The greatest endeavor for broadcasters in the 21st century is viewer participation. Bridging the gap between the TV studio and the families at home is the final cornerstone of broadcast evolution, and producers, directors and decisionmakers are frantically searching for solutions.
German public TV station ZDF had toyed with one such idea for many years: an interactive kid's game show, where children at home can play against each other, moderated by a host in the studio. A few attempts were turned into pilots by ZDF's subsidiary KiKA, a channel focused on children's entertainment.
They mostly consisted of quizzes and challenges, such as collecting all paper cups a kid could find in their home in a certain timeframe. Although high-end technologies were utilized, all concepts faced the same problem: too much delay in the video streams. This made communication between studio and contestants at home clumsy and stiff and hindered not only more complex game show elements, but also stalled a smooth flow of the entire program. Finally, the Munich agency Rayd was called to the rescue. When we were brought on board, the ZDF had already decided on an even more complex approach to the show, explained Oliver Grimm of Rayd. They wanted to incorporate video games that the kids could play on their screen against a celebrity in the studio. But they were still facing the same delay issues - a double challenge for us.
Rayd, long time veterans in broadcast technology and game show development, took on the entire workflow and renewed it from scratch. We started with the video communication system, said Johannes Klaer of Rayd, quickly realizing that none of the commonly used products would be sufficient for the job.
They developed a browser based flash plugin that the children could access via opening a specific website on the internet without having to install any software on their home computers. This reduced delay for all six incoming video streams - four contestants and two backups - to less than half a second.
A major challenge was the game development. Rayd created a variety of games, ranging from an adaption of the all-time favorite Pong to flying simulators and races. The contestants participated using their webcam and a custom-made motion sensoring shader, which tracked the players movements and translated them into the game world. On their home screen the kids could see the game and their own video stream as a half transparent overlay. For the second season of the show, Rayd added voice commands to the games for even more complexity.
With three incoming streams from each contestant - video, audio, and motion sensor data - the game server had quite some computing to do. Next to handling the game logic, the software also calculated all scores and leaderboards and transmitted this information to the controlling software, another custom piece from the hands of Rayd.
The final task was bringing all the information - video streams from the contestants, a stream of the real-time game, scores, and camera image - into one HD signal for broadcasting. For this purpose, Rayd used the real-time software Ventuz. A total of three servers were installed, each managing a specific aspect of the show. One machine was equipped with a Deltacast HD capture card which offered two HD inputs, one bringing in the real-time game stream, while the other received all six video streams from the contestants and the celebrity's video stream - all in one split signal. We created a masking functionality in Ventuz with which we could designate certain areas of the split screen to specific spots in the playout , explained Oliver.
This allowed us to place the contestants' individual video streams exactly where we needed them. A second Ventuz machine was used for the actual real-time on-air graphics. Rayd created a number of different frame graphics in Ventuz, each picking up the look and feel of the game which would be placed inside the graphics. Then the video streams of all players were arranged around the game area, and names and additional data were added on an additional text layer. The Ventuz scene received this information from the controlling software via .NET remoting.
In between games, Ventuz also provided a scoreboard, the first scoreboard in the history of broadcasting that had live videos of the players embedded , said Johannes. A third Ventuz machine was used for an in-studio video wall, an HD backprojection, which offered the full game experience to the audience in the studio and also showed scoreboards and full-screen live videos from the kids at home.
Ventuz has been Rayd's number one choice for on-air graphics for many years. There is no software in this market that can compete with Ventuz , said Oliver. Of course the pricing is a big plus, but what really makes the difference is what you as an agency can offer for the client's money. Ventuz has so many little tools and helpers that allow you to design really beautiful graphics and incorporate smooth animations. Yet at the same time, you can work very fast. So even if the client's budget is limited, the real-time graphics can still look like a million dollars.
The two seasons of Web vs. Promi proved a true success for KiKA and ZDF with an average market share of about 17% in the relevant target group, a number that increased over time. Although the second season ended in 2013, all episodes are on constant rerun and still draw a noteworthy audience. Web vs. Promi was nominated for the Emmy award for digital programs in 2013. Thus far, no other production has reached a similar level of interactivity with viewers at home.
###
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
29/04/2024
Lingo, RuPaul's word-twisting game show, returns for season two on CBS Friday, May 24. Two episodes air that night, and stream on Paramount Plus, too....
29/04/2024
ESPN and Amazon Prime Video are reportedly close to scoring television rights to the National Basketball Association, according to published reports....
29/04/2024
Judge Judy and Hot Bench, CBS Media Ventures' genre-leading court shows, have been renewed through the 2025-26 TV season in more than 95% of the country, Gr...
29/04/2024
Premier Sports, an Irish-based premium sports broadcaster, has selected QuickLink's Remote Commentary solution for introducing professional, high-quality re...
29/04/2024
The awards celebrate the craft of behind-the-scenes TV talent and the best programmes of 2023
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 29, 2024
The awards cel...
29/04/2024
The team at Milk had to create and deliver the VFX and environment work for the royal residences featured in the drama from scratch
By Jenny Priestley
Publis...
29/04/2024
CEO Bob Bakish is expected to leave the company as early as today, with a new leadership committee likely to run the company on an interim basis
By Jenny Pries...
29/04/2024
Albena Ivanova, director, media and entertainment and strategic products at CHAOS Media talks to TVBEurope about her route into the industry
By TVBEurope Staff...
29/04/2024
The acquisition gives Grand Technix the opportunity to expand its footprint in the audio visual and broadcast technology sectors
By Jenny Priestley
Published...
29/04/2024
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
First Light
Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
29/04/2024
Talk about commitment. When startup SEA.AI, an NVIDIA Metropolis partner, set out to create a system that would use AI to scan the seas to enhance maritime safe...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
27/04/2024
Two environmentally-focused groups are partnering to engage the unscripted TV world in finding better ways to address climate change. Reality of Change is an ec...
27/04/2024
Sarah Garcia has been promoted to weekend anchor at KTLM McAllen, Texas, known as Telemundo 40. Starting April 27, she will anchor Noticias Telemundo 40 weekend...
27/04/2024
CBS Sports said it launched a new 24-hour free, ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to the UEFA Champions League....
27/04/2024
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts received $35.4 million in compensation in 2023, up 11% from the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed by th...
27/04/2024
Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, which sees the actor study dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz with students in Los Angeles, debuts on PBS ...
27/04/2024
Remember Leave It to Beaver? Bewitched? Dragnet? When cable ratings were rising?...
27/04/2024
Next up for the weekend binge at Catchy Comedy is Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Every weekend, Catchy Comedy features The Catchy Binge, a marathon of a classic sitcom....
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
26/04/2024
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
Orders1 of $5.5 billion; book-to-bill of 1.06x
Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 17%,...
26/04/2024
Five Considerations For Communications Modernization In The 21st Century
In the digital-enabled battlespace, the Joint Force needs to shoot, move and communica...
26/04/2024
CBS Sports has launched Champions League as a new, 24-hour streaming channel that will serve as the year-round destination for nonstop highlights of the UEFA ...
26/04/2024
Despite tough competition in the streaming space, Roku reported solid results in Q1 2024, beating revenue expectations, with total net revenue up 19% YoY to $88...
26/04/2024
LONDON AND TORONTO Pinewood Toronto Studios has appointed Sarah Farrell as general manager of the Studios in downtown Toronto....
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
The greatest endeavor for broadcasters in the 21st century is viewer participation. Bridging the gap between the TV studio and the families at home is the final cornerstone of broadcast evolution, and producers, directors and decisionmakers are frantically searching for solutions.
