Evertz

Technology leaders from Fox Corp., Sinclair, Ross Video and Evertz will discuss how technology, IT and security leaders at media companies and broadcast technology companies are working together to secure the supply chain in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s Cybersecurity for Broadcasters Retreat, set for Oct. 26 at NAB Show New York. Register here.

Most engineers feel the cloud isn’t quite ready to handle the dynamic nature and complex timing requirements of local stations, which frequently go live, and concerns linger over centralizing their content in cloud storage in case of connectivity failures or other emergencies. Pictured: Encompass provides multichannel playout services from its operations centers in Atlanta, London and Singapore.

TV stations are still putting most of their dollars into on-prem hardware for master control functions, with their cloud investments aimed at OTT and disaster recovery. Pictured: Imagine recently partnered with Vizrt to integrate its cloud playout software with Vizrt’s live production tools.

For Fox’s 10^th Super Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., this Sunday, the broadcaster will integrate modular “flypacks” built for the FIFA World Cup along with new augmented reality graphics. Above, State Farm Stadium and the Fox pregame set (Christian Petersen/Getty Images).

Sinclair’s Ernie Ensign says while there are numerous long-term upshots to adopting cloud switching, the group is cautiously taking its time with multiple proofs-of-concept for at least another year. Meanwhile, at least one vendor is pursuing a dramatically different approach to cloud switching. Above, Vizrt hosted a day at a beach house to show local producers how easy live production in the cloud can be.

The fully remote production launches tonight with a new mobile fleet of 16 that’s producing the games in 1080p with High Dynamic Range with around 250 people onsite for each TNF game. (Courtesy of Prime Video)

Fox Corp. CTO and President of Digital Paul Cheesbrough and Jeff Dow, its EVP, media & broadcast operations, offered a rare glimpse into how the company built a new cloud-centric architecture that feeds all of its broadcast and digital streams in a TVNewsCheck webinar last week.

Whether offered as a standalone unit or combined with other components of the broadcast workflow, multiviewers are tackling a mix of formats and a higher volume of content to monitor. Above, Studio Berlin uses the Apantac KVM over IP solution for its multiviewers.

With less hardware to demonstrate and a much-reduced exhibition floor footprint, the first post-pandemic NAB Show pointed the way to a future where software demos of cloud, IP and hybrid environments have become the new norm.

Station groups lag behind larger networks in investing in new IP routing systems despite interoperability hurdles being overcome and IP gear prices falling. But the new infrastructure may end up being more horsepower than they need. Above, a control room at NBCUniversal’s Boston Media Center in Needham, Mass. The facility handles four businesses in the market — WBTS (NBC), WNEU (Telemundo), New England Cable News and NBC Sports Boston — on one common IP-based technology platform.

Teed up by riveting playoffs, NBC will rely on the same core technical setup it employs for its regular-season NFL games when it broadcasts Super Bowl 56 on Sunday. “The more you can stick with what got you to where you are, the better off you are,” says Drew Esocoff, the big game’s director. Above, the Infinity Screen by Samsung in SoFi Stadium (Photo: Will Navarro).

Broadcasters are wending through a C-band repack now operating on an accelerated timeline with completion slated for Dec. 2023. The process is humming along much more smoothly than the RF repack that preceded it. Above, Sinclair Broadcast Group HEVC uplink gear.

A first look at Disney’s new Digital Center 3 (DC3) in The Woodlands, Texas, a massive, 187,000-square-foot plant consolidating playout, transmission and media operations. (Sam Exley photo)

Broadcasters are calling on multiviewers to work in traditional, hybrid and IP environments, monitoring many different formats and high numbers of input and output signals. Vendors say they’re keeping up, while advancing in virtualization, compression and resolution. Above, TAG’s probing, monitoring and multiviewing platform for real-time video.

New camera angles and innovative AR graphics will mark Tampa’s Super Bowl LV with a sparser crowd allowing for novel camera positions and experimentation.

Remotely working broadcasters are increasingly seeing the advantages of IP routing systems to easily control equipment and monitor feeds. Those who adopted IP routers prior to the pandemic were “well ahead of the game,” says one vendor. Above, the BBC’s SMPTE 2110 facility in Cardiff, Wales.

AI- and cloud-based captioning systems offer ever-improving accuracy for broadcasters, while the real incentive to adopt them is dramatically lower costs than manual captioning workflows.

The pandemic created an opportunity to stress-test distributed and virtualized workflows right now that stations and networks were already considering for the future. The industry’s shift may now be ahead of schedule because of it. Above, NBC Universal’s Boston Media Center is one of the latest all-IP broadcast facilities.

Costs are inhibiting a flood of 4K sports production, but 1080p HDR offers numerous practical advantages, among them that the improvement in picture quality is more readily apparent to consumers than the gain from 4K resolution. Above, Sony tested an 8K camera at the Sony Open in Hawaii last year, but doesn’t expect 8K to be used for regular sports production for several years.

Fox will use more than 100 manned and robotic cameras to cover the game, including 24 “Super-Motion” cameras to support replays; 20 goal-line and end-line pylon cameras; wireless “Line to Gain” cameras that travel up and down the field in alignment with the first-down marker; and two different SkyCam systems which operate at different elevations. It will also use 72 field mics, as well as wireless player mics, to capture game audio. And that’s just scratching the surface.

Audio over IP (AoIP) networking technology is experiencing higher adoption among TV broadcasters, prompted in part by a new transport standard ensuring more interoperability. Many of those embracing IP no longer think of audio production as an island, but as connected networks prompting interoperability to become an important factor. Above, SSL’s System T AoIP production system runs on COTS hardware like Cisco switches.

Larger networks and sports broadcasters are in the vanguard of IP routing, but local stations are following more slowly. Business needs are driving the pace of transition, and HD-SDI routers are far from disappearing. NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations’ new facility for WCAU-WWSI, its Philadelphia duopoly, uses Grass Valley control software and IPG (IP gateway) cards working with Cisco switches to bridge the HD-SDI and IP worlds.

Multiviewers are in the midst of a rapid evolutionary phase spurred by the proliferation of signals that need monitoring and the IP transition. As the need for control across multiviewer screens increases, the technology is also becoming more integrated with other pieces of equipment.

The global news giant has built the first major broadcast facility to be completely based on the SMPTE 2110 IP networking standard. “The idea behind going IP was to get everything across CNN’s facilities connected,” says Bob Hesskamp, EVP of broadcast engineering for Turner. “The other reason we did this was we wanted to build a facility that wasn’t out of date on Day One, that was software-configurable, expandable and easier to make changes to.”

Just over a year after publication of SMPTE’s 2110 suite of standards for handling professional media over managed IP networks, the TV industry’s focus has switched from how to transport the data to refining the technology supporting the standard.