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STADIUMS
STORYTELLING PERSPECTIVES Last November, Sky Sport in Germany presented a Handball- Bundesliga game between SG Flensburg-Handewitt and Füchse Berlin via O2’s high-end 5G network. This was the first live broadcast in Europe via pure 5G, and the game was also streamed on skysport.de and the Sky Sport YouTube channel. Sky Deutschland senior vice president of sport production, Alessandro Reitano, told a follow- up webinar hosted by production partner Vizrt: “The handball combines two worlds. We are looking at the evolution of the 5G network and how it can help us contribute and distribute content in a different way. Therefore, 5G in broadcast is needed. This is new – and I’m proud we’ve been able to work with the handball federation.” In 2020, Sky Deutschland produced a handball match end- to-end with 5G, where 5G was the enabler from a distribution point of
view. The team used 12 smartphones in parallel with a traditional broadcast. This lean, flexible set- up enabled them to explore the use of smartphones with a new perspective for storytelling. “We saw that it worked, but the quality was unexpected: not because of 5G, but the smartphones. They are consumer devices,” said Reitano. “This year, we said, ‘let’s replicate a traditional broadcast in the cloud’, using four broadcast cameras and four smartphones – an eight-camera production, end-to-end. Again, we’re proud to be working with a federation that says, ‘yes, we want to be pioneers by doing something new’. We can produce lower-tier sports to a higher level. “O2, our 5G operator, provided a dedicated 5G campus network. We saw that, with smartphones, we could create a totally fresh perspective: new angles to engage fans in the stands with live crosses, where they are watching the match.
“Normally,” Reitano continues, “you cannot get such emotions in a live production. Streaming traditional broadcast cameras with LiveU units, a Vizrt NDI production backbone and 5G, we were able to keep the quality level to that of your established broadcast. This was something new and powerful.” 5G Gipfel AR, the augmented reality app of Eyecandylab, provided extra information about the handball match and players from both sides, available for Android and iOS. With 5G, we are seeing industries transform. Reimagining live events is a great demonstration of its power. Working together – enabled by high bandwidth and the potential to guarantee that bandwidth – telco providers, federations, stadium owners and content rights holders can unlock advancements for Tier 1 coverage. This can provide a way for Tier 2 and 3 sports to be televised with higher production values, in a more sustainable way.
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MAY/JUNE 2022 FEED:XTREME
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