Today, live sport broadcasts are the content most prized by television viewers
and therefore by TV networks alike. Games coverage has evolved from four
cameras to configurations of more than 20 cameras to enhance the spectacle.
The costs of rights to broadcast sports and live events are increasing and new
platforms for other media such as mobile TV, interactive television or the internet
are on the increase.
Outside broadcast (OB) vans used to cover live events are adopting technology
and techniques needed to adapt to the ever changing world of television.
2012 was a watershed year for the OB sector worldwide. The European Football
Championships in Poland and the Ukraine; the London Olympics, Paralympics
and Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in the UK; the Winter X games in
Aspen; the French Open and Wimbledon Tennis; Super 15 Rugby; various cricket
and golf tournaments and the list goes on.
This long list gives an indication of both the number and diversity of sporting
events covered by broadcasters and the demand for OB facilities is illustrated by
Euro Media’s UK subsidiary CTV’s OBs being involved in six different events
simultaneously on the opening day of the Olympics, including cricket in the
Netherlands, four golf competitions and a music concert on mainland Europe.
Euro Media had 17 OB vans at the Olympic Games opening ceremony alone.
Barry Johnstone, managing director of CTV and chief operating officer of the Euro
Media Group, says the OB market in 2012 was “very healthy’ for all leading
suppliers and adds that, for CTV, it was the biggest in company history.
Broadcast Technology Solutions (BTS) in Germany has been in business for 80
years and recently delivered its 555th OB van to Qatar Television. BTS maintains
that no production company can afford to keep a costly OB van in the garage
just because it cannot be used for a certain type of production. Not long ago OB
vans were usually built for a particular production purpose such as sport events
or shows or other cultural events.
Multiple requirements
Today, OB vans are designed to cover a big variety of production requirements.
They must be flexible enough to adapt to the changing requirements from a
technical and operational point of view.
Economic constraints and new technical requirements have led to a change of
the design concept of OB vans over the past few years. The emergence of high
definition TV (HDTV) broadcasts worldwide, with a high content of live sport
coverage, have created a strong requirement for multi-standard OB vans able to
produce (HD) programmes, while still being able to produce standard definition
(SD) programmes for the change-over period.
China Beijing Television’s recent delivery of a stereoscopic 3D production and
distribution van is testament to that philosophy. In this instance, Sony
Professional Solutions developed a full HD 3D TV OB van architectured around a
unified 2D plus stereoscopic 3D workflow. The new truck was designed as a
general purpose unit which will primarily be used for sports production, enabling
the network to cost effectively capture and broadcast sporting events in 2D and
stereoscopic 3D. The state-of-the-art OB truck is equipped with 10 HD cameras,
including two Sony 3D cameras and two super slow motion cameras. Six of the
cameras can be combined to create three 3D cameras.
3D and OB
A big discussion point for OBs in particular is whether 3D is going to remain a
speciality service or a novelty, or will it become mainstream in the future?
Sky channels across Europe continue to push 3D technology, but stereoscopy
was dealt a considerable blow when Canal Plus dropped its 3DTV channel earlier
in 2012, although the broadcaster has not ruled out resurrecting it in the future.
Some OB companies, notably Telegenic in the UK, have made a serious
commitment to 3D. They have four dedicated 3D trucks in service.
In early 2012, Norwegian facilities company OB-Team took delivery of the
country’s first 3D capable scanner. The 13.6m truck can accommodate 16 HD
cameras, and was built by Sony Professional Services working with UK systems
integrator Broadcast Networks, and OB-Team’s technical department.
Espen Frøysa, technical director at OB-Team, says that because the vehicle was
being built from scratch, it made sense to include 3D capability.
Malcolm Robinson, head of live production solutions at Sony Professional
Services, comments that the continuing appearance of such trucks shows that
3D stereoscopy for OB may be here to stay in Europe.
More toys
Providing support for HD productions and modern tapeless workflows has
dramatically increased the complexity and capabilities of modern OB vans. As
technology changes and developments in electronic design continually evolve,
equipment gets smaller, allowing engineers who plan OB van design to cram
more and more into their limited space. More space means more toys providing
the viewer with an enhanced viewing experience.
An increasing number of broadcasters are developing fibre networks connecting
venues such as stadiums, race tracks and athletic venues to their studios
sometimes hundreds of kilometres away. Fibre networks are helping transform
the OB van into a virtual remote office fully integrated in the overall IT,
production and studio infrastructure of the TV channel.
Remote production
In the US market fibre network technology has allowed fan based sporting
disciplines such as Nascar, NFL, Formula 1 and College Football see the
introduction of FanVision, a handheld controller that offers 10 channels of
information including the live video feed, multiple camera angles, instant replays,
real-time statistics and audio commentary via a dedicated in-venue broadcast
network linked to the OB facility covering the event.
Those who invest in remote production will benefit from the cost savings
associated with centralising production to the main facilities. All in all, this will
reduce cost and increase efficiency in editing and production. The fibre network
is a real alternative to satellite, where gaining access to capacity can be a
challenge. But the benefit is not only related to cost savings; it is also possible
to cover a larger number of live sports/musical events since the content
production is less costly due to new technology.
South Africa saw the potential of remote production methods used during its
hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. A north American broadcaster was able to
extend its national backbone in South Africa due to its investment in technology
that would guarantee 100% quality of service, low latency, and zero packet loss.
With this assurance, it allowed both the local production team to access content
and material in the US, as well as the post-production personnel in the US, to
access content in South Africa in real-time. This created a seamless workflow
over thousands of kilometres. The same network was used to distribute the live
feeds back to both the US and Latin America.
Such success stories are increasing in number within the broadcast industry, but
for the time being a production crew will most likely want to be around for the
major events to ensure that camera control is running smoothly, as issues
related to remote handling still occur.
OB crews are therefore probably needed at least for the next few years and the
OB market, it seems, will continue to flourish.
