Newsletter from 18/05/2018
Live TV Celebrates Extra Time During UEFA EURO 2016
The figures from across Europe underline the power of TV to bring people together around live events, especially the young audiences. Euro 2016 beat viewership records throughout Europe. Unsurprisingly, new records for the most-watched TV programme have been set in France and Portugal, the countries that made it to the final, but also in nations such as Poland and Iceland.
Live sports events such as the Euros are usually enjoyed on TV sets. However, TV is now available everywhere and on every screen, and more and more viewers can watch games on tablets, smartphones or computer screens – either live or on-demand. Data from European broadcasters suggests that the majority of streams on broadcasters’ websites were to catch-up and replay services that enabled fans to enjoy highlights from previous games.
The fully audited global figures for the matches will not be known for some time, but broadcasters are already confident that the numbers may surpass the 299 million viewers worldwide who watched the Spain-Italy final in 2012.
We estimate that more than 110 million people in Europe watched the final match, and that even excludes those who enjoyed the game in bars, fan zones, giant open-air gatherings and elsewhere … that’s a European equivalent of the Super Bowl!”
MOBILE PRODUCTION
Dome Productions Launches Latest 4K/UHD Truck, Pioneer
Pioneer had its maiden voyage on Saturday, July 9 for TSN, covering an MLS game at BMO Field in Toronto featuring the Toronto FC and the Chicago Fire. It will be a very busy summer ahead for Pioneer covering the Canadian Football League and MLS for TSN, amongst other selected sports and entertainment events for various broadcasters. Dome Productions became the very first production mobile vendor in North America to launch 4K/UHD with the Toronto Raptors broadcast live to the home in Canada on January 20, 2016. Dome also facilitated North America’s first ever 4K Entertainment Awards show, THE JUNOS, on April 3, 2016. Under a tight timeline of under three months to launch its first 4K/UHD broadcast, Dome is looking at facilitating up to 200 events to be produced in 4K/UHD in 2016, quite an achievement in the first year of 4K/UHD production.
HHB supplies audio equipment for new NEP UHD OB truck
Pacific is the first of four forthcoming UHD trucks for NEP UK, each of which will be similarly equipped. The new UHD trucks have been designed and built after a fire destroyed NEP UK’s Bracknell building and five trucks in November 2015. Now based at temporary offices nearby, NEP UK has equipped Pacific with a Genelec 5.1 system comprising of three 8351A SAM studio monitors, two 8330A SAM studio monitors and a 7060B studio subwoofer. Additionally, HHB is supplying 68 Wohler AMP1-16-M audio monitors to NEP. Each truck will have 15 audio monitors and the final eight audio monitors will be used in flyaway kits. Hooper said: “We used the AMP1-16-M audio monitor in our previous trucks Atlantic and Gemini and it’s a neat solution because of its size. It’s very compact but gives you all 16 channels of monitoring in a screen as well as displaying the video input.”
The Power of 6X Slo-Mo with MTVG’s 38 FLEX Mobile Unit
In addition to the six LDX 86 6X slo-mo cameras, 38 FLEX rolls with five LDX Premier HD cameras — all with Canon lenses (one 95X long lens, eight 72X long lenses, one 10 x 4.5 wide-angle lens, and three 17 x 7.6 HH ENG lenses). For Rangers baseball, the LDX 86s are located at tight center field, low first, low third, shooting down the first-base line, right field, and high-third. Although 38 FLEX was originally set to launch with Grass Valley K2 Dyno replay systems, the mobile unit ended up using four of EVS’s new 12-channel XT3 replay servers (16-channel embedded audio). The 12-channel units provide an optimal server for the LDX 6X slo-mo cameras, which require three replay channels apiece.
Ekstraklasa Live Park on Production With New OB Van by Broadcast Solutions
For Ekstraklasa Live Park the Streamline S12 is the first OB Van owned by the company directly. Previously using rented production tools Live Park decided to run its own OB Van and trusted in the services and designs of Broadcast Solutions GmbH in Germany. Key factors for Ekstraklasa Live Park for choosing an OB Van builder were compact design, short delivery time and reasonable costs. With this OB Van – member of the Streamline Family – the German company perfectly met the customer’s expectations. Marcin Serafin, COO with Ekstraklasa Live Park, on the decision to choose Broadcast Solutions: “We were looking for an experienced company which can guarantee top level quality. As Broadcast Solutions produced a lot of OB’s the last couple of years and the quality is proved by other clients we decided to cooperate with the company. Another very important aspect was the time of delivery. We only had 3 months for the complete project, and Broadcast Solutions did it just in time - without any delays!”
NEP Acquires Danish OB Firm DBlux
DBlux has provided OB, TV, sound, lighting and AV productions to clients throughout Scandinavia for more than 20 years. DBlux specializes in live broadcasts of sporting events and news coverage, and they are the largest supplier in Denmark of live transmissions to several national TV channels. DBlux will operate as NEP Denmark from the current facility in Aalborg, and will maintain its current staff. The Managing Director for NEP Denmark will be Mats Berggren, and daily operations will, as before, be led by Henrik Borup who will work in close cooperation with NEP Sweden.
STUDIO PRODUCTION
Ncam tracks its most challenging environment yet
Ncam, in collaboration with Vitec Videocom, has implemented its camera tracking system for Match TV, the new Russian broadcaster formed by the amalgamation of NTV+ and the outside broadcast specialist Panorama. The studio provided a unique set of challenges for Ncam which were comprehensively solved through on-site development, refining the product to meet the needs of all users. Match TV is a sports broadcaster, and built a studio in Ostankino, Moscow to provide the anchor for live events from across Russia and around the world. The studio is intensively used: often it is live on air for eight hours or more a day.
Robe DL7S Joins Zany World of Professor Nicolai & Dr. Beckand
Over 100 Robe moving lights including 40 x of the elegant new DL7S Profile ‘full spectrum’ LED luminaires … joined the craziness and mayhem of the latest series of “Professor Nicolai & Dr. Beckand” a popular, hilarious mad science based TV quiz show recorded in Aalsmeer studios in the Netherlands and broadcast on prime-time Dutch national channel, RTL4. The show was lit by Martin Beekhuizen of lighting and visual design practice Light-H-Art, with lighting equipment supplied by Eventec, a company based at the studios and a technical service provider for the majority of programmes created there. With over 100 Robe fixtures in Eventec’s regular rental stock, shows will often feature the brand’s moving lights!
KUSI-TV Improves HD News Production Quality with Hitachi Z-HD6000 Cameras
Owned by McKinnon Broadcasting, KUSI produces 60 hours of live newscasts each week, delivering the most local news of any station in its market. When the first-generation HD cameras used in its news studio became time-consuming and costly to maintain, KUSI-TV Chief Engineer Fred Swift sought replacements that would also improve the visual quality of their news productions. While the price-performance value and comprehensive feature set of the Z-HD6000 cameras were key considerations in the station’s choice, the picture quality produced by the cameras’ 2/3”, 2.6 megapixel MOS sensors and advanced digital signal processing won them over.
SPORT EVENTS
Eurovision successfully inaugurates a new range of services at Amsterdam2016
The European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam is part of a worldwide media rights agreement between European Athletics and the EBU which includes all major Championships. The host broadcaster, NOS, was present on-site with more than 80 cameras and 7 OB vans to produce this event, providing close to 50 hours of programming to rights-holders worldwide. A stream of the integrated feed was provided to viewers on the European Athletics website. Eurovision also offered access to all live isolated production feeds through a multi-feed streaming platform. Sports fans were able to experience the Championships across all platforms: radio, television, PC and mobile from any location in the world and at their convenience.
Let’s Go Racing – the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 with RTS!
RTS equipped six IMSP (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Productions) trucks, two NEP (North Eastern Production) vehicles, and several smaller video and RF hub trucks in the communications compound to live broadcast the 100th Indy 500. All race day communications relating to the actual production (camera cues, commercial breaks, specific camera shots, commentator comments) were supported on an RTS ADAM intercom. Six KP-5032 keypanels were located around the track in various camera and shot spotter locations, with two located in the track/event control room to enable seamless communications for a successful production of the anniversary event.
Robe Works with Winners at 2016 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships
The stage was key to the MTB World Championship action and was located near to the start and finish lines for the races. A special 14 minute time-sided Opening Ceremony show produced by Neon Heads and choreographed by Gabriela Vengřinovičová, was followed by a performance by Czech band Vojtěch Dyk & B-Side then nightly music concerts and daily presentations. The Opening Ceremony and other highlights were broadcast by Czech national TV channels and there was extensive live internet streaming of the high-octane bike and performance action. The stage lighting design by Michal Brna and Michal Schmidt took the bold move of not having a conventional onstage / upstage LED source ... instead, they decided to use Robe’s new Square the main ‘pixel‘ fixture and backdrop of the design.
The annual print directory PURE LIVE will be published prior to IBC!
PURE LIVE 2016 will cover:
Detailed descriptions of 24 new 4K/UHD OBVans from all around the world: Australia, China, Canada, Europe, United States.
Portraits of international system integrators, rental facilities and production houses
Case studies and reports highlighting our areas of focus: video, audio and lighting as well as the latest developments in sports and entertainment live-production: UEFA EURO - Adele - Le Mans - Royal Opera Stockholm - Formula E - Montreux Jazz - Trotting - PAC-12, to only name a few of the Highlights.
SHOW EVENTS
L-Acoustics Says Hello to the World’s Arenas with Adele
105 arena shows, multiple nights in virtually every venue (including six at Madison Square Garden, London’s O2 and the Los Angeles Staples Center) and every show sold out far in advance - Adele’s Live 2016 tour is big on both numbers and positive critical reviews. Those reviews have all focused on Adele’s voice. The production intentionally lacks dancers and hi-tech special effects to ensure the attention of every audience member is solely on Adele and her voice. In order to achieve that focus, sound provider Black Box Music provided an L-Acoustics K2 system. The show design dictated that audio equipment stay invisible, yet provide powerful, clear sound and, above all, be unfailingly reliable. As Front of House engineer Dave Bracey notes, “It’s a classy show and, even more than usual, nothing is allowed to go wrong.”
Robe Enjoys the Purpose of Bieber
Justin Bieber, one of the most universally recognized pop icons of the 21st century, is enjoying the commercial success and critical acclaim of his excellent fourth studio album, “Purpose”, the campaign for which currently includes an extensive world tour. Lighting for the tour has been designed by Cory FitzGerald with the rig including Robe Pointes plus two BMFL Spots which are being utilized as rear follow spots. It’s Cory’s first work for Bieber. When he came on-board, the production design created by production manager Chris Gratton and creative director Nick DeMoura was already evolving, together with video content produced by Michael Figge of Possible.
Clay Paky lights the poetry of Francesco de Gregori
Bergamo's Creberg theatre sold out. The show was full of genuine musical masterpieces: the first half promoted the singer's new album with songs crammed with Dylan's metaphors and rhetorical figures, fully translated into Italian, and the second half was devoted to his own verses, from "Rimmel" (Mascara) right up to the naive immortal flight of "Donna Cannone" (the Lady Cannonball). Francesco De Gregori, also known as Il Principe (the prince), immersed himself in the audience's applause in the middle of the stage, lit by two beam shapers on the first batten, while a set of Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700s was used as backlighting to pay the audience back by illuminating them with slow moving criss-crossing beams of soft light.
PRODUCTS
FIBA implements Xeebra at 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournaments
In a live game situation, every second counts. A referee must make fast decisions as players, coaches, fans and TV audiences wait on their call. By integrating a system like Xeebra into its Instant Replay review processes, FIBA’s referees can make sure that even the most contentious of actions on the court can be resolved quickly and effectively. FIBA made EVS a Technical Partner after the official launch of its innovative Xeebra video refereeing system at the 2016 NAB Show. Here, EVS and FIBA partnered to showcase the system as part of the #EVSlamDunk Experience. The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments were held between 4-10 July in Turin, Belgrade and Manilla. Six teams competed in each tournament. The winners will now join the best teams of last year’s FIBA Continental Championships to compete in the basketball tournament of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
videoReferee - The Road to Rio
In order to assist the referees on the course in questionable situations the International Canoe Federation ICF has implemented video judging systems in international competitions since the year 2007. However, the common technical tools in use often reached their limits because of to little perspectives and available camera signals. Beforehand the simultaneous view of several signals and perspectives was difficult to achieve and obstruct fair decision-making. An unsatisfying situation for athletes and fans alike. For the 2015 Canoe Slalom European Championships the organizers went new ways. During the Canoe Slalom European Championships in Markkleeberg (Germany) ICF supported the local host with the implementation of video judging systems using a videoReferee® system.
Lawo Drives Live Remote TV Production with F1
Formula One ranks among the most exciting and appealing of international racing sports and demands that its television coverage keeps pace. With diverse broadcast requirements dictated by the variety of its courses and widely spread race locations. All aspects of a race are broadcast live – including full coverage of night races in Singapore and Bahrain – with the drivers and mechanics using practice sessions to experiment with different setups for their cars, while strategists study options and alternatives. They first put everything they have learned into a fastest possible qualifying lap before taking on the full duration of the race. The devotion of F1 fans is such that they will watch all of this play out, and hang on every word of the commentary teams – often former F1 drivers themselves.
4K/8K ARISING
EVS solutions drive first-ever 4K coverage for the U.S. Open
EVS provided a range of sophisticated live video solutions for FOX Sports’ production of this year’s U.S. Open, which included first-ever 4K coverage of several key holes at the prestigous event. EVS’ XT3 media production servers were at the heart of Game Creek Video’s Glory production unit, which served as the base for 4K operations for the three key course holes produced in 4K: holes 3, 15, and 17. EVS’ 4K XT3 replay workflow offers the same LSM easy remote capabilities as for HD. For FOX Sports’ primary show production at Game Creek’s state-of-the-art Encore remote production truck, 17 XT3 servers with 10Gig Ethernet supported DNxHD, 16 channels of audio and Super Slow Motion Phantom cameras.
Telegenic Bolsters 4K Coverage of UEFA Finals With Bluebell Throw-Down SDI Links
"We have long used Bluebell's rugged, field-proven fibre links on a host of high-end productions and regular events," said Sean Mulhern, director of engineering at Telegenic. "Not only do they provide the quality and reliability that's so critical to our operation, but they are competitively priced, and Bluebell always delivers promptly, no matter what our delivery requirements. In fact, with one recent order, Bluebell delivered five sets of links to our facility the same afternoon we placed the order! You can't beat that level of service." To bolster its coverage of the football finals, Telegenic installed four sets of Bluebell Quad 3G-SDI fibre interfaces and eight sets of BC323 converters.
Leader Demonstrates 4K IP Test and Measurement at Sony IP Live Studio
Leader has further demonstrated its support for promoting the advancement of IP-based production. The company participated in the recent launch of a dedicated IP Live Studio in Sony's Digital Motion Picture Centre Europe (DMPCE) at Pinewood Film Studios near London. Leader supplied its flagship LV5490 4K/HD/SD waveform monitor, giving broadcasters and production companies the opportunity to gain hands-on familiarity with IP-based live production environments. Leader is a long-time member of the IP Live Alliance and has demonstrated interoperability with Sony's NMI, both in the lab and in commercial deployments of IP-based live production environments.