in October 2012 to bring world viewers the second biggest event in world athletics just 10 months later. Operations of this magnitude usually require up to three years of planning.

EPC swiftly assembled a 400-strong team of professionals capable of producing the live pictures from all competition events, medal ceremonies and opening and closing shows from 10 – 18 August.

EPC managing director Franck Choquard said that with the game-changing London 2012 Olympic Games still fresh in viewers’ minds, anything less than perfection would be unacceptable.

He added: “We knew we faced a big challenge, but we were confident we could handle it. Not only did this come to us quite late in the day, but it was going to be the biggest event we had taken on to date.”

As well as the obvious challenges of project managing such an event, Choquard said the IAAF World Championships had been a lesson in Russian working practices and bureaucracy.

“It was a fascinating experience; more than once we had to adjust our expectations to find optimal ways of working, whether with the Russian authorities or Russian service providers. But that’s the nature of this business – we work internationally, and our success depends on being able to adapt to all cultures.”

Since it was launched in 2009, EPC’s portfolio has ballooned, with a steady flow of new contracts for increasingly prominent sports events. Already it has provided host broadcasting services to many Biathlon World Cups in Europe, Asia and the Americas; the World Rally Championships 2012 and the European Athletics Championships 2012, in Helsinki.

Next up is the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014, in Normandy, where EPC has a full service agreement with the organizers of the world’s foremost equestrian event. EPC’s preparations, with support from EBU Member France Télévisions, are well under way for the event, which runs from 23 August to 7 September 2014.

For more information on how to access EBU's host broadcasting signal, visit the Eurovision Production Coordination (EPC) page.

Eurovision Production Coordination's 400-strong team at the IAAF in Moscow (EBU)