CONTEXT
The Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland was the setting for the first face-to-face talks between US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. A press conference followed.

The meeting was intended to open discussions on resetting US-Russian relations. Clinton said she was hopeful the first meeting would lead to others and improve the Obama Administration’s ability to work with Russia on a range of matters. Lavrov echoed the Secretary of State's comments. The meeting was also a preparation for the first personal contact between the Russian and American presidents, scheduled around the G-20 summit in London.

LOCATION
Eurovision was the exclusive provider of coverage for the live press conference. We worked closely with officials to plan the event and to ensure that those broadcasters wishing to cover this important meeting were able to do so easily and efficiently. We provided live coverage, stand-up positions, and facilities for tape play-out. Among the broadcasters who used the Eurovision service were five major Russian broadcasters (RTR, Channel 1, RTTV, NTV and Zvezda) as well as CNN (live coverage), CBS (US pool) and C-SPAN (press conference only).

OPERATION
> Exclusive access fulfilled the requirements of more than 15 television channels/broadcasters on site including CNN and the US pool
> Host broadcaster for the press conference in 16:9 and 4:3
> Press conference broadcast live worldwide
> Three satellite paths
> Two stand-up positions

RESULT
The event attracted huge interest not only from the American and Russian sides, but also from around the world. Eurovision was able to fulfill the requirements of the more than 15 international television channels reporting live during the evening of the talks.

“As with every operation, there were definitely moments of stress. It would be abnormal if it weren’t that way with live television! The particular challenge with this operation is that we needed to get as much editorial content as possible while being mindful and respectful of the political protocol and, of course, the security, which was significant for this meeting. In the end, it went very well and all of the broadcasters were really pleased. As we were the exclusive coverage provider, that was especially important!”
— Eszter Czirjak, Producer