
SVG Sit-Down: Verizon Business's Lee Field, Michael Ruhnke, Josh Arensberg on Making Video Ingest Over 5G the Norm Verizon looks to extend its NFL success across the sports-media industry By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, May 26, 2023 - 12:54 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
With the sports-broadcast industry moving toward IP and major onsite sports events requiring massive amounts of connectivity to power fan experiences, telecommunications providers like Verizon are at the center of much of what makes live sports exciting and entertaining.
Most notably, Verizon Business has been working closely with the National Football League on projects surrounding tentpole events like the Super Bowl and the NFL Draft to build unique and connected fan experiences largely around video. Those use cases are setting the stage for similar 5G-layered deployments across sports of all kinds and sizes.
From left: Verizon Business's Michael Ruhnke, Lee Field, and Josh Arensberg at NAB 2023
SVG recently spoke with Verizon Business Managing Director, Global Solutions, Lee Field; Group VP, Enterprise and Commercial Accounts, Michael Ruhnke, and CTO, Media and Entertainment, Josh Arensberg about how the company's work can be scaled, how they see broadcasters demanding higher connectivity at venues, and what's next for the company in its work in live sports production.
What is Verizon Business's chief goal as it pertains to its involvement in live sports production?
Field: [Our focus is] taking what we've done with private network for the NFL and creating use cases typically around video. In the next six months, we would like to see video ingest on 5G become not just a science experiment but the norm. We're working with different leagues, different teams, different sports to build out those use cases and develop how the future of connectivity for video ingest looks.
The NFL is a big-time project: we're talking about the Super Bowl inside a new building like SoFi Stadium. What learnings from that are transferable or scalable or replicable for a league that's not the NFL and an event that's not the Super Bowl?
Field: As we were testing what we were doing, we did a lot of the testing in Miami [at Hard Rock Stadium], and [our] equipment was there for a good period of time. We found all sorts of different nuances, because there's quite an RF-dense environment on that site. We run a macro network. All of the carriers operate in there; they use different spectrum, different frequencies. We found quite quickly how we can build CBRS [Citizens Broadband Radio Service] and a private network to coexist with existing networks, and we could see that it was transferable. Any sport that's using digital radio or any RF-based communication mechanism, this is what the future looks like for them.
We're going to see a huge shift from radio and the business spectrum that the radio guys use. Everything's crossing our network: LTE Band 48 support is there in an iPhone; it's there in a Samsung device. Everyone has the kit already. We've got the network already; we've got the private-network capability. That's where we are seeing these things move.
Ruhnke: And you can apply that to motorsport. One of the next conversations is taking it to [hockey] and getting broadcasters behind the bench.
Field: We've done a lot of work making it mobile. As sports move around, so do we. A great example was the work we did in London with the NFL: deliver those games. Deliver the same thing in Germany. That was a lesson learned because, typically, we're very good at selling our networks in the U.S.; we've gotten very good at it in Europe. We're extending to Asia Pacific, and you'll see quite quickly things that we are doing outside of the U.S.
Ruhnke: As the big picture, we think about outcomes. On private-network technology, it's all about what is the use case? What is the next thing we can do beyond coach-to-coach? Maybe that's coach-to-player. What's the next thing that we can do with layering experiences in a venue instance: accelerated access, cashless retail - those types of things we're doing to push the envelope a little bit. Not just getting it there but leveraging it for that next use case that makes an experience better, makes venues operate better.
Field: It's a good point around what we're doing with edge compute. The work we've done with that is putting wavelength - so, edge compute - inside the cellular network and going, next step, in the venue. Imagine a scenario where I could deploy a Zixi media gateway inside the venue on an edge-compute node or a private network or a public network that gives me the ability to pull video over a private network, push it out to the fans in the stadium, and also push it out to any distribution broadcast platform. With what's changing in the market, the entire RSM model? Right place, right time.
In the business, are you speaking with broadcasters as well, or are most of your conversations with leagues, facilities, venues?
Field: A bit of both. We're in that space because we can learn things and solve problems that are incredibly applicable to our enterprise customer base. If we could solve it for 80,000, 100,000 people at an F1 event, we can take that into the theme-park industry. We could take it into large campus environments. We could take into financial services, manufacturing. It's taking those lessons that we learn in an environment where low latency is key, where no frame loss is key, where reliability is key. You cannot drop a video or the communications for a league. The level of resilience is incredible. We're solving problems that are big problems.
Ruhnke: We're excited. There are major opportunities and even
North America Stories
02/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved the transfer of licenses for five TV stations from Sinclair to Rincon Broadcasting, which announce...
02/07/2025
As the media industry faces an uncertain business climate and rapidly changing consumer habits, TV Tech's most popular stories from the first six months of ...
02/07/2025
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. New data shows that U.S. homes now own an average of two smart TVs, with Samsung and LG dominating the market but Roku and FireTV continue to g...
02/07/2025
LOS ANGELES Funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management have acquired FilmRise, an independent digital streaming content distributor, and merged it with Shout! ...
02/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Advanced Television Systems Committee named Luiz Fausto vice president of standards development, succeeding ATSC vice president Jerry Whitaker, w...
02/07/2025
Boston Conservatory and the Sphinx Organization Join Forces to Make Classical Ed...
01/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies has delivered its second Bombardier Global 6500 missionize...
01/07/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., July 1, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its second quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, Ju...
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has rejected license challenges to three full-power Baltimore TV stations, renewing the licenses for Chesapeake...
01/07/2025
Dalet has released a new update to its Dalet Flex media workflow platform, introducing powerful new capabilities to its flagship platform....
01/07/2025
NEWARK, N.J. With the FIFA Club World Cup final rapidly approaching and the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup now less than a year away, interest in soccer in th...
01/07/2025
COW Job Listing: Laser Engraved Logo
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
Laser engraved logo
July 1, 2025Steffie Beltt's Mi Amor Music Video Cr...
01/07/2025
LeGrow.Studio Builds Broadcast Hub for ePro League
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
TEM Constellation HD and BlackmagicURSA Broadcast G2 drive liv...
01/07/2025
Beeble launches SwitchLight 2.0, bringing AI-powered relighting to any footage
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
New AI model delivers full-scene p...
01/07/2025
Steffie Beltt's Mi Amor Music Video Created with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton July 1, 2025
0 Comments
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K digital film camera...
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement and Media Bureaus have entered into a consent decree with Sinclair to resolve a variety of in...
01/07/2025
DENVER Low-power television (LPTV) station owners looking to navigate the complexities of selling their assets in todays dynamic media environment are invited t...
01/07/2025
NASA announced today that live programming from its NASA+ channel will be available on Netflix starting sometime this summer....
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has appointed Katie McAuliffe to serve as policy advisor in his office....
01/07/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Alphabet's GFiber, the broadband provider formerly known as Google Fiber, has announced that it recently worked with Nokia to demonstr...
01/07/2025
NEW YORK, N.Y. DoubleVerify (DV) has announced the launch of DV Authentic Attention for Social. The product will first launch with Snap, the owner of Snapchat....
01/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has rejected license challenges to three full-power Baltimore TV stations and agreed to renew the license for C...
01/07/2025
Compact new converter lets users capture live NDI and streaming sources into software over a USB interface
Video interface and IP workflow innovator Magewell ...
01/07/2025
Disguise, the award-winning tech company driving visuals for Broadway and West End hits including Redwood, Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Disney's Fr...
01/07/2025
Historic appointment ushers in unified leadership for WRAL-TV, New Media, and Digital Solutions
RALEIGH, N.C. - 6-27-25 - Capitol Broadcasting Company is prou...
01/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...
01/07/2025
The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...
01/07/2025
Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...
01/07/2025
NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...
01/07/2025
TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...
01/07/2025
Back to All News
Watch: A Line Crossed: Netflix Drops Explosive Trailer for New...
01/07/2025
Tyngsboro, Mass. - June 30, 2025 - The 2025 ACM Annual Conference at Boston University was an energizing and inspiring gathering of community media professional...
01/07/2025
In many parts of the world, including major technology hubs in the U.S., there's a yearslong wait for AI factories to come online, pending the buildout of n...
30/06/2025
The Artemis II Space Launch System core stage is integrated with the solid rocket boosters inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy S...
30/06/2025
RALEIGH, N.C. Capitol Broadcasting Co. has named Heather Gray vice president and general manager of WRAL-TV and WRAZ-TV here....
30/06/2025
The Virginia Association of Broadcasters has recognized Bill Sewell, Director of Engineering at WTKR & WGNT in Norfolk, Va. as the recipient of the 2025 J.J. Fr...
30/06/2025
The Society of Broadcast Engineers said its annual member drive resulted in the recruitment of 49 individual members....
30/06/2025
BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid today released its fully integrated news platform, uniting MediaCentral and Wolftech News in a single newsroom solution, and will demonst...
30/06/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communication's Enforcement and Media Bureaus have entered into a Consent Decree with Sinclair Broadcast Group to resolve a variety o...
30/06/2025
Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics to Host 40th Anniversary Concert The celebration will be held on July 10 in Perugia, Italy.
By
Colette Greenstein
June 30, 202...
30/06/2025
PremiumBeat Tips and Tricks
Brie Clayton June 30, 2025
0 Comments
When editing to impress, you'll need quality music, and if your studio happens t...
30/06/2025
Back to All News
Bel n Cuesta and Karra Elejalde Star in El ni o, the New Film ...
30/06/2025
Back to All News
A New Dangerous Troll Awakens: Netflix Unleashes Teaser for Troll 2Play Video
Play Video
Entertainment
30 June 2025
GlobalNorwayDenmarkSwe...
29/06/2025
Back to All News
A Secret Society, Ritualistic Killings, and a Century-Old Curs...
28/06/2025
WASHINGTON In a press conference following the Federal Communications Commission's May Open Meeting, Chair Brendan Carr promised the agency would move rapid...
28/06/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. Charter Communications has awarded $1.1 million in Spectrum Digital Education grants to 55 nonprofit organizations that work to expand access to...
28/06/2025
LAKE FOREST, Calif. June 19, 2025
What's New:
Sonnet Technologies today announced the certification of its Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 SuperDock as an Engin...
28/06/2025
MASV (massive.io), the fastest and most reliable large file transfer platform for media professionals, has been named an IDC Innovator in the IDC Innovators: Me...
28/06/2025
Grass Valley today announced that TV SKYLINE GmbH, one of Europe's top mobile production providers, has expanded its camera inventory with 30 LDX 135 UHD/HD...
28/06/2025
AgileTV, a European leader in TV and video technology solutions, signed an agreement with Austrian telco LIWEST to develop and implement its TV service in Austr...