2019 in Review: Trends in Audio Continued, Esports Exploded Standards, in-venue sound, immersive stayed the course of growth By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Friday, December 27, 2019 - 7:00 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The year in sound was generally one of continuing trends in all its applications - particularly in spectrum reallocation, live sound, immersive audio. One exception was esports, which become a commercially competitive sport and saw dedicated mega venues open during the year.
Broadcast Audio
There were no spectrum disruptions this year. Instead, there was more push into alternative neighboring frequencies in search of open bandwidth. On the other hand, fallout from the spectrum reallocations left many wireless users in the lurch for frequency coordination.
The system of database administrators collapsed, said Joe Ciaudelli, director, spectrum affairs, Sennheiser. Professional mic operators currently lack an official resource that they can easily and confidently check for channel availability and register for interference protection.
Mostly, broadcast audio built on previous trends. Development of such standards as the SMPTE ST 2110 suite continued, and multichannel sound pushed beyond 5.1 channels to embrace 7.1.4, if only tentatively for now. But it was still a busy year for ears.
Esports Stadium Arlington is a mega venue helping turn esports into a competitive sport.
Esports
The esports phenomenon continued to gain momentum, expected to reach more than $1 billion in revenue this year and to triple over the next five years. With a growing fan base of more than 450 million viewers globally, this gaming revolution has become as much a sport as football and basketball. Esports Stadium Arlington and Full Sail University's Fortress had opened their mega venues for videogaming, and more commercial (Comcast's $50 million venue for its Fusion team) and collegiate (University of Washington, Ohio State University, and University of North Texas) venues are built.
What sets esports apart from conventional sports at a very fundamental level is that, aside from crowd noise, all of its sound must be artificially created. Unlike traditional broadcast sports, for which microphones and other transducers capture a game's natural sounds, esports' audio comprises electronically generated sound effects. Videogames have already made an art form of their audio, with their own industry awards and recognition. Now that esports has become commercially competitive, its audio will continue to expand its own sonic universe.
Live Sound
Similarly, as conventional sports become more of a pure entertainment play, their live sound becomes increasingly important. Louder, clearer, a bigger bottom - those have become the key criteria for live-sound systems in sports venues in recent years, as venues have become larger and fans in stands have become accustomed to - and often demand - ever-higher SPL.
Music-touring sound systems have become the gold standard for stadiums and arenas, as sports venues increasingly are part of larger destination entertainment campuses. Avenida Houston, for example, hosts the MLB Astros' Minute Maid Park, the MLS Dynamos' BBVA Compass Stadium, and the NFL Texans' NRG Stadium, and the Atlanta Braves' new SunTrust Park at the Battery Atlanta also houses the Coca-Cola Roxy music venue and shopping, dining, and office space.
Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium features 4,500 JBL speakers of various types.
In 2019, sports venues accommodated a large number of rider-friendly or rider-ready PA systems, those widely accepted by top-tier touring music artists, who list them on their contract addenda (or riders ).
American football has invaded overseas markets, and so are U.S.-inspired venue-AV designs. That was illustrated this year with the opening of the Tottenham Hotspurs' super stadium in London, a facility that would be at home in any major U.S. city and throughout which 4,500 JBL speakers of various types were installed. The speakers range from the 18 VLA-C weatherized compact line arrays that ring the bowl, a design derived from JBL's concert-touring VTX series speakers and intended to connect with touring sound systems, to the CBT columnar speakers in back-of-house areas. Appropriately, given current trends, the audio consultant on the project was Joe O'Herlihy, longtime audio director and live-sound engineer for U2.
Going Deep
Immersive audio inched toward to the mainstream in 2019. NBC Sports capped two full years of Dolby Atmos immersive audio on all Notre Dame Football home games for DirecTV customers, and the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) continued a three-year trial of Atmos for regular-season and finals races. The 7.1.4 format is expected to play a large role in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics next summer.
Miked Up
2019 saw on-player audio become more norm than novelty. For instance, for the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, NBC Sports wired four players per team, as well as both coaches and two referees, for sound, and some of the dozen audio sources from the live broadcast were used for an hour-long special broadcast later.
I can't remember having personal mics on this many athletes in a game before, said Karl Malone, director, sound design, NBC Olympics and Sports, at the time. It would be difficult for many reasons to mix the 12 mics live; you would miss conversations perhaps on iso-camera records that would have been good to hear. We also need to protect the privacy of the athlete. That's why we are building a whole hour-long show around the content we get in this game.
Education
What may have hit some headwinds during the year was pro-audio education. The smaller schools we work with don't touch it,
Most recent headlines
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
2019 in Review: Trends in Audio Continued, Esports Exploded Standards, in-venue sound, immersive stayed the course of growth By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
