Monitor your broadcast content anytime, and anywhere

Presented by Russell Wise (Senior Vice President) & Keith DesRosiers (Director of Sales Solutions)

In this webinar we discussed how to:

  • Remotely view your content from anywhere on any device
  • Deep Dive into any analytics or metadata and correlate it back to the video
  • Quickly create frame-accurate clips and push the content to any source
  • Configure presets for single-click generation of closed captions in a Caption Editor Window
  • Empower your compliance logging and monitoring systems with the AI advantage
  • Automatically generate transcripts, and search content based on video intelligence
  • Take advantage of Digital Nirvana’s world-class support team

Transcript and slide deck available here.

Emerging IP Technologies in Broadcast Industry

Emerging IP Technologies in Broadcast Industry

Overview:

A one day course that covers the fundamentals of SMPTE 2110, Network Device Interface (NDI) and Secure Reliable Transport (SRT).

Specific topics include:

  • Overview of RTP, IGMP and multicasting within and between VLANs
  • Overview of PTP, Transparent and Boundary Clocks
  • Migration from SMPTE 2022 to SMPTE 2110
  • ST 2110 for audio and AES67
  • ST2110 for video
  • ST 2110 for timing
  • ST 2110 for ancillary data
  • Practical demonstration of operation of Transparent and Boundary Clocks
  • Overview of mDNS
  • Overview of NDI using Unicast IP, Multicast IP, both within and between VLANs
  • Ports used by NDI and troubleshooting techniques
  • Practical streaming using NDI within and between VLANs
  • Overview of SRT and reliability mechanisms
  • Examination of protocol operation using Wireshark
  • Ports used by SRT and troubleshooting techniques

Practical demonstrations of NDI, SRT and PTP will be achieved using Cisco and Artel switches, OBS software and FFMPEG. End point devices will primarily be based on MAC OS, utilising homebrew and various open source software applications.

Attendees are expected to have a good understanding of IP and are expected to have either attended the Network Essentials and Advanced Networking courses or have equivalent knowledge and experience.

ENQUIRE

Innovation in the world’s fastest motorcycle racing championship

First, a disclaimer: I am a huge MotoGP™ fan. I am always looking for ways to get as close to the track action as possible because at 350km/h, I think, details are important. It’s incredibly exciting for me to see the constant push for innovation and progress in the sport. Innovation is also what drives the prototype machines on the grid.

Dorna – the organisation behind the sport and Tata Communications’ customer – seeks to harness the power of the latest digital technologies to take fans like me closer to the heart of the action. I have had the privilege to see how Dorna looks to use these technologies to complement each and every interaction fans have with MotoGP™, wherever they might be.

Immersion through digital technologies 

Digital platforms have transformed the production and delivery of content, with changing consumption habits playing a key role in shaping today’s sports industry.

Behind the scenes, Dorna has embraced remote production, harnessing Tata Communications’ network, cloud and low-latency content delivery capabilities. This means that parts of the MotoGP™ action can now be produced by the team remotely, at the Dorna HQ in Barcelona – even if the race might be happening thousands of miles away.

From fans’ perspective, there are now more camera angles, better cameras, more ways to watch, and higher quality video. All these are now standard, but the cycle of innovation never stops.

Onboard cameras took fans on a thrill ride like never before, and now content can be streamed in live 360 degrees from the midst of a MotoGP™ race – raising the bar once again. Social media fosters and promotes interaction between riders and fans, and brings breaking news to everyone’s fingertips.

Live 360-degree video and onboard feeds, social media and other aspects of this digital culture allow a new level of immersion for fans of the world’s fastest motorcycle racing championship. Within this culture lies the opportunity for Dorna to provide a truly enriching multi-platform experience.

To put it another way: before, viewers like me would dream of watching Valentino Rossi ride. Now, we can ride with him.

Every sight and sound…

Innovation means constant evolution. One of the areas that Tata Communications is working on is how to harness the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) and augmented reality (AR) to create more powerful, multi-dimensional sports experiences for fans – whether they are following the action at the track or pitch or stadium, at home, or on the move.

It’s an exciting idea for fans of any sport, but within the world of MotoGP™, those possibilities are truly tantalising. Fans at the circuit are already able to enjoy every sight, sound and roar up-close – but now, those watching remotely need not compromise. In today’s super-connected, data-powered world, it is possible to stream different points of view and access so much real-time data on demand that the viewing experience is elevated to a whole new level.

Working with us helps Dorna to re-imagine how it manages the distribution of each race to its broadcast partners worldwide and build a digital-ready platform able to keep up with the incredible pace of technology innovation.

As the present continually rushes to meet the future, we are committed to continuing to innovate with Dorna to give MotoGP™ and WorldSBK fans the high-quality, exhilarating and increasingly immersive racing experiences they crave.

Read more about new innovations for sports fans here.

Case Study: How Sports Broadcasting Is ‘Virtually Limitless’ With The Right Partner

The Challenge – A Unique Capacity

Tata Communications is no stranger to live sports. They already work with Formula 1 and have proven themselves as experts in bringing together media and digital to get more quality content out to broadcasters, in a more affordable way. It’s all enabled by the high-speed optic line they set up, bespoke for every race, and connected to the world’s largest wholly-owned fibre cable network. This unique capacity allows all the action to be streamed out instantly to fans, no matter their global location.

I saw for myself, a little of how they do it, with the Tata Communications pods. These compact workstations act as temporary bases for the service team and compress the time required to set-up the cabling, screens and infrastructure needed to support the broadcast operation. The pods are expandable units that are shipped to every race, and in effect are fully-functioning, self-contained mobile data centres. They receive the international program feed from all the cameras on track, and ensure a high-speed, low-latency connection to the fibre network, which carries the feed to broadcasters all over the world. Collaborating with Dorna and working as one family, Tata Communications has revolutionised how races are broadcast.

Dorna owns the rights to MotoGP, and as an on-board camera manufacturer, has led the way in bringing new camera angles and styles to the screen, such as the first on-board bike cameras. I got the impression, though, that in the past, Dorna’s visions had been constrained by logistics. Before they started working with Tata Communications, their bandwidth around the track was 600MB; it was restricting in terms of bringing better quality content to the fans. They also had large costs in terms of the satellite coverage needed to supply their content to over 80 broadcasters around the world.

Dorna wanted to scale up the bandwidth to allow them to distribute higher quality content. They wanted someone who could deliver an international program feed, with no problems, and no delays. With the experience from F1 a key factor, a deal was soon struck with Tata Communications. That was back in February 2017, and as broadcast partners, Dorna and Tata Communications have now raced ahead. However, every sport has its own unique challenges, and as Dorna were keen to point out to me, MotoGP is no exception. It’s how you overcome those challenges.

The Action: End To End Efficiency

Tata Communications, working collaboratively with Dorna to continuously improve, has taken MotoGP and enabled the digital content to be distributed on the web and into the cloud, creating new business models such as charging for premium content. With exclusive interviews before and after races, fans have never been closer to the likes of Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez.

With their high-speed fibre connection working in tandem with existing satellite, Dorna has increased their geographic reach and are experiencing true borderless growth. This is an end-to-end service that increases efficiencies and saves money at every turn. And it’s a model that could be applied to Moto2 and Moto3, or just about any sport, for that matter.

With the team at Tata Communications pushing the limit and dreaming to achieve more, I can really sense the possibilities here. From harnessing the power of the IoT (Internet of Things) and AR (augmented reality) to create more powerful, multi-dimensional sports experiences for fans.

I witnessed Jorge Lorenzo secure an emphatic victory in the Italian Grand Prix – his first since joining Ducati. And to me, it all seems quite appropriate. These are exciting times for MotoGP; a time for firsts. With the right partner – the right provider of bespoke telecommunications for digital and media – it’s clear that sports broadcasting is virtually limitless.

This is a sport that can go wherever it wants to – and at speed. You can see why Tata Communications live by their slogan, ‘Trusted to win’.

The results

Embracing New Technology

Through the unique solution that Tata Communications provided, Dorna now utilises a mix of fibre optics backed-up with satellite. They have 1GB of bandwidth at each track, enabling them to set up more cameras and deliver more content to the broadcasters who take their content feeds. They distribute motorcycle racing action to more than 80 broadcast partners reaching over 200 million households worldwide.

There’s low latency capability for those watching on an app or Smart TV. High quality content that can be downloaded on mobile devices and streamed for use with OTT providers. And there has been a trial to provide Wi-Fi access to fans in the grandstands (I’m sure we all hope this gets replicated at every venue pretty soon).

This is a broad sweep of technological advancements; an experience that may be moving towards virtual reality and live 360 content in the future.

It’s meant that, since 2017, Dorna could put more cameras on every bike, providing 360° film and streaming live content with a feed that constantly switches between riders. I get what they’re trying to do – this is an immersive experience, where viewers feel like they’re actually in the seat, travelling around the track at over 350kmph.

And this is only part of it. Through Tata Communications and Dorna’s daring approach in embracing new technology, they now have the foundations in place to take the sport to the next level.

Not just 4K High Definition feeds, but also remote production to massively reduce travel costs (previously editing was done on-site). Tata Communications can also send content direct to the broadcasters like Sky and BT, as they are part of their ‘eco-system’.

It’s all possible from the Tata Communications control centre – custom built in the run-up to the race and dismantled not long after. And amid all the hundreds of screens, and literally kilometre after kilometre of cables, I also found people who are experienced in what they do, but wanting to learn more about MotoGP’s unique and often complex needs. They genuinely care.

This is a case of a team not just managing the equipment needed for 19 races over 9 months of the year, and even digging up the road to get the fibre connection to the track, but little things, like providing mobile phone SIMs for the whole Dorna production team, so they didn’t have roaming charges when moving around the world. This is an end-to-end service that increases efficiencies and saves money at every turn.

As sports restart behind closed doors, they are following stringent health and safety protocols. Staggered entry and exit from premises, limit on traveling team personnel, extensive testing and a “bubble” concept for health and safety. With such strict caps on the number of personnel present, all non-essential functions have been moved away from the venue.

This includes functions like social and digital media management, which generally demands an onsite presence, with real time capture, edit and publish of content from the venues. Several sports are experimenting by migrating their entire social media teams to centralized, or even distributed, remote locations to enable work-from-home. As circumstances precipitate the need for technology such as remote production and remote working, Tata Communications ensures that the Dorna production team is well-placed to meet these challenges.

Case Study: “Golf Is Undergoing Something Of A Transformation In Terms Of Broadcasting.”

The Challenge

Initial Observations; A Missed Opportunity
“The European Tour is something of the ‘untold story’ in sport. We manage 47 events in 30 countries across 5 continents throughout the year. No other sporting event comes close to the operational challenges and demands we have to meet. Our end of season downtime is literally just days.

So, each year we already produce 900 hours of live content and 75 hours of non-live content for our fans across the world. But we need to reach out and engage with them in new ways.

“This is the massive opportunity: to engage with our audience and take the experience to them – digitally. In doing so, we can make golf a true spectator experience for viewers of all ages, cultures and walks of life.”

This was my initial observation when I took over as CTO. That the European Tour had substantial investment in I.T., but there were no real collaborative partnerships with leading technology organisations to enable us to focus on content. For me, this was a real missed opportunity.”

The Action

New Platforms, Digital Engagement

“Generally, people who are able to attend golf competitions are in the minority. Tournaments traditionally last four days and most people have work and personal lives to juggle, so we need to find new ways of connecting our fans – some 470 million households around the world – to the sport.

We want to keep our loyal fans engaged, and broaden our reach through new formats to attract different types of audiences, through different platforms. We want to create new digital content for global distribution to our fans, so they can follow the sport in bitesize chunks, wherever and whenever. And to expand our digital platforms, so that we can live-stream events to our fans, and broaden our appeal amongst digitally-savvy, younger audiences.

This is the massive opportunity: to engage with our audience and take the experience to them – digitally. In doing so, we can make golf a true spectator experience for viewers of all ages, cultures and walks of life.

Transforming the types of content, and the way we deliver it, is vital to this. And that’s where content, technology and Tata Communications, the partner we work with in this, all come into play.”

A Partnership Of Understanding

“In order to move with the times and attract new fans, our partners must fully understand our needs. It’s early days in our relationship, but in terms of maintaining and building on our initial momentum, Tata Communications is proving ideal.

They appreciate that most golf courses are in beautiful but exceedingly hard to reach locations, and that using satellites for broadcast across 47 venues is expensive. They understand that our 40 rights holders rely on global transmission of high-quality content and that we want to be able to give viewers exclusive, higher definition content, and a true immersive experience.

“With greater capacity we open up so many more possibilities: live interviews with the golfers between shots, cameras actually ‘in’ the holes so the viewers feel like they’re actually there.”

Then, of course, there’s Tata Communications’ experience. For both Formula 1® and MotoGPTM, they’ve taken the sport and changed the whole playing field in terms of combining digital and media.

With that, there’s a trust there. An assurance that they can 100% deliver global connectivity. So armchair fans can get access to content. And we can engage through innovation and grow our fan base. For us, to have reliance in a world-class partner like this, is fundamental. It’s why we chose them as our technology partner.”

The results

The Success
Technology Like No Other

“As well as the fact they understand content and we are able to leverage their experience in other sports, Tata Communications’ global reach – the sheer range of their capability – is one of the main ways they’ve helped us at the European Tour.

Tata Communications has the largest wholly-owned fibre cable network in the world. It means that they can offer extra network capacity so we can distribute more high-quality video media out to broadcasters from the remote places our golf courses are located, and in a more affordable way.

And, because they’re connected with major broadcasters like Sky, we’ve been able to use their eco-system and distribute simply and directly.

This capability, the size and scale of the network, enables us to maximise our commercial partnerships, both with media rights and sponsorship. I feel we are now beginning to monetise our operations properly.

At the moment we don’t have the option to just use fibre, so for now, we’ve started our transformation with a hybrid model. It means that for most of our events we use satellite, but for certain major tournaments, we may use our extra capacity fibre line to deliver 4K HDTV and OTT content in the future.

The low latency provides near real-time digital content. It means we can move quickly on to our website, into the cloud, and on to our official app. With greater capacity we open up so many more possibilities: live interviews with the golfers between shots, cameras actually ‘in’ the holes so the viewers feel like they’re actually there. This is premium content that people are more than happy to pay for. Using Tata Communications’ fibre network we are able to create a true experience for our fans.

And rather than manage a huge ecosystem of suppliers, our partnership with Tata Communications makes life that much simpler. They deliver economies of scale, a level of consistency and end-to-end assurance which we just didn’t have before. As far as their technology goes, it’s a real game-changer.”

People Power

“Whilst Tata Communications’ network is helping us to drive engagement, there’s the people side of their company, too. That’s what initially stood out to me in my role. From a cultural perspective it feels like a genuine partnership. We jointly recognise the challenges and opportunities with open minds. There are common goals and objectives to create key ground for our stakeholders.

“The benefits of technology will not just elevate the viewing for the fans, but also provide them with personalised content to their own unique tastes and preferences”

Tata Communications’ experience on the ground, working on multiple services, connecting data, has helped us to modernise our thinking. But I feel the attitude of their team really sets them apart, too.”

A New Vision For The Future

“The future for the PGA European Tour is all about the potential challenges we can overcome. And it comes back to Tata Communications’ understanding of content. Using their availability and reliability we can change the conversation in golf. We are, above all, an entertainment company. Content is the new currency – and compelling content captivates audiences. We want them to come back time and time again. We want to be able to monetise that channel.

Our transformational journey is supported by technology. This is where we can be smart and use Tata Communications’ experience in other sports to benefit the European Tour.

Read: Alugha Win First Ever European Tour Innovation Hub With Tata Communications
It’s not necessarily about us being number one in any technological innovation, but about being number two, to take tried and tested insight and experience learned from other sports and apply it to the world of golf.

Niche capabilities in technology don’t have to be invented at the European Tour. But if Tata Communications can help bring them in for us, we can start to experiment. Using our genuine partnership we can begin to adopt and achieve.

We’re already looking at hosting and storage – we have a lot of archive content that would be of value to many – but we want to push technological platforms and experiment with mixed realties, too.

Things like virtual reality and augmented reality can allow fans to go past the ropes on the fairway. We can use the Internet of Things to collect velocity data as the ball is chipped in. We can guarantee closer access to the golfers, their swings, and their shots.

“Using our partnership with Tata Communications, we have the capability to utilise all kinds of new technologies, and cost saving features, to deliver high-quality content from anywhere in the world.”

The benefits of technology will not just elevate the viewing for the fans, but also provide them with personalised content to their own unique tastes and preferences. As our technology changes, so does their experience.

This ‘in the moment’ experience is the way things are going. And it all comes down to data. Raw data. From back of house systems to migrating to the cloud, raw data needs to be at the heart of everything we do.

It drives meaningful insight to the golfers – they can use accurate data to improve their play and achieve greater success. It enables the fans, both at home and at the tournaments, to feel like they really are connected as part of an immersive experience. And it also offers opportunities to our commercial family. They can get a true R.O.I. on activation by using data to understand the behaviour of spectators.

Using our partnership with Tata Communications, we have the capability to utilise all kinds of new technologies, and cost saving features, to deliver high-quality content from anywhere in the world.

But content doesn’t just have to be video. It’s data, too. We want to be able to track everything that moves, everything that creates data, to drive insight for our players, fans and sponsors.

That’s the European Tour’s vision. And with the synergy of Tata Communications’ technology and infrastructure, I believe it’s something that we can achieve together.”

Digital Transformation Of The FIA World Rally Championship

The Tata Communications Difference

The partnership with Tata Communications has helped this massive motorsport completely revamp the way it provides coverage of rallies over the last 12 months.

As of today, broadcast in 150 markets through 80+ broadcasters requires reliable high capacity global connectivity, at scale. Also, these numbers will only go up significantly.

– Immersive and engaging fan experience with stages and camera angles in real time made possible via OTT platform WRC+; robust and scalable video connect network is key

-Scaling up production – need to drive efficiency in production

End To End Connectivity, Video Connect And Remote Production

The Tata Communications global network with next-generation fibre manages 30% of global internet traffic, aided largely by its ownership of the largest subsea communication cable in the world. It provides connectivity for video delivery into the Tata Communications video cloud with subsequent distribution to the broadcasters.

This has enabled WRC to launch a new all live feed to several broadcasters. Video Connect and VPN service to WRC connects some of the most challenging and remote locations seamlessly for live video delivery out of these sites. The team of experts at Tata Communications seamlessly manages all aspects of transmission and broadcast for the sport, end to end, right up to broadcasters/ right holders.

WRC is a worldwide Motorsport Series which, going forward, has ambitious plans to grow across emerging markets such as Asia and America which hold huge promise and potential.

The Tata Communications’ tier-1 IP network with connectivity to more than 240 countries and territories is key to making this happen. WRC is also looking for ways to remote produce a rally going forward. In the near future, remote production services will help WRC to transfer all the content from the more than 80 production cameras per event to a central location where they can produce the package remotely.

This solution will be enabled by the ultra-low latency networks of Tata Communications. This will lead to significant cost savings for WRC apart from higher productivity and quality of life for their employees due to reduced travel.

Finally, the biggest challenge or competition WRC’s relentless pursuit of excellence is the tough environment and its own high benchmarks. It is a huge championship which works with four of the biggest car manufacturers with huge global partners.

The team is truly seeking and pursuing continuous improvement and excellence in production and broadcasting technologies to give fans the best viewing experience. It takes truckloads of commitment to watch a rally since a person must park miles away and walk through forests or mountains to reach viewing spots. All the more reason to capture, package and broadcast content from all the stages on a device for pieces of the action that a fan misses due to difficult terrain. This is where Tata Communications expertise in the world of live sports broadcasting comes to the fore.

With experience across a variety of motor-sports including F1 and MotoGP apart from the challenging world of rally sports, Tata Communications helps drive best in class broadcasting solutions for sport rights holders and broadcasters alike.

The results

Growing The Fan Base

Live coverage of this scale is more than an added bonus for fans; it is a way for new viewers to get drawn into this motorsport, which can be hard to follow for the uninitiated. First time fans especially, get to see everything live at a rally with up to 25 hours of Live coverage. This is a big stepping stone for broadcasters and for the rally itself; with this, WRC has changed the way rally is perceived, hopefully now and forever.

Accelerating Growth, Delivering Customer Delight And Ensuring Efficiency Gains For WRC

WRC can now reach its huge fan base and tap into new target markets in Asia and Africa thanks to the Tata Communications Global Network. It now has the capability to deliver enormous volumes of live feed from all camera angles for each car to numerous broadcasters, as per demand. This unlocks massive potential to scale this incredible sport’s viewership globally.

Case Study: How 100G Will Transform The Media Landscape

Fuelling the Next Generation’s Bandwidth Requirements

To cope with growing bandwidth demands, vendors are increasingly developing 40 GB/s muxponders and transponders that can be implemented within the existing WDM networks. While this offers immediate benefits, ever-increasing traffic necessitates the deployment of WDMs with even higher data transmission rates, such as 100GB/s, utilized in each wavelength. Thankfully, the transition towards 100GB/s network technology is in motion and is poised to outsell 10 GB/s networks soon.

In fact, market forecasts see both 2019 and 2020 as strong growth years for coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) systems in particular, with the potential for 100G unit demand double from 2019 to 2020. Some experts even predict that the adoption rates of 100G CWDM systems will increase until the year 2022. The primary drivers of this trend are miniaturization, standardization, and the reduction in the cost of long-haul networks that demand higher upload and download speeds. This new networking technology is set to transform how consumers stream their favourite content from the device and location of their choice, and also how that content is delivered to millions of streaming devices from a remote location – a veritable backbone of the media and entertainment industry of the future.

The high bandwidth capacity of the 100G media network opens up virtually unlimited opportunities in a typical data centre environment, and its relevance and applications in the media and entertainment industry are far reaching.

Person using laptop

The Future of Super-Fast Fibre Channel Transmission in Media and Entertainment

According to forecasts, videos will make up a staggering 82% of all traffic in 2021. This is unsurprising given that the adoption of 4K and Ultra High-Definition (UHD) standards for videos is at an all-time high. Already, over-the-top (OTT) streaming media giants like Amazon and Netflix are making 4K content accessible to consumers. As file sizes increase to meet the demand for UHD videos, both content creators and providers will need high network bandwidth with lightning fast throughput.

In a typical live production or post-production environment, project deadlines are stiff, and every second counts. Content creators need to ensure that they are adhering to the right production workflows and infrastructure aligned to 4k and UHD video production. The move to newer digital video formats, along with the advent of special effects and advanced CGI in everything from movies, gaming and TV shows, calls for a robust networking infrastructure capable of supporting multiple UHD video streams, either live or recorded.

The industry also faces a lot of network pressure from millions of mobile devices that demand seamless access to live media file streaming and high-speed downloads of rich media content. And this isn’t a problem that’s going away any time soon. In fact, as mobile devices evolve and establish newer high-definition standards for content, network pressure is set to grow exponentially. In addition, new and complex communication formats such as extended reality are fast becoming mainstream. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) video formats come with highly challenging delivery requirements, especially when it comes to enabling remote production workflows and transmitting uncompressed video (especially in the sports and eSports domain).

The results

Creating an Ecosystem for Hybrid Media Transmission With 100G

For a media project to be successful, it’s important to ensure content creators and distributors have secure and dedicated network bandwidth. In fact, in live and post-production environments, a robust fibre channel media framework that can provide increased throughput and maximum bandwidth availability is critical. 100G WDMs deployed over a fibre channel network can allow broadcasters, OTT content providers, sports organizations and eSports enterprises to handle remote production with ease while enabling them to give their customers seamless and immersive experiences.

A 100G media backbone can simplify a content provider’s journey towards deploying UHD 4K videos in real time, which requires 12Gb/s bandwidth when uncompressed – four times more than what is required for a HD video transmission. eSports enterprises and broadcasters can provide gamers and viewers with exceptional, ultra- immersive 4k viewing experiences without worrying about bandwidth issues.

The opportunities created by 100G is not just limited to 4k video transmission. Rather, it extends well beyond it. For instance, progressive enterprises in media and communications space have started testing live 360° video transmission in 8k UHD – the highest resolution available in digital TV, today. This can usher in endless possibilities when it comes to live video broadcasting and immersive viewing. For instance, such high-performance media infrastructure can allow sports lovers to use a VR headset and experience a golf tour right from the player’s point-of-view or a watch a Formula 1  race from the circuit.

Additionally, a 100G media network can help content providers streamline the technical aspects of video production as well. For instance, every event in eSports involves multiple cameras, cutaways, commentary, real-time editing and real-time reactions. A high capacity transmission network can ensure that the data is transmitted in order, on time, and without any redundancies. Going forward, as the total audience in the industry increases to over 645 million, the bandwidth boost provided by 100G will help fans worldwide enjoy unparalleled gaming experiences.

100G is poised to have a strong impact in other areas in remote production workflows such as:

Video Mastering and Finishing: Colour corrections, checking for transitions, gaps, visual errors and broadcasting delays in real time

Video Ingesting: Collating, transmitting or importing different types of image, audio or video files into an existing editing workflow

Digital Asset Management: Protecting and utilizing rich media assets better with stringent permission allocation

Distribution and Playout:Allocating no-fail commercial requirements for broadcasting servers

User Security with Data Retrieval: Allowing users to retrieve content stored on SSDs, HDDS and tapes while transitioning to high-end storage array technology

In Conclusion

The fact that 100G is at the threshold of transforming the media and telecommunications landscape stands testament to how far the technology has evolved. 100G will soon open up new business opportunities for next-gen content creators. Those seeking to capitalize on this and gain a first-mover advantage need to start planning their approach today.

Internet Protocol (IP) technology promotes better flexibility, cost savings and scalability and this is the major reason why IP networks have been deployed almost everywhere including Antarctica and International Space Station. Until recently, media vendors have been contending to dominate IP while end- users have wanted the industry to one set of standard when it comes to media distribution over IP.

Thankfully, The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE®) has come up with the SMPTE ST 2110 Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks standards suite which promises to simplify broadcasters journey towards leveraging a common IP-based distribution mechanism. The best part about SMPTE ST 2110 is that it offers seamless interoperability while providing a robust foundation needed to accelerate the adoption of IP-based video dissemination. Another aspect that differentiates SMPTE ST 2110 is timing. The standard allows broadcasters to separately route and divide audio, video and other data over IP networks in real time for live production, playout, media scheduling and so on. This feature helps broadcasters to simplify actions such as subtitles, teletext, captions and process multiple audio languages at the same time.

The future of media distribution will be dictated by a combination of dedicated media-grade fibre network and cutting-edge compressed video transfer over the Internet, supported to the last mile by traditional satellite distribution.

Evolution Of The Live Video Production Value Chain: Dawn Of A New Normal

In the last decade alone, live video experience has made huge strides with the introduction of ultra-high definition (UHD) TV in 2012 and its subsequent progress to 8K. Apart from the proliferation of camera technology, advancements in digital video imaging have had a major role to play in the evolution of video capture resolutions.

The Changing Face of the Production Industry: A New Normal

Like most other sectors, the media and production industry suffered a severe operational and economic blow with the COVID-19 outbreak. However, it is also one of the few sectors that has witnessed a sudden massive growth in consumption during the pandemic. With a captive audience of stay-at-home consumers, media usage has expectedly witnessed an immense growth rate during the pandemic.

In order to deal with this new status quo and maintain business continuity, broadcaster and production companies are transitioning towards remote production models that are less resource intensive. This trend has, in turn, fast-tracked the widespread adoption of technology that was charted for popularization in the next few years.

The shift is expected to have long-term impacts that will extend to a post-COVID-19 world. With the pandemic restricting the movement of personnel and equipment, it could prove to be the gateway towards the development of cleaner, more efficient production and delivery models of live content.

The Rise of Remote Production

One of the most promising long-term impacts of the pandemic on the media and broadcasting industry has been the widespread adoption of remote production, also referred to as at-home production or REMI (remote integration). This revolutionary concept leverages technology to decouple large parts of the outside broadcasting (OB) model and re-edit or mix feeds at a location away from the site. It has been executed before for Tier 1 sporting events, with one of the earliest examples being the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil.

The rise of remote production has been a direct result of a growing need for content owners to produce tier-1 and tier-2 content, while simultaneously improving operational margins and digital user lifetime engagement rates. Traditional live production workflows are often not capable of facilitating these goals. Their dependency on legacy OB vans and technical personnel  combined with a high set-up configuration cost makes it an expensive affair.

Transportation of equipment and production crew across location further increases the overhead expenses and logistical complexity of traditional production processes. Besides being a cost intensive approach, traditional live production also requires dedicated deployment of skilled resources at any given location. This imposes a geographical restriction on the number of events that a dedicated crew can support. These factors make traditional production workflows an inefficient option to cater to the evolving needs of modern content consumerism.

The Advantages of REMI

Remote production, on the other hand, allows broadcasters to leverage a scalable and efficient live production process. REMI provides broadcasters and production crews with the potential for optimizing live production while cutting back on travelling headcount and equipment transport.

Reduces the cost of production

Working on a REMI workflow does not require live content providers to have dedicated on-site technical crews, skilled production resources, and large OB vans. Instead, it only requires video capture equipment and camera crew to be present at the venue. This facilitates a significant improvement in efficient utilization of onsite production equipment and centralized production studio infrastructure.

Allows flexibility

By reducing the number of resources required in a single venue, the central production crew creates the opportunity to cover more content from various venues. This was exhibited by a Swedish broadcasting company during the London 2012 Olympics. By utilizing a remote production workflow, they were able to deploy more reporters and camera crews to the venue. This resulted in producing nearly double the amount of content compared to previous Olympics.

Enables the production of enriched content

By designating the central broadcast facility for production purposes, broadcasters can gain direct access to central archives and other in-house resources enabling production of richer content. Leveraging uncompressed or lightweight compression production methodologies, REMI can help significantly improve the quality of the final production. Moreover, access to raw, unproduced content at the central studio can facilitate the efficient production and live publishing of multi-platform content creation.

Drives corporate sustainability goals

REMI’s reduced need for travel and shipping of equipment makes it more environment-friendly and reduces carbon footprint. The broadcast and media industry has been often been dubbed one of the worst when it comes to being eco-friendly. However, with remote production reducing the transport burden, the future looks sustainable. Sporting organizations, too, have expressed their commitment to reduce their carbon footprint in the near future. For instance, Formula 1 announced a sustainability plan that targets a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030. Similarly, FIFA has announced a carbon neutral 2022 World Cup tournament and the Bundesliga club Hoffenheim has committed to go carbon neutral., One of the ways FIFA plans to cut back on their carbon load is by leveraging energy-efficient equipment and offsetting emissions.

The results

Use Cases: Remote Production in Action

The London 2012 Olympics and the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup are only a few instances where REMI has been successfully used. Here are a few more real-world applications of remote production in the live production value chain.

The Indian Premier League (IPL)

Ever since its launch in 2008, the IPL has gained prominence across the cricketing community. Today, the Twenty-20 league style tournament features 60 matches played over a span of less than 50 days. The IPL’s 2018 season marked the beginning of remote production for the international-scale tournament. The tight schedule between consecutive matches spread across the length and bread of the country can be a difficult challenge to overcome. However, using a remote production ecosystem, the broadcasters were able to seamlessly cover the tournament while significantly cutting down on costs.

MotoGP

The year 2018 also saw the MotoGP right holder, Dorna Sports, expand their remote production model to increase the reach of the high-octane motorsports event. Unlike cricket, the MotoGP grand prix is a much more fast-paced sport with action unravelling in the blink of an eye. Each week the track location shifts to a new country. Traditional production architecture requires the crew to dismantle and replicate the infrastructure for each race in a new location within days. By moving to a remote production framework, the sport was  able to significantly cut back on the costs. In order to maintain a seamless exhilarating viewing performance, each MotoGP race leverages  superfast connectivity to their central production hub in Barcelona.

Spectrum of Production Type

One of the most recent prominent applications of cloud-based production is Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. As a result, broadcast engineers will have the liberty of choosing from a range of remote broadcasting services supported by the cloud to support their activities at the venue. This allows them to bypass the cost and effort-intensive practice of building customized temporary physical remote production infrastructure that would eventually need to be dismantled. The cloud support not only provides broadcasters with the necessary infrastructure but also improves the production values and productivity for innovative OTT as well as linear production teams.

This cloud is an example of how moving video editing and distribution workflows to the cloud can help broadcasters significantly lower the costs of developing high-quality video content. 

Transitioning to a REMI Production Environment

Remote production is not a new concept. But its widespread implementation is still at a nascent stage, with most content owners only opting for REMI production environment solutions for large-scale live events such as the FIFA World Cup, Formula 1, Olympics, and Bundesliga. The current trend within the live video production sector demonstrates an inclination for a hybrid model approach that operates on a mix of on-site and remote production workflows.

The efforts to make a complete shift from on-site to remote production have been progressively explored during the past few years. The two most discernible stages of transitioning from a completely on-site production to a completely remote production model are outside broadcast (OB) vans and Portable broadcasting units. While OB vans are an iconic feature of live production, it is still subject to some of the restrictions of an on-site production workflow such as the deployment of skilled production personnel to a specific location. PBUs, on the other hand, are an upgrade from the OB van architecture of remote live production. In contrast to OB vans, PBUs rely exclusively on fiber-based transmission. This eliminates the restrictions of satellite bandwidth and allows higher quality and quantity of data and AV feeds to be sent in real-time to a centralized production facility. However, fiber-based transmission also necessitates an encoding-decoding mechanism. Encoders receive feeds from the venue and compress them into a smaller, encrypted format to be sent over both satellite and high-speed fiber internet to the central production facility.

REMI is the future of live production workflows. However, there are several challenges that broadcasters need to overcome in order to deliver high-quality content to viewers. For instance, broadcasters need to ensure minimal end-to-end latency for live broadcasts. This delay could arise due to network delay, video processing and coding delay, and latencies stemming from production switches and video routers. Synchronization of audio and video feeds is a critical factor in maintaining a high quality of service (QoS).

Digital-Native Media: The Rapid Ascent

The past decade has seen an influx of digital-native media companies which have thrived completely online. These are companies that have scaled up without the legacy infrastructure that their traditional counterparts have long relied on (and now have to wean themselves off).

Overview

The proliferation of digital-native media companies can be largely attributed to shifting demographics and consumption patterns. Today, millennials often dictate the trends and technologies of the time as they form a large part of the consumer base. As a generation, they gravitate towards digital platforms to access information on the go. This not only enables them to control what they consume but also lets them share their choicest picks with friends. It is little wonder then that millennials end upspending far less time and money on traditional linear and recorded media than online services.

As content consumption patterns skew towards purely digital channels, digital-native media houses seem set to rule the roost. The adaptive capabilities of such enterprises lend them a competitive edge over their legacy counterparts.

So, what should decision-makers at traditional broadcasters take away from their pure-play digital rivals?

Achieving Equilibrium: The Digital Platform Goldrush

New-age media services offer features such as multi-screen access, interactivity, and video-on-demand (VoD). But above all that, they have empowered consumers with something they’ve always prized: choice.

The bidirectionality of digital platforms has been key to elevating consumer choice. Through the exchange of data, digital native media companies can draw deeper insights into consumer’s choices.While companies can leverage multiple touch points to collect data, one of the effective ways to achieve this by getting the users to create an account with them on their platform. Many platforms incentivize the account creation process with free trials or early access to new content in exchange for user information and usage data.

In most cases, the platforms leverage technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize services through a comprehensive analysis of the viewer’s actions and choices within the platform. This informs user-driven content taxonomy and genre definitions, semantic-driven recommendations, and emotional journey predictions, all of which are key to customer retention.

And this is not just about generating custom recommendations. Capturing granular user data enables digital platforms to also upsell services and drive programmatic ad sales.

So, what are traditional broadcasters doing to keep their head above the water?It is neither feasible for them to completely eschew their existing processes and infrastructure,nor is it essential. A hybrid business model that sustains both traditional, as well as digital media,could well be a sustainable option in the long run.

Consider the case of an India-based traditional broadcaster, Zee Entertainment Enterprises. They had made their first attempt at launching an OTT service with Ditto TV way back in 2012. At that point,the average internet speeds were comparatively slower, and the concept proved to be way ahead of its time. They took another stab at it in 2016 with OZEE, an advertisement-based VOD service, but failed to make a mark in a by-then cluttered OTT space. Finally, Zee consolidated both the platforms to offer Zee5 which hosted original content alongside regular linear TV content in 12 languages. This was in tandem with the existing network of 45 linear TV channels offered by Zee.

This may serve as a template for traditional broadcasters where the dichotomy coexists in the form of two completely different entities and management. The existing structures of traditional broadcasters can be remodeled, rather than done away with completely, and a hybrid-model might be the ideal way to get the best of both worlds.

The Era of Consolidation in Digital Media

The success of a digital media platform depends on a few key aspects. Having a repository of quality content as well as production capabilities are the most important considerations for primary production studios and content-right holders. Additionally, having a robust digital distribution infrastructure, wide customer reach and the capability to deliver a seamless user experience like tech giants, ultimately dictates a media platforms profitability and ability to garner user satisfaction.

That being said,established organizations across sectors like Media, Telecom and Technology are increasingly joining forces to form a cohesive unit that is OTT-ready. Take the AT&T-TimeWarner merger as an example where a Telco leveraged its existing network to partner with Warner Media, a production house. Other similar examples exist where a larger content production company has acquired cable networks (Disney’s acquisition of Fox-Star studios).

Major cloud service providers like Amazon (Prime Video) and Google (YouTube) have already made their marks. It is further reported that Microsoft will leverage its Azure cloud platform to team up with the NBA and create a direct-to-consumer streaming  platform with personalized game broadcasts.

Navigating the Dynamics of a Digital Shift

A shift to digital must be smart and strategic to be successful. Given the two distinct forms of Internet networks (IPTV and OTT), there are quite a few things traditional broadcasters should consider while testing the waters of digital media.

The first is setting up IP-TV infrastructure. This can be achieved through IP-based contribution and distribution models. By converting the feed to IP, the broadcast can be carried over to the production center from any remote location over the internet. With mild compression, it becomes possible to deliver multiple parallel feeds.

This model removes the remote-broadcast constraints of legacy contribution circuits that earlier, were limited to a single circuit of contribution and added a significant cost. Broadcasters also often provide simultaneous feeds to the remote location. This can be achieved with greater ease on networked fiber.

For instance, France Telecom gained 200,000 IPTV subscribers within three years of launch along with its traditional linear cable channels. Buoyed by the success, they were able to offer more than 200 premium channels along with partnering with other media groups to offer premium content.

However, adding digital offerings means additional pressure on bandwidth. And to address extensive bandwidth requirements, broadcasters must look towards innovative technology. A 100G media backbone is capable of UHD 4K video transmission in real-time. It also enables broadcasters to streamline the technical aspects of video production. By accommodating multiple cameras, commentary, and real-time editing, a 100G network can change the game with unmatched bandwidth reliability, and performance.

The next step includes looking for a reliable cloud platform. As the bedrock of network-based service distribution, broadcast-cloud technology enablesthe availability of end-to-end broadcasting solutions. Broadly, there are two prime subsections of a cloud-based broadcast:

– The use of web-scale suppliers for hosting the content and the delivery over IP
– Successfully moving content to the cloud for production and distribution. This takes market dynamics into account with respect to workflow, formatting, and customer demand.

An ideal cloud platform unlocks multiple benefits: It simplifies the execution of several operations across the media value chain. It allows broadcasters achieve faster turnaround time in editing and distribution of high-quality content directly from a remote location. From adding metadata and transcoding the content file into multiple formats, to finally distributing the content from cloud translates to spending less on equipment and software.

Additionally,cloud services offer a unified platform that provides a holistic view of operations through insightful analytics on consumer behavior and trends. Cloud adoption also entails shifting the primary cost factor from Capex to Opex.

Countering Challenges

Setting up a digital broadcast system comes with its own set of challenges varying in capacity. From infrastructure to security, we shall discuss the challenges that are to be accounted for.

Network Infrastructure:

 

Like with any new technology, it is of paramount importance that the infrastructure components of an IP-based transmission are well understood and carefully selected. Just like SDI, there are two main aspects: routing and transmission,even though IP routing is comparatively less expensive and more flexible. Another consideration is routing through overlay networks that offer the possibility of augmenting IP routing while helping broadcasters maintain Quality of Service (QoS).

Security:

The growing breadth and complexity of the consumption path opens several entry points for threats and security attacks. Therefore, the scope of security will need to accommodate:

– Viewer data troves – Increase the focus on data privacy to stop spillage.
– Data transmission security: Encrypt and authenticate data in transit across multi-network layers.
– Cloud Security
– The CSPs are directly responsible for the basic security of the platform.
– The enterprise is responsible for data security, encryption and network configuration

Clearly, selecting the right  cloud partner is one of the most crucial aspects of any digital transformation and this is no exception. Building up a proper understanding with respect to Network security and content will be instrumental in establishing a successful endeavour.

A key aspect of cloud security is holistic visibility and control over the cloud workload. Decision-makers would have to do well to ensure data security at their end. Poor data security measures can have far-reaching ramifications including operational disruption, reputation damage and compliance breach. 

Additionally, infrastructure offerings like IaaS or PaaS can create further selection dilemma. On one hand, choosing an IaaS will provide organizations with high flexibility of platform-based operations while selecting a PaaS will limit flexibility but provide an established ecosystem that will be conducive for rapid application building and deployment.

Therefore, the traditional linear media companies should certainly look to expand into the digital platform as it is more than a short-term trend and is here to stay. However, they should keep the following in mind:

– They need not forego their existing infrastructure and content.They should instead look into a business model that lets them explore the best of both worlds.
– Digital services may include setting up IPTV network or venturing into a direct OTT platform. A key element will be reliable cloud services.
– Challenges pertaining to the network infrastructure and security must be kept in mind before making any business decision. In fact, the challenges shall decide which direction to take for each traditional content provider.
– They may also look into partnering with existing players in the domain. For instance, Telcos partnering with media houses for content and with tech giants for infrastructure. Decisions are going to be key to the ultimate success of any digital venture.

Clearly, grappling with the infrastructure complexities and added security challenges make the transition to digital services, an uphill battle. Incumbents could save themselves a significant amount of effort, resources, stress, and time, by skipping the trial-and-error phase and instead partnering with an expert.

The results

Partnership: The Key to Success

Traditional media houses need to plan a tactical phased out shift to align parts of their operations with the requirements of OTT media services.

The essential key components that define a successful network infrastructure transition are:

  • Control and visibility over media operations and workflow
  • Open and fast connectivity across all operational/network endpoints
  • Secure and unified operational streams

Accounting for the requirements and subsequent challenges for a digital shift can be a daunting proposition for traditional broadcasters. Sharing responsibilities with experienced transition partners like Tata Communications can ease the process.