SVG Europe Audio State of Wireless Mics Forum: If we lose the spectrum, it's going back to the boring stuff By Kevin Emmott Monday, June 9, 2025 - 15:57
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Sports television has never sounded so good, and the creative adoption of wireless microphone technology is playing a big part, providing more creative opportunities for broadcasters to deliver more visceral live packages. But it is not without its challenges, and broadcasters' ability to work in these increasingly challenging environments is becoming more difficult. External forces threatening to reduce the available spectrum lurk around every corner, and each of those corners exists in a global environment that is far from harmonious.
In SVG Europe Audio's State of Wireless Mics Forum, a panel of people from across the programme making and special events (PMSE) community illustrated once again how strategy, teamwork, the adoption of new technologies and clever network integration are helping negate these challenges on both sides of the Atlantic.
Too clever for our own good
Kicking off the online session, Jackie Green, director at Nexonic Design, delivered a comprehensive overview of where the PMSE industry is and began by asking a difficult question that introduced the elephant to the rest of the room; are we being too clever for our own good?
Wireless devices are fundamental to developing engaging content production and advancing the fan experience, and there aren't any PMSEs without that content, she said. But while the available spectrum continues to shrink, clever people keep finding more ways to add more wireless to not only keep the show running, but to improve it. Sound is getting better, consumer experiences are getting better, and we're supporting more audio feeds to create more immersive experiences.
Wireless capture enables a lot of different audio opportunities and everyone in this session is keenly aware of that. So while we can say that there is a problem, the people on the other side of production can't see it.
Green explained how the audio community has utilised a variety of approaches to achieve this, from spectrum sharing tools and technologies like wireless multichannel audio systems (WMAS) which make more efficient use of the available spectrum, to better frequency coordination and the offloading of content to other services like cellular, private 5G, the cloud or traditional Wi-Fi.
Yet there is an omnipresent threat that is not going away, and this is especially prescient in the US where the broadcast spectrum doesn't generate any money for the government. As traditional over the air (OTA) broadcast networks lose ground to other delivery formats and open up spectrum for other uses, powerful international mobile telecommunications companies (IMTs) and mobile network operators (MNOs) are all poised to muscle in to grow their businesses; and auctioning that spectrum off could be worth billions of dollars.
In addition, argued Green, the PMSE industry is supporting these moves by delivering more engaging content for content providers to distribute, encouraging them to demand even more spectrum so they can grab more customers and make even more money.
And so I ask the question; are we too clever for our own good? Green challenged the group. We keep solving the production problems that are caused by severely shrinking spectrum, and then we provide what is really an extraordinary asset to these companies that are producing and distributing entertainment content. That asset is a key ingredient to the others making money.
Different approaches
The argument kicked off a debate that spanned continents, policy influencers and technology suppliers, and ended up with a call to action that sounded more like a timely battle cry than a warning. Joining Green on the table was a wide range of stakeholders, including two former Ofcom representatives in Martin Brock, Shure's senior manager for spectrum and regulatory affairs, and Vaughan John, Sennheiser's spectrum policy and standards manager. The panel also included Alex Lepges, technical director for EMEA at Audio-Technica; Gary Trenda, RF applications engineer at Sound Devices; and Jonny McClintock, commercial director for UK-based manufacturer AntennaWare.
As traditional broadcasters exit spaces that are being reallocated by regulators, the US appears to be focussed on selling them off. But the situation in Europe is very different. Sennheiser's John presented a diverging picture with some countries in Europe coming to the end of digital terrestrial television distribution and others, like Spain, Italy and France, still seeing a future in DTT distribution.
What has been a very stable sharing environment between PMSE and broadcasting for decades is starting to change, said John. But in Europe there does seem to be a better understanding and acknowledgement of the value and importance of PMSE, and many reports at national level reference and highlight PMSE. The radio spectrum policy group, an advisory group for the European Commission, has carried out a number of recommendations over the last 10 years which have highlighted the need for more spectrum for audio PMSE, even before the threat of changing DTT distribution highlighted the need to find additional bands.
The licensing of spectrum in the UHF band for PMSE is very different in Europe too. In the UK it is coordinated by Ofcom and its historical use has been used to help develop policy within Europe, but Shure's Brock sees clearer divisions between policy on both sides of the Atlantic.
There's quite a lot to unpack in Jackie's presentation, but there are several things that jump out for me, he said. The situation in the US is more politicised and there is less visibility of wireless audio and PMSE; I think the US is a lot f
