Tech Focus: Immersive Sound, Part 1 - The Technology Is Increasingly Integrated Into Broadcast Sports Updated platforms serve as conduits for next-generation audio formats By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, December 5, 2019 - 11:29 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Immersive audio has become an integrated element in a range of high-profile broadcast-sports proof-of-concept projects, and the format is increasingly finding its way out of the industry bubble so that more viewers can access it.
After two years of experimentation, NBC Sports provided Dolby Atmos immersive audio on all 2019 Notre Dame Football home games for DirecTV customers, part of a package with 4K video.
In 2018, South Korean television and radio network SBS transmitted live UHD coverage of selected World Cup matches over ATSC 3.0 in immersive and interactive audio using Fraunhofer's MPEG-H audio format - according to the broadcaster, the world's first regular broadcast of immersive and interactive audio powered by that format.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) continued a three-year trial of Atmos for regular-season and finals races.
In the first live-produced Dolby Atmos event in the U.S., the 2018 Winter Olympics were available to Comcast and DirecTV subscribers, and Atmos is being used in the UK by Sky Sports and BT Sport for Premier League and Championship League soccer on their respective 4K channels.
Audio Consoles Are Gateways
Although it seems that the shift into immersive audio is moving more rapidly than the transition to surround more than a decade ago, Atmos, DTS:X, MPEG-H, and other immersive broadcast formats arrive at a time when sports are increasingly listened to over earbuds and on mobile devices, and stereo televisions remain ubiquitous. (The National Association of Broadcasters does not track sales of consumer-television audio formats, but a spokesperson says that, while a definitive answer has always proven elusive, the majority of broadcast television today is likely produced, broadcast, and experienced in stereo.)
Audio-console manufacturers, though, are actively trying to accommodate the emerging immersive-broadcast market, largely by developing and integrating immersive updates into consoles that will have to continue working with stereo and 5.1 for years to come.
We have reached the point where sports broadcasters are familiar with what immersive audio offers and what it can add to a broadcast, observes Berny Carpenter, broadcast product specialist, Solid State Logic, which added an immersive-audio feature set to its System T broadcast desk as part of a software release in May 2018. There is also the understanding that different content will require mixing in different ways. For instance, the listening experience of stadium sports traditionally viewed from the sideline can be enhanced with additional ambience signals in the height channels. This works especially well with arena sports, such as ice hockey, basketball, and boxing. Sports broadcasts that include first-person content, such as motorsports, offer the chance to use the height channels for more-localized content.
He points out that System T's immersive features were developed to extend the functionality across the console so that mixing in immersive formats doesn't add additional levels of complexity or require workarounds. Key additions are support for larger path formats - including 5.1.2, 5.1.4, 7.1.2. and 7.1.4 - and extension of the panning tools to include intuitive controls for the additional height dimension. Most recently, the company added a built-in binaural encoder and support for A-and-B-format ambisonic signals, including the Sennheiser AMBEO microphone, transcoding it into a channel-based format.
These tools make it easy to add an immersive ambient bed to a live sports production, all controlled from the desk, Carpenter explains.
Growth in Applications
Practical applications of immersive broadcast audio are growing. For instance, SSL has taken part in recent EBU trials at the 2018 European Athletics Championships and the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. After cinema and television sports, music is the latest target for immersive audio.
Lawo's Patrick Warrington says that, with video technologies, such as 4K and UHD, gaining traction with consumers, the tools for creating immersive sound need to be ready.
We see sports and large-scale entertainment as the main areas of focus for immersive audio, says Carpenter. These are often the flagship programs for broadcasters, with large viewing figures and the biggest drive for technological developments. At the consumer end, soundbars and receivers that support these technologies are becoming more readily available and widespread, which will help drive adoption.
Lawo can accommodate immersive audio in its mc2 series desks, with additional DSP cards or existing ones redeployed to allow larger internal-bus widths. It's the same way surround was adapted to in the past, and Lawo's Patrick Warrington, recently named senior director, technical business development, says it results in a mix matrix capable of up to a 22.2 configuration that can be allocated anywhere along immersive's X, Y, and Z axes. That has been further enhanced by Lawo's proprietary Hyper Panning feature, which offers control of a complete surround bundle - all channel parameters and eight-bar metering-via a single rotary control link that allows rotation of the audio through 360 degrees.
This lets you take legacy 5.1 surround audio into an immersive space and lets it be able to be treated as a native audio format, he says.
Warrington feels that, although the uptake even of 5.1 surround among consumers has been relatively light, the arrival of the height axis could make the difference, once ways of realizing it in living rooms become more e
North America Stories
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
07/05/2026
Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision
Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...
07/05/2026
Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...
07/05/2026
Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...
07/05/2026
Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...
07/05/2026
Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...
07/05/2026
Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...
07/05/2026
At Broadcast Asia 2026 (Stand 5H3 8), LiveU is redefining live production with its most powerful IP-video EcoSystem to date built to help broadcasters and con...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Recreating the 1974 Doctor Who Time Tunnel in After Effects
Graham Quince May 6, 2026
0 Comments
The Time Tunnel from Doctor Who titles is one of th...
07/05/2026
AI will help build the energy it needs.
That's the case U.S. Energy Secreta...
07/05/2026
Back to All News
Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix Present the Trailer of ...
07/05/2026
Less typing, more tanking.
Faster logins mean more time in the gaming action - and this week provides GeForce NOW members with a smoother path straight into th...
06/05/2026
Gravity Media Chief RF Communications Engineer Glenn Willems uses Wisycom RF over Fiber and wireless solutions across major cycling events and international mar...
06/05/2026
A Sennheiser Spectera module is now available in Bitfocus Companion and Buttons, enabling direct integration of Spectera with the two software platforms. The mo...
06/05/2026
Ted Turner, the visionary media entrepreneur whose appetite for disruption helpe...
Tech Focus: Immersive Sound, Part 1 - The Technology Is Increasingly Integrated Into Broadcast Sports Updated platforms serve as conduits for next-generation audio formats By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
