ARRI ALEXA 35 Live at Eurovision 2026 – CineD Goes Behind the Scenes of the Biggest Broadcast Deployment in ARRI History

Behind the ScenesLive Production

by Nino LeitnerMay 15^th, 2026

Subscribe to News - Industry

For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, the entire show is being shot on ARRI cameras. 24 ARRI ALEXA 35 Live camera systems are capturing the 2026 edition of the world’s biggest live music event at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria. CineD has been on the ground for the past five weeks as part of an exclusive media cooperation with ARRI, documenting the entire process from start to finish.

The Eurovision Song Contest is the longest-running and most-watched live music competition in the world, bringing together dozens of countries in a spectacular television event that combines live music performances, elaborate staging, and real-time audience voting across an entire continent and beyond. First held in 1956 with just seven participating countries, the contest has grown into a global cultural phenomenon, regularly attracting over 150-180 million viewers worldwide. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the competition, and hosting it in Vienna adds a special resonance as Austria is one of the founding nations of the contest.

It is, by every measure, one of the most technically complex and creatively ambitious live broadcasts produced anywhere in the world, and for 2026, the entire show is being captured on ARRI ALEXA 35 Live cameras for the first time.

24 cinema cameras in a live broadcast

The ALEXA 35 Live represents ARRI’s push into the live broadcast market, bringing the same Super 35 sensor technology that dominates cinema production into a form factor and workflow designed for multi-camera live television. For Eurovision 2026, the camera is being deployed across every position in the production: box lens cameras, Steadicams, handheld wireless rigs, remote dollies, spider cams, and crane cameras.

The deployment is significant not just for its scale, but for what it represents. Live broadcast has traditionally relied on system cameras from manufacturers like Grass Valley and Sony. ARRI’s entry into this space with a cinema-grade sensor challenges fundamental assumptions about what live television can look like in terms of dynamic range, colour rendition, and creative control.

CineD’s behind-the-scenes coverage

As part of our media cooperation with ARRI, CineD has had exclusive access to the entire production journey. Our coverage began with the production of the cameras at ARRI HQ in Munich, and at the NEP broadcast facility in Munich, where 24 ALEXA 35 Live camera systems were integrated into the OB Van infrastructure for the first time. We documented the technical integration process, the signal chain setup, and conducted in-depth interviews with key personnel from ARRI, NEP, and the ORF production team.

From there, we followed the production to Vienna, where we’ve been embedded at the Wiener Stadthalle during the full build-up phase. We’ve captured the camera rigging process, the rehearsal workflow, and the development of a custom look pipeline that allows ARRI’s colorists to create individual visual looks for each competing act, loaded into the cameras in real time.

Our team has conducted interviews with Jannik Abelt (Technical Specialist Multicam, ARRI), Thomas Stoschek (Sales Manager Camera Systems, ARRI), Erhard Thüringer (Engineer-in-Charge, NEP), Michael Kogler (Head of Directors, ORF), Max Meissl (Head Cameraman, ORF), Sean Dooley from ARRI, Thomas Riedel as the new ARRI owner, and David Bermbach (Managing Director, ARRI), among others.

What we’ve observed so far

Having spent five weeks following this production, a few things stand out. The integration of the ALEXA 35 Live into existing broadcast infrastructure was smoother than many expected. The cameras slot into standard signal chains with minimal adaptation, and the shading controls are familiar enough that experienced broadcast engineers can operate them without retraining.

At the same time, the deployment hasn’t been without challenges. This is a cinema camera entering a broadcast world, and the differences in workflow, particularly around look management and the interaction between camera looks and lighting design, required significant on-the-ground collaboration between ARRI’s team and the established broadcast crew. ARRI had developers in Munich pushing software updates and building new automation tools during the rehearsal period, something that is standard practice in cinema support but essentially unheard of in broadcast.

The image quality difference is immediately apparent. We’ve seen side-by-side comparisons between standard broadcast camera footage and the ALEXA 35 Live output of the same performances, and the gap in colour gradation, light detail, and dynamic range is substantial. Whether the audience at home will consciously notice the difference is another question, but the production team here is convinced that it elevates the overall visual quality of the show.

The Riedel connection

The timing of this deployment coincides with ARRI’s acquisition by Riedel Communications, whose intercom systems, signal infrastructure, and network technology are already integral to the Eurovision production. The combination of ARRI’s camera technology with Riedel’s broadcast infrastructure positions both companies for deeper integration in future live productions. Several of the technical challenges encountered during the Eurovision build-up, particularly around network traffic and signal routing, are exactly the kind of issues that a combined ARRI-Riedel ecosystem could address more efficiently.

Full documentary coming after the grand final

Our complete behind-the-scenes documentary covering the full journey from Munich to the live broadcasts will be published on both the CineD YouTube channel and the ARRI YouTube channel after the grand final. The final film requires sign-off from both ORF and the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) before publication, so we ask for a little patience. I am also talking about the project on our latest Focus Check podcast episode discussing the production in depth.

In the meantime, follow our social channels for clips and updates from the venue as the semi-finals and grand final unfold this week.

Stay tuned.

Disclaimer: ARRI at Eurovision 2026 is a sponsored media cooperation between ARRI and CineD with final sign-off of the released content through ARRI, CineD, EBU and ORF.