Commentary revolution: DAZN's technical production manager Max Mosgraber talks doing more with less By Kevin Emmott
Monday, April 29, 2024 - 11:24
Print This Story
DAZN commentators Max Siebald [left] and Michael Ballack
Doing more with less is a common trope in broadcast circles, but the needle does not have to move far to make it worthwhile. The smallest things can make the biggest differences says DAZN's technical production manager, Max Mosgraber.
Sports commentators don't just describe what's happening on the field. The best commentators engage and involve the viewer in the action. They have opinions, they chat, and above all they provide companionship to people listening at home.
Mosgraber already knows all this. With over 10 years of experience in the broadcast industry, he's worked as a freelance sound engineer and technician for various OB companies in Germany, including TVN, Studio Berlin, NEP, TV Skyline, and HD Broadcast, and has spent time as a media engineer at public broadcaster RBB. So when he saw an opportunity to repurpose existing technologies to improve DAZN's commentary output he leapt on the opportunity.
Teaming up with select industry partners, he boosted DAZN's commentary output with additional audio channels, improved quality, added a video feed of the commentary area, and provided a fully redundant mix on an entirely separate backhaul.
He used the same technologies to minimise latency, give audio operators full control over the signal, and provide the commentary team with better information to do their jobs and he did it with no outside broadcast equipment and no additional transmission lines.
Available resources
Trialling his workflow at the recent UEFA fixture between Real Madrid and RB Leipzig at the Santiago Bernab u Stadium, he did big remote production on a micro scale. But Mosgraber's description of what he did is way better: We condensed the OB van into hand luggage.
When we attend games in foreign countries we have three commentary options, says Mosgraber. At the biggest events like the Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League matches in Germany, we will always send an OB van. For foreign Champions League matches, as a main visiting broadcaster, we may come equipped with our own OB, or more likely we book a full or partially equipped space in the commentary area.
Like many broadcasters, DAZN adds live commentary from its onsite team to the world feed of the game, supplied on this occasion by Spanish UEFA rights holder Telefonica. In Madrid, Mosgraber secured a partially equipped commentary booth, which as usual included a fibre connection to a 100MBps internet line and two monitors which showed the live match feed to help keep the commentators across the action. Mosgraber felt that even with this limited connectivity, he could do better.
DAZN's commentary booth at the recent UEFA fixture between Real Madrid and RB Leipzig at the Santiago Bernab u Stadium
Doing more with less
Pairing a Prodys Quantum W commentary unit at the stadium with a Quantum AV at DAZN's production control room (PCR) in Munich, he was not only able to introduce a second commentator track, but a live PTZ camera feed of the commentary area. Providing up to three mic/line inputs, the Quantum W can embed up to four audio tracks onto a camera feed. Mosgraber only needed two, and he used it to embed isolated commentator audio channels on the camera video output down the Movistar ethernet link to the DAZN PCR in Germany where it was de-embedded via a Quantum AV unit. Embedding the audio kept everything in sync, and both channels were able to be routed directly into DAZN's Stagetec mixer for monitoring and mixing into the world feed presentation.
The biggest benefit for us is being able to deliver a better mix to the gallery, and all without an SNG, OB van or additional dedicated fibre/satellite transmission lines. I think I am the only person in the world working like this, but this workflow was enabled by its simplicity
To use as much of the available bandwidth as possible, Mosgraber used the BitRate Adaptive Video Encoding (Brave) protocol, which provides network analysis for things like packet loss, packet latency and average bandwidth, and makes bitrate adjustments in real time. Crucially, Brave also gives priority to audio information over video.
The system effectively creates a small television studio that fits into my travel bag, says Mosgraber. We are the first company at the Champions League in Europe - or maybe in the world - that is using a commentary camera at these big football games without needing an OB van on site. It allows us to integrate the commentaries on a transmission line via the internet and because the commentaries are embedded onto the commentary camera it means the camera is an integrated part of the setup.
On a normal partially equipped remote production the commentary area isn't able to send or receive vision tracks to or from the PCR, but this workflow means that as well as sending the commentaries and commentator camera feed, we can also get the program feed from the gallery via RX.
It means the commentators can see all the inserts and graphics, the commercials, the EVS highlight tracks; they can see everything as opposed to just the match feed. It's a huge benefit to the commentary team because they feel more connected to the production and from a teamwork perspective it's a much more joined up approach.
Full redundancy
As a as a main visiting broadcaster, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) requires DAZN to produce a clean commentary track on audio track four of its transmission line, and Mosgraber took the opportunity to implement a secondary system to ensure that it not only sounds better than before, but provides a solid redundant backup should the internet f
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
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
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
Multiview available via SaaS for streaming platforms and operators through broadpeak.io, with live demonstrations at IBC2026
Broadpeak , a leader in streaming ...
20/08/2026
Techex, a leading provider of live broadcast infrastructure solutions, has appointed Stuart Almond as Chief Revenue Officer, further strengthening its executive...
20/08/2026
Avid today announced that MediaCity Studios has upgraded its production infrastructure with an enhanced end-to-end Avid production ecosystem, including the dep...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
20/08/2026
It's a new way into the cloud.
GeForce NOW welcomes Firefox support to the cloud, opening up another way to jump into high-performance PC gaming straight ...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
Commentary revolution: DAZN's technical production manager Max Mosgraber talks doing more with less By Kevin Emmott 
