Chasing Runners Across an Island: Inside the Yas Zanzibar International Marathon’s Cloud Production

Zanzibar, Tanzania, October 22, 2026 — How do you produce live coverage of a race that never stays in one place?

That was the challenge facing Smacs Production ahead of the Yas Zanzibar International Marathon on September 20. Now in its sixth edition, the annual road race brings together professional athletes, recreational runners and visitors from Tanzania and around the world. Yas returned as title sponsor for the fifth consecutive year, supporting the event’s growth and Zanzibar’s position as a sports-tourism destination.

Producing the live program meant covering a race in constant motion from several points along the course. Working within a tight schedule, Smacs Production needed a flexible way to bring the different sources together and move quickly from setup to live production.

The answer was an integrated TVU cloud workflow.

Field reporters contributed up to 20 live video feeds through TVU Anywhere. The feeds were brought into TVU Partyline, with selected sources then made available in TVU Producer for the final production. A commentator also joined the workflow remotely using TVU Remote Commentator.

TVU Producer is a browser-based cloud production platform that brings live switching, graphics, audio mixing and distribution into one interface. It enabled the production team to manage the program remotely without deploying a conventional control room at the event. Operators could collaborate from different locations to manage video switching, graphics and audio before distributing the final program to YouTube and Facebook.

The resulting broadcast followed the marathon for nearly four hours, capturing the atmosphere at key points along the route and staying with the runners as the race unfolded.

“The Yas Marathon was an exciting opportunity for us to demonstrate how professional live production technology can enhance sports coverage in Tanzania,” said Feruzi Salum, Managing Director of Smacs Production and Founder of StreamerHubTZ. “Delivering live coverage in a dynamic outdoor environment requires reliable technology, mobility and the right technical expertise to bring the action closer to audiences. Through StreamerHubTZ, we are expanding our capabilities in live streaming infrastructure, technical support and consultancy. TVU technology plays an important role in this vision as we work to make professional streaming capabilities more accessible across the country.”

The Yas Zanzibar International Marathon adds another successful live production to the growing use of TVU technology across Africa. It demonstrates how local teams can coordinate contributors across large and constantly changing locations while delivering professional coverage to audiences within the region and beyond.

“Africa has no shortage of stories and events worth taking live,” said Abdalla Elhag, Business Development Director, Africa at TVU Networks. “Our role is to give local production teams technology that matches their ambition. What was achieved in Zanzibar shows how an integrated cloud workflow can bring together contributors from across a moving event and help African content reach wider audiences.”

Watch the live production:
https://www.youtube.com/live/27s7eR1kCfQ

Interested in creating a more flexible workflow for your next live event? Visit https://www.tvunetworks.com to learn more about TVU Producer.

About Smacs Production and StreamerHubTZ

Smacs Production provides production and live-streaming services in Tanzania, supporting sporting, cultural and other live events. Together with StreamerHubTZ, it works to help creators, production companies, media houses, sports organizations and brands access more professional live production and streaming technology across Tanzania and East Africa.

About TVU Networks

TVU Networks develops cloud and hybrid solutions for live video contribution, production, routing and distribution over IP. Its technology helps broadcasters, sports organizations, production companies and content creators produce and distribute high-quality live content with greater flexibility and fewer resources required on site.

For more information, visit tvunetworks.com.