With the uncertainty surrounding live events in 2021, Arqiva's Chris Alner looks at the broadcast challenges of a congested and fluid sporting calendar and asks whether winning strategies will be defined by conventional wisdom or experimental thinking.
2021 should, in theory, be a big year for sport. Alongside all the usual action, scheduled marque events include the postponed Summer Olympics in Japan and the 2021 UEFA European Championship, a Lions Tour of South Africa, and a Rugby League World Cup. All good news for sports fans and broadcasters.
Of course, there are caveats. Big ones. Aside from the now familiar uncertainty around events going ahead, teams and athletes likely to continue to miss matches and forfeit league positions due to COVID-19 outbreaks, the virus will be the catalyst for a considerable amount of congestion in the sporting calendar. This will be a significant problem towards the middle of the year as events originally scheduled for 2020, such as the Olympics, will now clash with other 2021 major sporting events such as the Lions Tour to South Africa.
Keep eyes on the prize There are a range of issues here. First, multiple events will squeeze audience numbers. Even if some die-hard fans choose to watch multiple, concurrent events on a second or even third screen, most won't.
But getting eyes on content won't be the only problem: scheduling will be tough too, particularly for broadcasters with just one or two linear channels. It seems likely that many will look to leverage investment in online players, and on-demand and catch-up services in response.
I think we'll see broadcasters exploring ways to use new technologies like cloud contribution and distribution to quickly spin up (and then shut down) channels on OTT platforms, affording them more opportunity to combat congestion and reach audiences.
It's not just content availability that will help win the fierce battle for eyeballs in a congested market. The viewing experience for audiences will also be a critical factor too.
Create atmosphere in empty stadia The resumption of live elite sport in 2020 highlighted the issue of empty stadia when it comes to the viewer experience. For many, the lack of a crowd detracts considerably from the excitement. Alongside the option of adding crowd noise, broadcasters have been experimenting with some interesting ways to enhance the experience by adding augmented and virtual reality feeds.
We've also seen some interesting examples of adding real time fan commentary and streamed video of fans to create stadium atmosphere. In one example, basketball's NBA displayed live webcam feeds from remotely attending celebrity viewers and fans on big screens around the court.
These have worked well in some instances, most notably in the National Basketball Association's (NBA) bubble games that closed out the final games of the 2019-20 season and playoffs. It was great to see this kind of innovation, albeit underpinned by a lot of behind the scenes work (in terms of production and logistics) to ensure viewers' high expectations were met.
Experiment but stay focused With necessity the mother of invention, it's important to take these (and other) learnings into 2021 and continue to think out of the box. Whether that's looking at new distribution models, augmenting linear channels or developing new approaches to production. In doing so, we'll be turning live sports events into true media and entertainment showcases, something that will stand us in good stead as social distancing regulations look likely to keep fans out of stadiums for some time.
By definition though, experiments can fail. When you're looking for returns on major sporting investments, there's certainly an element of risk in doing so. The key, I would suggest, is to experiment around production, while ensuring the basics of acquisition and delivery are handled brilliantly (and reliably).
Get comfortable with uncertainty Audience experience aside, there remains a very real threat that many planned events won't go ahead. Despite the best efforts of governing bodies, broadcast partners and others, scheduling in a pandemic is something of a matter of guesswork, and multiple programming contingencies are needed to fill gaps in the schedule when (and if) things don't go to plan.
To my mind this requires something of a cultural shift to ensure broadcasters and rights holders become comfortable with uncertainty. For this to happen, they'll need to be confident in their ecosystem and supply chains. This means that their aggregation, media processing and distribution partners have the technology, the expertise and, crucially, the ambition to adapt to changing circumstances with both agility and confidence. In short, it's a matter of trust.
Work with trusted partners As we move into what is likely to be a very constricted and fluid sporting calendar, it's imperative the industry comes together to plan for uncertainty, so, we can be confident in it. We need to know what works and what doesn't in different scenarios, the kind of contingencies we'll need, when to be experimental and when to double down on what we know works. This way, we'll be prepared for whatever happens. If you'll excuse a final sporting pun, it's about all working together as a team to get the right result.
Talk to Arqiva today about staying in control through uncertainty at sportsandevents@arqiva.com.
Published
15/02/2021
Author
Chris Alner, Director of Commercial Broadcast and Radio
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
13/03/2026
RT has announced today that Rick O'Shea is the new presenter of Arena RT Radio 1's flagship weeknight arts and culture programme. Rick has been pres...
13/03/2026
Lights! Camera! Action! The 98th Oscars set to air live as RT backs the Irish n...
12/03/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 11th March, 2026 - Yospace, the trusted leader in Dyna...
12/03/2026
In Latin America, women are shaping music and defining its future. To kick off t...
12/03/2026
En Am rica Latina, las mujeres est n moldeando la m sica y definiendo su futuro....
12/03/2026
Let's turn back the clock 20 years: The music landscape was a world away fro...
12/03/2026
Bad Bunny is no stranger to Spotify's Billions Club. In fact, he has a whopp...
12/03/2026
Spotify was at the London Book Fair this week, joining conversations across the publishing industry about how people can make reading part of their daily lives....
12/03/2026
Mastering tool improves mono compatibility
Tokyo Dawn Labs' Ohlhorst Digital range is a series of mastering-focused plug-ins developed by Jan Ohlhorst, ...
12/03/2026
Wave FX processor integrated into four products
Lewitt have teamed up with Elgato to create a new processor for the company's Wave Next product range, i...
12/03/2026
Free tool for annotating audio files
Mix Notes is a new, free iOS App that provides users with a simple way to annotate their audio files. It's been cre...
12/03/2026
Side-chain ducking tool gets an upgrade
Devious Machines' popular side-chaining and envelope-shaping tool has just been kitted out with an improved enve...
12/03/2026
Ceremony to take place on 16 April 2026
The MPG (Music Producers Guild) have revealed the full shortlist for this year's MPG Awards, which will be takin...
12/03/2026
Emulates three classic dbx 160 variants
The latest arrival to Overloud's Gem Series plug-in range faithfully recreates not one, but three versions of th...
12/03/2026
New granular soft synth announced
Said to be their most advanced software synthesizer to date, Baby Audio's latest release has been built on a new granu...
12/03/2026
Latest version now live!
Edit 11 March 2026 - Bitwig Studio 6 is now live, and available for all to download!
The latest version of Bitwig's DAW softwa...
12/03/2026
Latest free eBook now available!
Designed for recording engineers, audio-technology students and technically minded musicians, our latest free eBook deliver...
12/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity expands SITLine network encryptor portfolio - more...
12/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to showcase future-proof EMC testing solutions at EMV 2026 Rohde & Schwarz will participate in EMV 2026, Europe's premier trade fair and c...
12/03/2026
Modern media operations demand a platform that unites automation, orchestration, and human oversight without compromise. In this post, we explore the six key te...
12/03/2026
A deep dive into the platform
Architecture The Blue Lucy platform follows a distributed microservices architecture, meaning the overall operational capability...
12/03/2026
Orchestration platform enables broadcasters to deploy multiple AI models safely with full auditability, rights protection, and regulatory oversight.
LONDON, En...
12/03/2026
Wuppertal March 12, 2026
Riedel Expands Managed Technology Division in the Ame...
12/03/2026
Advanced Media Server Delivers Double the Channel Density at Half the Cost per C...
12/03/2026
The Late Late Show Show St Patrick's Day special
Dancing with the Stars f...
11/03/2026
First Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) deployment of the emergency.lu platform for refugees and their host communities' use provides dependable broadband for humani...
11/03/2026
Following a successful first series, UKTV today announces the commission of two ...
11/03/2026
Wednesday 11 March 2026
Sky and CANAL launch new partnership to develop English-language drama
Sky and CANAL are today announcing a strategic co commissioni...
11/03/2026
NTCA, Cartesian Release New Report on the Business Case for USF
March 11, 2026
Network Economics
News
NTCA - March 11, 2026 - As the FCC and Congr...
11/03/2026
TELL US YOUR (SHORT) STORIES
The 2026 RT Short Story Competition is now open for entries
Recognising and rewarding the best new Irish fiction writing for...
11/03/2026
RT 's The Traitors Ireland is among the nominees for the 2026 Celtic Media Festival Torc Awards for Excellence, announced today....
10/03/2026
10 Mar 2026
VEON's Largest Market Pakistan Almost Triples Mobile Spectrum i...
09/03/2026
Contains all six dual-ensemble libraries
VSL's Duality Strings series offers an intriguing alternative to your average string library, capturing two str...
09/03/2026
Outstanding Contribution To UK Music
Photo: Samuel Bradley
Ahead of their upcoming MPG Awards, the Music Producers Guild (MPG) have revealed the latest win...
09/03/2026
Two new high-quality DI boxes announced
Boasting some impressive technical specifications and versatile routing options, Strymon's latest active DI boxe...
09/03/2026
Latest MPE-capable Soundbox library released
The follow-up release for Sonora Cinematic's Pure Nylon has arrived, and becomes the latest addition to the...
09/03/2026
Popular wireless mic head design revived
Sennheiser have revealed that the MD 9235, a cardioid mic head designed to pair up with their handheld wireless sys...
09/03/2026
Captures two sought-after Dumble combo amps
The latest TONEX release captures a pair of sought-after Dumble amplifiers from IK Multimedia's private amp ...
09/03/2026
Flexible all-analogue insert matrix joins line-up
HUM Audio Devices don't tend to do things by halves - even the quickest of glances at the likes of the...
09/03/2026
Captures three sought-after pianos
Rhodes latest software release brings together a collection of three virtual pianos: a concert grand, an acoustic upright...
09/03/2026
Flagship compressor gets an upgrade
Techivation's flagship compressor plug-in has just been treated to a ground-up rebuild that kits it out with some po...
09/03/2026
Profiler OS 14.0 enters open beta
Kemper's amp-modelling systems already have a great reputation, but the latest update to their systems' underlying...
09/03/2026
Procedural stems smasher & recomposition engine
Blinksonic have recently launched a new Reaktor-based tool which they say takes a radical departure from yo...
09/03/2026
13 - 15 March 2026 at University of Warwick Conference Centre
The Institute of Professional Sound (IPS) have announced that The IPS Training Weekend 2026 wi...
With the uncertainty surrounding live events in 2021, Arqiva's Chris Alner looks at the broadcast challenges of a congested and fluid sporting calendar and asks whether winning strategies will be defined by conventional wisdom or experimental thinking.
