
SVG Sit-Down: Telstra's Steve Dargham on America's Cup Transmission Needs World feed will be distributed to 60+ rightsholders globally on fiber, internet, partner networks By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, March 5, 2021 - 11:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The America's Cup (AC36) may not feature any teams from the Americas (New Zealand squares off with Italy beginning this weekend), but, given its location in Auckland, NZ, it will feature plenty of broadcasters and long-distance transmission connectivity. Steven Dargham, head of major events, Telstra Broadcast Services, discussed the company's efforts around the world-feed distribution and more with SVG Editorial Director Ken Kerschbaumer.
Telstra Broadcast Services' Steve Dargham: Proven hybrid delivery models make broadcasters open to flexible delivery solutions that incorporate new technology.
How many rightsholders, etc. are riding on the Telstra pipes?
Telstra distributed AC36's world feed to over 60 global media- and digital-rights holders on its global fiber, internet, and affiliated partner networks. Hundreds of countries will receive AC36 from broadcasters with rights in multiple regions.
Any sense of how many circuits and total bandwidth will be used?
To accommodate large-bandwidth acquisition, Telstra deployed dual 10GigE over diverse dark-fiber backbone from AC36's International Broadcast Centre to dual Telstra Global Media Network PoPs in Auckland. The feeds then travel across the Tasman to Telstra's Broadcast Operations Centre in Sydney, which acts as the centralized global distribution hub to rights-holding broadcasters. The aggregated content is delivered over the internet for streaming and on subsea cables with protected capacity of up to 5 Gig.
Everyone's needs are different. How is your team meeting some of the different demands?
AC36 is one of our most recent exciting projects and is different compared to our delivery of the 2010 Americas Cup from Valencia, Spain. This year, we had to build a flexible network solution to accommodate COVID impacts, such as a remote-production model, advanced multiservice media-edge equipment, Ethernet data services, and high-speed internet services, as well as reduced onsite engineers. A range of high-quality media-edge hardware deployed to support H.264 encoding, RTMP, Zixi and SRT, J2K, and remote-production-capable equipment. The multiservice edge equipment backhauled all contents to the Telstra Broadcast Operations Centre (Telstra BOC) in Sydney, where the centralized booking, monitoring, and distribution to global media- and digital-rights holders took place.
Telstra has a two-person team on hand in Auckland for the America's Cup.
How many people are onsite from Telstra?
The initial plan was to have six operations and engineering staff in Auckland. Instead, we have two onsite staff at the International Broadcast Center in Auckland, 24 7 live-operations support, and AC36 booking staff at the Telstra Broadcast Operations Centre in Sydney, and the remainder of our operations and engineering support in Paris and London.
What has been the biggest challenge working this event compared with others?
It's no secret COVID created new challenges for live sporting events. However, at the same time, it created new opportunities of delivering large events. In the past, broadcasters were reluctant to adopt new delivery models. The challenge of having minimal onsite engineers was overcome with the trust in the engineers and our global remote-production, fiber and internet delivery models. Proven hybrid delivery models make broadcasters open to flexible delivery solutions that incorporate new technology.
Does Telstra have a major presence naturally in New Zealand, or is it smaller connectivity that heads up to a larger hub in Sydney?
Telstra has an established presence in New Zealand, with an agile operating model with local telecommunications providers. Telstra has key points of presence on its Global Media Network to service multinationals with content from New Zealand and Pacific Islands.
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...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
21/07/2026
In a time of disarray in regional sports broadcasting, the league will provide c...
21/07/2026
When NEP designed one of its largest recurring mobile production unit fleets for PGA TOUR
coverage, the leading media services provider faced a familiar challe...
21/07/2026
High-end analogue channel strip boasts plug-in recall
Originally revealed as a prototype back at NAMM 2024, the Channex Studio channel strip represented a b...
21/07/2026
Relies on same DSP as plug-in range
Musik Hack's line-up has been influenced heavily by founder Stan Greene's work as a mixing engineer, and their M...
21/07/2026
Official collaboration with boutique builder Dirty Boy Pedals
Warm Audio have just announced the launch of a new guitar pedal range created in collaboration...
21/07/2026
SBS scores biggest ever FIFA World Cup Reach as Spain triumph in the final
21 July, 2026
Media releases
Spain v Argentina attracted a Total TV reach of al...
21/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases broad range of EMC test solutions at EMC SIPI 2026 in ...
21/07/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery's unbroken lead is interrupted as sports and live mus...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Across the TV and streaming ecosystem, industry players face mounting pressure to do more with less. They must simplify operations, protect premium content and ...
21/07/2026
Tuxera, a leading prover of quality-assured file systems and networking technologies, is bringing its latest advances in connectivity performance to the media w...
21/07/2026
COW Jobs: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP Rigged Graphics Package
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
HIRING: Apple Motion Expert for Custom FCP ...
21/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will use its presence at IBC2026 (stand 7.A01, Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September) to...
21/07/2026
Calrec will be located in Hall 8, on Stand C47
Beyond bigger
For years, broadcast facilities were built around one assumption: provision for the biggest pro...
21/07/2026
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, will discuss its future-facing developments for the new generation of medi...
21/07/2026
nxtedition returns to IBC2026 with its consolidated production platform, showing how scripting, editing, graphics, AI-assisted tools and automation can work wit...
21/07/2026
C2PA content signing helps broadcasters, public institutions, and publishers give audiences a verifiable record of where their video content came from and how i...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/07/2026
New capability centralizes collaboration, feedback, security and status tracking within VIDA, providing a structured, auditable approach to master quality contr...
21/07/2026
Lightcraft Launches Exclusive Spark Story Beta for Filmmakers and Creators at SI...
21/07/2026
Indie Road Movie Where in the Hell Shot with Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Brie Clayton July 20, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist blends vintage film looks to shape...
21/07/2026
Which USS Defiant Pulse Phaser effect is better?
Graham Quince July 20, 2026
0 Comments
Aargh, ever since @DarkRavenProductions posted a comment ask...
21/07/2026
X-Rite Pantone and NIFT Partner to Build Color Management Skills for India's...
21/07/2026
Harmonics cOS Virtualized Broadband Platform and Pearl Remote OLTs Enable Flexible PON Migration, While SeaStar Optical Node Powers Cost-Effective Multi-Gigabit...
21/07/2026
Every live event starts with a defining moment. A camera captures the game-winni...
21/07/2026
AI has entered the gigascale era.
The world's most advanced AI factories are bringing together hundreds of thousands of GPUs and CPUs to train frontier mod...
21/07/2026
NVIDIA Vera Rubin is here, and it's going gigascale.
Vera Rubin NVL72 produ...
21/07/2026
160 hours of Irish storytelling for 2026
KIN and The Walsh Sisters return
RT has today unveiled its most ambitious drama slate ever, with a record-breakin...
20/07/2026
The former Northwestern broadcast-operations leader is helping train the next generation of live-sports-production talent across the Big Ten
The sports-product...
20/07/2026
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. Whi...
20/07/2026
Product range now readily available in the UK
Graph Tech Guitar Labs have just announced the launch of a new UK Online Store that makes it quicker and easie...
20/07/2026
Popular headset gains active noise cancellation
The Maxwell headet was Audeze's first foray into the gaming world, and thanks to its Dolby Atmos compati...
20/07/2026
The NFVF, an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, has released t...
20/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/07/2026
Starfish Technologies will use IBC2026 to showcase the flexibility of its transport stream processing software, including the latest versions of TS Splicer (Win...
20/07/2026
Bitfocus, the specialist in media control and monitoring, will show at IBC2026 (Elgato stand 8.D31, Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September) how its Buttons control la...
20/07/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced new AI capabilities that e...
20/07/2026
Big Blue Marble's Cloud DRM has been nominated in the DRM/Content Protection category of the 2026 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards.
Only four pro...
20/07/2026
Monday 20 July 2026
Sky brings free global roaming to millions of loyal custome...
20/07/2026
Red Seat Ventures Announces Introduction of Premium Creator and Podcast Communit...