Rafael Castillo, general manager/vice president EMEA and Latin America at TVU Networks talks to TVBEurope about how the company’s technology is helping fans watch all the action from Qatar.
What is your company’s role?
TVU Networks is providing full support to customers and broadcasters in Qatar. TVU Media Services will assist broadcasters covering the tournament with live transmission options, remote production capabilities and on-site support. TVU Media Services’ remote production solution provides a complete service for reporters and producers to conduct remote interviews from their home or studio with coaches, players, locals and other guests using an on-site camera crew, studio or kiosk.
TVU One transmitters are the optimal answer for live shots outside of game coverage, such as interviews, athlete profiles and exploring the event venue.
Also available from TVU Media Services is the TVU Anywhere mobile broadcasting app, which enables reporters to produce high-quality live shots and leverage TVU’s integrated production solutions. In addition, TVU Watch Party and TVU Remote Commentator are available from TVU Media Services for live coverage in Qatar. TVU Watch Party captures live, broadcast-quality images with low latency from multiple parties (fans, athlete’s family) in an easy-to-use setup that’s compatible with a broadcaster’s current workflow. With TVU Remote Commentator on-air talent can call the action from anywhere there’s an internet connection.
What technology are you deploying on the project?
Broadcast service provider, Total Media Cast (TMC), will use the TVU Grid video distribution platform as a fully-redundant IP streaming solution to deliver signals over the cloud to media outlets, along with any other broadcasters. TVU Grid is an open platform for live and archived rights-enabled video content from trusted media organisations around the world.
TMC is partnering with TVU Networks to live broadcast Fan Zones from the 31 countries competing in Qatar. This will be TMC’s biggest live coverage event, providing access to real-time live celebrations and fan gatherings for use on all platforms. In Qatar, TMC will offer a variety of media services including live studios, news reporters, SNG and IP streaming, on-site engineering, and ready-to-air news packages.
A large Latin American broadcaster is using 17 TVU One mobile transmitters for its coverage during and also in the lead-up to the event. Before the official tournament start, three of its TVU Ones will be used to transmit pre-event coverage from Dubai and Italy.
What are the stand-out USPs of your company’s role in terms of sustainability, cloud usage, remote production?
Flawless IP transmission requires bottomless bandwidth because broadcasts can’t crash because of insufficient signals. We’re 100 per cent confident in the performance of our live transmission technology over 5G networks. With 5G connectivity, broadcasters achieve faster transmission, ultra-low latency and greater bandwidth, which increases video quality and enables more reliable transmission. Our TVU One mobile transmitters are so reliable from any location, they remove the need for costly satellite transmission.
With our experience in Tokyo during the Summer Games, setting up a support network for our customers, and our work for the Winter Games in Beijing, we know how to deliver everything broadcasters need for a high-profile event like this. There are specific challenges with live sports coverage in different countries. Creative approaches such as deploying cloud- and IP-based solutions can provide the flexibility needed to produce compelling coverage without the typical on-site access.
TVU enables its broadcast partners to expand their global reach in an unprecedented way. Together with TMC, we’re helping media outlets simultaneously bring the Fan Zone experience from 31 countries to their viewers, with an easy cloud-based solution, where any live feed can be taken to digital or traditional SDI format in one click.
TVU One mobile transmitters feature:
– 5G transmission with unlimited 5G data
– 1080p or optional 4K HDR ready
– Sub-second latency
– The aggregation of all available data connections – cellular, 5G, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and satellite – transmitting broadcast-quality video from any location
The TVU Search allows customers to use speech, text, and facial recognition to locate the precise video needed – down to the very frame – in seconds rather than hours manually searching for feeds. Users select the segments they want and can easily clip and download them in real-time for immediate sharing on social media or for story production.
