Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

AI Facial Recognition Can Deliver New Audience To Sport Television

03/12/2020

AI Facial Recognition Can Deliver New Audience To Sport TelevisionBy Paul Shen, TVU Networks

December 2nd, 2020

View Related Products

Local broadcasters have known for years that viewers like watching their children, nephews, nieces and grandchildren playing high school sports on TV.

Some include reports in Friday night newscasts with video highlights of high-profile high school football games. Others have dedicated a multicast channel to entire high school athletic tournaments and championships. Similarly, some local cable TV operators regularly cover high school sports as well.

What if there were a way broadcasters and other video producers could tap into that same enthusiasm for watching athletes-not necessarily high school athletes, but all participants at a big event-that viewers are particularly interested in, such as a spouse, a child, a friend or co-worker?

Thanks to the power of the facial recognition algorithm running on our TVU MediaMind AI engine and the power of social media and digital distribution to augment the reach of traditional telecasts doing so not only is possible but will soon become table stakes for video producers.

Marathon Man And Woman

In 2019, more than 30,000 runners entered the Boston Marathon. In the Big Apple, nearly 54,000 runners finished the TCS New York City Marathon last year.

Most coverage of these events focuses on the leaders in the race-both the men and the women, which makes perfect sense overall. However, by taking advantage of facial recognition algorithms it is possible for broadcasters to begin rethinking how they approach their coverage.

Nothing will change as relates to the leaders in the race, but with facial recognition identifying runners as they cover the 26.2-mile course, broadcasters have the opportunity to produce custom race coverage.

Viewers who have connections to specific runners -co-workers, friends or relatives-could track their personal favorites as they progress through the race watching shots from cameras trained on the route shooting runners as they pass and the MediaMind AI engine identifying them in real time.

The Social Media Complement

Social media and online distribution can complement this AI application, making it possible for broadcasters to offer viewers personalized video footage of these runners, who typically would never or only fleetingly receive coverage during the main race.

Offering this type of coverage taps into a level of fan engagement that's analogous to the interest in high school sports broadcasters take advantage of in their local markets. In the process, producers covering a marathon in this fashion can build audience, interest and viewer engagement in a way that otherwise is unimaginable.

Beyond the Race

The same facial recognition algorithm can be used to identify celebrities and other high-profile individuals lining the race route, opening up one or more other special-interest channels for distribution via social media and online.

Doing so further heightens interest in the race and potentially attracts a new category of viewer who never before thought about watching a marathon.

Obviously, a marathon is only one of many such applications in which video producers can leverage social media and digital along with AI facial recognition to enhance coverage and audience engagement with an anchor event.

But to paraphrase a well-known aphorism: A journey of 26.2 miles begins with a single step.
LINK: https://www.tvunetworks.com/story/ai-facial-recognition-can-deliver-ne...
See more stories from tvu

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Blendkit Expands Beyond Blender

Blendkit Expands Beyond Blender Brie Clayton August 4, 2026 0 Comments Popular 3D Asset Library Launches Alpha Plugins for Maya, Godot, and Rhino Blend...

04/08/2026

QC: Artificial Intelligence's Big Hammer Finds Another Nail

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

The AI Dilemma: Can C2PA Keep a Video's Provenance Intact?

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

BPS Gaining Traction in Broadcast and Other Sectors

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

Ikegami to Demonstrate Latest-Generation UNICAM Product R...

Ikegami has chosen the 11-14 September 2026 International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam as the European market launch venue for additions to its UNICAM p...

04/08/2026

Appear unifies hardware and software for live production...

Appear (IBC2026 booth 1.C61) will showcase new X & VX Platform capabilities that extend broadcast-grade performance from venue to cloud Appear ASA (OSE: APR), ...

04/08/2026

Broadcast Management Group Brings Amazon Prime Obsessed F...

LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video solutions, today highlighted the crucial role its EcoSystem played in Broadcast Management Group's (BMG) successfu...

04/08/2026

Scripps Completes Acquisition of WTVQ Lexington

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

U.S., U.K. Consumers Now Spend 11 Hours a Day Using Media

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

Sinclair Announces 2026 Annual Scholarship Winners

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

Tom DeLay: Only Congress Can Change Station Ownership Caps

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

IAB Tech Lab Upgrades Open Framework for Agentic Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

DirecTV For Business Inks New Agreement to Sell NFL Sunday Ticket

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

IEEE Broadcast Technology Society Honors Charles Einolf

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/08/2026

Homecoming Artist Spotlight: Dreion

Homecoming Artist Spotlight: Dreion The singer, songwriter, and producer talks about finding his village at Berklee ahead of his Homecoming performance on Sep...

04/08/2026

As AI Increases Demands on Memory, Storage Steps Up

Surging AI demands are driving the need for massive datasets and context windows that burst past the confines of system memory. But rising needs aren't me...

04/08/2026

NVIDIA Alpamayo 2 Super, the Frontier Open Model for Robotaxis and Autonomous Vehicles, Now Available for Commercial Use

For robotaxis and other autonomous vehicles (AVs), the hardest problems aren'...

04/08/2026

AI Leaders Propose SAFE Guidelines for Cybersecurity Transparency

Members of the Open Secure AI Alliance - now more than 120 organizations strong - are developing new guidelines to strengthen agentic AI cybersecurity as the an...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

03/08/2026

SVGs TranSPORT Conference Returns to NYC on Oct. 20; Register Today!

SVG's annual TranSPORT conference returns to New York City for a full day of sessions focused on the current state of live-sports-transmission technology. S...

03/08/2026

SVG All-Stars: Stefan Richardson, Director, Global Broadcast, Riot Games

A five-time Emmy winner, this esports vet has built a production career on live storytelling, audience connection, and meeting viewers wherever they are The sp...

03/08/2026

MLBs Jason Hedgcock on Using the Cloud To Produce World Baseball Classic Games for Netflix Japan

Live production in the cloud is a growing trend across the industry and Major Le...

03/08/2026

Cookie Queens Is Sweet With Substance

(L-R) Nyah B., Nala B., Shannon Elizabeth S., Celia K., Olive G., and Nikki B. attend the Q&A for Cookie Queens by Alysa Nahmias, an official selection of the...

03/08/2026

Rhodes launch Rhodes Clav Pro

Recreates a 1977 Hohner Clavinet D6 After launching a software recreation of their own electric piano, Rhodes set about capturing another classic instrument...

03/08/2026

Peak Tamer from Nicky Howard

A modern solution for an old technique Peak Tamer is a new standalone application that automatically applies gain automation to keep rogue peaks under cont...

03/08/2026

Sound Particles update Beat Panner

Plug-in gains object metadata automation export Sound Particles have just released an update that adds a new Metadata Automation function to their their rec...

03/08/2026

SGL Carbon and X-energy announce capacity expansion for Nuclear-Grade Graphite

SGL Carbon and X-energy today announced a binding agreement to double SGL's production capacity for medium-grain isotropic graphite ( NBG-18 ), a specialize...

03/08/2026

Glensound launches Greater Divine Supernal at PLASA Show...

Glensound will launch the Greater Divine Supernal at PLASA Show 2026, extending its intelligent loudspeaker range for professional studio monitoring and live au...

03/08/2026

How Agua Tinta's Class Project Launched Her Songwriting Career

How Agua Tinta's Class Project Launched Her Songwriting Career Two years after graduating from Berklee, the songwriter has a Latin Grammy nomination, a So...

03/08/2026

Lightware UCX delivers campus-wide connectivity to Leiden...

Leiden University's new Campus Spui, located in the heart of The Hague, the diplomatic and administrative centre of the Netherlands, opened in February 2026...

03/08/2026

Bitfocus heads to the future with new investment

Bitfocus, the specialist in media control and monitoring, has received a further boost to its plans for continuing growth, particularly in Europe and North Amer...

03/08/2026

Leagues Cup kicks off tomorrow, August\u00A04, on\u00A0Apple\u00A0TV - UPDATE - Posted on 03 August 2026

Building on the momentum of a landmark year for soccer in North America, Leagues...

02/08/2026

Acustica introduce Dangerous Music BAX EQ Plugin

Classic EQ design goes virtual Following on from the launch of the 500-series version of their BAX EQ unit, Dangerous Music have now teamed up with modellin...

02/08/2026

Television, Resilience and National Security

The Government's Missing Dimension This article was originally published on the National Preparedness Commission website on 25 June 2026. ----------------...

01/08/2026

Harmonic Piano from The Crow Hill Company

Latest free Vaults instrument released The Crow Hill Company's Vaults collection offers a continually rotating selection of virtual instruments and samp...

01/08/2026

American Television Alliance Slams Deltavision Blackout on Verizon

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/08/2026

FreeWheel Debuts TV Series-Level Reporting for CTV Buyers

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/08/2026

Minnesota Timberwolves, DAZN to Launch New Streaming Offering

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/08/2026

Early Registration Opens for 2026 SMPTE Media Technology Summit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/08/2026

NBCUniversal and YouTube Ink Landmark Distribution Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/08/2026

COW Jobs: Lead Generation Representative - Animation Services

COW Jobs: Lead Generation Representative - Animation Services Brie Clayton July 31, 2026 0 Comments Lead Generation Representative - Animation Service...

01/08/2026

Emilie Lowe Shoots Award Winning Short Film Where Dead Things Grow with Blackmagic Design

Emilie Lowe Shoots Award Winning Short Film Where Dead Things Grow with Blackmag...

01/08/2026

Early Registration Opens for the 2026 SMPTE Media Technology Summit

Early Registration Opens for the 2026 SMPTE Media Technology Summit Brie Clayton July 31, 2026 0 Comments Initial Program Announced Alongside New Medi...

31/07/2026

SVG Sit-Down: NHL's Steve Mayer on Building a Centralized Production Operation From Scratch

With an emphasis on local, the league is looking beyond the initial four teams t...

31/07/2026

Reflecting on the 2026 Summer Season of Our Sundance Institute Labs

The 2026 Sundance Institute Directors Lab fellows in Estes Park, Colorado (Photo by Gabe Rovick) Dear Friends, This has been an extraordinary year for our ar...

31/07/2026

Audiocube launch Audiocube Space

Offers 360-degree sound placement in any DAW Audiocube have just announced the launch of a new plug-in that embeds a complete 3D acoustic environment inside...