The unprecedented double canonisation event will be produced in 3D by the Vatican TV Center (CTV) in a partnership with Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Italia, BSkyB and Sky Deutschland payboxes, and Sony. The ceremony will also be beamed into 3D movie theatres across Europe and in North and South America, in what is being touted as the first convergence of HD, 3D and 4K technologies for such a high-profile multimedia 3D event.
 
At a press conference in the Vatican, CTV chief Monignor Dario Vigano said the live transmission will require “more satellites than the Sochi Olympics.”
 
Vigano underlined that the Vatican decided to offer the canonisation ceremony to the world in 3D in order to give people who would want to attend but cannot, for many reasons including economic ones, the chance to get a “fully immersive” experience.
 
The production will use 13 3D cameras positioned in spots that will give a unique and exclusive vantage point of St Peter’s Square. The HD feed will be carried by 100 broadcasters, including Italo pubcaster RAI, and viewed by an estimated 200,000 global TV audience. The 3D TV feed will be beamed into Italy, the UK, and Germany on Sky.