RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—The Esports World Cup Foundation has entered into a global partnership agreement with DAZN Group, which will provide its platform for the free broadcast of the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC), July 4-August 25.

The EWC will feature top esports athletes and clubs from all over the world. DAZN will broadcast the competition to a global audience through its app-based technology. The inaugural event will be hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and feature hundreds of hours of content. All content will be available live and on-demand, DAZN said.

DAZN will work with the EWC to produce and deliver content to fans that optimizes their experience and helps grow reach and audience. It will work with the EWC to produce and deliver content to fans, it said.

“DAZN’s technology, distribution, production and marketing capabilities sets us apart. We are the perfect long-term partners for the Esports World Cup Foundation, and we will be working closely together to further develop how we deliver this innovative event in ways that excite, engage and create new levels of interaction for fans and new audiences,” said Shay Segev, CEO of DAZN Group.  

Esports World Cup fans will be able to watch their favorite athletes and clubs compete across 22 game championships for a share of more than $60 million in prize money, it said.

“We’re excited to team up with DAZN and build traditional sports coverage for the Esports World Cup,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundaton. “As we work to establish esports as a vital driver of global culture, partnerships with market leaders like DAZN are essential long-term steps to stimulate sustained interest and engage global fan communities.”

More information is available on the EWC and DAZN Group websites. 

LOS ANGELES—MGM Alternative, a division of Amazon MGM Studios, and the Global Esports Federation have announced a deal to work together to create content relating to Global Esports Games, esports athletes, and the gaming lifestyle. 

MGM Alternative already produces The Voice, Shark Tank, and Survivor, and GEF, which promotes the credibility, legitimacy, and prestige of esports globally. 

The new agreement will involve the creation of new linear and streaming content, as well as live events within GEF's esports conventions and events, the companies said. 

Esports has experienced significant growth and success in recent years, with the global esports market estimated at $4.2 billion in 2024. Statista estimates that growth is set to continue with a CAGR of 7.10% between 2024 and 2028.

"With the global interest in esports at an all-time high, we're eager to share the stories and excitement surrounding the Global Esports Games, their athletes, and the gaming lifestyle," said Barry Poznick, general manager, MGM Alternative. "This is the beginning of an epic collaboration with the Global Esports Federation to develop content that appeals to the worldwide audience of gamers and non-gamers alike."

"We are thrilled to unite with MGM Alternative to unlock the incredible potential of esports. This collaboration will amplify the voices of diverse esports athletes, showcasing their compelling stories to the world. Together, Global Esports and MGM Alternative will provide an innovative platform that will power growth and value for the world's esports community," said Paul J. Foster, chief executive officer, Global Esports Federation.

SEATTLE, WASH.—Gravity Media is expanding its work for Riot Games as part of a new agreement to provide managed services at Riot Games’ new state-of-the-art Remote Broadcast Centre (RBC) in the greater Seattle area.  

The facility for producing eSports is powered by AWS and is set to open later this year.

“We are truly excited to expand our partnership with Gravity Media. Their extensive network of talent has been instrumental in building our RBC operation in Dublin, and we’re fortunate to have that same support to assemble another first-class production team at our greater Seattle RBC,” said Allyson Gormley, global operations director, Project Stryker at Riot Games. “Gravity Media has proven to be a valuable asset to our continued mission to deliver more live esports productions that build fandom to millions of viewers around the world.”

Gravity Media announced its initial partnership with Riot Games in early 2023. In the last 10 months it provided a Managed Services solution at Riot’s RBC in Dublin, Ireland that involved 40 people in the areas of broadcast engineering, TOC, EVS, audio GFX and media asset management. 

As part of the expanded relationship, Gravity Media said that it will work with Riot Games to recruit a dedicated team of more than 30 tech specialists for the Seattle area RBC who will work on Riot’s production of live esports events for global audiences.

The 70,000-square foot production space located 16 miles south of Seattle is Riot’s second RBC strategically placed around the globe to support regional and global live esports events. The 2023 VALORANT Game Changers Championship taking place 28 November through 3 December from Riot’s esports studio in São Paulo, Brazil will be the first live global esports event supported by the Seattle area RBC.

Riot Games was founded in 2006 to develop, publish and support the most player-focused games in the world.

First launched under the codename “Project Stryker” in July 2022, Riot’s Remote Broadcast Centers represent an efficient new approach to live global production where broadcast feeds from live esports competitions happening around the world can be sent to the RBCs where content is produced, broadcast, and distributed in multiple languages to esports fans, the companies explained. 

The Seattle area Remote Broadcast Centre is equipped with a TOC, three remote casting insert stages, six production control rooms (PCRs), six audio control rooms (ACRs), multiple bullpens for observers (in-game camera operators), graphics, replay and editing.

The facility also features impressive global connectivity at 200 Gbps and over 40km of cabling carrying live event feeds to the production facility in about 1/10th of a second. 

Courtesy of Riot’s partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), six control rooms are outfitted with future-forward technology and cloud-based zero client computing enabling Riot to efficiently produce events even more virtually and remotely than before. 

As part of the growing partnership with Riot Games, Gravity Media will also ensure remote production and engineering specialist talent work collaboratively to install and integrate the permanent studio facilities and production workflows as part of the growing facility.

“The world of esports continues to develop at a fast pace and is an ever-growing market for us as a business alongside our Managed Services solution,” explained Eamonn Dowdall Gravity Media’s executive director. “Gravity Media is delighted to be supporting Riot Games in Seattle, and developing our partnership further. As we venture into this new chapter of collaboration, this opportunity allows us to truly leverage and showcase our global esports credentials and world-leading broadcast talent. Working closely with Riot Games in Seattle, Gravity Media will build a team of highly skilled, motivated, and ambitious individuals who will support Riot Games as they continue to revolutionize esports broadcast productions worldwide.”

LOS ANGELES—Allen Media Group (AMG) has unveiled plans for a Bosco+ FAST channel dedicated to high school sports in partnership with St. John Bosco High School (Bosco) of Bellflower, Calif. 

The Bosco+ service will launch on AMG’s free-streaming platforms Sports.TV, HBCU GO, and Local Now. Allen Media Group in the sprint of 2023. It will be available nationally on AMG’s free-streaming platforms Sports.TV and HBCU GO, and in select markets in the Los Angeles region on the AMG free-streaming app Local Now.

The Bosco+ FAST channel will feature Bosco’s nationally-recognized esports and athletic programs. The school has 16 athletic programs and has one of the top esports programs in the country. The school’s athletes commonly compete in the nationally-recognized Trinity League of the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section, which is largely considered the toughest league in the country in multiple sports. In addition, the Bosco+ FAST channel will feature coverage of its robotics competitions, theater and musical productions, student life and more.

“We’re excited to be at the forefront of supporting the Bosco+ FAST channel,” said Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “Collectively across all our free-streaming platforms, AMG has become a leader in local news, sports and entertainment, so the addition of excellent high school sports, arts and student life content provided by St. John Bosco High School is certainly a big win for us and our viewers.”

“The exposure to our school and our league that this partnership will provide to millions of people all over the country is unprecedented. The possibilities are endless, and we can’t wait to get started,” added Dr. Brian Wickstrom, president/CEO at Bosco. 

UNION, N.J.—Marshall Cameras has announced that AV integrator Horizon AVL deployed 12 CV380 POV Marshall cameras during its work on a new esports center at Kean University. 

The space is dedicated to the university’s esports team, where students can experience the ins and outs of the esports industry. In its 6v6 setup, Horizon AVL installed twelve Marshall CV380 cameras, one at every player station to capture each POV position of the player. The captured footage is then streamed onto the team’s Twitch channel, as well as the space’s LED wall, where six players from one team are shown simultaneously as a group.

“The Marshall CV380 has been a game-changer for us,” said Joshua Kell, CEO at Horizon AVL. “As an integrator, we’ve specified Marshall for various projects for a while, so we were well accustomed to the camera’s level of sophistication. For this project, the CV380 offered everything we needed. When it came to the form factor and the quality of what we were looking for, it really met all our requirements.”

The capability and flexibility of the Marshall CV380 camera make it appealing for a variety of broadcast applications, the companies said. 

The CV380 delivers ultra-clear 4K (4096x2160), UHD (3840x2160) and HD (1920x1080) video while maintaining a discrete presence, often used for unique point-of-view shots. The flexible CS/C lens mount offers a wide variety of lens options in fixed prime lenses, as well as flexible varifocal options to fine tune AOV/FOV for each camera perspective, Marshal explained. 

For Kean University’s esports center, the team at Horizon AVL paired the Marshall CV380 cameras with an 8 megapixel 3.8~16mm varifocal lens to get each camera angle dialed in perfect and optimal for streaming esports. Kean University's Computer and Information Services Director, Anthony Santora, oversaw the project through fruition.

Aside from esports team practice, the facility is also open to all students and will be hosting a number of tournaments and events in the upcoming months.

For more information, visit www.marshall-usa.com.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—KORIZON Esports, a South Korean production company founded to connect the League of Legends Champions Korea with its global fan base, ran into a lack of bandwidth this fall while covering the game’s world championships in the United States, resulting in hours-long uploads of video interviews with players.

However, with the delivery of a TVU Networks TVU One transmitter, a device traditionally used to transmit live HD and 4K video, KORIZON founder Ashley Kang, was able to maintain a constant 5G internet connection for the duration of the nearly one-month-long event, TVU Networks said.

With so many members of the media covering the event and the thousands of fans in attendance, available bandwidth was quickly consumed, creating the problem Kang encountered. However, using the router feature of the TVU One transmitter, KORIZON was able to share large files and footage with its editor in South Korea so fans ultimately could view the content on YouTube. KORIZON’s coverage received 5.8 million views on YouTube, it said.

The interviews included a conversation with the 2022 World Championship team DRX, which completed a Cinderella-story run and runner-up T1, the company said.

The TVU One’s compact size meant KORIZON could upload on the go, no matter the venue or location of the interview. “KORIZON and I could not have covered Worlds 2022 at the speed and precision I achieved without TVU Networks,” said Kang.

TVU Networks plans to expand its remote broadcast solutions and products into the esports arena, the company said.

“Being able to help KORIZON provide their top-tier content even faster while being so far from their offices was a no brainer,” TVU Networks CEO Paul Shen said. “The global scale, speed and lack of latency needed for esports makes our remote solutions a perfect fit.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

DUBAI, UAE—Dubai-based PLG, a gaming and esports agency here, has deployed a production studio designed around Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 cameras and an ATEM Constellation 8K video production switcher, the Blackmagic Design said this week.

The agency, which works with global consumer brands in fashion, food and retail, was looking for a solution to target youth audiences with branded messaging and a wat to evolve community engagement, it said.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in content creation, with brands turning to us to target the Arabic speaking gaming market in particular through game launches and activations, talk shows and sponsored competitions,” said Arnor Jonsson, product and production director at PLG. “Content for these channels has to be fresh and engaging, so we required an agile solution that could support our growing client roster and their production needs.”

A 108,000-square-foot facility, the new PLG production space is home to a flexible virtual studio with several green-screen and presenter stages, which enable fast turnaround between productions, the company said.

The URSA Broadcast G2s, equipped with a Blackmagic URSA studio viewfinders, capture live video fed via SDI to virtual environments created with Unreal Engine.

“It’s imperative that live and virtual content are stitched together seamlessly in these content packages; both the brands and the gamers watching expect the highest production values,” said Jonsson.

“For a recent competition, we designed a dynamic environment based on the game that players were battling in and placed our presenters and the commentary desk into the heart of the event, all in real time,” he said. “Footage from the studio had to be crisp, with plenty of detail to maintain the authenticity of the presenting team’s segments within the game.”

At the heart of production control is the ATEM Constellation 8K with ATEM 2 M/E advanced panel. The setup provides PLG a means to handle sources in multiple formats and a multi-layered live mix, which incorporates gameplay, statistics, studio content and remote feeds from players across the Middle East and North Africa, Blackmagic said.

The PLG production crew uses the multiple M/Es to reduce latency while the built-in chromakeyer delivers additional blending of studio elements into virtual environments, it said.

“The solution’s modular nature has dramatically simplified how we transition from one production to the next, making it easy to reset studio acquisition for the next show, and then we can quickly upload the graphics and backdrops needed,” said Jonsson. “Major brands already know that the future for their marketing lies in online and gaming platform content, and our facility gives us a huge advantage, not only in terms of speed but also in broadcast grade production values.”

Systems integrator UBMS delivered the studio’s audio, video and graphics solutions as well as provided training, the company said.

More information is available on the Blackmagic Design website.

BURLINGTON, Ontario—Evertz has announced that Esports Engine has deployed its DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio live production replay platform for their major esports broadcasts.

Esports Engine is a turnkey esports solutions company working with gaming publishers, rightsholders, brands, and teams to provide production, broadcast, tournament, and program design. 

Esports Engine first deployed Evertz’ DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio cloud cluster in October 2021 for a major competition, in which it used the live production platform to feed 16 total 1080p NDI inputs into Amazon Web Services (AWS), while utilizing an S3 bucket to distribute high-quality video, the companies said. 

By leveraging DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio’s ability to virtually operate in any public or private cloud environment, two replay operators located onsite are able to connect to DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio using the platform’s ultra-low latency, low bandwidth web interface and desktop remote control panel, isolate replays and highlights in real-time, and feed that content back into the cloud for use in production.

“We used Evertz DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio to provide instant replay in a cloud-only environment,” said Ryan Thompson, co-founder and chief production officer of Esports Engine. “The demands of replay systems typically require an onsite operator and in-studio physical equipment to provide high-quality replay capability. This solution put all that capability in the cloud for an easily scalable solution that is there only when you need it, keeping costs for us and our clients under control.”

Using NDI, SRT, RIST, RTMPE and RTMPS protocols, multiple sources in different formats can be sent to a DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio in the cloud, where Esports Engine operational staff located remotely or on-prem at its Burbank, California or Columbus, Ohio studios can log in to access feeds, produce live shows, isolate replays, edit highlight packages, and send produced content to a Media Asset Management (MAM) service or distribution platform in the cloud for playout to content distributions networks (CDNs), the companies said. 

“Providing content creators with the flexibility to disperse and reassign resources to achieve greater productivity is one of the key advantages DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio delivers,” said Nima Malekmanesh, director of business development – live media for Evertz. “Evertz is proud of the partnership we have established with Esports Engine, and we are excited to continue working together to build live events and productions that push the boundary of the esports market.”

Evertz said that DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio live production replay system simplifies monitoring and scheduling through the integration of Evertz’ MAGNUM unified control and orchestration system. MAGNUM provides scheduling and resource management to initiate the live event work space and to connect the cloud resources and remote operators into a single cohesive live production.

More information the DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio Live Production platform is available here. 

BOCA RATON, Fla.—Misfits Gaming Group has announced a $35 million investment round led by The E.W. Scripps Company. As part of the investment, Scripps also will appoint a designee to Misfits’ board of directors.

In making the MGG investment, Scripps is hoping to tap into the growing interest in video gaming as a spectator sport. The esports industry is expected to reach over 600 million viewers by 2024, Scripps said. 

Scripps will invest $10 million into MGG’s global esports organization, which includes its two Florida esports franchises. As part of the investment, Scripps has the right to distribute MGG’s content through its linear and over-the-top television platforms in Florida and across the U.S. The partnership between Scripps and MGG also will increase Florida advertisers’ access to MGG’s large and growing young esports and gaming audiences, Scripps said. 

MGG owns three esports teams participating in franchised leagues, a network of content creators and competitive gamers and a full-service in-house media team. 

In making the MGG investment, Scripps is hoping to tap into the growing interest in video gaming as a spectator sport. The esports industry is expected to reach over 600 million viewers by 2024, Scripps said. 

“Scripps is thrilled to partner with Misfits Gaming Group to help build energy and interest around these highly skilled and high energy video-game competitions,” said Scripps Local Media president Brian Lawlor. “We are perfectly positioned, with our large Florida footprint, to leverage our linear stream and over-the-top distribution to carry all kinds of Misfits Gaming content, from player profiles and interviews to team and league news – all aimed at connecting our advertisers with their young audiences.” 

“We are fortunate to have a progressive-minded partner in Scripps that sees a big-picture landscape for the future and is as excited as we are to capture the hearts and minds of Gen Z and Millennial audiences (ages 12 to 35),” added Ben Spoont, CEO and co-founder of Misfits Gaming Group. “There are opportunities through this partnership to develop broadcast and over-the-top programming for target audiences that are important to both of us on a nationwide level. This is just the beginning of esports’ impact. We expect to be key players in the rapidly changing media landscape.”

 SACRAMENTO, Calif.—EA’s esports division, Competitive Gaming Entertainment (CGE), selected Grass Valley’s SaaS platform, AMPP (Agile Media Processing Platform), for cloud-based production of EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Global Series and Apex Legends Global Series live competitive events earlier this year. 

We leveraged the AMPP Audio Mixer—along with several other tools within the GV AMPP ecosystem—to enable truly global, remote productions, crucially allowing our distributed teams to deliver live esports action to fans worldwide. 

For our recent FIFA Global Series events that ran from last December to this past May, we had competitors in Europe and beyond. EA’s crew was based in North America with our talent based in North America and the UK, with additional support staff in continental Europe. 

AUDIO IN THE CLOUD

The beauty of working with cloud-hosted tools like Grass Valley’s GV AMPP is that your people can contribute to the show from wherever they are and we can bring in specialized talent to the production. We had two A1’s (audio engineers) for our FIFA Global Series events, one here in northern California and one in New York. Connecting to AMPP from distributed locations was seamless and straightforward for our operators—it didn’t matter that they were thousands of miles away.

Due to the restrictions and limitations caused by COVID-19, the M&E industry has had to adapt and innovate by adopting cloud-based workflows. We chose Grass Valley’s AMPP because we needed true broadcast-quality production for our eSports events. We had found it challenging to accomplish this using other available means because we couldn’t quite get the reliability and the quality that we needed. 

We had been punching shows using AMPP’s video tools first, including cloud-based switchers, and based on the success of these Grass Valley solutions, we were excited to try its cloud-enabled audio mixing. Until we deployed Grass Valley’s AMPP Audio Mixer, we used a mix of solutions for our audio workflows. With AMPP Audio Mixer, our audio professionals enjoyed a true cloud-first professional mixer. 

WORKING INTUITIVELY

Technical directors don’t require much of a learning curve for Grass Valley equipment. Even though the AMPP ecosystem is based in the cloud, it’s still the same to the operator, and the familiar menus and controls mean operators can hit the ground running.

The audio mixer has an intuitive feel as the GUI has all the same controls in the same places as a traditional hardware audio console. It has everything you’d expect to see, in the places you’d expect to see them. Our audio guys didn’t need training on AMPP Audio Mixer because they could take one look at the interface, and everything looks as anticipated—just on-screen instead of a physical panel.

Later on in our FIFA Global Series, Grass Valley also added the MIDI control application to allow our audio engineers to control the audio mixer using a physical hardware surface instead of the software GUI. With that our operators could move away from mouse and screen down to any MIDI-enabled hardware device. This flexibility means that our crew could use the AMPP Audio Mixer on equipment that they might already have sitting in their office or home. Working on a panel with motorized faders also means that any adjustments on the GUI would simultaneously move the fader on your physical panel, perfectly in sync. 

AMPP Audio Mixer helped us enhance our audio workflows throughout our FIFA and Apex Legends events—and allowed us to deliver truly exceptional live gaming action to our global fanbase.

For more information, call ​​514-333-1772 or visit www.grassvalley.com. 

SHANGHAI—TJ Sports, one of Asia’s first large-scale eSports remote production centers, has chosen TSL Products’ TallyMan Advanced Broadcast Control System to manage large video switchers, audio mixers and the AV matrix for its events. 

“TSL enables us to produce more events that are more intensive and complex,” says Zhang Xuming, head of broadcast technology planning at TJ Sports. “The TSL TallyMan controller greatly reduces execution risk during production while improving the overall operator experience, and its price-to-performance ratio is extremely attractive. With TSL’s TallyMan, we have successfully accomplished off-site control of remote network production for major international events.”

TJ Sports was in need of an advanced, centralized control system for production of telecasts given the growing number of venues and cities involved in eSports. Support for a multi-venue production workflow, flexible resource allocation and access to control were its top priorities when choosing a solution, it said.

Unique to eSports is the observer role, which is essentially the game director who works with the program director to help guide the event and production in identifying in-game highlights and ideal slow-motion moments. This results in a large number of production signals. With a complex broadcast control system, these signals can be more easily managed for a seamless event, the company said.

TJ Sports can host centralized scheduling and control over the signal path throughout its studio complex with TSL’s TallyMan. It is relying on the system’s controller and virtual panels (TMVP) for control throughout its nearly 40,000-square-foot facility, which includes five studios, five control rooms, the core server room and several rooms dedicated to specialized eSports functions, it said.

The system also carries out centralized tally management. By allowing for the advanced scheduling of signal pre-sets, TSL’s TallyMan streamlines operator workflow and optimizes on-site event management during production. The system also allows for control across third-party AV equipment at the facility, while matching the remote production of off-site network control, it said.

With the help of TSL, TJ Sports was able to produce the 2020 League of Heroes Mid-season Cup (MSC) remotely. The competition attracted eight professional teams from the Chinese LPL and South Korea's LCK and was one of the world’s first remote production event to be broadcast in venues in different countries.

More information is available on the company’s website.

BURLINGTON, Ontario—Evertz has announced that its DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio live production replay platform has been deployed for use in the EA Sports FIFA 21 Global Series and Apex Legends Global Series broadcasts.

EA Sports FIFA 21 Global Series is an international tournament comprised of hundreds of matches played online using PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Over several months, more than 1,000 competitors go head-to-head in hopes of being crowned FIFAe World Cup 2021 champion and claiming a portion of the $3 million in prizes that the Electronic Arts Competitive Gaming Entertainment (EA CGE) division will hand out to competitors.

Apex Legends Global Series is a competitive online and live event ecosystem produced by EA CGE and Respawn. Played on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the Apex Legends Global Series competition format places teams around the world against each other within five global regions.

EA CGE division uses DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio as the preferred live production tool to match the scale of its largest events due to DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio's ability to virtually operate in any public or private cloud environment over a low latency, low bandwidth interface.

Using NDI, SRT, RIST, RTMPE and RTMPS protocols, multiple sources in different formats can be sent to a DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio in the cloud, where EA CGE operational staff can log in to access feeds, produce live shows, isolate replays, edit highlight packages, and send produced content to a Media Asset Management (MAM) service or distribution platform in the cloud for playout to content distributions networks (CDNs) – all from the comfort of their own homes.

“DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio was extremely easy to set-up and seamlessly integrated with our existing cloud-based production solutions,” said Brian Bredenbeck, senior technical production manager, competitive gaming content & programming for Electronic Arts. “With hundreds of thousands of viewers watching around the globe, the reliability DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio provides is reassuring, especially with Evertz support always available and quick to respond to issues.”

“DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio has exceeded expectations in regards to latency requirements for operator control, as well as the overall quality of the product streamed to viewers,” added Bredenbeck. “The platform successfully produces 1080p 59.94/60 formats without issues, and the dynamic features and tools allow our operators to create unique viewing experiences audiences can’t find anywhere else.”

The BRAVO Studio cloud cluster deployed for the recent Apex Legends Global Series competition event, the largest of EA CGE’s productions, was an extensive, entirely cloud-based live production cluster supporting 36 total 1080p inputs split between 16 NDI inputs and 20 SRT inputs. A total of nine operators supporting seven DreamCatcher replay stations and two logging stations produced the live event controlling 11 NDI outputs. All operation staff were operating remotely using their DC-ANYWHERE interfaces with full DreamCatcher controller integration. A content management station was also added to this event providing a centralized signal acquisition/distribution and content import/export functionality.

The fully featured DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio live production replay system has zero hardware requirements, but does support multiple monitors and an optional DreamCatcher controller, the companies said. 

In addition, the DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio live production replay system simplifies monitoring and scheduling through the integration of Evertz’ MAGNUM unified control and orchestration system. MAGNUM provides scheduling and resource management to initiate the live event work space and to connect the cloud resources and remote operators into a single cohesive live production.

“DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio provides innovative tools for live production in the cloud, enabling EA CGE to embrace new workflows while still being able to reliably reach fans with engaging original content,” said Vince Silvestri, Evertz vice president of software systems. “DreamCatcher BRAVO Studio delivers a reliable, flexible and intuitive collaborative solution that can respond to any production need.”

To learn more about the DreamCatcher Live Production platform, visit evertz.com/applications/live-production/.

LONDON—Esports was seeing a healthy growth in viewers prior to the pandemic, but quarantines and consumers’ need for content has helped spur increased viewership across the globe, and it looks like that growth will continue. In 2021 alone, viewership is expected to rise 20% from its pre-pandemic levels.

SafeBettingSites.com shared data that projects the global esports audience will grow to 474 million in 2021. Looking further down the road to 2024, it estimates that esports viewership will grow another 20%, reaching 577 million viewers across the globe.

Diving deeper into the statistics, in 2020, 38 million people started watching esports. This brought total global viewership to 435.9 million. A similar pace of growth will get viewership numbers to 474 million by the end of 2021.

These new viewers are becoming big fans of esports. About half of the current audience for esports, 234 million, consider themselves “esports enthusiasts.” By 2025, that number is projected to hit 285.7 million, which would represent a 45% growth over a five-year period. Meanwhile, those considered occasional esports watchers are expected to reach 240 million by the end of 2021 and more than 291 million in 2024, also a 45% growth from pre-pandemic.

Cancellation and event postponements did result in a down year for esports revenue, but only a modest one, as SafeBettingSites.com reports that the global esports market generated $950.3 million in 2020, down just 0.8% year-over-year. For 2021, total revenue is expected to jump to more than $1 billion.

Esports sponsorships are the largest portion of that revenue, expected to make $641 million in 2021 (it was $584.1 million in 2020). Media rights are also set to increase, rising from $163.3 million to $192.6 million, a 18% year-over-year jump. Publisher fees are estimated to be $126.6 million and merchandise and ticket revenue is forecasted at $66.6 million.

Digital revenues are the strongest area of growth, though, rising by a CARG of 50% to $32.3 million. Streaming revenues are also set to rise to $25.1 million (up 26%). 

By 2024, SafeBettingSites.com projects that esports revenue will be more than $1.6 billion.

For more information, visit www.safebettingsites.com. 

MONTREAL—Grass Valley got in the game with Electronic Arts Competitive Gaming Entertainment (CGE), the esports division of EA, by supplying its GV AMPP cloud-based platform for fully distributed, remote production for competitive gaming events of EA Sports FIFA 21 and Apex Legends.

GV AMPP (Agile Media Processing Platform) is an end-to-end cloud workflow that let the EA production team work from home while still delivering broadcast quality content of the events, regardless of their location. GV AMPP uses Grass Valley’s GV Korona switcher control panel connected over the public internet to a K-Frame production center engine running on GV AMPP.

CGE tried the GV AMPP system for an Apex Legends live tournament in December 2020, then went live with the workflow for the FIFA 21 Global Series European Qualifier 1 Event later that month. More than 20 camera feeds from Europe and additional live contribution feeds were sent to an AWS datacenter in Northern Virginia. EA’s technical director used the GV K-Frame on AMPP from his base in Sacramento, Calif. EA said the production went smooth.

In addition to the K-Frame, CGE’s AMPP set-up includes master control, flow monitors, clip players, master control switcher, I/O, test signal generators, AV mux, Delay module, HTML graphics render, multiview, recorders and streamers. It helps everyone from the technical team to talent work remotely.

“Grass Valley’s GV AMPP was a helpful solution, bringing all of our needs together within one harmonized ecosystem,” said Joe Lynch, EA CGE’s head of Broadcast. “AMPP gives us a professional broadcast quality platform—in the cloud—with the production values and the reliability that we need to give our fans the best experience. For our operators, using K-Frame in the cloud was seamless, with no perceivable difference to working in a studio environment.”

CGE says that it plans to use GV AMPP on an ongoing basis for the 2020-2021 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournaments. 

DALLAS—Gray Television is hitching its wagon to Dallas-based esports and entertainment company Envy Gaming Inc. As part of a $40 million investment round, Gray TV is putting up $28.5 million. As part of the deal, Gray TV will name two directors to the Envy Gaming board of directors.

Founded in 2007, Envy Gaming features a network of content creators, competitive gamers and esports teams with a reach across multiple platforms. In the last year, musician Post Malone also became part of the ownership group of Envy Gaming and the company opened a 21,000-square-foot training facility and live production and content studio in Dallas.

Though not specifically outlined, as a partner Gray TV is expected to help continue growing Envy Gaming. Gray TV owns more than 500 separate programming streams, including roughly 160 affiliates of the big four broadcast networks, that reach approximately 24% of U.S. households. Gray TV also owns video program production, marketing and digital businesses Raycom Sports, Tupelo Honey and RTM Studios.

“Esports and gaming is the fastest-growing area across all of media and entertainment,” said Adam Rymer, CEO of Envy Gaming. “Building global communities through content and engagement, similar to what the world has seen in the music, film and TV industries, is an endeavor we’re incredibly excited to work on with Gray as our partner.”

“We’re excited to lead this investment in Envy Gaming, an organization known for breaking ground and pushing the limits of what the future holds for gaming and entertainment,” said Hilton H. Howell Jr., Gray TV’s executive chairman and CEO.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—SMPTE 2020: Game On has announced that its program will feature a full day of esports programming, adding a literal interpretation of the theme for the virtual conference. 

Penciled in for Nov. 12, SMPTE will conduct presentations and live discussions about the convergence of esports/gaming and media technology, and the unique requirements of the esports industry.

The esports series will kick off with “What It’s All About: The Heart and Spirit of Esports,” which will dive into the human and technical aspects of esports competitions.

Ian Sansavera of 1UP Studios will deliver a keynote, “Visual Storytelling in the Age of Esports,” that plans to look at the narrative opportunities within esports and the gaming industry.

“The Magical Enabler: The Esports Architecture” plans to showcase the infrastructure that helps enable these dynamic team competitions, with a mix of elements that include the technology, production crew, callers and others. Presenters will include reps from Active Blizzard Esports, Grass Valley, Ross Video and Engine Media.

Building off of “The Magical Enabler,” “Boots-on-the-Ground: Real-World Experiences” details some of the challenges and the lessons learned from real experiences, as well as innovations that could serve as potential game-changers and opportunities that esports infrastructure presents more traditional content creators.

The final session of the day will be a live stream of a Rocket League esports exhibition.

For more information on SMPTE 2020 and its program, visit 2020.smpte.org. 

LONDON—The emergence of eSports over the last few years is closing in on a major milestone, with nearly 500 million viewers tuning in to watch eSports competitions worldwide, according to a new report from Greenlight.

Greenlight details that over the last five years, eSports’ viewership size has grown from 120 million to 495 million. As far as revenue, in that five year span it has grown from $325 million to $1.1 billion. The industry is expected to be worth $1.8 billion by 2022.

With many traditional live sports impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, eSports was able to adapt its planned live events to virtual ones. As a result, popular streaming sites like Twitch and YouTube are reported to have experienced a 20% increase in the number of hours streamed during lockdown.

“[A]s the technical limits on game engines get pushed further and further back with breakthroughs in computing prowess, I think eSports and streaming is going to become more mainstream and I look forward to what the new technology brings us,” said streamer Chris Ball.

The complete eSports research is available online. 

HUNT VALLEY, Md.—One of the nation’s largest broadcast station groups is increasing its focus on eSports, hiring a former executive of an eSports company to head up its gaming business. 

J.R. McCabe has been tapped to fill the newly-created role of Chief Business Officer of D2C/Gamification for Sinclair. In this capacity, Mr. McCabe will help oversee and build the company’s efforts around online, broadcast and venue “gamification.” 

“Throughout his career, J.R. has excelled at staying ahead of consumer trends, bringing together highly-skilled innovators to create new, engaging digital and live experiences,” said Sinclair President and CEO Chris Ripley. “His skill at conceptualizing and launching new and innovative business models at the intersection of media, sports and gaming will be an important component of Sinclair’s efforts to expand in a rapidly growing area. We look forward to his leadership in driving Sinclair’s direct-to-consumer growth opportunities in the years ahead.”

Most recently McCabe was chief business officer for a privately-held portfolio of gameplay and eSports businesses, Poker Central & Estars Studios. McCabe was also the senior vice president, head of Video for Time Inc., where he led the digital video business across 24 Time Inc. video brands, as well as senior level positions with Meredith Corporation, CBS Paramount and Universal Studios. 

“As a leader in the media space, with an unparalleled portfolio of assets, Sinclair’s strong content base and history of innovation and strategic thinking is the ideal match for my passion to build high-performing, high growth businesses in gaming,” McCabe said. “I look forward to the challenge of taking the potential of this great organization and helping it monetize the myriad opportunities the company has to drive future growth.”

In addition to the emerging legalized sports gambling market, McCabe is also expected to focus on STIRR, Sinclair’s free ad-supported streaming service that launched in the spring of 2019. STIRR’s lineup includes the ESR 24/7 eSports channel. Gaming TV Network VENN is also expected to join STIRR as well.   

This article was update Sept. 24 to update references from eSports to gaming. 

WATERLOO, Ontario—While the live-action version of the NBA congregated in a bubble in Orlando, Fla, to complete its regular season and playoffs, the esports NBA 2K League was forced to go the opposite way because of COVID-19, readjusting to all remote production with the help of Dejero.

Season three of the NBA 2K League was slated to feature 23 teams taking part in the esports competition from a studio in Manhattan. When New York was shut down because of the pandemic, the esports league shifted to a large-scale pan-North-America remote gameplay production model, combining live video feeds from 27 cities across the U.S. and Canada.

Dejero provided the league’s partner Dome Productions with a combination of EnGo mobile transmitters and PathWay rack-mounted encoders/transmitters to bypass security challenges from open source networks used by the teams at their homes as well as fluctuating bandwidth at the various locations. This helped form the sterilized  plug-and-play kits that were distributed to the teams for generating a reliable connection. Dome could configure the encoders/transmitters remotely, while operators were tasked with checking the connections in each location daily throughout the season.

As the season continues, the Dome Productions control room in Toronto receives, mixes and distributes live feeds with the help of Dejero’s WayPoint receiver. Meanwhile, the CuePoint return video server from Dejero ensures live commentary from two “casters” in Chicago and North Carolina. The broadcasts are directed and produced in real time from Vancouver.

Helping all of this is Dejero’s Smart Blending Technology, which simultaneously aggregates diverse wired and wireless IP connections from multiple sources to form a virtual “network of networks,” enhancing the reliability of connection paths, expanding coverage and delivering greater bandwidth, per Dejero.

“Dejero has allowed us to network the entire system and create a low latency game play and production value around all these local markets tied together remotely,” said Brian Carr of Dome Productions. “We have had a very successful third season so far despite the challenges we faced.”

NBA 2K League broadcasts are distributed live over Twitch, as well as being picked up by ESPN and SportsNet in Canada.

The world of sports TV has always provided a stage for innovation in our industry, prompted by viewer expectations and technology advances. Sports is what drives live TV and while our world is currently on pause during this pandemic, our industry is examining its role in covering the action safely. 

The games will go on and live sports will return. In our new guide to sports production, we look at the emergence of esports during this period as well as the evolution of remote production and how it will impact the business in ways we may not have even envisioned yet. 

Read the full eBook here.

LONDON—Sports fans aren’t the only ones missing the live action put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, pay-TV providers and content rights holders are facing difficult times as they are forced to continue paying for the license rights to sports even while they are off the air, and subsequently charge their viewers for them.

Pay-TV providers who have rights to broadcast NBA, NHL, MLB and NCAA games (all currently cancelled or suspended) still have to pay the fees associated with carrying the games. As a result, service providers are still charging end users for things like regional sports networks even though the most popular content they provide is currently not available.

“Content rights holders and pay-TV providers must sort out license fee issues due to cancelled sporting events as soon as possible to insulate against customer enmity and defections,” said Tammy Parker, senior analyst at GlobalData.

Some providers have said they are considering offering refunds for the charged sports fees, but no decision has been made by any as of publication.

Instead, many are turning to esports to offer sports-related content to viewers. Networks like ESPN have been airing live esports matches—occasionally featuring professional athletes—to fill the gap in live sports. NASCAR even held full-on virtual races with its stock of professional drivers, including some retired fan favorites, while its season was suspended.

“Esports in the U.S. is finally having its day in the sun,” said Parker. “Communication service providers should take this opportunity to build on their existing initiatives to sponsor events and teams, which are becoming more well-known to mainstream audiences.”

However, live sports—in some capacity—are on the verge of returning. As more options become available, it is unclear how this new emergence of esports will be impacted.

The global market for esports—professional video game competitions—reached more than 450 million viewers globally last year according to data from market research firm NewZoo. As esports continues to attract more young fans—who are picking up a controller instead of a ball—revenues are also on the rise, and are forecast to grow from $1.1 billion last year to $1.8 in 2022, which is why it is being taken seriously as one of the fastest growing sports worldwide.

The past few years have even seen purpose-built esports facilities, including the HyperX Esports Arena in the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas and the Blizzard Arena on the Burbank Studios lot outside Los Angeles. To ensure that the broadcast competitions can match the level of the NFL or the Olympics in presentation, esports promoters are turning to broadcast production vendors, while also hiring the right talent to pull it all together.

"If I was in charge of an esports production company I'd try to hire two people," said Cameron Reed, business development manager for esports at Ross Video. "One is whoever produces ESPN's ‘GameDay’ and the other is whoever does ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and I'd put them in a room together."

The complexity of esports can't be understated, as each competition brings the challenges equal to that of the Super Bowl as well as its half time show. A major esports competition can be described as equal parts sporting event, rock concert and action movie all in one. 

"We're seeing more facilities being built up for these events, but others are repurposing multi-use facilities, and each comes with challenges," added Reed. "But the presentations all are the same, which is why we're seeing production teams that include a combination of old time TV veterans—typically the engineer and technical director—along with kids who really know the games."

LIGHTS, CAMERA, SO MUCH ACTION

Esports is unique from other sports in that the player/athlete isn't actually on a field but is rather static on a stage, while the "action" or gameplay occurs in a virtual/digital realm that is presented on massive monitors for the audience to view. While those players aren't often animated, the in-game action can be, in a word "intense," when  combined with lighting effects that add to the immersion. The result can be sensory overload.

"There are parallels to regular sports, but the rock concert analogy is very good," said Charles Conroy, vice president of gaming for The Switch, a production platform for live esports coverage. "There isn't an actual field, so there are no boundaries."

While this opens the ability to capture the action in unique ways, it also presents challenges. For Super Bowl LIV, Fox Sports deployed 70 manned and robotic cameras, along with 30-plus lock-off and POV units. Esports can often require even more cameras on the stage, the players, the audience and all the virtual cameras that capture the in-game experience.

"This is far more challenging than a regular sporting event," said Chris Merrill, director of product marketing at Grass Valley. "There is the stage lighting and the audience is in shadows so there are no common light levels, while the LEDs have flicker that results in a strobing due to the refresh rate. You need to have the right tools to manage all those levels and do so without a shader that is constantly trying to address it. It is in fact a similar problem to a rock concert."

Given that the most important visuals are what the players see, it would be easy to think that corners could be cut with the cameras in the actual arena but this is far from the case.

"Any lower end pro AV camera will pick up the strobing and there is no easy way to deal with it," added Merrill. "You need consistency as these events are broadcast all over the world. Esports has evolved from being on Twitch and other online gaming channels. It is now on Fox and ESPN and you need to meet their high level of standards."

Many of the facilities for esports weren't designed with such competitions, but more are being built—and can thus address many of these lighting and camera challenges.

"You will see more and more facilities built up over the next year," added Conroy. "Esports are now being taken very seriously by the audience, and this is why the production teams must treat it like any other live event.”

GAME CONTROL

Pulling all the various sources together involves its own magic, and this includes broadcast-quality switchers, comms and KVM tools. While these can too often be afterthoughts for smaller productions, for esports it can be crucial to have the right equipment to pull it together.

"We do think of the switcher as the backbone of the production," said Ross Video's Reed. "A powerful switcher and the right director are critical for the sole reason that—much like news—box effects are the name of the game."

Because it is impossible to cut away from the in-game action, having these effects can allow the viewers to see the player and/or crowd action. "It is like a boxing match," added Reed. "You have to keep the cameras trained on the action at all times—if you cut away from the action and miss that 'knockout' it could be career suicide."

The switcher can also make it easier for a production to utilize graphics presentations that include stats from the game in real time. "The game happens way too fast to have someone manually enter the stats," explained Reed. "You need to have automated triggers and automated data that can be retrieved quickly. I've seen events that are streamed in three languages, and with only one operator, we were able to take in data from the web API, and get the stats sent out to each feed."

While the "field" of play differs from other sports, the technical management of video distribution is basically the same, and this is where the KVM switch needs to handle high-end resolution, full frame rate accuracy and provide latency-free mouse movements.

"Gaming software producers and video editors count on our products to support both real-time and playback requirements," said Dan Holland, marketing manager for KVM provider IHSE USA in Cranbury, NJ. "IHSE is working with companies like EVS to create extenders that can be integrated in the live digital arena requiring frame rates up to 240fps while simultaneously synchronizing secondary outputs at 60fps for traditional broadcast and live-event streaming."

The new KVM extenders with 240 Hz to 60 Hz synchronized sequential frame rate conversion for esports events enable live screen display, broadcast and super slow-motion replay direct from gaming computers. Holland added, "In addition to super slo-mo action replay, the new devices enable direct broadcast of esports events via on-air transmission and online and social media distribution."

THE VIDEO GAME AUDIO EXPERIENCE

With esports it is all too easy to think about the "video" aspect as these are matches built around video games, but audio is certainly as important and can present even more challenges for these broadcast productions. The audio can include what the audience hears, what the players hear and notably what the production team hears. The result is the loudness of a rock concert and action movie, but with the added challenge of allowing for players to communicate with one another while not hearing the commentary, (which could sway their gameplay). 

"The noisy environment is certainly an issue," said Stephen Sandford, senior product manager for intercom provider Clear-Com. "Unlike other sports there needs to be comms for the gamers so they can hear teammates. But this also means high isolation headsets so that the other team doesn't hear this chatter."  

There is also the communications between the director and the crew, but at the same time the cameramen can't be totally isolated from the arena noise.

"The cameramen will have high isolation headsets with multiple channels, and with one ear open to the environment," added Sandford. "There is still a little bit of analog feeds, but most of it is digital these days and all of it will go through CAT-5 so there is no interference."

Sandford also noted that intercoms can be the last thing people think about. "The show can't go on without the comms,” he said. “People soon realize the importance of a good set of comms."

For the audience watching at home sound is also crucial, and is an area where corners shouldn't be cut.

"If you put it on Twitch or YouTube that is one thing," said Chris Fichera, vice president of Group One Ltd., the U.S. distributor for audio solutions company Calrec. "If you want this on TV and Dolby is involved, it is a different level entirely. You have to start with a good engineer who understands gaming as well as broadcast. This includes those from live sound and bridges the gap."

PLUS: Esports Projected to Have Banner Year Despite Pandemic

The right equipment and the right person can be crucial to ensuring the audience at home doesn't miss an audio beat.

"The sound coming out of the actual venue is as important as the commentators," added Fichera. "I compare it to a basketball game, which is noisy with the music, the audience and the commentators. The sound from the court and players isn't as loud, so esports takes this up a notch with the game sounds. We've seen audio production evolve quickly, and as the sport grows the audio will be a key component that grows with it."

China has led the way in the esports market for a number of years, and will continue to do so, with revenues of $385 million. These are expected to grow to $540 million by 2023. North America is projected to be the second-largest region in terms of revenues with $252.5 million, followed by Western Europe as the third-most revenue-generating region with $201.2 million in 2020. 

The esports industry was set to have a banner year in 2020, with NewZoo’s latest report showing that the global esports economy will generate a revenue growth of 15.7 percent. This would put esports in the category of truly becoming a billion dollar business for the first time, hitting projections that were initially made several years ago.

SPONSORSHIP, MEDIA RIGHTS, TICKET SALES

A large portion of the revenues this year are expected to come from sponsorship and media rights. This sector has seen significant growth, largely led by ESL, Riot Games and Activision Blizzard. These companies have begun partnering with several key endemic and non-endemic sponsors, such as HyperX, State Farm, Coca-Cola and others to drive sponsorship revenue. This will total $822 million, according to NewZoo, which is a 17.2 percent increase from last year. 

Media rights have also been a key component of growth this year, with Activision Blizzard departing their media deal with Twitch and moving over to YouTube for a reported $160 million over three years. 

“With more than 200 million gamers a day watching more than 50 billion hours of gaming content per year, YouTube provides gamers and their passionate fans with the most popular video gaming platform in the world,” said Ryan Wyatt, head of gaming, YouTube. “Both the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League are the quintessential examples of world class esports content. As a former Call of Duty esports commentator myself, I couldn’t be more excited for Activision Blizzard to choose YouTube as its exclusive home for the digital live streaming of both leagues. This partnership further demonstrates our dedication to having a world class live streaming product for gaming.” 

Ticket sales were also projected to grow significantly this year, up to $121.7 million, though this was before a significant amount of events in February and onwards were forced to shift online in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak. Early in the year, this was felt the worst in Asia, though it has slowly radiated outwards as the disease spread. However, many organizers in the esports space have been able to pivot toward online events, and people being at home have inflated viewership in a time where sports broadcasts are largely cancelled. This has led to some recovery of ticket sales through sponsorships and other means in every sector of the esports community, with the exception of fighting game events. 

GROWING FAN BASE

The global audience for esports has rapidly expanded in 2020, reaching up to 495 million people across all genres and a further 272 million occasional viewers watching large-scale events. These projections were made at the beginning of the year and are set to eclipse these numbers as sports fans turn to the only game in town, led by real sports leagues moving to their digital equivalent for television broadcasts. China will be host to the largest esports audience with 162.6 million in 2020, followed by North America with an audience of 57.2 million. 

This has led to the average value of the esports fan being up to $4.94, a number that only increased 2.8 percent from last year. Esports companies track and refer to the average “value” of fans, defined as how much money a hypothetical average person spends on X every Y months. This is expected to rise in the coming years as the industry matures and developers and teams alike figure out how to monetize their rabid fan base and tap into the ever-valuable 18–34 demographic.

Newzoo expects that by 2023, the average value of an esports fan will be about $5.23. While this is encouraging, it’s worth noting that this pales in comparison to what the average sports fan spends, as Americans alone spend $56 billion annually on sporting events. It does, however, show that the esports industry has massive growth potential that should only get better as time goes on and more people are exposed to esports.

It’s important to note that these projections were made before the onset of Coronavirus, and are subject to change as the economy has suffered a downturn. If things do not rebound, the industry could see a slight cooling off period as companies invest carefully despite the somewhat positive effects in short-term viewership.

LONDON—If watching eSports was an Olympic event, China would be racking up gold medals. A new report from Ampere Analysis found that among China’s internet users, 26% are watching eSports at least once a month, which is significantly more than Western countries.

The leader in eSports viewing among Western countries is Denmark, which has 9% of its internet viewers watching eSports on a monthly basis. Sweden, the U.K. and France follow, with the U.S. just behind them at about 6%.

The big draw for eSports audiences, according to Ampere, has been high profile global tournaments. The 2019 Fortnite World Cup drew 20 million global viewers on Twitch; the FIFA 2019 eWorld Cup garnered 50 million global viewers across all platforms. China’s highest-watched eSports event was the League of Legends 2018 World Championship, which had an audience of 203 million in the country, compared to 2 million throughout the rest of the world.

The audience for eSports appears to growing among demographics, as Ampere’s study indicates. While the main demographic fo eSports is still males 18-34, females now make up 35% of viewers, while 40% are over 35 and 33% live with young children. China in particular is pretty well balanced, as 43% of its viewers are female.

As far as how viewers are watching eSports, Amazon’s Twitch platform is the most popular service among North American and European viewers, at about 65% usage among monthly viewers. YouTube trails with under 40%. Twitch has been able to build its popularity by hosting a variety of channels and having deals for third-party streaming rights for events.

“The rise of eSports viewing on a global scale presents a potentially lucrative opportunity for new and existing players,” said Hazel Ford, analyst at Ampere. “Platforms such as Twitch and YouTube are currently market leaders but face growing competition from a number of newcomers, including the developers themselves. As with the traditional sports world, exclusive rights deals will become crucial for platforms looking to control high growth eSports audiences.”

For more information, visit www.ampereanalysis.com.

Blackmagic Design today announced that VSGame, a Korean eSports content creation and online streaming company, built a 4K eSports game live streaming and broadcast system using URSA Broadcast cameras, ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio and a number of other Blackmagic Design products. The system was installed at Korea’s famous esports VSG Arena, which now is also the first full 4K end to end eSports arena in Korea. 

This Blackmagic Design centric streaming and broadcast solution was adopted by VSGame to produce live event coverage and regular eSports entertainment content. It is used for tournaments for some of the world’s biggest games, such as Starcraft, Dungeon Striker, Dragon Next and PUBG, as well as for smaller gaming sessions and meetings. 

The arena will also be used to deliver regular eSports entertainment content profiling VSG Arena’s own eSports team, ‘Actoz Stars,’ and the games their evolving roster of eSports athletes are training for and competing in. 

To meet the various needs of the arena, VSGame had to design a 4K workflow that could easily be adjusted to fit whatever type of stream or audience using the facility.

VSGames chose a workflow including four URSA Broadcast Cameras, an ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K paired with an ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel and an ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K for video switching, an ATEM Camera Control Panel, HyperDeck Studio 12G broadcast deck, Smart Videohub 12G 40x40 router, Teranex AV converters, SmartView 4K monitor, ATEM Talkback Converter 4K, Blackmagic Audio Monitor and Teranex Mini Converters.

"We chose the 12G workflow centric Blackmagic Design system because we felt it was reliable and we preferred coaxial cables for reliability. Latency in eSports is a taboo and we want to deliver the best live streaming and broadcast quality for viewers,” said Mr. An, Sung Kook, executive producer, VSGame. “We also needed flexibility for offline or partial systems operation if we were right sizing the equipment needs to smaller more intimate events or formats. The system we implemented was cost effective and was the fastest to deploy to meet our live events and regular programming objectives.”

The ease of use and ability to quickly learn and operate the cameras and switchers were an important advantage for VSGames with the Blackmagic Design products.

Mr. An, Sung Kook continued: “We felt it was very easy using the software to set up and control the products. I think the products are easy to learn and operate, providing great level of efficiency.

One of the big draws for eSports tournament organizers to VSG Arena is our 14m x 5m stage and 14m x 5m LED video wall. The sizable broadcast space requires VSGame to always have shots of the Masters of Ceremonies (MCs), guests and close ups of eSports athletes. This is where our four UHD ready URSA Broadcast Cameras really shine. Capturing on 4K resolution allows us to crop out multiple shots from one camera to create variety and more entertaining content.

As we cater to energetic teenagers and young adults in their late twenties on multiple streaming platforms, like YouTube, Facebook, Weibo, Naver, and our own website, this versatile post production set up is very useful for us.”

Press Photography

Product photos of the URSA Broadcast Camera 4K, ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K, 2 M/E Broadcast Panel, ATEM Television Studio Pro 4K, ATEM Camera Control Panel, HyperDeck Studio 12G, Smart Videohub 12G 40x40, Teranex AV, SmartView 4K, ATEM Talkback Converter 4K, Blackmagic Audio Monitor, Teranex Mini Converters, as well as all other Blackmagic Design products, are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/images.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.

EMERYVILLE, CALIF., Oct. 29, 2019 – Advanced Systems Group (ASG), a leading media technology and engineering firm, today announced Michael Hession joined the company on Sept. 25 to manage business and financial operations.

An industry veteran, Hession spent several years handling the finances for AKG Acoustics. When the company was acquired by Harman International, he was named CFO, vice president, and general manager of the Orban Division, which included Studer North America. He also co-founded Octiv, Inc., which was acquired by Plantronics in 2005. Previously, he served as vice president for finance and operations for Klotz Digital. Most recently, Hession served as director of finance for Nutiva.

“Through his diverse background, Michael has proven himself to be a strong leader in financial operations,” said Dave Van Hoy, president of ASG. “He understands both the business and technical needs of our customers, which make him a valuable addition to the ASG team.”

Contact Hession at 510-654-8300 or mhession@asgllc.com.

About ASG:
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area with offices in the New York Metro Area, Los Angeles, and the Rocky Mountain Region, Advanced Systems Group LLC has provided engineering, systems, integration, support, and training to the multimedia creative and corporate video markets for more than 20 years. With unmatched experience in high-speed shared storage, media asset management, archiving, editing, color and VFX systems, ASG has become one of the largest installers of post-production and shared storage systems in North America. Highly focused on customer success, the ASG team has installed and supported more than 500 storage networks, along with production and post-production systems. As part of its complete solution approach, ASG also offers a range of managed services, providing expert staffing for media production and IT services on a temporary or ongoing basis. For more information, visit www.asgllc.com or call 510-654-8300.

WASHINGTON—Sports remains TV’s biggest draw and is often at the forefront of the latest broadcast and production technologies, so it’s only natural that it would get a spotlight as part of the 2019 Video Show. The Sports Production stream at the conference will talk with top sports producers about what it takes to provide a top-notch production no matter the field, real or virtual.

The series of sessions, which will all take place on Dec. 4, will kick off with a talk from Gary Jobson of Jobson Sailing, who will provide an insight into the perils of broadcasting in the middle of the ocean, discussing his experience covering America’s Cup, the Volvo Ocean Race and other marquee sailing events.

Following the U.S. women’s victory at last summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, IBM Aspera’s Jonathan Solomon will share how they handled remote production and livestreaming to bring the game action from France to fans all over the world.

The popularity of esports only seems to be increasing, and a panel of experts will discuss all of the things that make esports that latest sports craze, and what might be the next step. The panelists will include Trevor Williams, Capitol Underground Gaming; Benjamin “Noskills” Archie, Hashtag Arena; Josh Hafkin, Game Gym; and Cait McGee, 1HP Gaming.

Other sessions will dive deep into some of the production elements of live sports. Topics will include the growing capabilities of sports production at smaller colleges, high school schools and the minor leagues; the demands of the mobile unit market; and producing content for in-arena video boards.

For more information on the Sports Production stream, click here.

The 2019 Video Show will take place from Dec. 4-5 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

SEOUL—As esports continues to grow in global popularity, South Korea’s SK Telecom and the U.S.-based Comcast have announced they are creating an international esports company, SK Telecom CS T1, or T1 for short.

The company will be headquartered in Seoul and SK Telecom will have a 55% stake in the venture, while Comcast and U.S. hedge fund Highland Capital will invest $41 million and be the second and third largest shareholders. There will be a U.S. regional office, T1 West, in Los Angeles.

T1, in addition to managing esports teams and merchandise, will seek to capitalize on SK Telecom and Comcast’s resources of global networks, telecommunication and media technology to produce and stream esports content. There are also plans, according to reports, to sell broadcast rights.

COLOGNE, Germany—As esports continues to rise in popularity, Nielsen will be lending its assistance to ESL and DreamHack for measuring key components of the esports industry, including viewership, as part of a new partnership agreement.

The three companies have been previously working together to establish a foundation for delivering consistent and standardized esports measurement to media and advertisers, and this new agreement is an expansion upon their past work. In addition to utilizing standardized metrics for esports viewership measurement and benchmarking, the agreement focuses on brand impact, media & sponsor valuation and consumer analytics.

As members of the Nielsen Esports Advisory Board, ESL and DreamHack will support the establishment of standard audience metrics for all digital and linear esports broadcasts.

“It is very important for the esports industry to use standardized reliable data measured by an independent company like Nielsen in conversations with brand partners and broadcasters,” said Thomas Schmidt, CCO at ESL. “Our work with Nielsen reaffirms our commitment to shape the esports industry and build stronger relationships with media and advertising partners by driving the standardization of key performance indicators across the industry with an independent and reliable partner. Establishing KPI’s live average minute audience (AMA) and others will push the industry forward and make it more accessible for media partners worldwide.”

Nielsen will provide its measurement services for the recently announced ESL Pro Tour that will be run by ESL and DreamHack.

Stand 14.D10, IBC 2019, RAI, Amsterdam: Intinor Technology, Sweden’s leading developer of products and solutions for high quality video over IP networks, has announced that ESL, the world's largest esports company, has deployed a combination of Intinor’s Direkt router, Direkt router lite, and Direkt receiver units to cover its linear broadcasting needs.

ESL wanted to move away from a rigid managed service model for traditional linear broadcasting and expand its internal distribution workflows for the web and, for the first time, take care of linear broadcasts internally.

ESL Director of Streaming, Steven Jalicy, said, “We wanted a solution that could dynamically scale and deliver high quality and high reliability without generating out of control service costs and technology bottlenecks. Furthermore, we wanted the future capacity and potential to merge our online and linear workflows into a single ecosystem.

“To achieve this, we needed a hardware system that was protocol and service agnostic. Something we could build into our own infrastructure and workflows to deliver traditional linear content to traditional linear takers, but deploy it using the same concepts that have been so successful for ESL when it comes to delivering content to our core audience on online platforms. Intinor was the perfect partner for this project.”

Intinor’s solution for ESL was to use a combination of Direkt router, Direkt router lite, and Direkt receiver units. The receiver units enable ESL’s takers to receive content via IP transport, which then breaks out to an SDI output that conforms to the respective traditional broadcast standards required. The routers enable ESL to contribute and distribute content from live events directly to takers worldwide and are the backbone of the deployment as they handle SDI source inputs onsite; perform live video encoding; process IP contributions; and ensure content distribution across the vast ESL network.

With the Direkt system, ESL can now directly manage and operate its own linear content distribution network without an expensive managed service, and without investing in the traditional infrastructure and hardware that would normally be required for linear content delivery.

Additional benefits include the ability to use Intinor’s proprietary Bifrost Reliable Transport (BRT™) protocol for 100 percent redundant transport over the public internet while also staying flexible and agnostic with options for RTP, HLS, RTMP and SRT protocols. Owning the hardware also enables ESL to integrate Intinor technology with ESL’s own workflows, which can then deliver key functionality for innovative broadcast concepts without increased costs for services and development.

Jalicy added, “Set against a backdrop of an almost impossible deadline - we had to go from fundamental design, through proof of concept and then onto a full scale deployment in less than four weeks - Intinor has been a great partner throughout this process and we will soon deliver our first live event using the new Intinor system, which takes place 28th-29th September 2019, live from the Barclays Center, New York. This represents just the beginning of our plans and we are confident that Intinor technology is going to play a crucial role in ESL’s continued innovation in the live broadcast space.”

Intinor CEO Roland Axelsson said, “We are delighted to have delivered such a robust and well-received Direkt system for ESL that eliminated their need for an external, restrictive, and expensive managed service provider. Having freed them from such hold-ups, we very much look forward to even more exciting applications and deployments for both companies.”

ESL will feature prominently in The IBC Esports Showcase on Tuesday 17 September, which will include information and discussions on entry into esports and managing the complexity of production through to the seamless technical delivery of an esports broadcast.

Intinor will feature the Direkt router, Direkt router lite, and Direkt receiver on Stand 14.D10 during IBC 2019.

###

About ESL
Founded in 2000, ESL has been developed into the world’s largest esports company leading the industry across the most popular video games with numerous online and offline competitions. It operates high profile, branded international leagues and tournaments such as ESL One, Intel® Extreme Masters, ESL Pro League and other top tier stadium-size events, as well as ESL National Championships, grassroots amateur cups and matchmaking systems, defining the path from zero to hero as short as possible. With offices all over the world, ESL is leading esports forward on a global scale. ESL is a part of MTG, the leading international digital entertainment group.

About Intinor
Intinor develops its own products and comprehensive solutions for high quality video over IP networks. With solutions for contribution, as well as for distribution and web TV, Intinor has customers ranging from small production to major television channels. Intinor also work as consultants with product development and has extensive experience in developing custom-designed systems to meet specific needs. For more information, visit www.intinor.com.

Company Contact:
Martin Weber, European Sales Manager
Sales and Marketing
+49(0)176-231 322 65
+49(0)8122-84 700 59
martin.weber@intinor.se

Media Contact:
Jennie Marwick-Evans
Manor Marketing
jennie@manormarketing.tv
Phone: +44 (0) 7748 636171

LAS VEGAS—Allied Esports has multiple esports venues and content production facilities across the world, with HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas being one of the primary locations. Part of what we do is host people coming together to play friendly matches against one another. It’s exciting to oversee the many different kinds of technology required.

At the Las Vegas arena we have three floors housing our audio equipment. We use three Lawo Compact I/O stageboxes on these floors, which are tied to the main core of our Lawo system. This setup lets us control everything from two separate services across our compound: one in the back in the production area and one in the front of the house.

GOOD BANG FOR THE BUCK

Creating good sound in this fastmoving environment is only possible with very powerful tools that are easy to use. We chose Lawo mc²36 consoles and Compact I/O stageboxes because of their power and price point. The power inside the system enables us to shift through multiple floors in our venue using fiber that connects everything to one core and two mc²36 consoles.

We get a lot of functionality out of what we feel was a very good investment. The mixing desk is an important element for creating efficiencies: We have up to 12 players competing simultaneously in a broadcast scenario. The mix engineer must be able to work through multiple pages and have backup scenarios for every single pod on stage in the event of failure in the middle of a competition.

MIX AND MATCHING SIGNALS

One of the biggest challenges is mixing player intercoms. Through different mix zones, players can hear both the intercom and game playing. Players can control those items independently—hence the challenge.

I spend a lot of time using the mc²36’s auxes and sums to control and shift audio streams around our arenas. The summing function is a quick way for us to achieve multiple zones of action because we can route different feeds by simply touching different features.

Being able to move signals via digital patch field is a major benefit. Almost anyone can intuitively navigate through the system’s signal functions. We use the Lawo core as our primary audio router. It’s really important for us to be able to navigate through it directly and effectively from the mc²36 console.

With a specific bank of knobs, I can control and select anything, and it comes up on the screen. For instance, when I select a given PC, I immediately see all my gains displayed in a pop-up window. Basically, I just grab something, and all relevant information pops up right in front of me.

When we expand our facilities to global operation, we’ll need the ability to connect all locations together and have one central point of control for multiple simultaneous competitions. That’s where I can see the true power of wide-area-network IP and a native IP console. The ability is there, which is why it makes sense for us to keep investing in Lawo.

I can even log into the mc²36 console remotely and mix a sequence or route signals, which is pretty cool. It’s also exciting that when someone needs help, I can reach out and mix from home. I can’t wait for the ability to grab resources from one location and make them available elsewhere.

The Lawo mc²36 console is powerful at a good price, easy to use, and feature-rich. And that’s what I need.

Alex Markley currently serves as chief engineer at Allied Esports International, and is responsible for the technical activities at the HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas. He can be reached atinfo@alliedsports.com.

For more info, visitwww.lawo.com.

AMSTERDAM—The 2019 IBC Show, Sept. 13-17, at the RAI in Amsterdam will provide an unprecedented opportunity for attendees to enhance their understanding of a media production environment whose pace of change is continuing to accelerate.

Themed conference days, increased representation of women on stage, and a brand new esports event are among the developments that will greet visitors to this year’s IBC as organizers continue to strengthen its credentials as the world’s most influential media, entertainment and technology show.

In line with the multitude of creative, commercial and technical issues now influencing the development of media production, this year’s IBC conference has a different theme for each day:

Keynote presenters include Cécile Frot-Coutaz, head of YouTube EMEA; Arnaud de Puyfontaine, chairman of Vivendi; and Max Amordeluso, Amazon Alexa evangelist in the EU.

Building on the success of last year, IBC is also bringing back the Global Gamechangers Stage, which has a special focus on the technologies and business developments expected to change the game for the media industry. Speakers on this stage are set to include Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association; Jane Turton, CEO of All3Media; and Lisa Opie, director of factual for BBC Studios.

The final day of the show, Tuesday, IBC host an Esports Showcase, powered by ESL, EVS and Lagardère. Combining a series of conference sessions—which will include the participation of key players such as Ginx TV, Twitch, Riot and Blizzard, as well as developers like EA Sports—with a live demonstration of Counter-Strike featuring professional teams from ESL’s National Championships.

Also new for IBC2019 is the Media-Telecom Convergence Catalyst. This collaboration between IBC and the TM Forum will see three catalyst projects on the show floor that highlight open innovation between the telecoms and media industries. Participation from Al Jazeera, Associated Press, BBC R&D, RTÉ and more will show how 5G, AI and big data management can solve business and technology challenges, and improve the customer experience.

IBC2019 provides a vital annual opportunity to become acquainted with the latest media solutions, it is also a venue for serious networking and dealmaking. IBC is a show where business genuinely gets done and deals are signed on the show floor. It’s great for exhibitors, but good too for buyers, who have the opportunity to compare solutions from all the leading vendors around the world in one convenient showcase.

Attendees will go home equipped with shared unique insight and experience, that will drive their own businesses forward in the year ahead. What visitors will experience at IBC2019 will energize and motivate them, and reveal new opportunities—for their businesses and as individuals in the year ahead.

For more information, and to register, please visitshow.ibc.org.

David Davies is a consultant and conference producer.

Daily Themes

FRIDAY
Create and produce: creating disruption

SATURDAY
Manage: automating media supply chains

SUNDAY
Publish: embracing the platform revolution

MONDAY
Consume: engaging consumer experiences

TUESDAY
Monetize: scaling audiences and revenues

AMSTERDAM—This year’s IBC conference will welcome the gaming world, and how it impacts the broadcast industry, in a big way, announcing an Esports Showcase on the final day of the conference, Tuesday, Sept. 17, as well as a live esports tournament.

The Esports Showcase will look at the technological and commercial challenges of esports, trends and the latest developments with a number of industry leaders participating as speakers. Among the scheduled speakers will be Chester King, CEO of British Esports Association; Michiel Bakker, CEO at GINX Esports TV Canada; Jonas Gundersen, COO for North A/S; Henrik Nyhuis, the head of Ran Esports at ProSiebenSat.1 Sports Gmbh; Jens Fischers from EVS; Simon Eicher, ESL’s executive producer, director of broadcast and esports services; Ryan Chaply, senior esports program manager for Twitch; and Peter Emminger, vice president of global broadcast at Blizzard.

In addition, the ESL National Championship teams from Germany and Spain will take part in a live “Counter-Strike” tournament on the big screen of the RAI Auditorium.

The IBC Esports Showcase is being sponsored by EVS, ESL and Lagardere.

IBC 2019 will take place from Sept. 13-17 in Amsterdam. More information is available at show.ibc.org.

LOS ANGELES—In 2009, Riot Games released its debut title, “League of Legends” to worldwide acclaim. Since then, it has become the most played PC game in the world and a key driver of the explosive growth of esports. Today, Riot Games continues to help grow esports by producing tournaments around the world. Tournaments take place in North America, Europe and Asia and are broadcast primarily on Twitch, YouTube, our own LoL Esports page and an ESPN subsidiary.

Whether it’s a roadshow in the U.S., a tournament in Asia or a weekly match Academy League (which is akin to Minor League Baseball) from our Los Angeles arena, Riot Games supports these esports broadcasts. While every region has its own engineers for its shows, a central team based in L.A. designs and manages broadcasts for most of the big international events as well as the shows around North America and beyond the studio.

A CONNECTED PRODUCTION

The Riot Games facility in L.A. was built around IHSE’s KVM platform for on-air control. We have a technical operations center, two control rooms, two audio controls, machine room, large analyst-desk studio with a couple of sets and the arena studio. For remote shows, we use one of our control rooms to produce the world feed, and then all the other regions build their shows on top of that.

We use a 64-port IHSE Draco KVM matrix and Draco extenders, which allow us to connect the machines in our machine room to workstations in control rooms and elsewhere throughout the facility. That means we can keep our machines in a climate-controlled environment where they won’t overheat and still get video, audio and control to wherever it’s needed. The count is constantly changing, but we usually hover around 50 to 60 computers and user stations connected at any time—so we’re always pushing that matrix to its limit.

I’ve always preferred IHSE KVM because it’s really easy to manage and deploy. We can add a new computer and have it running on the KVM matrix in 10 minutes or less. For the users, it feels like the computer is directly attached to their workstation; they don’t notice it’s hundreds of feet away. Some other KVM systems don’t offer such a seamless experience.

ADAPTING TO OUR NEEDS

IHSE’s ease of deployment is especially helpful for roadshows because we’re always on a very tight schedule. We have a second matrix we sometimes take on the road with us, but we usually don’t need to do that because IHSE extenders can operate without the matrix. It’s very easy to deploy all of our machines on the road because they can travel in a road case all racked up with the KVM extenders. We just run a few Cat 5 cables to plug the extenders into and we’re off. Then, when the kit rolls back home, we just plug the extenders right back into our matrix.

This dual-purpose functionality is another great benefit of the IHSE system. We get more for our investment, and we can travel with a much lighter kit and fewer people.

The IHSE system is also flexible and easy to expand. For example, most of our systems use twisted-pair Cat 5 cables, but we recently implemented a couple fiber extenders for our on-air commentators, whose stations now have telestration that can’t operate over Cat 5 at that distance.

As for support, I couldn’t imagine a better working relationship than I have with IHSE. If I want to extend the system over fiber and don’t know which products I need, I can get an answer within an hour to take to purchasing. On the very rare occasions we’ve needed tech support, we got an immediate solution. Generally, though, the IHSE system just keeps working exactly as it’s supposed to.

Kris Johnson is a broadcast engineer for Riot Games, an American video game developer and esports tournament organizer based in West Los Angeles, Calif. He can be reached atkris.johnson@riotgames.com.

For more information, please visitihse.comor call 732-738-8780.

Stand 14.D10, IBC 2019, RAI, Amsterdam: Intinor Technology, Sweden’s leading developer of products and solutions for high quality video over IP networks, will launch a newly combined router panel and video mixer for the highly portable Direkt link remote production backpack at IBC 2019.

Intinor’s Direkt router is used by major broadcast and production companies for video switching and mixing on the fly, and with the new router panel and video mixer combination the unit can provide GFX-overlays and PiP.

Direkt link can send video streams to multiple receivers, including Intinor’s own receivers, designed primarily for cable TV or channel control rooms; streaming servers for web TV; DTV boxes for OTT; PCs running VLC; and receivers from other manufactures.

Intinor CEO Roland Axelsson said, “The flexibility and versatility of our Direkt link range just become even more so with our new router panel and video mixer integration, and we are delighted to featuring it at Europe’s premiere broadcast technology showcase.”

The new Direkt link backpack system configuration can be adjusted using the new router display and keypad, or from a web-interface. The interface provides the ability to build profiles and adjust parameters for each broadcast location. Those profiles can contain and retain information on the network, content destination, and video-quality. The Direkt link system can store a broadcast on a USB stick for later use in on-demand or other video applications.

The unit will also have a new NDI input, which further expands Intinor’s collaboration with NewTek and other leading NDI developers.

At IBC, Intinor will also introduce ‘Direkt link tower’, a computer chassis that includes the powerful Direkt link encoder. The tower is pre-configured to esports-mode, Intinor's performance level 6 (x264 preset “SLOW”). This is the same encoding performance that is used worldwide for major esports tournaments like DreamHack, Blast Pro Series, PGL, Gfinity and many more.

For more information, visit www.intinor.com

###

About Intinor
Intinor develops its own products and comprehensive solutions for high quality video over IP networks. With solutions for contribution, as well as for distribution and web TV, Intinor has customers ranging from small production to major television channels. Intinor also work as consultants with product development and has extensive experience in developing custom-designed systems to meet specific needs. For more information, visit www.intinor.com

Company Contact:
Daniel Lundstedt, Marketing Coordinator
+46 (0) 90-349 39 07
+46 (0) 70-148 46 68
daniel.lundstedt@intinor.se

Media Contact:
Jennie Marwick-Evans
Manor Marketing
jennie@manormarketing.tv
+44 (0) 7748 636171

SUBIACO, Australia—Nickelodeon is getting into the esports arena, with online esports and casual gaming tournament platform Emerge Gaming announcing it is developing a competitive gaming esports platform for Viacom that will be based on Nickelodeon content.

The platform, NickX, will be accessible for free on the Nickelodeon website and both its Android and iOS apps, with unique mobile games content on all devices. While available for free, premium subscriptions and in-app subscriptions will be available, as well as advertising for outside companies.

The platform will be based on Emerge Gaming’s ArcadeX technology.

There are no details on a launch date as of yet.

BINGEN, Germany—The Telia Esports Series launched in Finland at the end of April and is broadcasted weekly on Finnish national television and internationally through Twitch. The virtual studio utilized for these weekly broadcasts was helped put together with the use of Broadcast Solutions technology.

Virtual studio tools from Broadcast Solutions were applied to pre-existing studio and remote facilities. Telia is using the state-of-the-art remote production hub from Broadcast Solutions that it had previously deployed to cover Finnish ice hockey to assist with the virtual studio. The remote production hub is located 2km from the studio and gaming facility.

For the actual set, Broadcast Solutions brought in technology from virtual reality company Zero Density and applied it to an already existing virtual set. Telia is able to change the virtual set look to its design for its esports program in about 10 seconds. Other productions at the virtual studio are done in 1080i50, whereas the esports production is done in 1080p50; the remote production hub handles the transition for production.

The virtual studio will be the set for an upcoming esports tournament hosted by Telia and the company Assembly.

LAS VEGAS—With the growth of esports creating opportunities for broadcasters and the wider media industry, the 2019 NAB Show featured the debut of the “Esports Experience” in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s North Hall, as the once-emerging form of content is becoming more mainstream, requiring higher levels of production and distribution.

“The increasing popularity of esports is attracting attention and investment from traditional and new media alike,” said Ann Marie Cumming, senior vice president of communications. “By all indications, NAB Show’s attendee base is very interested in the developments related to this exciting medium.”

Topics up for discussion included brand integrations; implications of 5G; live events that are held in venues such as the 30,000-square-foot, multilevel HyperX Esports Arena, at the Luxor on the Las Vegas Strip; collegiate and amateur esports; broadcast infrastructure; convergence of esports and TV; storytelling and Hollywood IP; and game development.

Anzu, another company that’s keened in on the esports market, exhibited at the Sprockit Hub, also in North Hall, which featured startups. The company, based in Berlin, has developed a new in-game advertising ecosystem that crosses digital game worlds, where ads are blended directly into the setting.

Anzu gives advertisers “another way to promote products to the unicorn [or premium] audiences they could never reach before―on PC, console, mobile and in the esports space, during actual game competitions,” said Natalia Vasilyeva, vice president of marketing. “So advertisers can now advertise in-game and engage the players without disrupting their user experience.”

One advantages of Anzu is that the creative can be updated dynamically. “The platform offers advanced targeting and personalization capabilities, and ads can even be based on an event that occurs during the game session,” said Vasilyeva. “From the game developer’s angle, they can integrate the technology into the game, take control over ad placements and add as many ad spaces as they want, which leads to greater monetization opportunities.”

Anzu acts as a middleman between the game developers and advertisers. “After the integration of Anzu, we start selling ad spaces to brand advertisers and advertising agencies, matching their preferences with the right game audiences via Anzu’s private marketplace; and also programmatically, using the real-time bidding technology (RTB),” she said. “We’ve brought interactivity, brand safety and RTB to the in-game world at scale and have already partnered with a number of big game studios and brand name advertisers.”

As for the Esports Experience, it “was a success by all measures with well-attended sessions and lots of activity and excitement surrounding the live gaming component, in which attendees could observe professional teams and also have the opportunity to play themselves,” said Cumming. “It was a popular destination for attendees, and the sponsors appreciated the exposure it provided.”

On that note, she said to look for the Esports Experience next year, “perhaps with an even larger footprint.”

Find out what other sports-related technologies were on display at the 2019 NAB Show here.

The 2019 NAB Show is being promoted as the home of the story: The place where stories originate, are edited, manipulated, delivered and consumed. And looking at the list of conferences, sessions and speakers that are lined up for this year’s event—taking place at at the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 6-11—there’s a lot to back that up.

“When all is said and done, this business is about telling stories,” said Chris Brown, executive vice president of business operations for NAB. “And NAB Show is the only event that provides exposure to the full array of products and techniques that enhance the storytelling process.” The show also provides a forum to learn and network with the entire international media and entertainment ecosystem, he said, all with the goal of building and delivering better stories.

“The story is still the ultimate driver; the tech makes it come to life,” he said.

WHAT’S AROUND THE CORNER

But beyond the traditional line up of attractions and programs, the stories you may want to delve into at this year’s show will likely be found in new tracks and smaller corners—places that offer attendees a glimpse of what may be around the corner in 2020, 2025 and beyond.

NAB says one of its key priorities is to educate and inspire attendees, and in that vein will feature a handful of new exhibit areas this year: one focused on advancements in AI, another on cloud capabilities, a third on next-generation wireless technologies, another on autonomous vehicles and one on the growing eSports market.

Likewise, the show’s conferences will focus on issues impacting the professional video industry, from ATSC 3.0 and 5G to streaming and advertising.

What seems particularly interesting are those quiet technologies that are moving into the forefront in 2019. Take podcasting, which is being feted at this year’s show with a separate pavilion and live shows. The reason? The industry is solving formerly tricky questions of monetization and simultaneously embracing the realization that smartly told stories are pulling listeners in and keeping them there.

Consumers are living in a Netflix world, said Steven Goldstein, CEO Amplifi Media, who will speak at “Inside the Thriving Podcast Marketplace 1: The Exploding Business of Podcasting.” As a result, broadcasters need to move beyond any concerns they may have about finding an audience or anxiety they have that podcasts might disrupt the broadcast ecosystem.

“Broadcasters need to get beyond fear and embrace the delivery of content on other platforms,” Goldstein said. “It’s early days on the money side, but not so different than the early days of the internet or cable.” In two years, he said, it’s probably close to a billion dollar business.

Goldstein said successful podcasters have successfully learned to appeal to underserved niches—whether it be crime, comedy, daily news or fantasy sports. “Monetization for any but the most downloaded shows is a challenge,” he said. “We see experiments with paywalls and subscriptions, but mostly people expect podcasts to be free. What I love about the business is the innovation and trial. It’s all dynamically unfolding in real time.”

AI & MACHINE LEARNING

Other technologies garnering attention at the show will include AI and machine learning, a trend that one media executive likened to a technology that puts a media company light years ahead of those who have yet invested in artificial learning and machine learning.

Confused by what this means? Consider the transformation that’s already around us: TV viewers finding TV content with voice commands. That series of (sometimes) spot-on recommendations that show up in your streaming app. The list of news stories compiled by an automated database.

Sessions like “Transforming Television with Artificial Intelligence” will offer info on the fundamentals of how AI is already at work in media companies and how it can be harnessed to drive growth.

Other sessions like “Voice Control and AI: Pushing the TV Experience Forward” will look at the ways that voice-activated search, discovery and navigation are transforming the TV viewing process. But how do media companies take the next big step and ensure these search engines can handle queries that range from basic to complicated? Session participants will talk about the role of descriptive metadata plans and how advanced technology can enable deep analysis of video content on a broad scale.

The technology will be on display in the new “AI+Cloud Campus” that will explore advancements in these technologies and how they are reshaping content and media.

WASHINGTON TALK

The show is also wisely folding in sessions and keynotes that will keep attendees apprised of what’s going on in Washington—from pending changes to the nation’s Emergency Alert System to proposals to permit operations into previously protected areas of the spectrum band.

At “Ask the FCC and Capitol Hill,” commission staff will discuss its work on revamping the nation’s Emergency Alert System, proposing to make significant changes to the way public officials alert the public to emergencies through the national Weather Emergency Alert system by expanding the max character count, adding new geographic targeting and potentially adding multimedia and video to text alerts. “The American people want, expect and deserve the best possible public safety services, including the most precise targeting available for wireless alerts,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in mid-February about the proposed changes.

REPACK DETAILS

The industry is also still grappling with issues related to the post-broadcast incentive auction TV station repack. In all, nearly 1,000 full-power and low-power TV broadcasters will need to move their operations, part of a process that raised almost $20 billion from 84 MHz of spectrum.

What do broadcasters need to consider next when it comes to the repack? According to Doug Lung, vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBC/Telemundo, pay close attention to finalizing the repack facility design—including antenna type, necessary tower modifications and major building work. From there, get components ordered and the crews scheduled as soon as possible.

“Once that’s done, look at how to keep the station on the air during the work,” Lung said. For example, determine if a new antenna is needed and if a broadband antenna could allow an interim antenna to be used on both the existing and new channels, he said.

Despite the FCC’s recent pronouncement that repack work was “ahead of schedule,” a number of broadcasters are expressing concerns about repack site completions, pointing to severe winter weather in some areas of the country and a shortage of qualified tower crews. The commission has said it will be flexible in considering STA applications and extensions if justified. Those issues will be up for discussion in sessions like “Managing the Spectrum Crunch” and “Challenges and Lessons Learned for FCC Repacking TV Stations, Including Sutro Tower.”

Addressing repack issues was a mighty challenge for the Sutro Tower, a 977-foottall tower that had been for years the tallest structure in San Francisco. The difficulties at the site included obtaining building permits, multiple seismic considerations and the challenge of rigging a tower with an unusual shape and size. At the session, the engineering firm Osborn Engineering will describe the technical challenges faced at Sutro Tower, examine the upgrade process to ATSC 3.0 during the repack and describe how the team plans to keep nine TV and three FM stations on the air during the process.

Other issues up for discussion include the recent FCC decision to allocate an additional $68.1 million to full-power and Class A stations from the repack fund, bringing the total allocated to $1.8 billion.

ESPORTS EXTRAVAGANZA

It’s clear that this NAB is not your father’s show; nowhere is that more evident than in the new eSports Experience area. New opportunities for advertising will be part of the session “Changing the Game: Rethinking the Sports Sponsorship,” while “Level-Up: How Video Gaming is Driving the Future of TV” looks at the current markets for streaming, eSports and gaming, and what these markets tell us about the future of video entertainment.

And this is where eSports and another key technology discussion—5G—will converge. The session “Game On: How 5G and eSports will Radically Change the Playing Field for Service Providers” will look at how 5G has opened the floodgates for a new influx of mobile, on-the-go gaming. As 5G works to eliminate the difficulties of cloud gaming, there are new opportunities for media companies to reimagine gaming. Those opportunities will be part of the new Destination 5G forum.

ATSC 3.0 will also be a major focus this year, with the ATSC 3.0 Academy series of sessions offering updates from real-world market trials. One such trial is the hybrid services architecture in place as part of “Chicago 3.0,” an ATSC 3.0 trial organized by Weigel Broadcasting Co. Launched in September 2018, this experimental next-generation full-power broadcast station will delve into the facility’s native IP transport infrastructure. This architecture is being heralded as a bridge that can connect broadcasters to the internet and bring local channels to the viewers with a familiar streaming experience via a broadcaster-controlled distribution platform.

Another sign that this is not your parent’s NAB: the new Influencer Series, a roster of “fireside chats” that will look at the new ways in which entertainment content, celebrities and technology are influencing media. More focus is also being given to the automobile via the new In-Vehicle Experience Pavilion, which will give attendees a look at connected cars, voice activation and audio design, and the ways in which ATSC 3.0 and HD Radio are powering these autos.

Approximately 100,000 attendees—from communities as diverse as cybsersecurity and advertising and virtual reality—are again expected to descend on Las Vegas this April. Attendees from more than 160 countries are expected alongside 1,700 exhibitors in 1 million square feet of exhibit space. Details can be found at nabshow.com.

For over two decades, San Diego-based CBT Systems, a video production, and broadcast integrator has built studios and launched some of the biggest brands you can think of from the NFL Network, the MLB Network, YouTube production studios around the world as well as Facebook’s television studios. Now, the broadcast integrator has added another high-profile brand to their list of credits, Las Vegas’ new HyperX e-Sports arena, a 30,000 square foot entertainment facility located in the Luxor Hotel.

“CBT Systems came to the project in October 2018, but the project actually started in March 2018, so we were late to the start-up,” explained Darrell Wenhardt, President of CBT Systems. “We had done the RIOT games in the past and know that creating an e-sports arena is challenging. A typical AV contractor is not the right entity to accomplish what is needed. You need a broadcast systems integrator because they are familiar with video production technology and the professional equipment needed to produce the professional level of quality in a broadcast or live stream that people expect.”

Las Vegas’ new HyperX e-Sports arena is truly an entertainment facility with everything from a merchandise sales area, throwback games, a hospitality area where visitors can get bar and food service as well as 200 advanced gaming systems where people can play on their own or interactively with those around them. It is outfitted with large LED screens as well as a production-control room, a 1,000-sq.-ft. studio, and an observer area. But the entertainment facility’s transformation from the former LAX nightclub to a dedicated e-Sports arena featured some unique challenges.

“Within a space like this, there are many challenges because you must plan for the television audience as well as the live audience. These challenges range from the layout of the space, the acoustics, the lighting, and the broadcast. In the former LAX nightclub, the lack of acoustical treatment caused the sound to be loud and unintelligible. Within the Esports environment, intelligibility is very important because the Arena announcers actually provide a Live Call of the Game. The next challenge is lighting. We had to light the production and studio set for both in house experience and television production. On the television side, you have cameras with long lenses that require very solid support, and for that, we turned to Cartoni.”

To accommodate the studio and live-production areas, CBT Systems outfitted the new HyperX Esports Arena with a range of Cartoni camera supports, including three Cartoni P20 pedestals with Focus 22 heads outfitted with Sony cameras and Canon lenses, a Focus 18 tripod system as well as six Cartoni PTZ tripods.

“We had a history with Cartoni from our previous success with YouTube Production Studios in New York and Los Angeles, where we have both the large P-90 Pedestals and the smaller P-20 Pedestals. We chose Cartoni for two reasons,” explained Wenhardt. “One is because of the high quality and reliability of the equipment, and number two is because of the incredible service. Of all the major manufacturers out there for camera support equipment, whether it’s Sachtler, Vinten, nobody across the country can give you the personalized service and support that you get with the Cartoni product.”

E-sports, or competitive video gaming, is one of the fastest growing trends in the world. The sport has grown from competitive events that pop-up temporarily in warehouses to a growing number of dedicated e-sports arenas around the world. And according to Wenhardt, the reason for the growth and popularity is the unified platform.

“This isn’t like the NFL or major league baseball, which is really only done in the United States,” said Wenhardt. “CBS was thrilled to have some 100 million viewers for the most recent Super Bowl. On a typical night, some of the e-sports companies like Blizzard and Riot games will have 45 million people watching this stuff, and that’s around the world. I think there’s this appeal around the world to this new generation.”

So where is the future of e-sports heading with more arenas popping up?

“Certainly, you are going to see more e-sports arenas both nationally and internationally. I think from the large corporation standpoint they see the opportunity to fill up seats in an arena and a hotel, but eventually, there will be a betting component in this whole thing.”

Manios Digital is the exclusive US distributor of Cartoni tripods, Kinotehnik LED lights and Hawk-Woods batteries. Visit Cartoni and Manios Digital at NAB 2019 at Booth C9020. Register for free using code LV2933.

PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.—This year’s HPA Tech Retreat will once again see a gathering of industry-leading thinkers who will discuss the latest trends in the creation, management and dissemination of video content. The weeklong Palm Springs event, which is capped at just 700 attendees and begins Monday, Feb. 11, will feature a main conference program, the “TR-X Tech Retreat Xtra” focused on eSports, as well as breakfast roundtables and a curated innovation zone, along with other opportunities for industry leaders to meet and exchange ideas.

The event officially gets underway with the Tuesday Supersession, which will highlight Next-Gen Workflows and Infrastructure, featuring insight from Tom Graham of Dolby on Dolby Vision from set to consumer; Tina Eckman of Dolby on Dolby Atmos from set to consumer; and Scott Kramer of Netflix on immersive sound from capture through post production.

HDR AND THE MOVE TO 8K

Numerous sessions on Wednesday including an HDR “Mini” Session, will address the importance of HDR in video production. There will be an introduction to HDR, how it is being used in anime and how it can push the limits of motion in video production. These sessions should highlight how 4K and UHD are not interchangeable terms, and that resolution is just part of the picture with HDR playing an important role in UHD, according to HPA president Seth Hallen, who will host the “Intro to HDR” session.

“UHD implies not only resolution, but other things such as HDR and its wider color gamut,” said Hallen, who is also head of global strategy and business development at Pixelogic. “Studies have shown that the human brain can detect a greater range of light to dark than it can picture resolution. HDR thus is a massive improvement for overall picture quality. But it can also ensure that the content is delivered as closely as possible to the filmmaker’s intent. Hopefully the consumer will appreciate that.”

None of that is to say that resolution isn’t important, and even as 4K content is only now starting to pick up steam the industry is clearly looking ahead to what the next generation—8K—can offer. Pete Putman of ROAM Consulting will host two sessions, as well as take part in a breakfast roundtable—firstly offering his thoughts on HDMI 2.1 and Display-Port before providing an overview of products in the world of consumer electronics that were introduced at the recent 2019 CES in Las Vegas. Putman will then dive into what we can expect in 8K in 2019 and beyond in the session, “8K: Whoa! How’d We Get There So Quickly?”

“The 8K talk will be an overview of everything from cameras to displays, based on current information,” said Putman, who will discuss various aspects of the technology including appropriate codecs for compression and data transfer rates. “It should bring people up to speed on just how fast 8K is coming to market.”

TAKING IT ON THE ROAD AND BRINGING IT HOME

Mark Chiolis, director of business development for the Mobile TV Group will host Thursday’s “Remote and Mobile Production Panel,” which will discuss the changing world of remote production that now includes not only live sports and concerts for broadcasters, but addresses how this is fitting into the world of streaming services and the growing eGames/eSports market.

“With so many live events you start out with a blank canvas and the set up for a production crew is very tight,” said Chiolis. “We’ll discuss the whole gamut of what is involved in preparing for a live production and what we’ve seen come out in 2018 and what we expect to help with productions in the next couple of years. Part of the discussion will include the role of REMI applications [REMote Integration], IP workflows, virtual productions and of course, eSports. It should be an exciting time for live production.”

Thanks to larger TV screens with greater resolution joined by surround sound systems, seeing movies at home has gotten closer to what filmmakers have intended, and this aspect of what the viewer actually sees will be discussed in “Downstream Image Presentation Management for Consumer Displays.” Moderated by Michael Chambliss of International Cinematographers Guild, the session will feature Steven Poster of the American Society of Cinematographers as a panelist.

“We, as the ASC, started participating at the HPA Tech Retreat seven years ago, and at the time we were asked why we were here,” said Poster. “Now they have asked us to give our presentation, which we see as important as it discusses the importance of the creative intent of the filmmaker.”

That intent of what the director and cinematographer has improved a lot from the days when movies were in essence “butchered” via pan and scan, but today even with HDR and greater picture resolution, there still needs to be more progress. Poster, who first formed a technology committee when he was ASC president 20 years ago, had a vision whereby the TV set could ensure that the picture is up to the standards of the filmmaker. However, he admitted that the technology wasn’t quite there at the time.

Now two and a half decades later that is finally becoming a reality.

“Our TV set technology has become quite good,” said Chambliss. “So why can’t we have a little bit of metadata that is used in the production making it way to the sets. So far Netflix and Sony have implemented what is called calibrated modes so that the set closely mirrors the monitors we used in the production. Instead of leaving this in a 1950s ‘it is up to the viewer to adjust the set,’ the smart TVs could optimize the picture. The sets are capable of doing this, so let’s automate the process.”

CAPTIONING AND SUBTITLES

Subtitling and captioning will get its moment in the spotlight at the Retreat with “IMSC 1.1: A Single Subtitle and Caption Format for the Entertainment Chain,” hosted by Pierre-Anthony Lemieux of Sandflow Consulting.

Lemieux will highlight IMSC, the W3C standard for worldwide subtitles/captions, which came about as the result of an international collaboration—the initial version of which was published in 2016.

“Technology has made it possible, along with flexible delivery for subtitles and captions to be provided in so much more content,” said Lemieux. “It has been in the broadcast world where the United States was the exception for providing subtitles for the hearing impaired, but worldwide there have been little mandates for accessibility. But that is changing.”

In addition, thanks to streaming services—notably Netflix, which provides content from international markets—as well as changing viewing habits, subtitles and captions are becoming much more important.

“Even people that aren’t hard of hearing are enjoying content in bed late at night or on buses and airplanes and having the sound on isn’t an option, so captions are necessary for the message to be conveyed,” added Lemieux. “It is easy to forget that just 10 years ago subtitles were literally burned on a film with a laser in France, and that was an expensive and difficult process. Today technology—notably IMSC—has made it easy for subtitles to be added to the content. Subtitles and captions were an afterthought, but now in the world of audio/video production these will be first class citizens.”

Predicting everything that attendees will see would be akin to looking into the future, said Mark Schubin, program chair at the HPA. “There’s a wild array of possibilities on both the acquisition and presentation ends. How do we deal with the new world?”

For more information, visithpaonline.

Fremont, Ca — August 30, 2018 - Blackmagic Design announced today that Japan’s CyberZ built a new eSports studio in its media department around Blackmagic Design’s ATEM live switching products, including ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K, ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel and ATEM 1 M/E Broadcast Panel. CyberZ is also using Blackmagic Design’s Teranex AV, UltraStudio 4K, DeckLink Studio 4K, Smart Videohub 12x12 and HyperDeck Studio products in the new studio.

CyberZ is a company specializing in smartphone advertising, smartphone media and advertising technology. Its headquarters is in Tokyo and its branches include Sendai, San Francisco, South Korea and Taiwan. The media department in CyberZ, called OPENREC, started OPENREC.tv, a platform for game play videos on smartphones, where every user can post game play videos with audio commentaries. OPENREC renovated and reopened a studio called OPENGREC Studio, where users can produce live or recorded programs as well as invite users to produce material to post on his or her page.

“We had an OPENREC Studio in Shinjuku previously, but we decided to build a new studio, which is three times bigger and has better equipment, because the market for eSports and smartphone game play videos is thriving and we want to invigorate the industry more. We mainly live stream programs and hold league series or tournaments for smartphone games in the studio. In the live streaming programs we invite professional gamers, game loving voice actors and comedians,” said Kosuke Eda, a technical director of OPENREC who supervises the studio.

Gamers who perform better than others can get invitations to the studio to record and stream material. OPENREC not only provides a platform for gameplay videos but also invites users to the studio and supports them technically. Many users dream of the invitation and this is one of the many methods OPENREC uses to try to keep users motivated.

ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K’s program output is recorded on HyperDeck Studio. The other program output is sent to Teranex AV and after being up converted to Ultra HD, the signal is fed to DeckLink Studio 4K for capture. They fully make use of the macro feature available on the ATEM switcher, enabling the automation of usual operations.

Mr. Eda continues: “We like ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K because it has many input ports, it is easy to arrange elements in the picture and you can control it via ethernet. You can control ATEM from anywhere you want as long as you have access to it by network. In the live streaming of gameplays, it is important to reflect current scores and update texts in real time. One of the advantages of ATEM is that you can create and export stills on Photoshop flexibly and put them on the program. HyperDeck Studio is useful not only for recording but also for playing material like replays and scores.”

He continued: “We hold events frequently outside Tokyo so we carry around a small rack system set up with Teranex AV and UltraStudio 4K inside a suitcase. We find the flexibility of Teranex AV highly valuable in streaming productions outside our studio, because video formats required for streaming are sometimes different from what we had expected and resolutions requested can change at the last minute. As powerful and versatile as Blackmagic products are, they are small and can fit in a rack so they are easy to carry from one place to another.”

“We have three big studios in the OPENREC Studio. Every video signal from all the studios are monitored and controlled in the master room. It is equipped with Smart Videohub 12x12, which is used to route video signals from each studio to the entrance and each studio. There are many video feeds from game consoles but Smart Videohub 12x12 is helpful in organizing inputs and outputs via PC. I like the fact that Blackmagic products can be controlled by network as long as they have ethernet ports. We had no hesitation in choosing Blackmagic products for the new studio, because we had already been using them and knew that they are extremely reliable. I think that the quality of OPENREC.tv is greatly improved by Blackmagic products which can be utilized flexibly and creatively,” he concluded.

Press Photography

Product photos of ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K, ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel, ATEM 1 M/E Broadcast Panel, Teranex AV, DeckLink Studio 4K, UltraStudio 4K, Smart Videohub 12x12, HyperDeck Studio and all other Blackmagic Design products are available at www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/images.

About Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design creates the world’s highest quality video editing products, digital film cameras, color correctors, video converters, video monitoring, routers, live production switchers, disk recorders, waveform monitors and real time film scanners for the feature film, post production and television broadcast industries. Blackmagic Design’s DeckLink capture cards launched a revolution in quality and affordability in post production, while the company’s Emmy™ award winning DaVinci color correction products have dominated the television and film industry since 1984. Blackmagic Design continues ground breaking innovations including 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI products and stereoscopic 3D and Ultra HD workflows. Founded by world leading post production editors and engineers, Blackmagic Design has offices in the USA, UK, Japan, Singapore and Australia. For more information, please go to www.blackmagicdesign.com.

In TV Technology's latest guide to sports production, we profile the new Luxor Esports Arena Las Vegas, a 30,000 square-foot multilevel venue that can host every form of competitive gaming. The facility is fairly unique in that it was built for eSports, which means it was built for broadcast and video production. We also take a look back at NBC's coverage of this year's Kentucky Derby and preview the latest technology going into the new MLS D.C. United stadium.

NEW YORK — Video games are not just played by teenagers these days, and there are now professional gamers who regularly take part in eSports competitions around the world. According to research from Newzoo, a marketing tracking company, eSports was on track to have an audience of more than 427 million people by 2019, up from 226 million in 2015.

The global eSports market, which began as PC and video game console-based competitions, is currently expanding to mobile. A Newzoo report from April 2017 found that already 42 percent of the gaming market was on mobile devices, and it is slated to increase by more than 50 percent by 2020.

As a sport there are still challenges in providing a compelling viewing experience to the audiences watching not only on TVs but on PCs, tablets and increasingly mobile devices as well. To overcome these challenges the eSports industry has been taking cues from how past sports have been delivered to the masses. This is already apparent with ELEAGUE, the professional eSports league that began broadcasting in 2016 on TBS.

FOLLOWING THE ‘STICK AND BALL’ MODEL

“We’re taking what we’ve learned from traditional ‘stick and ball’ sports on how to produce this,” said Craig Barry, executive vice president and CCO of Atlanta-based Turner Sports. “First, it is important to have those with a passion working on it.”

In this regard eSports is just sports with an extra letter in front.

“All of the innovation that we’ve seen used for basketball or baseball as just two examples, is now being utilized with eSports,” said Stuart Lipson, executive director of the Esports Ad Bureau in New York. “This has been about extending it to a wider audience, complete with the arena like experience.”

[Read: 2018 Guide To Sports Production Is Now Available]

What sets eSports apart from more traditional sporting events is that the audience is just as likely to be watching on a mobile device as their living room TV.

“This is a young audience that watches it on multiple platforms, just as it is a sport that uses multiple platforms,” Lipson said. “The downside is that this makes it more complex on the production side. We have to ensure that we can provide the same experience to the viewer, whether they are actually seeing it at Madison Square Garden on their handset on the other side of the world.”

IN YOUR FACE

eSports differ from the traditional team-based sports — notably football, basketball and baseball — in that the players aren’t technically “in the arena,” at least not in a physical sense. This is different even from auto racing where the drivers are on the course, albeit in vehicles. The closest comparison may be to chess where the players are looking at the same competition “field” as the audience.

The way this is being presented is steadily evolving suggested Mike Vorhaus, president of Magid Advisors, a Los Angeles new media firm. “Currently this involves capturing action on multiple screens that can include having the gameplay heavily emphasized, where the player/competitor is emphasized less so than in other sports,” he said.

However, individual eSports athletes/competitors are making a name for themselves and thus getting their close-up.

“Normally the athletes always have a camera on their face, in order to catch any emotions that come from the gameplay — and there is a LOT of emotion — this is often placed picture-in-picture with what they are doing in the ‘virtual world’ or-in game,” said Reggie McKim, video game analyst at SuperData Research. “This allows the viewer to tie an action in game, to the emotion elicited, i.e. something happens in game and the athlete shouts and high-fives his teammates out of game vs. something happens in game and the athlete shouts and puts his face in his hands out of game.”

In most situations this is quite easy for the production team to cater to both experienced viewers who have played the game and inexperienced viewers who may not play games.

“The experienced player already knows what has happened and whether it is good or bad, because they have most likely experienced a similar action and response," said McKim. “The inexperienced can glean the same information by watching the athlete’s emotion. Catering to both viewer types is one of the biggest hurdles for any eSports production/broadcast, especially something that will be broadcast on television to the general public.”

Another way that eSports is evolving when it comes to production is how it is taking cues from the way the NBA puts the spotlight on key star players.

“You can find the same thing happening in the more professional and established eSports; more tournaments have a pre/post- show, post-game interviews with the MVP, fan meet-up opportunities, personable/out-of-game produced shorts,” added McKim. “Presenting all of the information of the game state in an easily digestible way tends to be the biggest problem for any production team, outside of technical hiccups.”

DELIVERING THE ACTION

Because it is still a growing industry — and lags behind true billion dollar sports such as professional basketball or football — eSports hasn’t gone prime time. However, broadcasters like Turner are treating it like they would other sporting events.

“We approach it like any other sport,” said Turner’s Barry. “The back-end infrastructure is super important. That is first and foremost the most important part of this.”

ELEAGUE has standardized the gaming hardware the competitors use — typically Dell monitors and computers from Alienware, a Dell-owned gaming PC manufacturer.

“This is no different from how the cameras are calibrated for a stick and ball sport, and sent to a standard truck,” Barry said. “What is different is that we need two different production teams. There is an observer feed that is cutting the gameplay; and there is the show feed that is capturing the players, spectators and action in the arenas.”

In most situations Barry said the observers are just watching the on-screen competition and cutting from virtual cameras so that the audience sees essentially the same thing as the player. This feed is then intercut with the show feed.

“In most matches the observer feed is on 75 percent of the time,” said Barry. “These need to come together to deliver the experience, and then these are processed together and sent out on that very wide pipe.”

The biggest challenges relating to eSports broadcasting primarily stem from the intensive hardware use required to capture, compile, and transmit feeds from several computers involved in the competition.

“The technology exists but with any production, the introduction of more potential points of failure adds to the necessary quality-assurance workload,” said Justin Dellario, head of eSports programs for online video game channel Twitch, a live streaming video platform and subsidiary of Amazon. “Another challenge worth mentioning, which can also be seen as a positive differentiator for the content type, is the sheer number of camera feeds involved in any broadcast.”

One example is the recent “Overwatch” competitions, a team-based multiplayer first-person shooter video game that can require a dozen feeds for the gameplay video and another dozen for the audio, before compiling and transmission just to capture the game feed for every competitor.

“This is often combined with a ‘player’ showing the player’s reactions in real time along with gameplay, adding 12 more feeds which have to be properly synchronized,” Dellario said. “In a live setting, these are on top of the feeds capturing the physical location, broadcast talent, and any other special views the production wishes to use to provide their total desired viewing experience for the consumer.”

Another important aspect of eSports broadcasts is the in-game spectator tools, which truly differentiate it from more traditional sporting events. These allow customization not only by those playing but on the production side and even by the viewer at home.

“The overall quality of broadcast resulting from presenting a gaming competition is heavily reliant on how deep of an in-game spectator tool set that the game developer has produced,” said Dellario. “In-game spectator tools are sometimes the only enabler the production teams have to zoom around the in-game environment and quickly switch between players views, birds-eye views, and present in-game stats in real time. This must also be combined with specialized graphics and overlays tailored to each individual game’s UI and tracking needs, adding additional workload to all graphics and UX design needs.”

DIFFERENT PLATFORMS, DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES

While Twitch is just one of the ways that eSports fans are watching the games, streaming media continues to play a key role.

“Twitch has been extremely effective in providing the gaming experience to those who aren’t typically sitting in front of the big TV in the living room,” said Gayle Dickie, CEO of Los Angeles-based Gamer World News Entertainment, Inc. (CWNe), a 24/7 go-to source for eSports and gamer news. “Video streaming services are becoming the go-to place for these competitions.”

The challenge today is trying to provide that everyone — from the viewer of the action on a large screen TV to a mobile handset — gets a similar experience, and that the audience remotely can see the action the same way as the player. While it is true that live sports in the arena, stadium or other venue differs from what the audience sees at home, the goal of eSports is to ensure that the playing field — literal and figurative — is as close to the same for everyone.

“One challenge is that players are spending thousands of dollars on computers with the latest graphics engines,” said Dickie. “This is why when we deliver the news we use the same motion tracking software that is based on the Unreal Engine that is used to make the games. We have to use the gamer technology to get that same look to keep it consistent.”

At least in the short term however the experience will differ based on the platform being used to watch it.

“We are for now, a prisoner of the technology,” added Dickie. “You are going to have a different experience on mobile vs. a high-end TV. There is no way around it right now.”

The type of game can also determine how it is presented.

“During a match of any first-person shooter — “Counterstrike: GO,” “Overwatch,” “Call of Duty” — often the presentation will offer a ‘mini-map,’ a simplistic top-down view detailing the layout of the current map and the position of all the players, in a small section of the screen while the majority of screen is either the first-person view of a particular individual or a third-person perspective camera,” explained McKim. “Additional information such as match time, point count, and life totals often frame the screen as well.”

Many eSports are also team-based, so not all of that above information needs to be provided for each player. With up to six players per team, directing the action can be complicated.

“These individuals must be very talented and knowledgeable of the game they are working with,” added McKim. “This entails having to learn the metagame and strategies of professional players or teams and putting themselves in the shoes of a viewer with no experience with the game. Nothing is more off-putting to a viewer than missing a big play because of the camerawork.”

eSports may not need more specialized tools than other sports, but the challenge is one of scale.

“With the popularity of Battle Royale genre games at an all-time high, the ‘optimum’ way to capture this gameplay would be to pull and direct 100-plus competitors’ audio, video, and personal cams,” said Dellario. “This leads to 300+ input needs in this optimal circumstance, which is why it isn’t very common to see broadcasts utilize this depth of content capture.

However with all of the action is occurring within a game there is no worry of a miscall by a referee or illegal actions by the players, as the games won’t allow it. In addition information — notably stats — can be provided in real time in a way not possible in other sports.

“Back only a few decades ago announcers for pro sports didn’t always know the score as it was an individual’s job to keep track,” said Vorhaus. “Now this information on statistics can be pulled up in real time and provided to the audience. There is so much more data that you can push to the screen. eSports is able to provide this information faster than any other sport and that can be very compelling to the viewer who knows — and often plays these games.”

All this could be why eSports promises to be a game changer in more ways than one.

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LAS VEGAS — The 2018 NAB Show is closed and in the books; with the attendance figures about 10% less than 2017 at just over 93,000 making the annual trek to Las Vegas. First impressions seemed to confirm the reduced attendance, at least to those in the Central and North Halls, as traffic seemed less than in the past. For 2018, NAB shifted many of the mainstream players back to South Upper and South Lower. The South Halls generally seemed jammed with people strolling to find the major players, at least from the broadcast equipment and content creation standpoint.

[Read: A Brief History Of The NAB Show]

For 2018, standout trends centered on the many evolving cloud-based workflows (including content and asset management, playout, and processing); the emerging applications and solutions for Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructures–based on the new SMPTE ST 2110 standards; availability of UHD/4K components (from the absurdly inexpensive to the traditional expectations); the practices of creating workflows for High Dynamic Range (HDR) and associated applications which allow users to generate both SDR and HDR; and last but not least, the true arrival of AR/VR and AI/ML … our new set of two-letter acronyms relating to virtual-reality and artificial intelligence.

IP IS HERE AND A REALITY

Perhaps the most evident of all the new technologies is the SDI-game changer — that is, real time video networking using IP.

From the IP-transition perspective, this was the first NAB since the adoption of SMPTE ST 2110 standards for managed professional media networks. Dozens of manufacturers brought many new IP‑centric products to the show. At the IP Showcase alone, 50+ vendors showed interconnected IP related products interoperating according to those standards which were produced by the SMPTE over the previous 18-24 months. Countless other vendors also amplified “IP” — regardless of what they meant by it.

[Read: What SMPTE-2110 Means For Broadcasters]

For this industry, “IP” is the new buzzword — the new direction, much like “cloud,” was only few short years ago. Yet, IP takes on many different forms — from compressed video, to media workflows, to the carriage of information technology, and — of course — those hot new entries steeped in the production and transmission of real time, full bandwidth, full bit-rate uncompressed audio-video (and metadata) in a networking environment. It seemed that without a doubt, IP is destined as an eventual replacement for SDI. Yet there still remain many hurdles to cross for full IP-adoption to be complete.

A collected endeavor of the many manufacturers who contributed to this transition was shown in the IP Showcase, found at the rear of the Central Hall. This year’s exhibit doubled in size over the 2017 NAB Show, reaching nearly 3,000 square feet. It featured a fully functioning, all IP-based video production control room staffed by volunteers and others, including students from Toronto’s Ryerson University, where presentations on IP technologies and applications were streamed live over the NAB channel.

Sponsored by the NAB and composed of trade and standards representatives from organizations including AIMS, VSF, AMWA, IABM, EBU, SMPTE and more; the showcase once again demonstrated working examples of the new IP video standards plus integration of the NMOS interface specifications. This year the showcase exhibits were arranged in an educational environment, letting visitors see and learn about the advanced capabilities of IP for professional video.

Potential IP adopters saw how 53 manufacturers addressed software-defined networking (SDN) alongside new tools aimed at diagnostics and operational management for IP implementations. Records showed some 1,030 attendees were scanned into the system as visitors.

AR/VR & MORE

Rippling down from January’s Consumer Electronics Show, held in this same location, was the enormous prominence of VR/AR (virtual and augmented reality) and AI/ML (artificial intelligence and machine learning). Throughout the show there were sessions and evolving products that support the industry’s new needs to create, manage, and deliver content to these emerging platforms. These cross-platform technologies are opening new doors, ones that are creating immersive and interactive media across social media and transmedia.

One of those “new era” production modes is that of eSports — the transformation of gaming to a real time, arena based live event. eSports attracts inventive players and is in turn changing production techniques that may show promise for aspiring new venues. This new gaming-environment (already attracting more than 40 million fans) could add far reaching opportunities for existing and future stadiums and arenas, especially when those locations are when not hosting other major league sporting events. eSports combines gaming and live “reality” television for both OTA and OTT, and pushes them into social media in a real-time domain. Look for many new programming opportunities across all forms of mobile communications and in-home entertainment.

MORE MOBILE VIDEO TRAFFIC

The biggest booth presence at NAB was Amazon — does this say something about the oncoming change? Here are some thoughts to ponder:

Program content production, ranging from long-form to user-generated short form, continues to explode — driving the technologies forward and the costs to produce that content downward. How that content is going to be consumed was a central undertone at NAB. According to Facebook’s Daniel Danker, “Fifty percent of all internet traffic is now delivery to mobile devices” and is “expected to be up to 75% in five years.”

One out of every five videos is “live” streaming. In August 2017, Facebook introduced “Watch,” a new platform for shows on Facebook. Watch is now available on mobile, on desktop and laptop, and in Facebook TV apps. Shows are made up of episodes — live or recorded — and follow a theme or storyline. And this is not where the story ends.

This, and dozens of similar stories, may indeed help drive the growth of the internet upward and outward. The NAB Show clearly showed this transition moving faster than ever, and the change is at a global level — noting that 73% of the homes in Sweden have 100 Mbps internet full time. All the service providers see this only accelerating the full adoption of mobile video communications and technologies like ATSC 3.0.

UHD, HDR & HFR

Continued emphasis on UHD was also echoed by the adoption of high dynamic range (HDR) and high frame rate (HFR). Several companies exhibited various means and methods to accommodate both the higher resolution characteristics of UHDTV (aka “4K”) and wider color gamut (WCG) perceptual capabilities found in HDR. Adding dimension to newer prospects, camera manufacturers and production solution providers alike are now making strong inroads into HFR video and the ability to produce both HDR and SDR (standard dynamic range aka “plain HD video”) in a simultaneous workflow.

Producing HDR and SDR, in concert with one another, comes with steeper challenges than when broadcasters moved from SD to HD video, or from stereo to surround. The complexities and processes with doing both, so that meaningful and proper images can be delivered to the consumer, showed its challenges at NAB as potential creators and users sought to understand which comes first, the HDR or the SDR — creating a sort of “chicken and the egg” perspective.

ATSC 3.0

The next generation OTA broadcast standard is complete, driving several traditional broadcast companies to develop products aimed at the initial rollouts. ATSC 3.0 is a game-changing standard designed to deliver better video and audio quality, not only for over-the-air (OTA), but also over-the-top (OTT).

Technology wise, ATSC 3.0 is an IP-based transmission standard designed on a five-layer stack akin to the seven-layer OSI stack utilized in IP-networking. The model allows for easy technology replacement and substitution as new features or developmental advances are rolled out. And ATSC 3.0 may have far reaching capabilities.

Audio improvements for ATSC 3.0 will be remarkable. Dolby AC-4, the new “next generation audio” (NGA) format, will include three Audio Element Formats: channel-based (like we have today with mono, stereo and surround); object-based (which is for immersive audio mixes) and includes audio signals and positioning metadata for customized audio programming; and scene-based, a sort of soundfield snapshot from a high-order ambisonic (i.e., a full-sphere surround sound technique) source that positions audio above and below the listener.

WHAT MIGHT 2019 BRING?

Given the significant emphasis on software, virtualization, the cloud, and the evolving flavors of audio and video imaging — plus where the internet will really take us — it is too early to figure out where we’ll be at the 2019 show. One thing is for sure though: change will continue and the industry will surely adapt. Stay tuned to see what survives and what stays as reality.

Karl Paulsen is CTO at Diversified and a SMPTE Fellow. He is a frequent contributor to TV Technology, focusing on emerging technologies and workflows for the industry. Contact Karl at kpaulsen@diversifiedus.com.

LAS VEGAS — The 2018 NAB Show is launching a new conference focusing on the emerging eSports market.

“eSports: Get in on the Action” will get underway starting at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 11, as part of the 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The conference, which is produced in partnership with the eSports Ad Bureau and takes place in North Hall Meeting Rooms N253 and N257, comprises six sessions focused on audience targeting and growth, sponsorship opportunities and real-world success stories.

• Provide information on how to utilize demographic indicators to identify and nurture specific audiences, in addition to how media companies can leverage numerous technologies, device habits and trends to create successful multiplatform campaigns;
• Feature companies that develop engaging content opportunities that best connect with audiences;
• Provide an overview of what is needed to create unique sponsorship options;
• Include agencies, producers, media sellers, buyers and clients sharing their insights on successfully implemented sponsorship and branding campaigns.

[Read: What Can Attendees Expect at the 2018 NAB Show?]

“The new eSports conference will combine practical business information with the latest technology and insight from sports-savvy professionals,” said NAB Executive Vice President of Conventions and Business Operations Chris Brown. “We look forward to exploring the forces that are shaping the future of the eSports global phenomenon.”

For more information the NAB Show, visit www.nabshow.com.

SANTA ANA, CALIF.—The esports community thrives on energy, and here at the Esports Arena we do our best to capture it in ways that provide a unique and thrilling experience for our viewers. For one of our biggest tournaments of the year (2GGC: Civil War), mobility was key to getting the best shots possible and immersing our viewers in the heart of the action.

VIEW FROM ABOVE
The Esports Arena has its own media production department that captures, edits and broadcasts live events. For 2GGC, we knew everyone in the community would have their eyes on us. We decided that, for this and future events, we wanted to change up our normal Twitch videogaming broadcast.

For our outdoor stage setup, we decided to incorporate a Dactylcam Pro system that would run on an overhead cable system and capture aerial footage of the entire stage and audience. This introduced some challenges: every part of our old production system was tethered, which limited the angles and shots we could get. With the new Dactylcam setup, having more wires would only add to the mess.

The Teradek Bolt allowed Esports Arena to go mobile in capturing its outdoor stage.

Knowing this, I decided to go wireless with the Teradek Bolt, a wireless video system that uses RF to send feeds from a camera source to a receiver up to 3,000 feet away. With the ability to transport 1080p60 video instantly, it was the perfect solution for our ambitious production needs.

In the air, we mounted a Sony A7S digital camera to the Dactylcam Pro for aerial acquisition. We then connected the Teradek Bolt 3000 transmitter to the camera, which sent a live 1080p feed to a receiver down below. This was transferred to our Blackmagic Video Assist at video village, where an operator monitored the feed and controlled the pan & tilt of the camera as well as the speed/direction of the Dactylcam. This signal was then routed back to the production room to be incorporated into the show.

On the ground, we mounted a Sony FS5 cinema camera with a Bolt 1000 to a Ronin MX gimbal stabilizer. This also sent wireless video to our professional switcher in the back, which switched between multiple feeds, added graphics and edited scoreboards before sending the stream off to Twitch.tv.

RAW PASSION
As the cameras captured footage from the players and audience, the Bolt transferred the feeds over to the video village instantly, allowing us to update scores, switch camera feeds and switch ads whenever we needed.

Since the Bolt made our camera wireless, our camera operator could be completely mobile in the facility, unlocking all kinds of wide shots and close-ups we could never do before. The Bolts made it possible to get right up in the action of the players.

There’s a lot of passion in the esports community, and it’s up to organizers like us to capture the essence of being there. Thanks to our Bolt systems, we can make our tournaments way more immersive than ever before and deliver the type of quality our fans deserve. It’s all about the hype, and we’ve found a great way to make it better.

John Todd Christensen is the broadcast director at Esports Arena in charge of all production elements. He can be contacted atjohntodd@esportsarena.com.

For more information, please visitwww.teradek.comor call 888-941-2111.