Sky Deutschland has collaborated with O2 to broadcast Germany’s top handball match over 5G.
The Liqui Moly Handball Bundesliga game between SG Flensburg-Handewitt and
This included Viz Vectar Plus for switching, Viz Libero for sports analysis, and Viz Engine and Viz Arc for graphics, leveraging the NDI Bridge feature to bring the programme feed from the cloud back to Sky HQ in Munich.
Sky Deutschland also employed a mixture of broadcast and mobile phone cameras using a simple 5G transmission, powered by LiveU, to move the action from the playing field into the cloud with near zero latency.
In addition to the TV broadcast, the game was streamed on Sky Deutschland’s website and YouTube channel.
The announcement is the latest in 5G trials by Sky Deutschland, following the successful test of its multiview app from RB Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena.
Alessandro Reitano, Sky Deutschland SVP of sport production, said: “After the successful first live broadcast last year, we were once again demonstrating the potential of using 5G in live sports with another end-to-end production.
“Together with our partner O2 and with the support of Vizrt, we were bringing the handball action very close to the TV viewer in unprecedented 5G transmission quality, allowing fans to immerse themselves particularly deeply in the live action in the arena.”
Daniel Url, Vizrt global head of product management, added: “For the first time ever, someone is doing an end-to-end 5G live production leveraging the brand new NDI Bridge and our cutting edge graphics, analysis and production tools – all in the cloud. We are extremely proud to work with Sky on this boundary-pushing production.”