Sports broadcasters embrace the post-linear age

Sports Video Group
The live linear feed has been the template of live sports broadcasts for as long as anyone can remember but this is all set to change as broadcasters look to enrich their coverage with an array of video and data destined for second and third screens.
http://svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/sports-broadcasters-embrace-the-post-linear-age/

EVS tests 4K over 3G in Japan

Sports Video Group

EVS is testing the ability of its XT3 servers to carry 4K live signals with Kyodo TV in Japan.
http://svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/evs-tests-4k-over-3g-in-japan/

Unleashing the power of digital

Broadcast

The shift to digital capture took several steps forward in 2012, with Ultra-HD now on the horizon.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils/unleashing-the-power-of-digital/5049928.article

DIGITAL ACQUISITION MOVES UP A GEAR

With the HD equipment market swamped with competitively priced products, a new wave of premium tech is the best way for manufacturers to maintain margin.

Ultra-HD, at four times HD resolution, is the response.

Having started the year with just one mainstream choice – the Red (original and Epic versions) – producers can now future-proof productions in 4K with JVC’s handheld GY-HMQ10, Canon’s EOS C500 and the F5 and F55 from Sony (launching in January), while the full 8K power of Sony’s cine camera F65 is to be unleashed in forthcoming upgrades.

For-A debuted a 4K variable-rate camera and even minicam-maker GoPro unveiled a 4K version of its Hero3.

Professional 4K displays are almost non-existent, with monitoring in post confined to expensive Barco projectors.

For high-end TV work, though, Arri still dominates.

This year, it added the Alexa Plus 4:3, aimed at anamorphic (widescreen) photography, to its roster.

Arguably the biggest splash came from video processing specialist Blackmagic Design.

Its Digital Cinema Camera made waves at NAB 2012 with a sleek, Apple-inspired design, LCD touch-screen control and 2.5K resolution, with a pricetag of just £2,000. However, with shipments delayed it remains to be seen how users will take to it in practice.

CLOUD BEGINS TO BREAK

Hosting all or part of a production in the cloud is inevitable, but it is not going to happen overnight.

“The workflow has to be bulletproof,” says Dana Ruzicka, vice president of segment and product marketing at Avid. “Broadcasters see the cost benefit, but are cautious because of reliability and security concerns.”

Avid got its cloud platform, Interplay Sphere, out of the door in September, as did Adobe, with collaborative post using Adobe Anywhere.

Aframe launched its cloud production service in the US this year and says two US networks are testing it to ease the pressures on their fast-turnaround edits.

Quantel’s QTube is being evaluated by ESPN, while Forbidden Technologies’ browser-based editor FORscene was used by NBC staff in New York to cut 3,500 hours of London 2012 content, uploaded to the cloud and outputted to its NBC Olympics TouTube channel.

LIVE HD ON THE MOVE

The number of systems enabling live HD signals to be sent over mobile networks exploded in 2012.

Most combine 3G and 4G, Wi-Fi, ethernet and satellite links to achieve maximum bandwidth, and the main application is news gathering, where it can offer a more fleet-of-foot and cheaper alternative to satellite vans.

LiveU is the market leader and Telegraph Media Group is its latest client, with reporters equipped with camcorders and backpacks housing the LU70 receiver/transmitter.

Dutch developer Mobile Viewpoint’s technology was used to support the BBC’s coverage of the Olympic torch relay.

Off the back of that, it devised a product that combines an extendable antenna with off-the-shelf USB modems.

REMOTE PRODUCTION SPEEDS AHEAD

Advances in low-latency transport of video over IP are making cost-effective remote live production feasible.

The BBC sent 24 streams of Olympics coverage over fibre up to Salford for online packaging, and Sky Sports assigned NEP Visions to help it send Sky Sports News’ coverage of the Games back to Osterley from a five-camera flypack at a temporary studio overlooking the Olympic Park.

Scandinavian transport specialists T-VIPs and Nevion, whose merger will be ratified next month, hope to dominate the market.

“We’re involved in multiple projects where service providers are moving into the live broadcast space and rolling out a point of presence at many sports stadia,” says Geir Bryn-Jensen, chief executive of the merged entity.

Sky director of broadcast operations Darren Long is exploring remote production of graphics or logging for F1.

“Whether a truck is in the TV compound or 100 miles away doesn’t matter so long as the intercoms work and quality is maintained. But if you remove too much, it may work against you,” he says.

“I see the technology growing with advances in network reliability, but I wouldn’t want our directors to lose that sense of being there.”

UK SETS THE STANDARD FOR FILE-BASED DELIVERY

The UK is way ahead of the rest of Europe in terms of file-based programme delivery thanks to the cross-broadcaster Digital Production Partnership (DPP).

In January, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, together with Sky, Channel 5, S4C and UKTV, agreed the UK’s first common format, structure and wrapper to enable TV programme delivery by digital file.

Emmerdale became the first major production to adopt the AS-11 standard in October, while Sunset + Vine’s America’s Cup programming for C4 was the first to use its metadata application.

With technical guidelines based on MPEG4 for live production on release, tests will build throughout 2013, including on Coronation Street and Deal Or No Deal, ahead of near universal delivery in 2014.

Envy is among the facilities piloting with broadcasters. “We are assessing various systems to enable us to achieve AS-11 delivery, including automated QC/FPA analysis and metadata insertion for final delivery,” says senior engineer Adam Davies.

ON YOUR MARKS, GET 4K-READY

Even if 4K services are several years down the track, content including documentaries is being commissioned at 4K (by Sky 3D and 3Net) for the enhanced resolution required for 3D TV and Imax distribution.

Sony is releasing a new XAVC codec designed to go beyond HD, 4K video cards from Blackmagic and AJA are coming on stream, and 4K finishing tools from Nucoda and FilmLight are in the works to compete with the Mistika and Quantel systems already in use.

Ultra-HD will likely be a big feature of the trend-setting Consumer Electronics Show in January, where Samsung and Sony are among those showcasing 4K screens.

The next step in broadcast transmission quality from HD 720p/1080i was supposed to be 1080p at 50/60 frames a second. But with the final draft of the High Efficiency Video Codec to be ratified in February, new encoding technologies should make 4K satellite delivery to the home commercially viable.

STRIKING UP THE KA-BAND

The reliability of live cellular transmission is only going to increase with the rollout of 4G networks in 2013, potentially undermining traditional SNG, which uses vehicles or BGAN terminals.

While providers like SIS Live say they may add backpacks to supplement SNG coverage, they are also investing in Ka-band, a satellite frequency that requires smaller antenna for greater bandwidth – and at lower cost.

Eutelsat, Avanti and ViaSat have launched satellites targeted at Ka-band in specific regions, while Inmarsat is behind a $1.2bn (£750m) global launch planned for 2013.

New operators could emerge to take advantage of lower entry costs, but SIS Live opened the country’s first Ka-band teleport at Salford in July in a bid to stay one step ahead.

3D WAITS IN THE WINGS

The biggest development in 3D is still a work in progress.

While production may get a boost with the Titan 3D, a lightweight twin-lens camera debuted by Meduza Systems in October, the industry is looking for glasses-free displays to give renewed impetus to 3D TV.

Leading the pack is the encoding and viewing technology from Dolby and Philips, which is likely to be commercially available at the end of 2013.

“Broadcasters will need to be convinced of cases that support the need for a 4K service to the home,” says Dolby director of broadcast imaging Roland Vlaicu.

“One such could be higher-resolution 3D using passive glasses [full HD to both eyes] or autostereoscopic 3D.”

One of the emerging technologies behind some auto-stereoscopic displays is light field, which Envy senior engineer Adam Davies believes has “the potential to revolutionise motion and 3D capture”.

A year like no other for OBs

Broadcast 

The unprecedented scale of live events in the summer made it a bumper year for outside broadcast firms. Just as well, reports Adrian Pennington, as 2013 is looking much leaner. http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/in-depth/a-year-like-no-other-for-obs/5049917.article

Almost the entire fleet of the UK’s outside broadcast trucks was called on to cover June’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations– “the equivalent of three royal weddings shot back to back in different locations,” recalls BBC executive editor Ben Weston. But even this once in- a-lifetime state occasion only acted as curtain-raiser to the Olympics a few weeks later.

“The industry demonstrated its incredible capability to the rest of the world at London 2012, which we should all be proud of,” says SIS Live commercial director Phil Aspden. “Perversely, because it was such a massive event, absorbing airtime and budgets, the ad-hoc work we would normally have seen during that time of year wasn’t there. I do have some concern that could extend into the next financial year.”

While 2012 was “a springtide of work and far and away our biggest year ever,” Aspden predicts 2013 will prove “particularly harsh.”

For CTV managing director Barry Johnstone, 2012 was the best year yet. “We’ve had a sixth successive year of growing revenues. There’s no recession in outside broadcasting.” Standout work included dominant provision to the Olympic Opening Ceremony, and the Ryder Cup for regular client European Tour Productions.

Arena also recorded a bumper year, with sales up 17%. “We’d expect 8-9% growth,” reports managing director Richard Yeowart. He attributes this to a summer of non-stop work and new contracts, notably an expanded deal to deliver all ITV Sport’s live football coverage, including the Uefa Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup and Community Shield, alongside England Internationals.

Glastonbury, a fixture on the BBC’s summer calender and a regular gig for Arena, took a break in 2012 due to the lack of Portaloos and drains on police caused by London 2012, but will return in 2013.

The market is on the verge of a considerable shake-up as a plethora of juicy contracts come up for grabs. Among them is business for new entrant BT Vision, which “will be particularly beneficial if it brings more sport into the market rather than just shifting chairs,” says Johnstone.

BT Vision swooped to take 38 Premier League football matches a year from ESPN for 2013/14 and acquired Premiership rugby rights – with which it can launch at least one sport channel. Though the £100m-plus production contract has yet to be awarded, OB firms are jockeying for position. Sky is likely to frown on suppliers that also work for BT, making CTV, Arena and SIS Live the most likely candidates.

Sporting chances

Meanwhile, BBC Sport contracts, including Wimbledon, RBS Six Nations and Open golf, are up for tender from mid-2013, when its five-year deal with SIS expires. The £19.3m deal was drawn up when the BBC offloaded its OB arm in 2008, to ensure it had sufficient coverage for London 2012. In return, SIS “guaranteed a significant discount on its normal rate card”, former director general Mark Thompson told a 2010 Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee.

Arena’s Yeowart believes that as much as half of SIS Live’s BBC Sport contracts could now go elsewhere as part of the new round of procurement. “We all want a slice of the pie,” he says. “I can’t see the BBC being able to justify keeping it all with one supplier.” He expects there will be fierce competition for tenders.

For Telegenic commercial manager Eamonn Curtin, the coming year is “all about building for 2014”. Along with its rivals, Telegenic is eyeing tenders for the next tranche of major international events: in Sochi for the Winter Olympics, in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games, and in Brazil, where it hopes to be shooting 3D World Cup matches for Fifa. Nor is it too soon to begin planning for the Rugby 2015 World Cup hosted by England and Wales.

Preparing for 4K

Outside broadcasts are a largely fixed-cost business, with companies doing well when they can keep trucks busy. Yeowart reckons Arena has to invest £5m a year “just to stand still”; for 2012, that meant the 3G 30-camera double expanding OB11. Wired by Sony and out of the doors in October to service the ITV contracts, Arena is weighing up two further additions to its fl eet in 2013. One will likely be a similar articulated model and the other a smaller, 15-20 camera unit.

SIS Live debuted OB14 to cater for MOTD, and NEP Visions unleashed Atlantic, a triple-expander bristling with 3G equipment. 3G provides not only the technical base for 1080p 50 broadcasts, but is also the routing infrastructure on which future 4K trucks are planned.

There are contrasting views on the imminence of a 4K live production model. SIS Live, which supported the Super Hi-Vision BBC/ NHK 8K trials during London 2012, says it has had no interest in 4K. NEP Visions, on the other hand, is actively looking at how it can accommodate 4K, believing that multi-camera 4K OB production is less than three years away.

“4K is on our radar,” says NEP Visions commercial and technical projects director Brian Clark. “Although the next leap in resolution was expected to be 1080p 50, we’ve reached a point where the market might skip that and go straight to 4K.”

Johnstone is monitoring developments and expects CTV’s next new vehicle, due in 15 months, to take 4K into account. First to pin its colours to its mast, though, is Telegenic, which is building a 4K-ready £5m scanner, due in May next year.

There are warnings for those who don’t keep pace with investment, or over-stretch themselves in the process. In August, Arqiva abandoned outside broadcasts and put its fleet up for sale, with Arqiva Broadcast & Media managing director Steve Holebrook citing “insufficient scale to compete in a market dominated by a couple of large OB players”.

Meanwhile, Belgian supplier Alfacam remains mired in £47m of debt and has an uncertain future following an ambitious attempt to extend its business into South America and India. Although expected to have no direct impact on bread-and-butter UK business, Alfacam’s surplus of facilities made it a fixture at major international events, leaving the field wide open for events in 2014 and beyond.

A YEAR IN OUTSIDE BROADCAST

February
SIS Live sends trucks to all six countries competing in rugby’s Six Nations for the BBC

March
Sky Sports F1 HD launches to air all F1 races using fl yaway server and edit pods built by Gearhouse Broadcast

June
Telegenic and Arena station mobile units in Poland and Ukraine for Uefa’s host coverage of Euro 2012. SIS Live provides ITV’s location facilities

Kit and crew supplied by Arena, Arqiva, CTV and Visions supports BBC-led coverage of the royal flotilla, with SIS Live managing satellite links. Visions supplies Gemini trucks for the Diamond Jubilee Concert

July
The IOC’s Olympic Broadcasting Services tasks Telegenic with recording key athletics events plus opening and closing ceremonies in 3D, and Arena to service OBs at various venues

September
NEP Visions launches Atlantic, housing a Grass Valley Kayenne mixer, 48 EVS channels and support for 30 LDK8000 cameras

SIS Live debuts OB14 – a 3G-capable 12-camera facility with three EVS, a Sony MVS7000X vision mixer and a Calrec Omega Bluefin audio desk

October
ITV airs an hour-long live Emmerdale (below), supported by SIS Live, which previously catered for live episodes of EastEnders and Coronation Street

Alfacam files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

November

Arqiva’s fleet of OB facilities, up for sale since August, is acquired by NEP Visions and Cloudbass

Taking it to the next stage

Broadcast

With tax breaks for top-end drama set to come in next year, studios have been investing in additional space to meet the expected increase in demand. Adrian Pennington reports.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/in-depth/taking-it-to-the-next-stage/5049916.article

With unrelenting demand for event TV, renewed tax breaks for the film industry and the promise of similar carrots for top-end drama, the studio sector finished 2012 full of confidence, at the larger end of the scale at least.

With TV producers expected to benefit from a 25% tax break on UK-based productions with budgets of more than £1m an hour from April, several studios have convinced investors of the business sense in building more space.

“If the government is creating incentive mechanisms for producers to work in the UK rather than places such as Hungary or South Africa, we need to have the capacity to handle that work here in the UK, so we are very encouraged,” says Pinewood Shepperton chief executive Ivan Dunleavy.

To capitalise on this, Dunleavy is leading a major expansion of the nation’s biggest studio complex, unwrapping a 30,000 sq ft hybrid TV/ film stage this year and starting construction on another 30,000 sq ft space.

In January, Project Pinewood, the group’s attempt to grow its Buckinghamshire base with standing sets and 1,500 homes, was blocked by the government. But Dunleavy has a new planning application before the local authority, which, if successful, will double the size of Pinewood’s site.

“Just having a big box is not the be-all and end-all of what a studio is about,” he says. “If that was the case, you could fi nd an empty car-manufacturing plant and call it a studio.”

The UK is now awash with big boxes, some with all the functionality a major production would expect. These include Black Hangar Studios near Basingstoke, which features a 32,000 sq ft space and a 5,000 sq ft water tank, and plans to open two further 15,000 sq ft stages in the next six months. Chief executive Carole Siller aims for 60% of the studios space to be occupied by TV productions.

“This is a different environment to Pinewood – it’s more bespoke and intimate, and we can be more cost-effective,” she says.

However, plans to convert the 500-acre former aerodrome and hangars at Woodford, near Manchester, into a studio have been usurped by residential development, though location filming is welcomed.

Bigger and better

Last month, Elstree Studios greenlit £4.5m in funding to develop a 30,000 sq ft complex, including a 16,000 sq ft stage. The Borehamwood site will nearly double in capacity on the back of its “healthiest year ever”, according to managing director Roger Morris.

“The old adage is that you can always put a small production in a big studio but not vice versa,” he says. “This year, we’ve re-established our facilities and brand as one of the top three in the country.” It would have been in the top two – after Pinewood– Morris says, but for the rebirth of nearby Leavesden under owner Warner Bros.

While predominantly a feature film facility, four of its nine stages are bigger than 30,000 sq ft –more than enough for the growing number of shiny floor TV spectaculars. Elstree, regular home to Big Brother and Dancing On Ice, hopes to entice the final live shows of The Voice UK back for a second run in 2013, having attracted the second series of Red or Black? to switch from Fountain Studios.

All the right moves

Elstree is also the main beneficiary of BBC Studios and Post Production’s temporary relocation while TVC is refurbished. Based at the studios from March until 2015, BBC S&PP is installing galleries, TV floors and lighting grids across the 7,500 sq ft stages 8 and 9, enabling Morris to market high-spec TV spaces rather than four-wallers for the first time.

Aside from EastEnders, which is permanently based at BBC Elstree, it is now home to BBC productions including Pointless, The Matt Lucas Awards and the 2013 series of Strictly Come Dancing, which will be filmed on the 15,600 sq ft George Lucas Stage.

Wimbledon Film & Television Studios is also hopeful of landing BBC productions, including a 90-minute BBC2 drama about the early days of Doctor Who.

“As the new kid on the block in 2011, we experienced a surge of interest and the second year might have been the acid test, but our hard work and capital expenditure paid off,” says managing director Piers Read.

An array of standing sets have given Wimbledon Studios an immediate niche in comedy, with Fast Girls, Friday Night Dinner, This Is Jinsy, Anna & Katy and Cardinal Burns all shot there. “Our stages are too small to get onto the list of venues for event TV shows but we are on the lookout for a larger facility and are gauging geographically where to put it,” says Read.

He hopes the 8,000 sq ft HD studio, used by Twofour for Sky 1’s The Angel in June, will encourage further lightent productions to book, such as 8 Out Of 10 Cats. Meanwhile, the site’s tenanted production offices are set to double in size by mid-2013.

Also in its second year of business is The Studios at MediaCityUK, renamed Dock10 and now home to Dragons’ Den and Countdown. ITV’s first show from Salford will be The Jeremy Kyle Show in the new year, although Dock10 lost Sports Personality Of The Year to Excel.

East London studio 3 Mills’ summer was partly spent housing rehearsals for the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. “A lot of people got the impression that we weren’t working while the Olympics was on, but we were – and we are continuing to attract business,” says studio executive Derek Watts.

This has included C4’s The Million Pound Drop Live and Stand Up To Cancer, BBC 3D drama Mr Stink, Tim Burton’s animated film Frankenweenie and Danny Boyle feature Trance.

In any other year, Twickenham Film Studios might not have recovered from going into administration, as it did in February, but Maria Walker, chief operating officer of the reborn facility, believes it could benefit from the incoming tax breaks for drama. Meanwhile, a delegation from the studio will head to Los Angeles to raise its profile in the US.

For all the hype surrounding massive 30,000 sq ft spaces, Fountain Studios still lays claim to having the largest purpose-built (as opposed to four-waller) TV studio in the country. Yet at 13,000 sq ft, even this wasn’t enough to retain Red Or Black?.

“If anything, shows are getting bigger and bigger,” says managing director Mariana Spater. Despite this, Fountain had another good year, she says, thanks to returning shows Britain’s Got Talent, The Voice UK (live middle sections) and The X Factor, all of which are pencilled in for 2013.

A YEAR IN STUDIOS

January
Pinewood’s £200m bid to build hundreds of homes and sets on adjacent land is refused planning permission

March
The Harry Potter Studio Tour opens at Leavesden as a prelude to the launch of Warner Bros’ £100m complex featuring a clear horizon 100-acre backlot

April
The Richard Attenborough stage, with room for a 2,000- plus audience, opens at Pinewood. It is first used to house the film Les Miserables

May
Black Hangar Studios opens at Lasham Airfi eld, Hampshire, following a multimillion-pound renovation including sfx and art departments, construction workshops and aircraft landing

July
Property developer Stanhope acquires BBC Television Centre for £200m

Twickenham Studios is bought out of administration by a consortium led by hotelier Sunny Vohra for an undisclosed sum

September
The London Studios converts Studio 3 to HD to house ITV daytime productions Lorraine, Daybreak and Loose Women

BBC S&PP announces 50 redundancies in preparation for life beyond TVC

November
Pinewood reports revenues for the six months ending 30 September 2012 of £27.1m and profit of £6.1m – a £2.5m rise year on year

A shot in the arm

Broadcast

Tax subsidies, a new challenger to Sky, further foreign scoops for UK indies and the disintermediation of broadcasters energised the market in 2012. Adrian Pennington examines the top five deals.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/in-depth/a-shot-in-the-arm/5049926.article

Drama producers are licking their lips, and animation houses still sighing with relief, after months of lobbying for tax breaks paid off in April. Modelled on the existing cash rebate of up to 25% for fi lm productions, from next April, producers of drama with budgets of £1m an hour or more will qualify for a new scheme estimated to bring in at least £350m and to boost the wider creative economy to the tune of £1bn.

The incentive is expected to lead to more US producers, such as HBO, Starz and Showtime, producing TV drama in the UK, and productions on the scale of Merlin, Strike Back and Parade’s Endbeing shot domestically rather than in tax-advantageous locales like Hungary, South Africa and Belgium.

Animation producers have suffered as investment has been syphoned off to Canada or Ireland for years, but what seems to have swayed chancellor George Osborne was the prospect of losing the nation’s favourite – Aardman – overseas. “We want to keep Wallace & Gromit exactly where they are,” he said when unveiling the tax regime.

Former Aardman head of broadcast and development Miles Bullough says the tax credit will be “transformational”.

“We have seen a decline on British TV of home-produced animation and we now have a shot at reversing that trend,” he says.

SONY BUYS LEFT BANK

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) continued to build up its UK portfolio under president of international production Andrea Wong. In February, it added Silver River Productions for an undisclosed sum, to sit with existing majority stakes in Gogglebox Entertainment and Victory Television. Then in August, it sealed the £40m takeover of Left Bank Pictures.

SPT plans to turn the Mad Dogs producer into a global scripted powerhouse, sending chief executives Andy Harries and Marigo Kehoe to the US to discuss opportunities with the studio’s key creatives, such as The Shield creator Shawn Ryan.

With assistance from its new parent, Left Bank also dipped its toes into 3D for the first time, making a Little Crackers short for Sky. Original long-form 3D drama is now a possibility with Sony’s financial clout and vested interest in the format.

Not that the US studio has finished its buying spree. Having lured Wayne Garvie from All3Media in June to head up international production as chief creative officer, Wong told Broadcast: “We continue to be acquisitive and want to round out our portfolio of companies. We look for strong entrepreneurial creative leadership.”

BT SPENDS £1BN ON SPORT

The ramifications of BT Vision’s dramatic entry into the top tier of live football last June will reach far beyond next season. Subscribers will be offered 38 live Premier League matches from 2013-16, including almost half the games between top sides such as Manchester United and Chelsea, as part of a three-year deal worth £738m.

Aside from knocking out ESPN’s domestic soccer interest, BT has pockets deep enough (revenues £19bn, profits £2bn) to mount the first serious challenge to Sky’s sport supremacy since it won its first Premier League rights deal in 1992. From studio and production facilities at the Olympic Park media centre, at least two dedicated channels will present coverage of the Premier League, alongside top football leagues in Italy, France, Brazil and the US.

Premiership Rugby, including a flagship successor to the Heineken Cup (pending the agreement of the clubs), is the fruit of a £152m four-pact that brought BT’s total 2012 rights deals to £1bn. It will distribute Eurosport channels covering tennis, cycling and snooker.

IMG Worldwide and Sunset + Vine are understood to be on the final shortlist for the Premier League production contract, worth up to £130m.

BT chief executive Marc Watson aims to boost the pay-TV platform’s existing 750,000-strong customer base and has spoken of his desire to maximise the benefi ts of BT’s “super fast” broadband pipes, hinting at greater interactivity. But Ultra-HD shouldn’t be ruled out either.

INDIES EMBRACE YOUTUBE

UK producers hailed YouTube’s investment in original content as a new era for content creators. Having invited pitches for a slice of a £10m pot at the beginning of the year, the Google-owned video-sharing platform unveiled 60 niche European channels in October, a third of them owned and controlled by UK indies.

Among those receiving up to £600,000 for year one development are BBC Worldwide, Hat Trick, Liberty Bell, ITN Productions, Bullseye and All3Media. All3M commercial director Andy Taylor says: “It’s changing how we operate. By owning a channel, we don’t just get a fee from broadcasters – we can generate value from what’s being created.”

The winners face challenges around marketing, scheduling and audience enjoyment, with some, like Bullseye, teaming up with digital specialists – in its case, Diagonal View. The prospect of extending the reach of their content in the living room on the ever-widening base of connected TVs has energised indies.

YouTube intends to recoup advance funding via ad revenues, although global head of content Robert Kyncl has hinted that subscription models are under consideration.

SKY IN PLATFORM PUSH

Sky’s two strategic tech investments this year prepare it for a world where technology and media firms increasingly compete, and points to the future of delivering pay-TV online.

In January, the broadcaster took a 10% equity stake in Zeebox, the second-screen experience and synchronised ad inventory devised by BBC iPlayer developer Anthony Rose. Worth £10m, the funding helped Zeebox roll out in Australia and the US – backed by Comcast and NBC Universal – while Sky integrated Zeebox’s social media functionality into Sky+ and Sky Go apps. The platform will enable Sky to run ads simultaneously on TV and on the companion app, and to introduce e-commerce.

In July, Sky and News Corp were among investors injecting $45m (£28.8m) into Roku, maker of products for streaming video to TV sets. For £6.5m, Sky got its Now TV streaming video service, including pay-as-you-go movies, available on Roku boxes in the UK, to help counter competition.

The move also sparked suggestions that Sky could use Roku, on which News Corp already has apps including Fox News and X Factor, as a foothold for distribution in the US market.

A YEAR IN DEALS

March
Talent agency James Grant Group acquires Ant and Dec production outfit Gallowgate Holdings for an undisclosed sum, following the death in late 2011 of former MD Ed Forsdick

April
Shed Media Group takes a majority stake in Renegade Pictures for a reported £5m. Properties such as BBC3’s Don’t Tell The Bride are now distributed by Shed-owner Warner Bros

May
ProSiebenSat.1-owned Red Arrow Entertainment Group buys Nerd TV from Charlie Parsons Creative following the earlier buyout of CPL Productions. In August, Red Arrow splashes out £57.6m on US indie Left/Right, bringing the total number of production brands under its wing to 17

July
BSkyB buys Parthenon Media Group for £16m, renaming it Sky Vision, to support international distribution of its original commissions, into which it will pump £600m a year by 2014

November
Investment company The Chernin Group takes a 25% stake in online video provider Base79 for more than £6m

Tinopolis buys Big Fat Gypsy Weddings producer Firecracker Films for an estimated £25m

The UK's Lead in File-Based Programme Delivery Is Being Followed Closely by Europe's Broadcasters

IBC

http://www.ibc.org/page.cfm/action=library/libID=2/libEntryID=164/listID=4

The speed and relative equanimity with which the UK's cross-broadcaster initiative Digital Production Partnership (DPP) has cracked the file-barrier is arguably the envy of other countries. It's no coincidence that its official documentation is titled 'The Bloodless Revolution'.

Last January, BBC, ITV and Channel 4 together with Sky, Channel 5, S4C and UKTV agreed the UK’s first common file format, structure and wrapper to enable TV programme delivery by digital file. The overall aim is to avoid a proliferation of different file formats and structures for video content.

Long running ITV soap Emmerdale became the first major production to adopt the DPP-specified AS-11 standard for HD delivery in October, and Sunset & Vine-produced America's Cup programming for C4 was the first to use the DPP's metadata application, which streamlines editorial and technical information before wrapping into the programme file.

Technical guidelines for live production in HD were released in October. Based on MPEG4 they cover contribution by satellite, fibre or microwave links as well as recommended practices for the delivery of stereo and multichannel audio. The DPP is also talking with US studios about adopting a version of the specification, which shouldn't prove problematic because US body Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) worked with the DPP to create AS-11.

Broadcasters in France and Germany and the EBU have expressed interest in adapting the DPP's work.  “Some have already taken the leap in quality but it's the standard way we have treated metadata which is a significant step ahead of the game,” according to Kevin Burrows, CTO Broadcast and Distribution, Channel 4 and Chair of the DPP Technical Standards Working Group.

Further trials are planned throughout 2013 between broadcasters, producers and post production facilities ahead of an agreement by the DPP's principal backers - ITV, BBC and Channel 4 - that delivery on file will be preferred by 2014.
“We cannot mandate 100% but we expect 98% of companies to be able to do so,” says Burrows.

To create DPP-compliant HD files, the producer or post house require technology suitable for generating AVC Intra files at 100 Mbs files, which the latest models of Avid and FCP will do, along with the means to transport them.

Broadcasters have adopted accelerated file delivery over IP networks to a significant extent over the past five years, but these solutions are not yet pervasive outside of the larger distributors, production and post-production companies. In the near term the most common form of file-based delivery is likely to be removable drive. 

Aside from ramping up the pilots, the DPP will next address loudness. “We are complying with EBU R128 loudness metering but we want to issue guidelines of usage for whether a show is live or recorded or within genre, for example, whether metering should differ between a pop or classical music concert,” explains Burrows.

The DPP hopes that the industry – producers, broadcasters, facilities, manufacturers, vendors, service providers – will share the commitment to making digital production smoother and more easily understood.  Explains Burrows: “A lot of content in the UK emanates from small production companies where there is not a lot of dedicated expertise so the over-arching idea was to give them guidance on the whole end-to-end workflow from acquisition through post to delivery. In the longer term this make it easier for everyone so we're not battling lots of different standards. Files will never be as easy as tape but by trying to standardise we are trying to avoid the interoperability issues which plague us all.”

Once that has been achieved the idea is that the production process can go into the background – as it did in the world of tape – so everyone can all refocus on the creative potential of this new way of working. The DPP concludes its Bloodless Revolution document saying: 'It is our belief (although the case perhaps still needs to be made) that file-based production has the potential to enable greater creativity than ever before. The magic hasn’t been lost. It just needs transcoding.'

Testing 3D’s drama potential

Broadcast

David Walliams’ comic novel receives the 3D treatment as the BBC explores the drama genre as part of its two-year experiment with the technology.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/in-depth/testing-3ds-drama-potential/5049262.article

The BBC’s two-year quest to examine aspects of 3D production and distribution across genres has taken in live events, studio shows and CGI, and is in the process of tackling natural history.

Casting around for a suitable scripted property, head of 3D Kim Shillinglaw alighted on the adaptation of David Walliams’ comic novel Mr Stink, commissioned by BBC1 controller Danny Cohen.

“With all of our projects, we are exploring shooting 2D and 3D simultaneously, and we wanted to understand what this would mean in a drama context,” Shillinglaw explains.

“Mr Stink looked appealing partly because of the broad family target audience, and also because aspects of the script seemed to lend themselves to interesting 3D treatment.”

Adapted by Walliams with Simon Nye, the 60-minute single, produced by BBC in-house, tells the story of a lonely young girl who befriends a local tramp and invites him to hide out in her family’s garden shed.

“We felt 3D would be effective in helping to convey the heightened reality of a world seen from a child’s point of view,” says line producer Francis Gilson. “In particular, the aspect of Mr Stink’s smell could be rendered as a physical thing, like a mist, which we felt would be creatively interesting.”

He adds: “The idea was never to use 3D for the sake of it but as a technique to enhance the story and the characters. But it also makes this project feel more of an event.”

The BBC tapped the experience of stereographer Vision3 and facility Onsight to provide editorial and technical support. Stereographer Adam Sculthorp helped first-time 3D director Declan Lowney (Father Ted, Little Britain, Moone Boy) and director of photography Philipp Blaubach plan shot composition.

This included suggestions to shoot close-ups of actor Harish Patel’s craggy face and to dress Mr Stink (Hugh Bonneville) in tweed and wool costumes, since 3D is felt to enhance an appreciation of texture.

Scenes were designed with fewer cuts and greater camera movement than normal, while care was taken to avoid traditional over-the-shoulder conversation shots where the foreground object can be disconcerting to a viewer in 3D.

By and large, though, the script, direction and production design were altered little to cater for stereo, with the 2D version produced from the lefteye 3D master with no separate edit.

Where 3D had the biggest impact was on time. Four days were added to the schedule, which included two weeks on location in Hemel Hempstead/Uxbridge and two weeks of nteriors at 3 Mills Studios.

“There is a time premium to 3D that can be alleviated to a certain extent by preparation,” says Shillinglaw.

“One focus of the BBC tests is to find the sweet position of pulling something off creatively for minimum uplift in cost.”shoot used a 10,000 sq ft stage at 3Mills that was recently employed by Tim Burton for his animated feature Frankenweenie.

Although Red Epics mounted on a single Atom rig were selected because of their light weight and size - the Reds also providing a 5K master - on-set 3D paraphernalia, including cabled recording and monitoring equipment, can increase set-up times.

In particular, Gilson reports that changing prime lenses took up to 45 minutes, although the production mostly used zooms to avoid this. A stereo assistant and stereographer were additional to the regular camera crew.

Saving time “Occasionally, we used two cameras [rigs] for coverage and to speed up the shooting process,” says Gilson.

“Since Nell Tiger Free was in every scene and licensing hours for child actors are tight, we were concerned not to lose time by having to change lenses.

“For the most part, there was no problem, although one sequence on the upper deck of a bus was a challenge, not just to fit the rig inside, but also to keep the camera physically moving during the scene.

“There is also more time required in post for the 3D version to undergo a depth grade, but we allowed for this.” The BBC has no plans yet to shoot a scripted series in 3D.

“It’s too big a commitment and we wouldn’t see proportionately greater learning than from a single,” says Shillinglaw. Gilson says the jury is out on whether 3D can feasibly be used on future comedy productions.

“The turnaround speed required for sitcoms would mitigate against shooting 3D at this stage,” he says. “I’m not sure most sitcoms would benefit from it. The bottom line is whether 3D would make them funnier, and I’m not sure.”

Mr Stink was filmed at 3Mills, edited on Avid at Onsight and finished on Mistika, with VFX by Prime Focus. It will TX on BBC1 and BBC HD (in 3D) in December.

TV dips its toe into 3D drama

Broadcast

3D fiction has been a staple of feature film releases, but only now are broadcasters and producers starting to deliver 3D drama treatments. Adrian Pennington reports

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils/production-feature/tv-dips-its-toe-into-3d-drama/5049252.article?blocktitle=LATEST-FEATURES&contentID=38754%C2%A0…

Unlike in feature films, drama has been noticeably absent from the roster of 3D TV programming, but this may be about to change.

Sky and the BBC, as well as producers in the US, are beginning to experiment with the genre.

Bwark, Sprout Productions and Left Bank Pictures are each delivering 11-minute films in 3D for Sky’s Little Crackers strand this Christmas, while the BBC is producing hour-long family comedy Mr Stink as part of its two-year experiment with 3D production and distribution models.

Both broadcasters have expressed a desire to test the technology in different genres. Sky 3D director John Cassy says he wants to expand its scope towards a broader demographic rather than the male-oriented staples of sport and movies.

“At the beginning, we played to our strengths in sport and movies, but we have always been clear that we wanted to offer a broad range of programming in 3D,” he says. “We are serious about commissioning original drama, so it is logical to play with the genre in 3D.”

There are several other reasons for the sudden activity in scripted 3D, not least improvements in technology and a growing confidence among facilities and producers to use it.

Atlantic Productions chief executive Anthony Geffen, who has overseen a string of groundbreaking 3D natural history films with David Attenborough, says: “We’ve moved from a situation where the equipment was very large, where everyone was inexperienced using it and changing lenses took up to an hour, to one where the kit is lighter and more flexible. Production teams have become versed in 3D production, so planning and shooting is much quicker.”

Andy Shelley, chief operating officer at facility OnSight, which is providing on-set support and post-production for Little Crackers 3D and Mr Stink, says: “In the early days, every project was different, but now production has become routine. It doesn’t matter if a producer hasn’t done a 3D show before. We have developed the infrastructure and the knowledge to make the whole process a lot easier for them.”

Both projects are being shot simultaneously in 2D and 3D, with little difference in the editorial treatment of the two versions (though the projects have been selected because of their 3D potential).

“We were looking for a family drama to test in 3D and there were aspects of the script for Mr Stink that we thought creatively interesting,” says BBC head of 3D Kim Shillinglaw. “It included ways to use graphics to enhance the imaginative world of a child and also to represent Mr Stink’s odour.”

Sky executive producer, comedy, Saskia Schuster, adds: “3D works best when there’s lot of movement in the story and for creating certain moods, such as intimacy or tension.”

The notion that 3D requires longer shots and slower cuts than 2D can now be dispelled. “This was a mantra preached in the early days of 3D because audiences were unfamiliar with it,” says Duncan Humphreys, creative director, Can Communicate.

“There can’t be too many people now who have not seen a 3D programme or film, so the treatment can afford to be more sophisticated.”

Surprisingly, wildlife and the natural environment – some of the least controllable subjects – have had some of the first and most successful 3D TV treatments, yet light entertainment and studio-bound drama have barely been scratched.

This is put down to the fear of potentially costly knock-ons to filming and talent schedules, a result of repositioning cumbersome 3D equipment. Yet this, too, is being addressed.

“Everyone blames the technology when a schedule slips behind, but the reality is you could shoot 3D with virtually no impact,” says Humphreys. “Downton Abbey would look superb in 3D and could be shot for 2D and 3D.”

Cassy agrees. “The 2D/3D schedule gap has narrowed massively. On Little Crackers, it was almost exactly the same. When you do anything complicated that uses new technology for the first time, it’s understandable to be cautious, but those who have done it love it and find it easier and more rewarding than they anticipated.”

Left Bank managing director Marigo Kehoe admits to being concerned about the technical and cost implications of shooting the indie’s first 3D foray.

“I was worried going in but we had great help from Sony and Sky, both technically and to plan the entire storyboard,” she says. “Making a short film in one location meant that we were not moving rigs or wiring around.

It’s a step, but the next step after that – to do a 45-minute show like Strike Back with five cameras on location – is a completely different ball game and we would be more concerned.”

In the US, Sony Pictures has tested 2D/3D studio-bound shoots for NBC’s multi-camera daytime drama Days of Our Lives and ABC’s single-camera sitcom Happy Ending, concluding that 3D TV shows can be done to the same schedule as 2D, with only marginal budget differences, by using precise planning, the right technology and training existing crew.

Having acquired Left Bank, as well as co-sponsoring with Discovery and Imax, and 3D channel 3Net, Sony Pictures is likely to be more of a force in 3D TV production.

“We pitched our Little Cracker as 2D but were asked by Sky and Sony to do it in 3D,” says Kehoe. “It has real potential, provided you pay close attention to detail. Andy Harries and I have been talking about different 3D ideas but it remains to be seen what’s appropriate in 3D – and whether broadcasters will fund it.”

Indeed, the main impediment to 3D scripted shows remains the limited outlets for finance and distribution.

In the US, 3D mini-series Legends Of The Prohibition (Eyeromp Films/Vase Productions) and episodic period drama Sawdust (Sawdust Productions) are aiming to secure funding, but it seems that, both in the US and in the UK, producers and investors need convincing of the business model if 3D drama is to move beyond single shows.

“There are still only two or three large channels that can acquire, commission and pay ‘adult’ money, but producers should be thinking about dramatic shows and mini-series for VoD, Blu-Ray release and for futureproofing,” says Torsten Hoffman, who runs distributor 3D Content Hub. “There are also up to 40 channels in others parts of the world that pay less money but are looking for original 3D content.”

Cassy says that 3D pitches of any kind have to have a 2D rationale. “If the idea can be enhanced by 3D, we will look at that, but in drama, there has to be a great story first of all.”

Geffen adds: “There’s no way to get a full-scale drama funded in 3D alone. You need economic models that will work in both 2D and 3D.”

For Atlantic Productions and its 3D co-venture with Sky, Colossus Productions, that has meant Imax and cinema distribution, as well as second-screen apps and game spinoffs from specialist factual shows such as Galapagos 3D. However, the producer now has drama in its sights.

“You will see us using drama heavily inside factual productions and next year a move into full-scale drama,” says Geffen. “We will begin with one-offs to push the medium and series will follow.”

There may also be inspiration from new 3D theatrical releases such as Life Of Pi and The Great Gatsby – literary adaptations that are light on VFX-heavy action. With these releases, Hoffman notes: “We may see more producers realising the creative merits of shooting drama in the format.”

Factual series and ob docs, such as the 10 x 60-minute Safari Park Adventure (Can Communicate and Renegade for Discovery Europe), are being commissioned in 3D, but Sky Arts is testing the water for the UK’s first 3D light-entertainment series, with two of the six 60-minute editions of Michael Parkinson: Masterclass using the format to bring performances to life.

“It was a great opportunity to experiment with a block of 3D in a studio environment,” says Cassy.

“The format lent itself well too. For example, the episode focusing on ballet dancer Carlos Acosta includes a performance in which he uses the physical space in movement and depth – things that 3D does well.”

According to Chris Cary, chief executive of 3D camera-maker Meduza Systems: “Anything intimate lends itself to 3D, including Jonathan Ross or Graham Norton chat shows. We should be experimenting more with those to drive potentially large audiences to 3D.”

Colossus turns to drama for next 3D project

Broadcast 

Sky and Atlantic Productions’ joint 3D venture, Colossus Productions, is moving into drama. The producer of specialist factual shows Flying Monsters 3D and Galapagos 3D is in “active discussions about full-scale 3D drama for Sky and other broadcasters”, according to Atlantic Productions chief executive and creative director Anthony Geffen.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/techfacils/colossus-turns-to-drama-for-next-3d-project/5047990.article

“In terms of technology and production experience, the medium has matured to the point where we can take on other genres,” Geffen said.

“First you will see us using drama inside factual productions, then next year we will move into full-scale drama. We will begin with one-offs, and a series will follow.”

Geffen suggested that the use of CGI to create new worlds “is an area where 3D can make a massive difference. “It makes sense to create something with a ‘wow’ factor which people will be excited to see in 3D.”