The biggest Spectera deployment in history — before the product even launches.
Inside a large project room at Sennheiser's headquarters in Wedemark, Germany, the screens were already running control software when the Agorà team arrived. Rows of wireless audio devices — handhelds, bodypacks, base stations — sat under endurance testing, humming through their paces. The occasion was a planning session for one of the most technically demanding live broadcasts on the planet: the Eurovision Song Contest, coming to Vienna in 2026.
Both Sennheiser and the Rome-based production company Agorà have been named official audio suppliers to Austrian host broadcaster ORF for the event. Agorà will handle technical production on the ground. It is a partnership that brings together two organizations with serious Eurovision pedigree — and a shared appetite for the particular chaos that the contest demands.
For Agorà, this will be the fourth time at Eurovision. The company, founded in 1990 by brothers Wolfango and Vittorio De Amicis, cut its teeth at the contest in Lisbon and Tel Aviv, where it supported local teams across PA, RF, show mixing, and network technology. In Turin, Agorà ran the full operation themselves. Vienna will be the same scope — complete technical production — but now in service of ORF rather than an Italian host.
Valerio Motta, Agorà's project manager for ESC 2026, describes the event as a very fast and very complex festival. What keeps him coming back, he says, is not the technology itself but the people: working alongside crews from dozens of nations, each bringing their own methods and expectations, all converging on a single broadcast window. The technical advances are real and impressive, he acknowledges, but the international teamwork is the best part of the job.
On the Sennheiser side, the ESC represents a chance to field the largest deployment of their Spectera wireless system ever attempted. The setup will include base stations, bidirectional bodypacks, and handheld microphones — and notably, manufacturing samples of a handheld transmitter that has not yet been officially launched. A custom firmware variant developed specifically for the event adds functionality the production will require on site, including a level recorder.
Volker Schmitt, Sennheiser's Manager of Technical Application Engineering and a veteran of multiple Eurovision deployments, points to what the system will mean for performers. Artists using in-ear monitors will get what he describes as extraordinary clarity through Spectera. Those performing with a headset microphone will need only a single belt pack — a meaningful simplification in a show where dozens of acts cycle through in rapid succession, each with their own technical rider.
Dr. Andreas Sennheiser framed the contest in broader terms: an event of this scale and visibility is a genuine proving ground for new technology, and the company is glad to be testing its latest work under those conditions. He also noted the value of having Agorà as a partner — a company that knows the Eurovision environment from the inside.
After the endurance testing at Sennheiser's Wedemark facility concluded, all Spectera equipment was packed and shipped to Agorà's headquarters in Bazzano, Italy. There, the devices underwent further testing and were configured into production racks. A two-day Spectera training session followed, bringing the Agorà crew up to speed on the system's full capabilities before the equipment moves to Vienna.
The Eurovision Song Contest remains the world's largest live music broadcast, and the pressure on every technical supplier is proportional to that scale. With the gear tested, the teams trained, and the firmware written, the next milestone is the event itself — and whether the biggest Spectera deployment in history holds up under the lights.
Notable Quotes
The ESC is like a very fast and complex festival — we love it.— Valerio Motta, Agorà project manager for ESC 2026
Artists and crews will benefit from the extraordinary clarity of IEMs over Spectera, and artists using a headset mic will be able to perform with just one belt pack.— Volker Schmitt, Sennheiser Manager Technical Application Engineering
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that this is the largest Spectera deployment ever?
Because scale is where systems either prove themselves or break. Eurovision isn't a controlled environment — it's dozens of acts, multiple languages, crews who've never worked together before, all converging on a single live broadcast.
What's the significance of including a transmitter that hasn't been launched yet?
It means Eurovision is functioning as a real-world stress test before the product hits the market. If something fails in front of 160 million viewers, you know about it in the worst possible way.
Agorà has done this three times before. Does experience actually help at an event this unpredictable?
It helps enormously with the parts you can anticipate — rack configuration, RF coordination, workflow. The parts you can't anticipate are where the international teamwork Motta talks about becomes the real asset.
What does a custom firmware variant tell us about how Sennheiser is approaching this?
It tells you they're not just shipping product — they're engineering for the specific demands of the show. A level recorder sounds like a small thing until you're troubleshooting a signal issue mid-broadcast.
Is there something unusual about a supplier doing endurance testing at their own headquarters before shipping?
It's standard practice for high-stakes deployments, but doing it with the client present — with Agorà in the room — turns it into a shared confidence-building exercise, not just a quality check.
What does it mean for a performer to need only one belt pack instead of two?
In a show with this many quick changeovers, every piece of hardware on a performer's body is a potential failure point and a costume complication. Fewer devices means faster transitions and fewer things to go wrong.