McCook natives work in London to bring the Olympics to the world

Friday, August 3, 2012
From left, Alyssa Corey, Brett Warren, Gloria Warren, Ron Warren, Toby Warren and Carolyn Warren are enjoying the sights at Canary Wharf in London before Brett and Toby began their joint efforts to bring the XXX Olympic games to viewers worldwide. Inserts include scenes from around London in preparation for the Olympic games.

LONDON -- The world is watching London this summer as the Olympics bring the excitement of sports competition and dramatic stories of the athletes to television viewers and internet users everywhere. The XXX Olympiad marks the third time that London, England, has hosted the games, and the sixth time that McCook natives have played a major role in broadcasting the games to the United States.

Brothers, Toby and Brett Warren, are in London working in the International Broadcast Center to ensure that Americans get to watch the games. This summer marks the sixth Olympics that Toby has worked at and the fifth that both Warren brothers have attended. Toby and Brett are sons of Gloria and Ron Warren of McCook. Ron and Gloria visited Toby and Brett in London while on a European vacation before the Olympics started.

Toby, an Olympic Engineering Manager, coordinates with the rights holder for broadcasting in the U.S. He designs and implements the path that images take to be shown on television and the internet. The video images travel via high speed fiber optics and undersea cables to the United States, and they are also transmitted with satellite providing back-up reliability. Toby's team is responsible for a flawless accuracy rate of carrying the images during the games.

Brett, an IT Manager, designed an IP monitor and control system that monitors the health of the various transmission locations in London and the U.S., and ensures proper transmission of all the video signals.

The London games are a spectacular technical challenge offering viewers double the programming that was available for the Beijing summer games in 2008. Toby said, "We are transporting over 90 channels carrying thousands of hours of Olympic programming to deliver the most complete Olympic coverage that has ever been broadcast."

The Warren brothers have had successful Olympic experiences working as a team in Athens, Greece (2004), Torino, Italy (2006), Beijing, China (2008), and Vancouver, Canada (2010). Toby also worked in Salt Lake City, Utah (2002). Toby has been honored with two Emmy Awards for sports broadcasting for his work on the games in Greece and Canada.

For Brett, the Olympics are a part-time project. He spends the majority of his time managing his company 20/20 Technologies which provides IT networking services and computer support for local Nebraska school districts.

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