Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

BT Sport World-First Standalone 5G Broadcast for MotoGP at Silverstone Is a Step Towards Transmission Transformation

08/09/2021

BT Sport world-first standalone 5G broadcast for MotoGP at Silverstone is a step towards transmission transformation By Adrian Pennington

Monday, September 6, 2021 - 13:24

Print This Story

At the recent British Grand Prix, MotoGP at Silverstone, BT Sport was able to advance 5G trials

Trials of sports media innovations like augmented reality (AR), 8K and 5G have been delayed by the pandemic, but as crowds and crews get back to the stadiums, tests are starting up once more.

The leader of the pack in Europe at least is BT Sport which has plans for all three technologies in the works.

At the recent British Grand Prix, MotoGP at Silverstone [Sunday 29 August], BT Sport was able to advance the 5G part of its plan in concert with long-standing motorsport partner, MotoGP, and bag a world first in the process.

We've been talking with MotoGP and rights holder Dorna about exploring 5G and how it can transform some of their workflows, explains BT Sport chief engineer Andy Beale. There's a real-world problem to solve. Increasingly the wireless bandwidth traditionally used for radio cams and mics is being squeezed out and so reclaiming some of the public 4G and 5G spectrum is potentially a good way of solving reduced frequency count.

BT Sport embarked on a project with Dorna to explore whether 5G was a viable use case as replacement technology for radio cameras in the pit lane and paddock.

Also in the consortium were RF partner Vislink and the University of Strathclyde, which has a 5G lab. The aim was to build a standalone 5G network and explore its potential during live broadcast.

We didn't believe the main 5G network at Silverstone would support the required quality of service, Beale says. With 60,000 fans, a large circuit area and just one 5G cell we didn't think it would be reliable.

University of Strathclyde built a bespoke, private 5G network for BT Sport to use at MotoGP at Silverstone

Bespoke network

So, the University of Strathclyde built a bespoke one. A standalone network uses the same principals as a non-contested private network, which is why they think it's a world's first, Beale says. It's part of a wider project basically looking at 5G tech longer term as a replacement for traditional coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (COFDM).

For the British GP 5G trial, Vislink customised a version of its H-Cam transmitter that clips to the back of a camera and built a 5G transponder on that for use in the pit lane before the race. These pictures went to air on the International Programme Feed (world feed) and were also clipped into BT Sport's live coverage.

That was used very extensively and successfully up and down the pit lane, says Beale.

The small cell built by Strathclyde Uni was rigged on the outside of the circuit and, unlike traditional hardware based, specialised and proprietary cells from the likes of network operators Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei, this was built entirely in the CPU as a software-defined network.

Beale adds: This is a CPU-run 5G cell running virtually (apart from the physical antenna,) on local equipment, and that's important as we do more and more remote productions and start taking feeds into the cloud.

As a next step, BT Sport will take it fully into the cloud.

Vislink also built a militarised' version of the transmitter/transponder for mounting on the back of the media bike, pictures from which are made available for rights holder to use for features.

For BT Sport at Silverstone, former world superbike champion-turned-pundit, Neil Hodgson, rode around the track on the Thursday before race day commentating on the lap.

5G cells have a lower footprint than 4G [meaning more of them are required to cover large areas] so we knew the 5G coverage wouldn't work for the whole lap, but it did work for the section the 5G cell was on, he says.

That's important because the tests were made at various speeds from 100kph to 180kph.

What we're hoping as an industry is that, with 5G, we can use more consistent frequencies which should make it easier operationally for rights holders and broadcasters

We're pleased it still did a pretty good job, Beale continues. The signal has to authenticate when it arrives on the cell so when the bike is going top speed you do lose a bit of track while that handshake takes place, but it kept a clean signal all the way around the complex before it was lost into the start of turn one.

For Dorna, the issue is that at every circuit it attends around the world, the bandwidth for radio cameras and mics is wildly different. So the team has to have kit that works in all these frequencies and as that bandwidth gets compressed it becomes harder and harder to make all those work reliably.

Dorna has around 90-plus radio cameras, let alone radio mics and talkback, each weekend. Beale says: What we're hoping as an industry is that, with 5G, we can use more consistent frequencies which should make it easier operationally for rights holders and broadcasters. The 5G spectrum has a much more consistent specification worldwide.

Sports TV presenter, Natalie Quirk, reporting from trackside at MotoGP at Silverstone for BT Sport, using a custom 5G network

Network slicing still to come

Extensive 5G live production will require network slicing, which is the ability for a broadcaster to licence and hive off a part of the spectrum for the duration of an event.

That's still not available unfortunately, says Beale, who attributes the tardiness of its standardisation to COVID. Slicing would enable us to safely join a public network without contention but we're still waiting for that to arrive. That's why we're using a standalone network to give us the same effect.

That said, the advantages of the standalone model are not great for
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/bt-sport-world-first-standalo...
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 ...

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...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

22/05/2026

Study: AI Labeling Does Not Hurt Video Ad Performance

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/05/2026

NAB Show Makes 200+ Sessions Available on Demand

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/05/2026

Torneos Upgrades Multichannel Playout with Imagine's Versio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

CBS Sports Expands WNBA Tip-Off Show To Cover Half of 20-Game, Regular-Season Package

Game Creek Video Columbia and Celtic, NEP Supershooter 8 will house onsite produ...

21/05/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Christina Zelin, Rowan University

Freshly graduated, this upstart producer, director, and camera operator is already working as an AP on videoboard shows for the Philadelphia Phillies In the li...

21/05/2026

Media Links Announces Channel Partnership with Clearcast Asia Ahead of BroadcastAsia 2026

Media Links has announced a channel partnership with Clearcast Asia, a broadcast...

21/05/2026

SiriusXM and NASCAR Announce Multi-Year Broadcasting Agreement Renewal

SiriusXM and NASCAR have announced a multi-year renewal of their broadcasting agreement. SiriusXM will continue to carry live broadcasts of every NASCAR Cup Ser...

21/05/2026

Audio-Technica Hosts High-Density Wireless Microphone Demo at Technica House in New York City

Audio-Technica held a demonstration event at its Technica House location in New ...

21/05/2026

RTL Deutschland Selects Ateme Frame-Rate Conversion Technology for Live Event Workflows

Ateme has announced that RTL Deutschland has selected Ateme's software-based...

21/05/2026

BCC Live Deploys LiveU LU900Q for Record-Breaking IRONMAN Texas Broadcast

LiveU has announced that BCC Live deployed the LU900Q intelligent production unit for the first time during the 2026 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas North Americ...

21/05/2026

Mark Aitken to Receive 2026 ATSC Mark Richer Industry Leadership Medal

ATSC has announced that Mark Aitken, President of ONE Media and Senior VP of Advanced Technology at Sinclair Broadcast Group, will receive the 2026 Mark Richer ...

21/05/2026

BBright Outlines MXL Integration Strategy for Software-Defined Broadcast Workflows

BBright has published a technical analysis of the Media eXchange Layer (MXL), de...

21/05/2026

Esports World Cup 2026 to Be Held in Paris, France

The Esports Foundation has announced that the 2026 Esports World Cup (EWC) will be hosted in Paris, France, from July 6 through August 23. The event marks the f...

21/05/2026

Chyron Announces PRIME Scorebug and Expanded Chyron LIVE Scorebug Capabilities

Chyron has announced PRIME Scorebug, a scorebug solution built on the PRIME Platform for on-premises sports production, and has expanded Chyron LIVE with purpos...

21/05/2026

Media Links Integrates Xscend Platform with DataMiner at BroadcastAsia 2026

Media Links has announced the integration of its Xscend IP transport platform with Skyline Communications' DataMiner xOps platform. The integration will be ...

21/05/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Nova Lume CEO Jim Casey on Bringing Flexible IP Intercom to Live Production

As live sports productions continue to demand more flexible, scalable, and cost-...

21/05/2026

SVG Rewind: ESPN's Use of POVORA Wireless Tilt Control CapCam Gives College Football Fans a First-Person View of the Game

In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into...

21/05/2026

Join Shade in Miami and Atlanta for Post-Production Networking Events

Hey Miami & Atlanta post-production folks! Shade is hosting a free private suite at a Braves game (6/2) and Marlins game (6/5) and have about a dozen extra tic...

21/05/2026

Phoenix Suns, Mercury, and Gray Media Extend Broadcast Partnership Through 2030

The Suns and Mercury become the first NBA and WNBA teams to make games available under a single broadcast partner across both over-the-air and streaming....

21/05/2026

Apple TV, MLS to Produce First Major Pro Sporting Event Shot Entirely on iPhone 17 Pros

iPhones are part of the the regular production rotation for Friday Night Baseba...

21/05/2026

SVG Rewind: AIQ: Where Data Meets Dirt Technology Brings Real-Time Data Analysis to Rodeo

In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into...

21/05/2026

Filmmakers' Favorites: Sundance Film Festival Alums on Welcome to the Dollhouse

Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Wiener in Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse...

21/05/2026

Create, Control, and Personalize Your Listening Across Every Moment

Spotify has always been about helping you find something you want to listen to. And over the years, we've learned your taste and the moments that matter to ...

21/05/2026

You Know Every Song. We Saved You Two Tickets. Introducing Reserved.

Getting concert tickets today can feel like a race you're set up to lose. You show up at the right time, refresh endlessly, and still miss out. Too often, ...

21/05/2026

Books on Spotify: New Updates for Listeners and Authors

In 2022, Spotify entered a new chapter by introducing audiobooks to our platform. Since then, we've grown our catalog to include more than 700,000 titles, e...

21/05/2026

Investor Day 2026 Remarks From Spotify Co-CEOs Alex Norstrm and Gustav Sderstrm

Opening remarks ALEX Good morning everyone, I'm Alex [Norstr m]. GUSTAV And I'm Gustav [S derstr m]. ALEX Whether you've been following our j...

21/05/2026

Spotify's 2026 Investor Day Recap: Raising Ambition for the Next Era of Media

Today, Spotify hosted our third Investor Day in New York City, offering the fina...

21/05/2026

Spotifys Investor Day 2026: Ambitioniert in die nchste ra der Medien

Spotify hat heute seinen dritten Investor Day in New York City veranstaltet und der Finanzwelt tiefere Einblicke in das Gesch ft, die Produktstrategie und die l...

21/05/2026

Rcapitulatif de l'Investor Day 2026 de Spotify : Des ambitions renouveles pour la prochaine re des mdias

Aujourd'hui, Spotify a organis son troisi me Investor Day New York. En pl...

21/05/2026

Il riepilogo dell'Investor Day 2026 di Spotify: eleviamo le ambizioni per la prossima era dei media

Oggi, a New York City, Spotify ha presentato il suo terzo Investor Day, offrendo...

21/05/2026

Resumen del Investor Day 2026 de Spotify: elevando la ambicin para la prxima era de los medios

Hoy Spotify celebr su tercer Investor Day en Nueva York, donde ofrecimos a la c...

21/05/2026

Rangkuman Investor Day Spotify 2026: Meningkatkan Ambisi untuk Era Media Berikutnya

Hari ini, Spotify menyelenggarakan Investor Day yang ketiga di New York City, me...

21/05/2026

2026 (Investor Day):

2026 : (Investor Day) , , . ...

21/05/2026

2026 :

20 2026 ...

21/05/2026

Resumo do Investor Day 2026 do Spotify: elevando a ambio para a prxima era da mdia

Hoje, o Spotify realizou seu terceiro Investor Day em Nova York, oferecendo co...

21/05/2026

2026: Spotify

Spotify Investor Day ...

21/05/2026

Spotify'n 2026 Investor Day zeti: Medyann Yeni a in Byk Hedefler

Spotify bug n, 20'nci y l d n m m z kutlad m z bu y lda, finans camias na, i modelimiz, r n stratejimiz ve uzun vadeli vizyonumuz hakk nda daha detayl ...

21/05/2026

Cinematic Motion & Ethereal Flows for Sonuscore's The Score

Two new Story Packs join orchestral instrument line-up Sonuscore have just introduced two new additions to The Score, marking the instrument's first maj...

21/05/2026

Heavyocity release Oblivion Drums

30,000 samples, 99 presets & 504 loops Heavyocity are well known for their hard-hitting cinematic instruments, and their latest release is no exception to t...

21/05/2026

Rohde & Schwarz AI powered voice to data: The future of air traffic control takes flight at Airspace World 2026

Rohde & Schwarz AI powered voice to data: The future of air traffic control take...

21/05/2026

Redefining Persistent and Affordable Airpower for Special Operations Forces

SKY RAIDER II INTERNATIONAL's modular open systems architecture delivers expanded operational reach and mission flexibility....

21/05/2026

From Payload to Platform: Autonomous ISR Where It Actually Matters

ASO-enabled WESCAM MX-10 systems conduct systematic wide-area maritime search patterns, autonomously managing sensor scan operations to expand coverage, reduce ...

21/05/2026

Sports content accounts for fastest-growing portion of top global SVOD catalogs

HBO Max, a new addition to Gracenote Data Hub, is home to the most sports programming among major streamers NEW YORK May 21, 2026 New analysis by Gracenote...

21/05/2026

Study: Nearly Half of U.S. Viewers Watch Video With Captions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

Apple TV to Capture MLS Game Entirely on iPhone 17 Pro

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/05/2026

MPTS 2026 Draws Record Numbers for Landmark 10th Annivers...

The UK's leading event for the creative industries united thousands of professionals for two days of networking, debate, industry insight and getting hands-...