Live Sports Production: Part 2 - Network Infrastructure
Welcome to Part 2 of ‘Live Sports Production’ - This multi-part series uses a round table style format to explore the technology of live sports production with some of the industry’s leading system designers. It is a fascinating insight into what is being done every day around the world.
Part 2 is an examination of the state of evolution of network infrastructure design. Here we discuss the progression from SDI to IP and why hybrid systems remain a popular approach. As production infrastructure, processing resources and the underlying networks required become ever more complex, powerful tools are required to plan, deploy and monitor so we discuss the need for Broadcast Controllers and Orchestration systems. We also discuss backhaul and the technology and services required to get content reliably and securely from venue to studio.
About Live Sports Production
This series is based on a set of interviews with six individuals who are senior system architects within three of the most respected organizations in broadcast: Broadcast Solutions, Diversified and NEP. We cannot thank these individuals enough for giving us their time and sharing their immense wisdom and experience in the delicate art of designing and deploying broadcast production infrastructure. These interviews spanned many aspects of live sports production and their comments will be serialized across this whole series.
One of the most fascinating aspects of discussing where the industry is in its technological and workflow evolution is that there is no one single answer to most of the key talking points – each of the organizations supports a diverse portfolio of clients across a range of geographical locations – and the approach taken is always carefully tailored to specific rights holder and broadcaster requirements.
As we get into our conversation, it is important to understand that we have three quite different businesses represented; Broadcast Solutions build OB Vehicles and do Systems Integration primarily in Europe and the Middle East, NEP are a global production Service Provider, Diversified Systems is a Systems Integrator with the representative taking part here based in the USA.
Bear in mind the obvious differences between designing and building individual systems for others to use and NEP’s capacity to build systems at scale for their own teams to use.
Live Sports Production published in four parts. Details of all four parts can be found HERE.
About Part 2 - Network Infrastructure
Part 2 is a free PDF download which contains five original articles:
Article 1 : Sports Production Network Infrastructure
A discussion of production network infrastructure and where the industry is in the evolutionary journey from SDI to IP.
Article 2 : VX - The Software Gateway To Compute Infrastructure
Why Appear’s new VX software is the vital next evolutionary step for remote contribution and content distribution in software first, private or public ‘cloud’ infrastructure.
Article 3 : Broadcast Controllers, Orchestration & Monitoring
As production infrastructure, processing resources and the underlying networks required become ever more complex, powerful tools are required to plan, deploy and monitor.
Article 4 : Everything In Its Place: How Scotiabank Arena Elevated Its Games With Riedel’s Mediornet
Discover how Riedel’s TDM-based mesh network delivers the benefits of a distributed IP architecture with the operational simplicity of SDI in this in-depth case study.
Article 5 : Backhaul In Live Sports Production
Getting content reliably and securely from venue to studio remains key to live sports production so here we discuss the technology and services required.
Part of a series supported by
You might also like...
The Changing Face Of Live Sports: Part 1 - The Rise Of Nimble Production
Live sports broadcasting has always been the preserve of big leagues and big broadcasters with the infrastructure, the clout and the resources to match. But it is no longer the only game in town.
Standards: Audio - High Efficiency Audio Codecs (HE-AAC)
HE-AAC builds on the foundations of AAC to deliver near CD-quality audio at bitrates as low as 32 kbps, making it the codec of choice for mobile TV, digital radio and low-bandwidth streaming. This guide unpacks the key technologies behind its…
IP Security For Broadcasters 2026 – The Psychology Of Security
As engineers and technologists, it’s easy to become bogged down in the technical solutions that maintain high levels of computer security. But as the boundaries between traditional broadcast engineering and IT continue to dissolve, the first port of call i…
Standards: Audio - Advanced Audio Coding (AAC)
AAC succeeded MP3 by delivering better quality at lower bitrates. This guide examines how it works, compares the leading encoder implementations, and explains where it sits within the broader MPEG audio standards landscape.
Broadcast Standards - The Science Of AI: New Foundations
We begin this series with the foundational building blocks of AI. Basic principles, the technology stack and the types of AI based upon it, and how to apply them effectively in a broadcasting enterprise.