15 minute read
Ready for a wealth of sport
Kevin Emmott talks to Sunset+Vine managing director David Tippet and Timeline CEO Dan McDonnell about their work on this summer’s Commonwealth Games, including a ground-breaking new training initiative
The 2022 Commonwealth Games take place in Birmingham, UK, from 28th July to 8th August. It showcases 19 sports and 283 different medal events, across 15 venues and with more than 5,000 athletes from 72 countries.
As host broadcaster, live content specialists Sunset+Vine is responsible for the whole shebang, from logistics to infrastructure to catering, creative and editorial.
The company is no stranger to hosting large scale sporting events; its first Commonwealth Games was in Glasgow in 2014, and it knows better than to go it alone, drafting in partners from some of the UK’s best and brightest suppliers, broadcast integrators and outside broadcast specialists.
This year especially, it had to be flexible to accommodate a wide variety of working models. “As hosts we manage the flow of information from every event to all the rights holding broadcasters (RHB), and we work with the organising committee to optimise the competition schedule to suit different time zones,” says Sunset + Vine managing director David Tippett.
“We are not only responsible for producing content from every venue, but also curating that content into multiple services. It’s already a broad scope of work, but this year we’ve also had to anticipate how different broadcasters might want to receive those feeds.”
Tippett continues: “Over the last few years there has been an acceleration of remote production techniques and broadcasters now operate in a variety of ways. There is no longer a one-size-fits-all; how one network operates is different to another, both in terms of its onsite footprint and what content they need to receive locally. Our job is to offer a menu of services, feeds and produced elements which gives them as much flexibility as possible to work however they want, wherever they are.”
To achieve this, Sunset + Vine work with a number of broadcast suppliers, including Euro Media Group (EMG), Aerial Camera Systems (ACS), Broadcast RF and Timeline, plus a who’s who of UK outside broadcast facility providers such as Cloudbass, Gravity Media and NEP.
BUILDING AN IBC AT THE NEC Timeline was contracted to design and build the technical infrastructure which ties all the venues together. With experience working on many Olympic and Commonwealth Games, Timeline CEO and owner Dan McDonnell has been a key member of the project team for the last three years.
Arena Birmingham will play host to the gymnastics
“We designed the international broadcast centre (IBC) to fit into hall 2 at Birmingham NEC,” he says. “The master control room (MCR) handles signals from every venue and handles the distribution of the signals to all RHBs.”
Every venue is connected to the Broadcast Centre MCR over redundant 10 Gb dark fibre where Timeline provides all the encoding and decoding to manage each signal. In addition to a mammoth machine room containing all the technical infrastructure, Timeline also built 40 control rooms, a host of production offices, host broadcaster suites and briefing rooms.
FLEXIBLE AND CURATED CONTENT Sunset + Vine has raised its game with multiple output channels. The Games Channel is a live feed with commentary and graphics which covers every event, but there are additional multi-channel services, highlights packages, digital clipping, and live streaming media from secondary matches, plus preview content and titles.
“Traditional international feeds can be booked for multiple sports, but to manage them a broadcaster needs to structure how they are going to stitch them together and which events to time delay,” continues McDonnell.
“Some broadcasters don’t have that capacity, so we are also providing six pre-made channels so RHBs have the option of buying content which has already been curated for them. We will provide a running order at the start of the day and produce a live stream to that schedule. It will focus on as many gold medal moments and editorial stories as possible, and overnight we will cut together highlights packages.
“It provides more flexibility for a wider range of broadcasters who can take the feed into their edit, broadcast it live to air, or use it as additional OTT content,” he adds.
Most RHBs will be receiving this content ‘menu’, making it as flexible as possible for them to create their own vision of the Games.
“We’ve been planning for the Games since 2018, so planning began pre-Covid,” adds Tippett. “Post-Covid, broadcasters are still figuring out how to work remotely and what these new flexible ways of working mean to them; there is an ongoing assessment evaluation for all rights holders. Our challenge is to provide the services which prove that flexibility, whatever it is.”
For broadcasters who have opted for remote production, Timeline is providing remote mulitviewers so that they can see everything live at any given moment and providing access to control equipment onsite to select what they want to receive.
Similarly, all media added to the MAM (Media Asset Management) can be accessed remotely, downloaded and used in an edit. To facilitate this, Timeline records and logs and tags every feed into an EVS IP Director to simplify the search process when broadcasters are looking for content to ingest – with many of the 20-strong team made up of people from the local community.
The mountian bike competition will take place at Cannock Chase
CREATING LEGACIES THROUGH TRAINING “The lack of diversity in sports broadcasting is an ongoing issue and we’re looking to address it with our Host Broadcast Training Initiative (HBTI),” says Tippett. “All of our loggers and clippers are from the HBTI, and every one of our partners contributed to the scheme with training and paid roles during the event. We worked closely with the West Midlands Growth Authority and West Midlands-based Create Central, as well as colleges and universities in the city, and we’ve provided paid work for the duration of the Games for 150 people.”
With 62 per cent of those trainees from under-represented groups, Tippett believes this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help people kick-start a career in sports broadcasting.
“We are very proud of what we’ve achieved, and how much everyone in the industry has bought into it. There is a legacy in that we had a similar programme in Glasgow and for Birmingham we have concentrated on quality over quantity. The scheme provides real value with paid positions covering a range of industry roles across production and engineering.
“We hope this will have a lasting impact,” he concludes. n
Timeline will have three OB trucks on site
THE DRIVE TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS
Data is becoming increasingly key to keeping fans engaged while they’re watching sport. Formula One was one of the first sports to pick up on the trend, working with AWS to develop new information that fans haven’t seen before. Rob Smedley, technical consultant at Formula One, tells Jenny Priestley why they’re doing it
For a sport like Formula One, data is key. The teams use it to inform the drivers of the minutest changes with their cars, and to track how they’re racing. That data is now starting to fnd its way on screen thanks to Formula One’s partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The two companies initially launched F1 Insights powered by AWS in 2019, with three graphics giving fans previously unseen insights into the inner workings of the sport. They have gradually expanded that to 16, with the recently launched Battle Forecast graphic (right) introduced during the British Grand Prix.
The point of the partnership, says Rob Smedley, technical consultant at Formula One, is to use data to engage more fans, particularly those who have found the sport after watching Netflix’s documentary, Drive to Survive. “We’re trying to build various different strategies as to how we engage them, because a lot of the people who watch Drive to Survive will be from a really young demographic,” he explains. “It’s also attracted a generation of fans who are interested in lots of sports, and they’re not going to learn the sport by osmosis, especially not something that’s as complex as Formula One.
“With the Insights we’re using data to tell really quick and engaging stories, to immerse the fans much more in the sport and make it more of an interactive experience. They can be watching the linear feed and an Insight pops up and it’s engaging, persuasive, immersive and the fans are actually starting to learn much more about this sport.”
The Battle Forecast gives viewers more information about the drivers’ qualifying laps as they race to secure pole position. Each session begins with all the drivers on the track, with that number being whittled down as it goes on. “We’ve created what we’re calling a Cutoff Insight during qualifying to try to give fans a much clearer view of where the jeopardy is,” explains Smedley. “It’s distilling all the data down into something which is understandable with a little bit of knowledge.
“We’ve got other ones coming,” he adds. “We want to concentrate on three different areas: car performance, race strategy, and competitor analysis, how it plays out between all the cars across the grid. Each of the Insights that we introduce, we try to engage the fans just a little bit more into each of those three areas.”
The Insights have been developed for the international feed produced by the team at Formula One, which is delivered to local broadcasters. To begin with, they weren’t sure how the more dedicated fans would take to the new technology. “When we first started this it was something very different on a linear feed that hadn’t changed for the last 40 years as a standard model,” says Smedley. “When we introduced it the avid fans were asking, do we need this? My message to Formula One and AWS at the time was, you’ll only get a true appraisal of the success 12 or 18 months in, and at that point you’ll know whether or not the fans will want it. After 12 months the fans were saying, don’t take this away.”
Formula One isn’t the only sport to have developed data-related graphics with AWS. Germany’s Bundesliga and golf’s PGA Tour are also using the company’s technology. Smedley believes all three sports can learn from each other as to how they’re using data to drive fan engagement. “If you distil it down you’ve pretty much got the same data strategy across most sports, the difference is the data acquisition and identifying the core data points that are going to engage your fan,” he adds.
“A lot of other sports at the moment are really looking at historical data and building statistics out of that. With Formula One, we show the viewer what we’re predicting is going to happen in the future. We’re now using all of our technology and all of that know-how, twinned with what we’re doing with AWS, to build more fan engagement.” n
© Photo Credit: Formula 1
RACING AHEAD WITH 5G
By Kieran Kunhya, CEO, Open Broadcast Systems
The onboard live stream gave participants and teams the ability to analyse their own racing progress and technique The cars were each fitted with three cameras; one on the front, one on the back, and one showing the driver’s view
Onboard racing video is one of the most exciting and thrilling parts of racing broadcasts. It can be delivered cost-effectively and is easy to use for non-broadcast aware racing teams using our small form-factor encoders and 4G bonding. In the last year, many famous tracks such as Le Mans and Magny-Cours have started to gain 5G coverage.
This meant we had an opportunity to improve the video quality and reduce the latency of transmissions. It was perhaps even possible to reach the gold-standard of latency that traditional radio frequency (RF) links have, something which is too costly for many racing leagues.
STREAMING ON THE MOVE AT HIGH SPEEDS M3M has raced in the VW Fun Cup for more than 20 years. It was looking to increase engagement for top tier participants but also wanted to diversify its revenue stream. The onboard live stream was initially designed to give participants the ability to analyse their own racing progress and technique, but proved extremely popular, giving racers the opportunity to share the stream with friends and family and creating a bespoke VIP experience. It was also useful for local broadcasters to take onboard footage and for team strategists during the race. However, it was clear that creating a high-quality live stream from cars moving at high speeds would always be a challenge. Other factors such as vibrations from the track, humidity, and heat inside the car all add to the difficulties faced in providing a successful live stream.
GETTING THE RIGHT SET-UP It was important to ensure that viewers would get an immersive experience, able to view the stream from every possible angle. To that end, the cars were each fitted with three cameras. One mounted on the front of the car, one on the back, and one showing the driver’s view, help viewers and participants to see every possible viewpoint.
Not only is this useful for drivers to see any errors where they can improve lines, it also gives others the chance to experience the race almost as if they were in the driving seat themselves.
Another challenge is that space is a premium in these single-seater cars, so fitting a normal sized encoder was simply not an option. Our small form-factor C-100 encoders have been built to fit into even the tiniest of spaces, ensuring they were not taking up valuable real estate. Of course, all this had to be done without impacting on the quality and resiliency of the stream. No matter the audience, any impact on quality would make the stream less comfortable to watch and minimise both engagement and monetisation opportunities.
LIVE STREAMING AND THE POTENTIAL OF 5G 5G has massive potential to transform remote broadcasts. As well as delivering higher connectivity and increasing on-the-go bandwidth capabilities, it could reduce end-to-end broadcast latencies to as low as 100 ms. This suddenly makes it possible to deliver high quality remote production over mobile networks.
Ultimately, this will mean better experiences for consumers and the potential for more interactivity. There has been a lot of discussion recently about what 5G will deliver in the future, but as this project has proven, it is already capable of delivering high quality streams in challenging circumstances outside of the laboratory. Contribution and distribution using 5G is not without its challenges. Public 5G networks are a shared resource that may have patchy coverage on the track, for example in the pit lane surrounded by concrete garages. We overcame this thanks to our integration with Zixi. The live stream was powered by Zixi’s Software-Defined Video Platform (SDVP). Zixi’s error recovery allows for stable video even under challenging network conditions. Its tight integration with 5G modems made life easier if any of the modems had a problem and needed to be restarted during the race. It can seamlessly detect the disappearance and reappearance of any modems.
LIVE VIDEO AT 120MPH The VW FunCup saw cars racing at up to 120 mph (200 kph). The combination of the Zixi SDVP and Open Broadcast Systems’ small form-factor C-100 encoders made it possible to deliver exciting footage right from the driving seat. 5G modems attached to the encoders were able to deliver high quality video with glass-to-glass latencies of 250 ms in challenging conditions over an eight-hour race. These latencies are comparable to traditional RF links, potentially allowing for more usage of onboard video in racing leagues that cannot afford such costly technologies. The video was used by drivers, mechanics, and strategists to review and adapt the team’s approach throughout the race. We received a lot of great feedback telling us how incredibly impressed everyone was by the quality and low latency of the live stream. Racing is a sport where technology is appreciated, and it was great to have technical questions from a wide range of team members at the race. This event has proven the possibilities with our small form-factor encoders and 5G networks and we look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible. We have a number of other transmissions planned with other racing leagues, some of which reach speeds of 200 mph (320 kph) and with larger numbers of spectators. Further refinement of this technology should mean we can achieve the same quality and latency in this challenging environment. n
ABOUT VW FUN CUP
VW Fun Cup racing is a popular racing series, renowned for being a dramatic, competitive, exciting, and above all, fun car racing environment. The cars are all identical specification 180 bhp VW Beetles, capable of 120 mph (200 kph) at full throttle. The equal performance across the cars makes the race extremely close and thrilling from the off. The Fun Cup started in Belgium in the late 1990s and has since gone from strength to strength, attracting motor racing fans and loyal followers across the globe. The series is extremely popular because of its relatively low cost, ease of entry, and friendly and fun atmosphere. Annual national qualifying races take place on tracks across Belgium, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Canary Islands. The excitement culminates in an amazing endurance race lasting a whopping 25 hours!
The VW FunCup saw cars racing at up to 120 mph (200 kph)
Many famous tracks such as Le Mans and MagnyCours have started to gain 5G coverage
