EPMG streams marathon lIve via mobile transmitters strapped on motorcycles

At Endless Potential Media Group (EPMG) live streaming professional video is one of our sweet spots. We’ve had great success with portable wireless transmitters that reduce the cost, complexity and inflexibility of traditional video contribution from remote locations. Case in point: the 2014 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (STWM). To cover the event, we deployed eight Dejero LIVE+ mobile transmitters to provide live, high-quality HD feeds for streaming to web and mobile viewers.
 
Dejero has put the TV truck in a box. Their LIVE+ mobile transmitters can be set up in seconds to broadcast live video at a fraction of the cost of a truck. We mounted transmitters on motorcycles that traversed the entire course with the athletes. That allowed us to stream live right from the heart of the marathon to give fans a “you are there” experience that was much more mobile, immediate and engaging than traditional event coverage.
 
Working with mobile production company Innovation 2, we employed a dual-team strategy with a remote broadcast facility based at the race headquarters in downtown Toronto and a studio team at the EPMG broadcast center 17.4 miles away. We provided start-to-finish coverage of the race, with commentators in the studio tracking the progress of the runners. Camera operators on motorcycles tracked the lead runners throughout the race and supplied live HD footage directly from the course. Each transmitter sent the feed using cellular networks to the broadcast center, where four LIVE+ servers received the video streams and processed them for uploading to the STWM website and the Canada Running Series YouTube channel.

The event was a resounding success for EPMG and our client, STWM. Most importantly, our partnership with Dejero has given us a model for live streaming of large outdoor events that we can apply to many different types of live events – marathons, triathlons, even boat races. Using the same dual-team approach, we can place a remote broadcast team anywhere in the world and obtain reliable and high-quality video, even in areas where cellular coverage can be a challenge. The Dejero technology is able to bond any available combination of 3G/4G/LTE cellular, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and portable satellite connections, and the system automatically and continuously adapts to network conditions to ensure consistently high video quality.

The ability to stream live HD coverage to the Internet allowed us to share the STWM with running enthusiasts all over the world. That kind of reach would have been difficult, if not impossible, with traditional television broadcasting. With the Dejero mobile transmission technology, we were able to broadcast in a cost effective way without ever sacrificing video quality.
 
Mark Hortobagyi is the Executive Producer at Endless Potential Media Group, based in Toronto, Ontario.