Dave Adey will be hoping to bring cutting-edge technology to the sport
Extreme E has appointed Dave Adey as its head of broadcast and technology.
Adey will be in charge of sourcing cutting-edge technology for remote broadcast and race control vision – with the race series aiming to be environmentally friendly while filming in remote locations affected by the climate crisis around the world when it starts in January 2021.
This will entail a number of innovations, including editing and production being done at the Extreme E HQ in London before being sent worldwide via the world feed.
In addition, there will be specialised camera equipment and wireless infrastructure, strategic placement of equipment to minimise on-site and freight requirements, and remote race control and television facilities.
Adey has a large amount of experience in the sector, having spent time at BBC Television as a network director, ITV Digital as head of broadcast operations, senior management at Red Bee Media, and the same at BBC Broadcast over the past few decades.
More recently, Adey consulted for Formula E’s inaugural campaign in 2014 – where he was similarly responsible for broadcast technology on a new global series.
Adey said: “We know exactly how to get infrastructure like this off the ground from a ‘standing start’. That said, the remote nature of Extreme E will provide us with a new set of obstacles to overcome entirely, on top of those we encountered during the formative years of Formula E.”
“It’s an exciting prospect on a professional level – facing up to issues in locations that are entirely without basic infrastructure.”
“Enabling remote production in places without any kind of mobile data, WiFi or power means we need to start from scratch in each case and we have to ensure we’re self-sufficient and self-contained to prevent an environmental impact whilst creating an event and the facilities to run and broadcast that event.”
Chief marketing officer and Extreme E, Ali Russell, added: “It is an incredibly specialist prospect from an operational point of view.”
“Having helped deliver a world-class broadcast product from day zero on Formula E, with all the challenges involved there, he is well placed to deal with everything Extreme E will throw our way in the lead up to our January 2021 start-date and beyond.”
Extreme E will begin next year, but has already wrapped up several broadcast deals – including recently with the BBC for the UK market.