With the advent of new and emerging technologies, and with the one getting the most oxygen at the moment being video over IP, a number of people are asking whether the ability to move control rather further way from an event has, or will, change the nature of OB production.
Well, yes and no.
With the advent of new and emerging technologies, and with the one getting the most oxygen at the moment being video over IP, a number of people are asking whether the ability to move control rather further way from an event has, or will, change the nature of OB production.
Well, yes and no.
OB requirements always depend on what type of broadcast you're talking about. Whether it be sport, news, or live events; the technical requirements are largely a function of size and location. There are myriad variables that determine what is most appropriate for each situation in terms of technology, but the bottom line, is this - there's not currently a lot of change in OB requirements.
That's because, for major events in sport, most broadcasters still want to cover it live and, importantly, on site. Remote production over IP, which many are rightly talking about, has its place and will continue to grow but is, in my view, not quite ready yet for major events.
Notice I said major events. Remote production, which is already taking place, is actually an ideal production option for more niche or minority interests. Lots of such special events occur throughout the UK and Europe and I can easily see many of them increasingly being covered on a remote production basis. That approach is contingent on having the right kind of connectivity available, whether satellite or fibre. The availability of suitable fibre-based connectivity is less advanced in some areas than others, but where it is available, it's a highly compelling option.
Although remote production still has issues to be resolved, a lot of people are looking into it with great interest, predominantly as a way of reducing costs while still giving them the leverage to produce the amount of content they need to fill an increasing number of, for example, 24-hour sports channels. However, it's not quite a viable proposition for major events just yet, and here's why.
It will be quite a while before we see, for example, a major sporting event that doesn't have six or seven trucks sitting outside. Although there are obvious advantages to IP-based production, what a lot of people are forgetting is that it could in some cases come at the expense of the feel of a live event. Remote production, almost by the term's very definition, suggests a vague notion of detachment. There is subtle, sometimes overt emotion associated with big events and a feel that most viewers at home (or on a tablet or mobile these days) miss when it's not there, even if they can't quite put their finger on what's missing. It, in short, just doesn't feel right .
Presenters, cameramen, directors and crew are professionals, but they're human beings, too. Very few are able to stay utterly detached when they are live, in the moment. It shows through in the production. The excitement, drama - the human element, if you will - at least for major events, can potentially be diminished if produced largely from afar.
Don't misunderstand. Remote production over IP has huge potential for introducing monumental changes, for the better, in terms of providing more ingenious types of coverage at a lower cost. However, from our point of view, the production approach doesn't matter all that much. Whichever avenue you choose, you need cameras, lenses, tripods, pedestals and all the rest. Your method of getting the images and audio captured by those devices back to an OB or studio is entirely up to you and your situation.
But enough of the theorising, back to the technology. We are already seeing significant advances in, and the increased deployment of, RF, in particular more Mesh products to provide what I call smarter coverage. By smarter I mean, with a Mesh system you can start at A and complete an entire production right through to Z , as opposed to A to F . Stop. Move some equipment. Then do F to M . Stop. Move equipment again, and so on. New RF products can offer continual coverage and are increasingly being deployed as a technology of choice for OB productions large or small.
The only reservation I have in terms of RF and Mesh products is that the ability to transmit in 4K has yet to emerge. So far, I've not seen any product from any manufacturer that can genuinely deliver ultra-low latency 4K transmission, and I suspect it may still be some way off.
There are other ways to achieve low latency transmission, and new technologies will probably arrive before existing ones can adapt, but the bottom line is that the ability to transmit low-latency 4K has to happen. It's not there yet, but that's not to say it won't be in 12 months' time.
Modern production standards notwithstanding, in recent weeks we've nevertheless embarked on a significant investment in new stock, but much of it is a replenishment and extension of technology that our customers expect us to have on hand and for which demand, if anything, is increasing. However, we are also investing in more HD cameras because we have a huge demand for them, as well as 4K cameras and associated lenses for those who want to take it a step further.
Having said all of the above, it's fair to say there haven't been major tectonic shifts in terms of OB technology requirements in recent years, and that continues to be the case, at least in the near-term. In my view, the reason for this is two-fold, a lack of standardisation, i.e., a number of broadcast and production standards are still being worked out, particularly in terms of UHD and HDR. Althou
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
With the advent of new and emerging technologies, and with the one getting the most oxygen at the moment being video over IP, a number of people are asking whether the ability to move control rather further way from an event has, or will, change the nature of OB production.
