Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Live From FIFA World Cup: Kevin Callahan of Fox Sports on the IP Transition and Return of Match-Day Control Rooms

05/12/2022

Live From FIFA World Cup: Kevin Callahan of Fox Sports on the IP Transition and Return of Match-Day Control Rooms Matches are composited into programs at Fox's facilities in Doha and sent to Tempe and L.A. By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Monday, December 5, 2022 - 10:11 am

Print This Story

The 2022 FIFA World Cup has shifted from the grind of the Group Stage, with four matches a day, to the Knockout Stage. For the Fox Sports production team, getting to this point has taken years of planning and months of onsite activity to ensure that new workflows and old workflows mesh and help deliver a top-level product for fans back home. And Fox Sports VP, Field Operations and Engineering, Kevin Callahan is the first to acknowledge that knowing that fans are tuning in at a record pace makes a difference.

The Fox Sports crew at the IBC gets a welcome break later this week.

It helps, and it's one reason we like to let everybody know the figures and viewership that we're getting, says Callahan. It's great to see the work is being appreciated back home and is being consumed. Being 8,000 miles away, it would be more difficult if we weren't getting that feedback from friends and family. It helps give you that extra energy on Day 20.

The IBC facility is 30 x 38 meters and houses the central operations for all Fox Qatar operations. All match feeds from HBS and all unilateral feeds from the venues or studios and stages hit this plant before heading to the U.S. and the Fox facilities in Tempe, AZ, and Los Angeles.

The biggest change for this World Cup compared with the previous few is that all matches are being put together in one of two match-control rooms, each comprising an audio room and a video-mixing room.

We insert the clock and score as well as do transitions to and from the studio show, says Callahan. The audio is here as well, taking our announcers from the stadium and incorporating them with the effects that come from HBS. We haven't had those match-control rooms in-country since 2015, when we did the Women's World Cup in Canada.

The reason for the change? There is an additional commercial break between the national anthems and kickoff.

Because of the tightness of that break and some elements we are required to get in as a condition of that, says Callahan, we wanted to have the match-control rooms here in-country to give us the most flexibility to work with the studio show. Ross Carbonite production switchers and Calrec audio consoles are key components in those rooms.

Fox Sports Kevin Callahan: We've always talked about converged networks and things coming together, and we truly are there now with a singular network.

The advantages of having match control onsite is that it reduces the number of signals Fox needs to send between facilities.

We're able to deliver our final composited program from here in Doha; that cuts down latency with return feeds back to the venue and it makes for a smoother integration with the studio, he says. The downside is, we need to travel more people and it's taking up real estate in the IBC.

The IBC is also where Fox Sports drives its media-management and central-ingest operations.

The Google IAS MAM system makes our content instantly available wherever somebody needs it, Callahan says. We are writing that content to storage located here at the IBC and sending the growing files up to the cloud. We're also doing some live streaming to our storage in Los Angeles direct from here. The latter is for post and quick-turnaround stuff.

In terms of innovations, the biggest advance has been the use of the EVS Strata media-infrastructure products.

That's the core behind everything we're doing here, he says. Their Neuron Compress, Neuron Convert, and Neuron Bridge are at the core of our signal management and routing. They're extremely flexible: [for example,] Convert allows for up-, down-, cross-, and tone-mapping natively in the ST 2110 environment. We don't have to go through a gateway.

Callahan notes that it has flexibility in terms of LUTs (Look Up Tables) that can be loaded in for the UHD/HDR side of things.

The FIFA LUT is slightly different from the ones we've used in our other broadcasts, he adds. And the Neuron Shuffle gives us greater flexibility with audio and having different group sizes. With that, we can take in what comes from the host, use it in our own production, but then archive something different, and create the different versions that are needed throughout Fox.

FIFA and HBS are offering a choice of feed formats, and Fox is taking both the 12-Gbps 4K HDR feed and then the 3G HDR feed with the latter being the base level.

Everything in this facility is operating at a minimum of 1080p50 HDR, says Callahan. The studio operations are limited to 1080p50, primarily because of the current limitations of augmented-reality graphics to be fully 4K HDR-capable. The 4K HDR feed is being sent to a control center in Tempe, AZ, where ad insertion is completed and the signal distributed to MVPDs and the FOX Sports App.

It's the same source material the linear broadcast would have, he says.

More than 100 feeds are being sent to the U.S., and latency is only 128 ms one way. That does open up the type of remote workflows that signal a future where everything can be done at home. But there is still very much a need to be close to where the signals originate because problem solving and triage is much easier when they can be done onsite.

That's one of the reasons we do all our frame-rate conversion here, says Callahan. We are sending product back that is ready for air, and we can compare it to the original and say, Okay, we need to change the setting on the Alchemist or we need to do this or do that.

That said, there is plenty of reliance
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/12/05/live-from-fifa-world-cup-kevin-...
See more stories from svg

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 ...

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

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...

07/07/2026

Open call: Apply for the Media Innovation Europe Validation Booster

Applications are now open for the Validation Booster, a six-month acceleration programme supporting journalists, media organisations, content creators, media in...

07/07/2026

HAND Issues Persistent Digital IDs to 50 Top 2026 MLB Draft Prospects

The Universal Talent Identifier (HAND) has issued HAND IDs to 50 top prospects ahead of the 2026 MLB Draft, including consensus top-ranked players Roch Cholowsk...

07/07/2026

Cisco and McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team Extend Technology Partnership

Cisco and the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team have announced an extension of their partnership, expanding the scope from networking and communications to incl...

07/07/2026

LucidLink Announces Enhanced Integration with Adobe Frame.io

LucidLink has announced a workflow integration with Adobe Frame.io that gives production teams unified access to Frame.io projects alongside supporting producti...

07/07/2026

Chyron Appoints Ahmed Magd as Middle East Sales Director

Chyron has announced the appointment of Ahmed Magd as Sales Director for the Middle East. Magd joins from previous senior commercial roles at Riedel Communicati...

07/07/2026

Leader Electronics T&M Equipment Used in Live Broadcast of Pope Leo XIVs Visit to Sagrada Famlia

Leader Electronics of Europe has announced that its PHABRIX Qx rasterizer and Le...

07/07/2026

eCLUTCH Secures EMEA and MENA Broadcast Rights for Esports World Cup 2026

eCLUTCH has announced it has acquired broadcast rights to the Esports World Cup 2026 for EMEA and MENA, covering the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, Sweden, a...

07/07/2026

Riedel and ARRI Support Cinematic Live Production at Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Riedel Communications and ARRI supported ORF's host broadcast of the Eurovis...

07/07/2026

ARRI Releases ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme With High-Frame-Rate SDI Output for Live Production

ARRI has announced the ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme, a camera that adds high frame rate ...

07/07/2026

IBC 2026: LiveU To Exhibit With LU900Q, Sony Integration, EcoSystem Expansion

LiveU will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 7.C24), showcasing the LU900Q Intelligent Production Unit, expanded Sony collaboration, and additions to its open IP-video...

07/07/2026

Peacock Advances Spanish-Language World Cup Streaming With Visin de Campo, Dolby Vision, Real-Time Highlights

Telemundo's coverage is packaged with Multiview, Catch Up with Key Plays, in...

07/07/2026

Australian Rugby League Commission Secures $5.3 Billion Media Rights Deal with Foxtel, Nine, and Sky NZ

The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) has announced a seven-year media r...

07/07/2026

BYUtv Partners With Big 12 for Football Media Days Production

Produced onsite at The Star in Frisco, TX, live coverage of the two-day event airs on ESPN platforms The season for Football Media Days is here, and the Big 12...

07/07/2026

Rogers To Become 100% Owner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment

Rogers Communications Inc. has announced an agreement to acquire the remaining 25% ownership stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) from Kilmer Spo...

07/07/2026

Mobile TV Groups Nick Garvin on Success of MTVG Production Platform at New Mountain Media Center

End-to-end broadcast solution includes fleet of mobile units, Cloud Control, and...

07/07/2026

SVG Executive Perspectives 2026: Industry Leaders Discuss Biz and Tech Trends for the Year Ahead

Sports-production-tech experts sound off on the state of the industry...

07/07/2026

Mix Buddy instrument mixer from Heritage Audio

New mixer aimed squarely at instrument-level sources Heritage Audio have clearly been busy recently, as alongside their all-new Tubestrip, they've also ...

07/07/2026

Heritage Audio unveil the Tubestrip

New channel strip combines popular hardware designs The latest arrival to the Heritage Audio line-up brings together a selection of their praised hardware d...

07/07/2026

Clear-Com Powers Ross Production Services Mobile Productions

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

07/07/2026

New Nielsen data shows Kiwis' wellbeing is shaped by fitness, finance and mental health

New Kessler 10 data now available in Nielsen CMI gives brands a deeper view of h...

07/07/2026

Vitamin brands boost ad spend by 27% as 11.8 million Australians turn to supplements

New Nielsen Ad Intel and CMV data reveals rising competition in Australia's ...

07/07/2026

DAS Disputes Wiegels 3.0 EAS Limitations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

LiveU to Showcase Q Era Innovations at 2026 IBC Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

LucidLink Unifies Adobe Frame.io, Enterprise Storage

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

ARRI Introduces ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme Camera

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Riedel and ARRI Bring Cinematic Live Production to the Eu...

Riedel Communications and ARRI played a key role in one of the most technically ambitious Eurovision Song Contest productions to date. For the first time in the...

07/07/2026

Berklee Valencia Honors Eric Whitacre at the 2026 Commencement Ceremony

Berklee Valencia Honors Eric Whitacre at the 2026 Commencement Ceremony The Grammy-winning composer was celebrated alongside this years cohort of masters degr...

07/07/2026

Disagreements Abound Over the Adequacy of C-Band Replacements

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Cameras Become More Connected to Production Workflows

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

NFL on TV: Time to Move the Regulatory Goal Posts?

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Building a Future-Ready Facility for Tomorrow's Broadcasters

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Rewriting the Control Room: How Broadcasters Are Going Remote

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Fincons Group appoints Andrea Fravega as Global BU Media...

The appointment will drive growth and innovation across the Media Business Unit Fincons Group, a leading IT business consultancy and systems integrator company...

07/07/2026

Big Blue Marble debuts next-gen ultra low latency MoQ str...

International broadcast and streaming expert Big Blue Marble has announced a multi-month Proof of Concept (PoC) for Media over QUIC (MoQ) during a major interna...

07/07/2026

Leader provides Test and Measurement for global broadcast...

Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, is proud to announce that two of its leading products, the PHABRIX Qx rasterizer and LeaderPhabrix L...

07/07/2026

Clear-Com Powers Ross Production Services Mobile Producti...

Clear-Com announced that Ross Production Services (RPS), a leading provider of mobile production solutions for live events and broadcasts, has standardized on ...

07/07/2026

Q Era Innovations Take Center Stage for LiveU at IBC2026

LiveU redefined live newsgathering with the invention of cellular bonding. At IBC2026, Stand 7.C24, the company will show how that foundation is evolving into t...

07/07/2026

Camera to Cloud Meets Camera to Timeline LucidLink Unifi...

LucidLink, a leader in cloud-based file services for content creators, today announced an enhanced workflow integration between LucidLink and Adobe Frame.io tha...

07/07/2026

Comcast's Sky to Acquire ITV Media and Entertainment

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

Digital Alert Systems Details ATSC 3.0 EAS Capabilities to FCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/07/2026

New appointments to Screen Australia board

New appointments to Screen Australia board 7 July 2026 The Albanese Labor Government has made new appointments to the Screen Australia board. Dr Tania Chamber...

07/07/2026

The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck to their creative guns.

The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck t...

07/07/2026

Toby Regbo, Harry Gilby and Jessica Barden lead cast for The Cadburys - the true story of the Cadbury family - with filming now underway in Birmingham

UKTV commission with BritBox and Sony Pictures Television and inspired by Deborah Cadbury's book, Chocolate Wars The six-part series is produced by Fable P...

07/07/2026

Record audiences tune into the ICC Womens T20 World Cup 2026 on Sky Sports

Tuesday 7 July 2026 Record audiences tune into the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 on Sky Sports The ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 was the most watche...

07/07/2026

Official trailer released for Fightland, a revenge drama from executive producer Curtis 50 Cent Jackson coming August to Sky and NOW

Tuesday 7 July 2026 Official trailer released for Fightland, a revenge drama fr...

07/07/2026

Riedel and ARRI Bring Cinematic Live Production to the Eurovision Song Contest

Wuppertal July 7, 2026 Riedel and ARRI Bring Cinematic Live Production to the Eurovision Song ContestRiedel Communications and ARRI played a key role in one o...