Connect and Produce Anywhere: Discussing the future of live production at IBC 2023 By Michael Burns
Friday, September 29, 2023 - 10:14
Print This Story
In the first of a four-part series, SVG Europe provides a roundup of the sport-focused IBC Accelerator discussions at IBC 2023. First up, the Connect and Produce Anywhere' Accelerator project.
Conceived in December last year in a session attended by SVG Europe, the concept behind the Connect and Produce Anywhere Accelerator is for broadcasters to dynamically move live production media processing stages between cloud and edge computing at an event, allowing production crews to deploy software and resources in bandwidth-constrained locations.
IBC 2023: Standing room only at the Connect and Produce Anywhere panel discussion
After Mark Smith, Innovation Co-Lead, IBC gave a brief introduction, Ian Wagdin, senior technology transfer manager, BBC, kicked off with an informative and frequently amusing overview that encompassed the scope and background to the project.
How we resource live events, particularly coming out of the pandemic, has really changed dramatically over the past few years, said Wagdin.
We wanted to take a step back, and review some of the big challenges that we've got in this environment, and how we as an end-user community come together as a shared endeavour rather than coming up with different solutions and then asking people to try and deliver those.
Wagdin talked about the challenges facing live production, particularly around connectivity, in fields in the middle of nowhere and how the production experience can be impacted by bandwidth concerns.
So we set this challenge, to be able to dynamically move production around across platforms, he continued. We wanted to make a choice about whether we work remotely, whether we work on location. And we want to do it in such a way that our operations teams can feel that they can use whatever software they're familiar with.
The panel:
Mark Smith, Innovation Co-Lead - IBC
Ian Wagdin, senior technology transfer manager, BBC
Ben Somerville, senior engineer & squadron leader at Techex
Scott Davis, broadcast media architect for Microsoft
Claire Wilkie, founder and managing director of Limitless Broadcast
Accelerator Champions: DAZN, Sky Sports, BT Media & Broadcast, Vodafone Group, BBC, TV2
Accelerator participants: LAMA, VizRT, Open Broadcast Systems, Zixi, InSync, Limitless, Singular.live, Google, Techex, Microsoft, AMD, Grass Valley, Verizon Business
Claire Wilkie, founder and managing director of Limitless Broadcast, focused on the connectivity question - sometimes it's simply not there -, latency and constrained bandwidth, but also the interesting approach of edge computing .
I'm looking at how can we use edge in different sports that we cover - rugby, football, basketball, and netball - to enable some of the nuances that you get across different sports such as TMO match officials or analysts in rugby, they need instant signals. If you're doing that by remote production, it's a challenge. So, there are some things that we'd like to have on site and that's where edge tools are really helpful and useful for us.
Smith described Limitless as high quality, lightweight production and highlighted the sustainability benefits of its remote production approach.
With cloud production, it's easier to track what your carbon footprint is, said Wilkie.
But with edge we're also looking to make it quantifiable, so we can be aligned with Albert sustainability goals and reaching net zero for our broadcasters.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of the project, Ben Somerville, senior engineer and squadron leader at Techex, described the project infrastructure built at the company's data centre in Bracknell, England.
He said: We use one of the racks there to deploy several servers, networked to facilitate this test lab, with real production software applications that can speak to each other on that hardware, and local edge compute services provided by Dell and AMD in collaboration with Microsoft and Google. We're using Azure Stack HCI (hyperconverged infrastructure) and Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) to deploy virtual compute on the virtual network. We wanted to provide access to cloud-based distributions so that we could potentially leverage a hybrid approach, where we have edge compute doing our actual production.
The infrastructure uses local NDI sources that can speak to all the different applications.
Scott Davis, broadcast media architect for Microsoft, highlighted the need for observability in the software-defined network at all levels , including this hybrid world where we have an edge going on and a cloud going on .
What's going on your switch, what's going on inside the chassis itself, and inside anything you defined in that world at a much deeper layer, said Davis. Are my services that are serving media working? You've got to find tools from vendors to be able to dig in and know what's going on in that network.
We've also got to get to a place where we're taking actual SDI into these chassis, he added. We're not done yet. We're going to find more parts that we need to stick in these boxes.
Liam Hayter, product manager at Vizrt Group/NewTek, said that standardisation was key to rolling out the project as an actual service and pointed out that things can and do go wrong.
If something goes down at the edge [in this project] and there's no one there to reboot it, we can work around it, he said.
We've managed to spin up instances elsewhere and reconnect everything quite quickly. But if you're doing production remote and on the edge, you definitely need people on the ground there to reboot something once in a while.
In terms of sustainabil
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...
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...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
Connect and Produce Anywhere: Discussing the future of live production at IBC 2023 By Michael Burns 
