Broadcasting the Six Nations: Behind the scenes of the TV production

IBC

From machine learning-driven analytics to 4K drone, the broadcast of the 2020 Six Nations rugby tournament will feature some innovative kit as well as some tried and trusted technology.

https://www.ibc.org/create-and-produce/broadcasting-the-six-nations-behind-the-scenes-of-the-tv-production/5410.article

2020 marks the fifth of a six-year deal between ITV and the BBC that sees the rights for all Six Nations matches shared between both broadcasters on television and online.

The BBC kick offs proceedings this Saturday with Wales against Italy at the Principality Stadium while ITV’s first game, kicking off shortly afterwards, is Ireland versus Scotland from Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

A number of production toys have been introduced to Six Nations coverage in recent years including corner flag cameras, ref cams and assistant ref cams, specialist lineout cameras and aerial wire-cams and this year’s event will use all of those again and more.

As host broadcaster in Cardiff and Edinburgh, the BBC are deploying 32 match cameras. This includes remote-controlled drone Batcam, Spidercam, two Hi-Motion for super slow replay, a Steadicam, three RFs, another roving RF, corner post mini cams, ref and assistant ref cams, and for the first time on the Six Nations, dressing room cameras and coach box cameras.

BBC Six Nations producer Matthew Griffiths explains: “The coach box cameras and the dressing room cameras aren’t new technology to rugby but this is the first year we will have them on Six Nations after agreement from all of the Unions.”

“This year we are using Batcam 2.0, which is a 4K ready drone (made and supplied by London-based Batcam TV) with 5-axis stabilisation with which we can get steady shots and bigger close-ups even at 240mm.”

ITV’s line-up is a little different for its host of games from Twickenham (including England v Wales on 7 March) and Dublin. It will deploy thirty cameras at Twickenham, all available for replay via EVS, and include two HiMo camera, five Slomo, four handheld RF, an RF for lineouts, four corner flag cams, two railcams (behind the try lines) and a Spidercam. It also has a Sony F5 roaming ENG camera able to shoot Slomo sequences and send to the EVS wirelessly.

The main facilities partner for both broadcasters is Telegenic, now part of the Euro Media Group, and a regular part of weekly Premiership Rugby production.

It will supply OBs for ITV’s presentation and host at Twickenham feeding direct to Red Bee Media for ITV Live Presentation. Arena is supplying mobile facilities for ITV’s presentation from Dublin and Rome. NEP Connect is used for all contribution and comms with highlights editing and playout from BT Timeline in Stratford

The BBC has a similar arrangement where world feed coverage of each match is performed on-site as are the BBC’s live domestic programmes. The BBC’s live match coverage is distributed around the world by fibre and satellite by Pitch International.

No remote or UHD production“There aren’t currently any plans to move to a remote production model because of the number of cameras and the complexity of the production of a World Feed and a separate domestic programme feed,” says Griffiths.

The TMO will watch the match as usual on TV screens away from the immediate vicinity of the game, with access to Hawk-Eye camera angles.

The Rugby World Cup in Japan last year had all 48 of its matches produced in UHD alongside HD but Six Nations production is still an HD-only affair. While the BBC is ready to push the button and stream 4K over iPlayer, the shared nature of the host broadcasts means that broadcasters in Ireland, Italy, France plus ITV would need to switch.

“There are on-going discussions about this,” Griffiths says.

Some matches at the World Cup also featured the Canon Free Viewpoint volumetric capture system. This kit synthesised image data from 125 Canon 4K Cinema EOS cameras located around the Yokohama Stadium in near real time and allows for a virtual camera operator to fly a camera through the action on the field and create 1080p replays from any angle.

While Premier League soccer clubs like Liverpool FC have been outfitted with a similar system from Intel, no UK rugby venue – not even Twickenham – has this facility.

Record viewing figures“The rivalries and history of the Six Nations can make every match feel like a World Cup final, and with similar camera specs to the World Cup, we aim to make every game as spectacular and enjoyable,” Griffiths says.

“For me personally, rugby coverage is all about geography. It is so important to make sure the viewer knows where the play is on the field and in which direction the play is going in. It’s also really important to be able to see what might be going on off the ball or to see dummy runners. Spidercam offers fantastic shots and can help the viewer feel right up close to the action, but it’s important to keep that in context.”

Wales’ victory over England in Cardiff last year attracted a peak audience of 8.9m on the BBC, more than an FA Cup tie between Manchester United and Chelsea in the same week.

Covering the Celtic nations is particularly important to the BBC as it helps fulfil their PSB remit, fundamental to its licence-fee remit.

“For us, Six Nations matches are more than just rugby matches,” says Griffiths. “Each match is a big event in its own right. Our viewers will range from die-hard fans who go to games every week to people who have never watched a game before and don’t know any of the laws. We have to make sure our coverage caters for them all.”

Non-linear content is playing a bigger and bigger role with online hits, social media and iPlayer numbers rising all the time.

The BBC will provide live TV coverage of Scotland’s, Wales’ and France’s home games on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer. Highlights of every match, as well as in-play video clips of BBC matches, will be available via BBC Sport website and app.

The BBC Live pages also cover every minute of every matchday with live text commentaries, in-play video clips, stats and social media content, as well as selected streams and text commentaries on the Women’s Six Nations Championship which takes place in parallel to the men’s tournament.

AI-driven predictive analyticsAs the official technology provider of the Championship for the second year running, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is providing machine learning-driven analytics for the live broadcast. Amazon Machine Learning Solutions Lab is working with data and analytics organisation Stats Perform on the event.

Stats available for the broadcasters to use include information on balls won, impactful tackles, and crucial line breaks, visits to the 22-metre area and data on rucking efficiency – which is often one of the most mysterious parts of the game.

Other stats will predict the probability of a successful conversion or penalty kick. This calculation happens in real time while the kicker sets up to take a kick, and takes into account the location of the kick on the field, the period of the game and score, and if the kicking team is playing home or away. It also analyses historical data, for example, the average success rate of the kicking player in the given field zone, during the Championship, and during the player’s entire career.

A heat map of the pitch will highlight data on ruck location and visually establish where a team is stealing the ball or where a team is more or less effective on the field. Previous stats only looked at the number and duration of rucks so this will bring deeper insight into how the ruck used.

Another stat will highlight dominant tackles – those tackles that put pressure on the attacking team as they lose field position and forward momentum. By mapping out locations and percentage of these actions, it’s possible to analyse a teams’ momentum at the gain line.

“We are continuing to assess the available data before we introduce it,” assesses Roger Pearce, technical director, Sport, ITV Sport Productions. “We are careful to keep stats to a level that enhances the storytelling.”

Free to air to continue?

The present broadcast deal, which began in 2016 and expires in 2021, involves the BBC having the rights to show live all home games for Wales, France and Scotland, while ITV shows England, Ireland and Italy home matches. That could change as a result of the proposal by the Six Nations to sell a 15% worth £300 million in its commercial arm to CCV Capital Partners.

The private equity firm has already bought a stake in the English Gallagher Premiership and has a similar deal with the Guinness Pro14. There is a risk that the Six Nations will move to pay-TV when the tender process begins next month [February].

CVC Partners previously ran Formula One, making a major return on their investment, but criticised for its drift toward pay-TV.

A recent report in the Daily Mail suggest that the BBC and ITV are ‘confident of retaining the rights.’

Sky Sports is expected to focus on retaining live rights to England’s autumn series, leaving the Six Nations to terrestrial channels.

Super Bowl LIV: 5G Makes Debut

BroadcastBridge

This year’s Super Bowl will be the first to offer 5G connectivity to fans in the stadia – but 5G contribution is a little way off.

https://www.thebroadcastbridge.com/content/entry/14648/super-bowl-liv-5g-makes-debut?cat_id=1

The ability to use 5G during major sporting events such as the Super Bowl is important because data usage is astronomical. During last year’s Super Bowl, there were 24.05 terabytes of data transferred over the Wi-Fi network inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with 9.99 TB used pre-game, 11.11 TB during the game, and 2.95 TB post-game, according to Extreme Networks.

“I think 5G will revolutionise what we can do in our stadiums with the edge computing and the speed and connectivity that it brings,” Michelle McKenna, chief information officer of the NFL said at the CES. “It will allow you to immerse yourself in the game in a different way.”

Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, which will host Super Bowl LIV, is one of 16 NFL stadia where Verizon is offering its 5G Ultra Wideband service. Ultimately it will be rolled out to all 32 NFL clubs. McKenna gave some potential content examples, saying that fans may be able to hold their phones up to the field and see integrated content from stats to names of players to, potentially, the yellow 1st and Ten line integrated on the field.

She also noted that, while fully understanding that the industry still has a way to go in terms of 5G devices in fans’ hands, the league wants to be proactive in this initiative.

“Even though there’s not that many devices in the marketplace, we want to be ahead of the devices. We don’t want to be trying to install after everybody has a device. I think 5G will revolutionise the in-stadium fan experience for everything from food and beverage to ticketing, to ingress and egress and your in-seat experience.”

Verizon’s Service will be concentrated in parts of the seating areas but could eventually be available in other locations in and around the stadium as well. When customers with 5G enabled smartphones move outside Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband coverage area, the 5G-enabled devices will transition the signal to Verizon's 4G network.

McKenna also stressed the importance of the right sponsors as key to a successful technology deployment. “The way we do amazing things is with great sponsors like Microsoft, Verizon, and AWS. We find a problem that needs to be solved and find a sponsor to make that happen. For example, Wi-Fi in stadiums. We had to convince owners how important it was and we had to find a partner that could help us. We partnered with Verizon and Extreme Networks, and they went to every stadium.”

McKenna noted that the league is trying to take more calculated risks in terms of technology over the next five years but also wants to remain committed to the purity of competition in the game.

“Technology is the enabler,” she said, “but it really should be frictionless, seamless, and almost invisible. It shouldn’t be about the technology; it should be about the experience. When you get technology right, that’s what happens.”

“Every company is a tech company now, and you can’t leave it until the end. Tech should be in the beginning of everything now not last in the chain.”

The NFL is not the first to use 5G in the US at a sports event to enhance the fan experience. Last July, the NBA generated plenty of buzz when the league broadcast an entire NBA Summer League game using smartphone cameras streaming on a 5G infrastructure.

In September AT&T used 5G at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, including the ability for fans to overlay stats on the field of play if they were using a Samsung Galaxy S10 5G mobile device.

In December, Swedish esports-production company DreamHack and AT&T made the first 5G-enabled live coverage of an esports event in North America. The DreamHack Open CS:GO tournament was live-streamed using 5G workflows. The production included a camera operator able to freely move about the competition and feed content to the live stream via 5G wireless network technology provided by AT&T.

Shiz Suzuki, assistant VP, sponsorships and experiential marketing, AT&T Communications, said, “Through our relationships across the gaming and esports ecosystem, we’re able to show how 5G will eventually enable content creators to capture higher-quality live-streaming video at a faster rate, get it to the end user more quickly, and create new fan and event experiences.

5G Contribution

Not utilising 5G connectivity is the host broadcast of the event. Even though remote at-home production will be facilitated by the emergence of 5G. That’s despite bonded cellular transmission packs from the likes of LiveU shipping now with integrated 5G modems.

5G technology will help replace costly onsite broadcast facilities with a lighter footprint in terms of equipment and personnel. Sports is a primary application where live pictures from pitchside cameras can be contributed over 5G to a studio hub more cheaply than using satellite.

Some are even predicting the death of satellite, Wi-Fi and even LAN. For video contribution from the camera, 5G will open new possibilities even for tier 1 sports with 4K that traditionally would rely on satellite and fibre. Currently live streaming 4K video over 4G connection is near on impossible in terms of a reliable throughput, even with multiple bonded 4G connections. The available bandwidth required for 4K just cannot be guaranteed for 4G over a public network, especially if there is contention such as in a stadium with thousands of people. 5G is predicted to give bit rates of between 50MB/sec to over a gigabit/sec. Even at the lower end, that would be enough for a reliable 4K stream.

The next issue is latency, which typical H.265 encoders using 4G connections can rarely get below a second between the camera and the production centre. 5G is promising average latencies of 10ms, which even with extra encoding and decoding of video will give latencies well below of what they are now.

So, will this open the door to alternative cheaper technology such as a simple router with a 5G SIM to connect an IP camera and just live stream? There are many facets to emote live production that still need to be considered.

“Would an enterprise broadcaster always want to rely on a single 5G connection?” asks Michel Bais, MobileViewpoint’s Managing Director. “No, they will want resilience and the ability to support multiple 5G connections.

“Does a mobile news team only want to live stream? No, as well as live streaming, it is also important to collect clips for the news bulletin so it is a requirement that they can send raw video files over the cellular network in their full original quality.”

But more than that, they want the ability to use a file naming convention that can be utilized to automatically ingest video files into a news MAM or a production asset management system such as Avid’s Interplay.

“The point is open integration into an existing media workflow is a vital part of any news or sports ingest platform,” says Bais. “But 5G gives the benefit of much quicker file upload and the ability to consider 4K and even 8K files for remote transfer.”

Finally, any discussion on sports technology would be short sighted if it was not to mention the use of AI technology within the broadcast industry. With smart cameras installed above the field of play, AI technology can follow the action automatically, even zooming in and out of the action where necessary.

“AI coupled with 5G can deliver a cost effective 4K immersive experience that can be enjoyed live, or after the event AI can be utilized to create a highlight package of the game and pushed to any social media platform of choice,” says Bais.

There is no doubt that once 5G is universally deployed it will be used as a major communication channel for live video contribution. Given its price point, speed, low latency and its universal availability, it will commoditize the whole video live streaming world. This in turn will open up new opportunities and of course 8K formats once they inevitably become popular from cameras to smartphones, will open up a whole new world of video immersion. The technology will be there, but of course we hope the content and creativity will live up to expectation as well. 

In-Vehicle and In-Flight Video Takes Off

Streaming Media

https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/In-Vehicle-and-In-Flight-Video-Takes-Off-136295.aspx

Self-driving cars may be a decade (or longer) away from the commercial mainstream, but the potential of a new mobile entertainment environment is too great for the automotive and computing industries to ignore. The in-flight entertainment (IFE) industry is being transformed too, with seat-back systems and BYOD for personal streaming using new satellite bands and 5G. Connectivity—and seamless connectivity at that—is the common denominator as the transport industry races to deliver on consumers' demand for interactive smartphone-style experiences wherever they go.

The importance of this potential and its money-making horizons was underlined at CES in January 2020. Keynote speakers included Ola Källenius, the global chair of Daimler and head of Mercedes-Benz, and Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian—whose appearance marks the first time an airline representative has headlined CES.

In-Vehicle Infotainment 

In-vehicle infotainment (IVI) is an emerging market that includes a combination of systems—such as head-up displays (HUDs) and transmission control units (TCUs)—that are used to deliver entertainment and information to the driver and the passengers through control elements and audio/video interfaces like touchscreen displays and voice commands. A 2017 MarketsandMarkets report estimates that IVI will reach $30.47 billion by 2022 from $15.2 billion in 2016. Research and Markets forecastst that IVI will total $58 billion by 2022. Intel suggests that autonomous driving will spur a new "passenger economy" worth $800 billion by 2035 and an eyewatering $7 tril­lion by 2050.

Intel's figures, composed with Strategy Analytics, predict that the time we all used to spend commuting will free up more than 250 million hours a year in the world's most congested cities. It splits the resulting bonanza into business (43% of the $7 trillion) and consumer (55%) categories.

Of the latter, Intel predicts an addressable market of $200 billion that will emerge as pilotless vehicles transform the "cabin" into an immersive entertainment platform. Scenarios 50 years hence painted by Intel include onboard beauty salons, fast-casual dining, remote vending, and mobile healthcare pods. Vehicles, it says, will become "transportation experience pods."

When fully autonomous vehicles go mainstream, it will present a new medium for creatives. "The in-vehicle experience is the most important differentiating feature for car manufacturers," says Ivan Dimkovic, senior solutions engineering manager and co-founder of Cinemo, a German IVI solutions developer. "Screen real estate will increase, and the general aim is to convert as much space as possible into some entertainment enabling device."

Seamless Connectivity

Rear-seat video content as part of IVI has been around for nearly a decade, primarily through discs and video stored on phones and tablets (BYODs). Live streaming arrived with 4G, initially through BYODs such as tablets. Recently, vehicles with built-in 4G connectivity and rear-seat entertainment units have become more prevalent—particularly in the luxury and multipurpose vehicle categories. Inside the car, media is distributed over 802.11 Wi-Fi along with capabilities such as Bluetooth.

"Most of the major technical barriers to delivering live streaming to a vehicle have now been overcome," says Neale Foster, CEO of ACCESS Europe, a software solutions provider. "The remaining issues are primarily around the functions required to produce consumer-friendly video experiences such as the [user interface], content caching, aggregation, and OEM [original equipment manufacturer]-branded IVI apps to deliver a seamless experience for front and rear seat requirements."

GENIVI, a group of automotive software solutions suppliers, has been exploring the technologies behind graphics-sharing and a distributed human-machine interface. According to executive director Steve Crumb, a number of approaches and technologies have been identified that allow the display of graphical content on any number of screens, potentially managed by different in-car systems or brought-in smart devices. These technologies, says Crumb, eliminate the "owner-slave" model of displays and allow for any system to "paint" content on any display available in the vehicle. 

"Each automaker will determine their own approach to internet-enabled media, and the features, usability, and performance of media in the vehicle will be a factor in car choice, at least for some buyer groups," Crumb explains. "Buyers want seamless access to whatever media sources they use when not in the vehicle (which can be more often for younger buyers). So, what they have on their phones, they want seamlessly available in the vehicle."

Once the sources are there, the usability of the system (how simple it is to switch sources and find and play content) will be the next most important feature. "Expect the automakers with the most advanced natural language capabilities to differentiate themselves," Crumb says. "The performance of the streaming will also be important. Does the car stay connected and recover quickly when connectivity is compromised? 5G will help, but it may not always be available everywhere."

5G Game Changer

IVI will also act as a catalyst for a wider range of connected car services, such as automatic payment for parking, charging zones, and tolls; location-dependent services like localized advertising; breakdown and recovery; and real-time traffic and route guidance. All of these services will be improved by the greater bandwidth capabilities of 5G.

"5G is game-changing," says Dimkovic. "For the first time it will allow very high bandwidth while mobile even outside of urban zones to enable 4K UHD resolutions to vehicles."

Distribution in the vehicle could be point to point or redistributed using in-car Wi-Fi hot­spots. Dimkovic's company, Cinemo, supports both. "The advantage of using Wi-Fi would be a big savings on bandwidth, but the decision is up to the OEMs," he says.

What happens when we journey beyond 5G's reach? In South Korea, that probably is possible even today. In Europe, connectivity will be patchy in the immediate future.

"We employ techniques like smart caching and prefetching algorithms, which can detect if an area has good coverage or if you are about to enter a tunnel, and will prefetch data so you can continue to enjoy entertainment with a poor network connection," says Dimkovic.

Live streaming in areas with no reception will continue to present an issue, but there are techniques to address this too. "We've built a streaming stack that tries to recover as fast as possible," says Dimkovic. "If we can prefetch 30 seconds, we can build a buffer to iron out low connectivity spots. If you end up with a zero signal, we ensure the restart will be as fast as possible without [artifacts]."

The next generation of cars might enable the download of video for offline playback while traveling. It is also thought that the nature of driving journeys of different durations—city hops to longer commutes—will necessitate a different type of media. Audi calls the newly recoverable time the 25th Hour and theorizes that media formats like film are compromised by travel—in much the way we have to end a movie on an airplane when landing. "Video services will begin to be edited on-the-fly to provide content and information tailored to an individual's journey and interests," suggests Foster.

Shift to Mass Market

IVI is now a major selling point at the premium end of the market. Tesla announced that its infotainment displays would enable YouTube and Netflix streaming support, although company boss Elon Musk suggested this would only be possible initially while the vehicle is stopped, indicating that safety regulations were the only thing standing in its path.

Multipurpose vehicles are also building in IVI as an option. In the midrange to budget market, though, most IVI is an after-market purchase or fulfilled through BYODs, but it's also where the biggest shift will occur. 

"The goal is to provide a better-than-home experience in terms of the type and variety of content," says Foster. "This will span video, audio, and game streaming. The video element will include [video on demand], tailored short-form content, and services. Users will be able to build their own IVI content bundles—or take their existing home bundles and extend it to the car in a ‘follow the subscriber' model."

The confluence of different trends—electrification, autonomous driving, and car-sharing models—means the amount of screen time that passengers spend in vehicles will increase dramatically to watch movies, play games, and do work. Its why developers like Cinemo are investing in the cloud. As soon as autonomous driving gets the regulatory greenlight, video will be switched on for the driver too. 

"When it comes to the experience itself, OEMs want it to be first class," says Dimkovic. "The car is not a cheap investment. 4K, 7.1 audio, and multizone (isolated streams for different passengers) must be enabled, no matter how many displays. Users should also be able to share content seamlessly while the system respects content protection rules from content providers."

With data from Counterpoint suggesting that 75% of cars will be connected to the internet by 2025, the vast majority using 5G networks, that's potentially a billion IVI monthly subscriptions up for grabs.

In-Flight Connectivity and Entertainment

In-flight connectivity (IFC) is set for takeoff. After decades of high equipping costs during which passengers were reluctant to pay high prices for unreliable performance, airlines are optimistic that a new wave of technologies, moves to standardization, and the consolidation of operators with connectivity providers have potential to launch untapped revenues.

Wi-Fi in the sky has historically fallen far short of expectations on reliability, speed, and coverage. That's increasingly marked as passenger interest has shifted from data to voice, from talking to browsing either using the onboard IFE systems or their own devices. In short, there is latent demand to make cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity as seamless and high speed in the air as it is on the ground.

Only a quarter of commercial aircraft currently offer IFC of any kind, according to U.K. satellite communications specialist Inmarsat. This is why broadband-enabled in-flight revenue was only $900 million in 2018 compared to revenue from other "ancillary" sources like in-flight retail, baggage fees, and ground car hire, which is estimated to hit $134.8 billion in 2020. 

And yet, according to "Sky High Economics"  a report created for Inmarsat by the London School of Economics (LSE), broadband-enabled revenue for airlines could reach a stratospheric $30 billion by 2035. This figure includes potentially lucrative deals with partners, advertisers, and sponsors, whom Inmarsat assumes won't wish to be associated with substandard onboard connectivity.

The entire commercial airline industry wants to reach this destination, but different groups are taking different routes to get there. The Seamless Air Alliance (SAA), which counts Delta Air Lines, Etihad Airways, OneWeb, Panasonic, Sprint, and Airbus among its members, thinks the answer lies in promoting open standards. Building every aircraft the same way can lower the cost of manufacture because standards allow airlines to plug and play equipment rather than custom-install every wire and rivet. Integration of connectivity products includes suppliers of airplanes and airplane radios, Wi-Fi, and IFE. The SSA has published specifications that cover network architecture, onboard radio access, and authentication and regulatory constraints. 

A study released by the SSA in March 2019 concludes that technology standardization could increase the value of the IFC market by $11.4 billion. Inmarsat, which is not part of the SSA, comes up with a similar figure. It believes that greater digital connectivity in flight diagnostics, airline manufacture, and flight disruption management could deliver efficiency savings (in fuel as much as anything) of $15 billion a year by 2035.

Encouraging BYOD benefits airlines that are looking to divest themselves of the cost and weight of outfitting aircraft with seat-back screens. The SSA wants to create industry standards that enable travelers on any flight to go online with their own devices—without struggling through complicated sign-ups or costly paywalls.

Monetization is the other big challenge. The LSE/Inmarsat report predicts that broadband-enabled ancillary revenues will derive from four main areas: in-flight broadband upgrade charges, ecommerce with real-time offers, advertising, and premium content. The latter is in line with wider trends and could bring in $1.4 billion in revenue (of the $30 billion total) by 2035. Getting there means offering premium on-demand content not already available via the IFE system—streamed to the aircraft rather than already installed on it. 

Another monetization option is W-IFEC (wireless IFE and connectivity) bundling, in which IFC purchase is a precondition to access premium streamed entertainment on BYODs. In­marsat calls this an ideal model for short-haul carriers without embedded IFE systems. 

The third monetization option is live entertainment. The obstacles to this may seem far more challenging than those for on-demand, but Inmarsat has demonstrated the possibilities. In September 2019, a Singapore Airlines plane flying at 35,000 feet broadcasted a live interview for Sky Sports with the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 racing team. Signals were relayed over Inmarsat's Ka-band GX Aviation satellites to a SITAONAIR portal, which acted as a mobile hotspot onboard.

Inmarsat contends that airlines haven't got connectivity right to date because they lack global, dedicated coverage. It says, "Instead, their providers rely on leasing capacity across a patchwork of satellites from multiple operators, the vast majority of which are dedicated to services other than aviation. The nature of this stratospheric quilt means that as planes try to disconnect from one satellite network and connect to another, airlines risk those signal drop-outs that are so frustrating for passengers." Inmarsat will be launching a series of satellites in the Ka band in 2023 that are capable of delivering thousands of spot beams simultaneously to increase capacity per aircraft and offer global coverage. 

Satellites remain the primary means of delivering in-flight high-speed broadband. OneWeb and Airbus have developed OneWeb constellation, which comprises hundreds of low-Earth-orbiting (LEO) micro-satellites. They orbit 2,000 kilometers above the Earth rather than the 36,000 kilometers at which geostationary satellites operate. OneWeb claims this proximity will shorten data-transmission times and provide faster connectivity not just to aircraft but to ground cells as well. These satellites are key to helping bring 5G to the skies, and OneWeb and Airbus aren't the only organizations that are looking to take a lead.

In-flight broadband connectivity company Gogo plans an air-to-ground (ATG) 5G network launch in 2021 across the U.S. and Canada. Its partners, Cisco, Airspan Networks, and First RF Corp., will be responsible for onboard system hardware, software, and antennas, including a proprietary modem.

The network's Air5G platform will provide 5G virtualized-RAN (radio access network) base station technology that uses Massive MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) antenna arrays for increased capacity. Gogo says in a press release that the platform also "features advanced beamforming and tracking techniques, capable of communicating with an aircraft travelling in excess of 750 mph, at long range, all while providing an enhanced mobile broadband 5G experience."

Gogo further explains that "belly-mounted airborne multi-band antennas" will connect its onboard 5G system to the Gogo 5G network on the ground—which already consists of more than 250 cell towers. Gogo will continue to employ its 3G and 4G networks as backup to the 5G network.

In concert with arguments for 5G's terrestrial impact, a 5G ATG network should deliver operational advantages, including lower OpEx and lower latency.

Network slicing, another familiar 5G concept that dedicates bandwidth for applications, is expected to be used for 5G ATG connectivity. The SSA says that aeronautical broadband radios facilitate network slicing through controls being developed by groups such as standards body SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) International. 

Connectivity providers are battling for airline customers. "Sky High Economics" suggests that those who make the leap now by investing in connectivity will be able to grab a piece of a market it values at $33 billion purely in terms of passengers electing to pay for journeys that offer superior IFC. Today, states the report, 12% of less-engaged passengers are willing to switch allegiance to an airline that offers reliable Wi-Fi.

This demand will only rise as the first truly digitally native generation, Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012), becomes the largest group of air passengers in the next decade, growing the value of loyalty to $45 billion—and that's on top of the $30 billion in upgraded broadband-enabled revenues. 

Airlines in Asia-Pacific have the largest growth potential. Of the $30 billion estimate, $10.3 billion is pegged to Asia-Pacific, $8.2 billion to Europe, and 7.6 billion to North America. 

Despite global concerns over air-travel carbon emissions, Inmarsat projects air traffic to double by 2035, when there will be 7 billion people in the air annually. That's a lot of capacity that will need to be filled.

"Globally, if airlines can provide a reliable broadband connection, it will be the catalyst for rolling out more creative advertising, content, and e-commerce packages," says Alexander Grous, author of "Sky High Economics." "Broadband-enabled ancillary revenue has the potential to shape a whole new market, and it's something airlines need to be planning for right now."

Behind the scenes - Mark Ronson: From the Heart

content marketing for VMI

The hour-long BBC/YouTube Originals co-production documentary Mark Ronson: From the Heart was released at the end of 2019. The film delves into the mind of one of the most acclaimed music producers on the planet, Mark Ronson.

https://vmi.tv/case-studies/article/163

The project features exclusive archive footage as well as scenes shot as Ronson was preparing for the release of his latest album. Interviews include Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Boy George, King Princess, Lykke Li, Sean Lennon, Q-Tip, Rashida Jones, Zane Lowe and more.

It was directed by the award-winning filmmaker Carl Hindmarch (Rock and Roll, Pump Up the Volume), executive-produced by Anouk Fontaine at Livewire Pictures and shot by Edgar Dubrovskiy. We caught up with Edgar to learn more details about this multi-month multi-star production.

 To start off with a dry factual question - what was the film shot on?

Mark Ronson: From the Heart was shot on a two-camera package of Sony FS7 Mk II with Angenieux Optimo zooms and Canon K35 primes as a back-up for the low-light scenes. Since the K35s are converted to PL we didn’t need an adapter. The primes are slightly softer so the way they render skin tones and highlights is very similar to the Angenieux. All of this kit, plus a lighting package, was supplied by VMI.

When did you get the call for the job?

I actually worked with Carl earlier last year on the documentary Running in North Korea. We worked well together, I think, and were comfortable spending a long time in a stressful environment, so I guess off the back of that he gave me a call for his next doco, which was Mark's film.

 How long did you get to set up the scenes and shots when filming this project?

I discussed the look of the film with Carl prior to the shoot. Our aim was to make the interviews feel analogue rather than digital - or ‘vinyl’, if you will. The key light was dropped physically lower, the colour shifted towards warmth with no unnatural backlight. I wanted a feeling of a ‘homely’ kind of interview setup. This was all discussed prior, but on the day it's a lot down to instinct and experience. You are lucky to recce the location prior to shooting on a doco though I was quite lucky on this job to visit some of the key interview locations for Mark prior to the shoot day.

Generally, as the schedule progresses it becomes a bit tougher to choose the locations and shots for the interview setups, as you still want them to feel engaging, and that means trying to avoid repetition. We had so many big contributors on the film, that by number 12 or 14, you were like ‘Wow! What else can we come up with in the wide shot?’

We usually had about an hour between arriving on location and needing to roll the interview. So not that much time to set-up two cameras and lights.

Our workflow was the tried and tested route from cards to hard drive for which we were fortunate on to have a second AC to manage data wrangling.

 What was your team size on this?

We had two ACs and that's it... My 1st AC would usually look after the B-cam's framing on the wide-angle zoom, and I was focus pulling my own camera. It's all very hands on, which I love. There's a certain intimate connection with the subject when you use the most simple camera operating styles in a long-lens interview. Whether you pause your pan on a certain line or keep on moving can make all the difference to the emphasis the subject is making.

 What's your relationship with the director on the non-interview days?

I felt that Carl trusts me, so he would usually give me the key beats he has to have. For example, when we shoot Miley Cyrus’ performance the key beats for him were her getting onto the stage and Miley acknowledging Mark while performing. In the New York record store we thought it would be good to run with the theme of Mark appearing in person but largely unrecognised by people.

But the exact shots I have to capture to tell these elements of the story is up to me. I come from a photography background, so I appreciate that even a single good shot is enough to tell the story. You don't usually need that much, but you need it at the right moment. The director trusts you to get it, and you trust the director to include the golden moments in the edit, and that all the hard work and sleepless nights weren’t for nothing.

 To capture the golden moments one has to trust the gear… what was is like working with the FS7 Mk IIs?

I’ve probably shot over a dozen documentary projects with the FS7 so I have tremendous familiarity with the camera. Even when I travel abroad I find crews are familiar with it which really helps when you’re working with new people and you have limited time to set things up. But that’s not the only reason I selected the FS7 for this project. It’s more affordable than an ARRI Alexa Mini in addition to which it’s more lightweight. We knew we were shooting in lot of locations so the ability to set up quickly is important for us. I can use the onboard monitor and output wirelessly to other monitors. 4K wasn’t a consideration in this instance. We shot 2K for a 1080p full HD delivery for which the FS7 is perfect too.

The familiarity with the gear, its weight and menus hold a much bigger impact to me than some minor gains in the image processing of newer or more in-vogue gear.

The footage still grades gorgeously, especially if you look after the extremes on the waveform. Our grade was done by the brilliant Aidan Farrell at The Farm.

 What was your experience working with VMI?

I’ve worked with Stuart at VMI over many years and projects and I really respect their knowledge of the kit and the whole production process. For instance, if your first option isn’t available VMI are really quick to figure out the best solution. Plus, they are logistically-minded and aware of what it takes to do a job overseas. They know how to package really well and offer various shooting kits so that everything fits into the smallest number of boxes. That can make a massive difference on price when a production is paying for every kilo in air luggage. VMI understand the carnet process and select and pack the kit to minimise transport cost.

 

Huawei 5G Decision Prioritises Highway to Silicon UK

Streaming Media

The UK government has prioritised future infrastructure needs over security concerns in giving the greenlight to Huawei to bid for contracts to build the country's 5G network.

http://www.streamingmediaglobal.com/Articles/News/Featured-News/Huawei-5G-Decision-Prioritises-Highway-to-Silicon-UK-136253.aspx

On the eve of officially leaving the EU (Friday 31 January) and thus able to strike independent trade deals, the UK was cornered into choosing between the markets of China and the US.

Its decision to allow Huawei into non-core elements of the 5G network—mobile phone antennas and base stations—and to restrict its involvement there to 35% of the total is a compromise which will nonetheless please Beijing more than the White House.

From the new Boris Johnson-led Conservative government's point of view, however, it is making good on its pre-election promise to accelerate the country's investment in high-speed broadband.

If the UK wants to be a nationwide high-tech Silicon Valley by 2030 using 5G as the platform to build a post-Brexit digital economy, its government calculates that that this outweighs securing a quick or favourable trade deal with the US.

The decision goes against fierce lobbying from the Trump administration, which calls Huawei a national security threat and which blacklisted the Chinese tech firm last year.

Yet the UK already has significant Huawei technology (about 28% by some calculations) built into its nascent 5G network and the 3G and 4G networks that underpin it. A total ban would have required massive amounts of infrastructure to be torn out at eye-watering expense, and would have set the UK's 5G rollout back by years. 

"It was simply never a practical option to ban Huawei completely, but a restriction to non-core areas of the technology enables the UK to bow in part to the US' wishes," says Lucy Ingham, technology editor at data and analytics company Globaldata.

In its announcement today, the UK government designated Huawei a ‘high-risk vendor' and says it will be excluded from supplying kit to military bases and nuclear sites – although these are restrictions the company is already subject to. 

There is general acceptance that the Chinese-owned company does pose some risk, but the government has concluded that with tightened checks these can be mitigated.

"There is no hard evidence of any espionage using Huawei technology, globally," says Malcolm Taylor, director of cyber advisory at ITC Secure and former intelligence officer for GCHQ, quoted by GlobalData. "The UK's security apparatus believes the risk can be managed. What more do we need?" 

The UK decision has global significance. Germany, New Zealand, and other countries are going through similar debates. Like the UK, they would like to use Huawei because it is cheap and the acknowledged technology leader, but fear the security risks and the wrath of the US.

"Few others though have the technical experience of monitoring Huawei that the UK has built up," observes Gordon Corera, the BBC's security correspondent, in a blog post:

Some people ask how we have got to a position where we are needing to even consider using Chinese technology.
The answer is because Western countries failed to think strategically about protecting or nurturing their own full spectrum telecoms industry over the last two decades.
Companies went bust or were taken over. Meanwhile Beijing pursued a focused long-term strategy to become a leader in the technology.

Naturally, Huawei welcomed the decision. Vice president Victor Zhang said, "This evidence-based decision will result in a more advanced, more secure, and more cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future. It gives the UK access to world-leading technology and ensures a competitive market."

Its decision will be scrutinised in years to come. The opposition Labour party suggest that the government refused to take the UK's technological sovereignty seriously and failed to invest in home-grown alternatives to Huawei—without specifying what those home-grown alternatives might be. 

Swedish supplier Ericsson, for example, has 5G equipment contracts with O2 and Vodafone in the UK. 

Yet its 5G technologies, and those of rival Nokia, are considered either more expensive or less advanced than Huawei's, or both.

Further questions about the UK strategy remain: According to The Guardian, Labour culture secretary Tracy Brabin, for instance, issued a statement demanding of the government: "It must now give specific reassurances to workers and businesses that a 35% market cap will not stop 5G becoming widely available by 2027, as planned-and that it will support communities whose access to 5G will be delayed by this decision."

Right wing British commentator Charles Moore wrote feverishly in the Daily Telegraph that "the Huawei virus will infect us much more widely and far longer [than the Coronavirus]."

US condemnation was swift. Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas, tweeted that the decision was like 'allowing the KGB to build its telephone network during the Cold War.'

Nonetheless, with Sec. of State Mike Pompeo expected for a pre-arranged visit to Downing Street tomorrow, the UK government would have been damned whichever way it went and can be applauded for standing up to perceived bullying from the White House.

In The Clouds: George Steel on The Aeronauts

British Cinematographer

Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, co-stars of The Theory of Everything, were reunited for director Tom Harper’s adventure-drama The Aeronauts, about a historic balloon expedition in 1862.

https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/george-steel-the-aeronauts/

Briskly told in something very close to real time, this Amazon escapade, scheduled for theatrical and streaming release, is a bracing tale of scientific and personal endeavour.

Headstrong scientist James Glaisher and wealthy young widow Amelia Wren mount a pioneering balloon expedition to fly higher than anyone in history. As their perilous ascent reduces their chances of survival, the unlikely duo soon discover things about themselves – and one another – that help both of them find their place in the world.

“The initial excitement of telling the story quickly turned to ‘how the heck are we going to do that?’” recalls the show’s cinematographer George Steel. “The film is set in a balloon at 35,000 feet. That was a challenge.”

Steel is a frequent collaborator with Harper on shows such as the BBC TV drama War and Peace and Peaky Blinders, as well as the feature Wild Rose. The filmmakers chose Red’s DSMC2 camera with the Monstro sensor to capture all the high-flying action.

“Tom (who co-wrote the script with Jack Thorne) was adamant he didn’t want it to be as fantastical as Around The World In 80 Days, particularly with a flashback structure where we needed to understand the period context for the flight,” notes the cinematographer.

To ground the account in the realm of reality, rather than fairy-tale, the filmmakers considered shooting on a glacier at the top of a mountain. “We would have hung the balloon on a crane,” explains Steel. “It’s very hard to replicate altitude and the outdoors in a studio, but when we found out we had ten weeks for principal photography, we went back to the drawing board.”

A lengthy pre-production period involved all hands on deck, including the first AD, the production design, VFX and special FX teams, as well as the director and cinematographer. “It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my filmmaking career,” Steel says. “Everyone was working out how we were going to do this.”

He adds, “We wanted to hold on to the notion of shooting as much in-camera as we could. With the amount of VFX, we were wary of making the look too modern, which wouldn’t sell the time period. It was a juggling act between fantasy and documentary.”

Accordingly, production itself had one foot in the air and one on terra firma. They built a life-size replica of the original hydrogen balloon and flew it with Redmayne and Jones aboard (along with a stunt co-ordinator and pilot) from an Oxfordshire airfield to capture air-to-air pictures from a helicopter.

In the film, one shot from the helicopter (filmed by Flying Pictures’ cinematographer Adam Dale, piloted by Marc Wolff) depicts the characters in the wicker basket as a VFX shot of 1862 London unfolds beneath them.

For the balloon’s take-off from the perspective of its basket – with Steel and the actors aboard – it was rigged to a crane and extended 200-feet into the air.

Then at West London’s LH2 Studios, on a 100 x 100ft bluescreen stage rigged for 360-degree shooting, the production’s main set was an 8 x 8ft basket that could be raised 35ft and lowered as the story went through different phases of flight. The basket was designed to tip and shake as the actors moved and their weight redistributed to mimic real motion.

“Sailing in a balloon is remarkably serene,” says Steel. “There’s such a smooth movement that we worried the VFX shots would look too clean.”

Attention to detail included the special effect of a cold box to chill the temperature just enough to capture the actor’s breath.

A complicated lighting set-up circled the basket rig for Steel to populate with a variety of light sources depending on the scene and enabling him to shoot from any angle.

“The main thing for us was light direction – where was it coming from, and how to match background plates that were yet to be built,” Steel notes. “Our camera view was such that as the balloon rises higher, the light becomes harder, so we had to use a number of different types of fixtures.”

Steel constructed a chart of colour temperatures and softness for fixtures including SkyPanel LEDs, and HMI and Tungsten Molebeams, and an LRX remote head.

“In theory we journey from multiple light sources to a singular source while also accounting for time of day,” he continues. “We start with softer colours – light blues. Then we breach clouds and enter storms. As you rise higher, the light pollution lessens and the light is harder, like looking out of a plane window. Then we’re high above the clouds at the top of the world where light has a space-like quality. Lastly, we reverse that for the descent.”

Working from VFX plates shot of skies in New Orleans and South Africa, lead VFX vendor Framestore created a visualisation of the skyscape. Using an iPad, Steel could pan 360-degrees around the studio and see the comped-in backgrounds animated on the bluescreen in real time. “That was incredibly useful,” he notes. “We knew, for example, that when we’re at a certain point, the sun is in a certain position, and when we’re about to enter a cloud, the colour temp needed to be ‘X.’”

Different climatic conditions mean different light settings, but doing that with HMI means loss of colour temperature with every change. “Panalux came up with an ingenious box that we could place in front of the light and fill with smoke,” Steel relates. “As we filled it, the light changed and it felt like you were going into a cloud. You could almost see the edge of the cloud on the actor’s face. We also experimented with different colours of smoke, for instance, to convey a snowstorm.

“That homemade Heath Robinson-style invention is what I love about moviemaking. The whole thing is a grand illusion.”

Aerial tests from the balloon helped Steel determine his lens, camera package and shooting style. Steel shot in 8K RecCode RAW compressed at 7:1. The Red’s compact body helped with the need to go handheld in the confines of the basket with the actors.

“I actually think it is the camera Red has gotten right,” Steel observes. “The full-frame sensor really captures colour in clarity and detail, and its ability to capture skin tone is extraordinary. We tested alongside other digital cameras and 35mm film and it was the format that, when we put it to a blind test, people reacted most favourably to.”

Clean air images in the skies contrasted with the dirtier environs of period London. “Here, we softened the image with a bit of grain, and I used diffusion to take the edge off the image,” he notes.

During tests in the balloon, Steel discovered something odd about depth-of-field. “It’s almost unnatural how the focus falls off when 3,000 feet in the air. We found that a base of about 5 to 6 stops enabled us to shoot close-up and have enough fall off to see the background.”

Scenes in the basket were predominantly on 24mm glass, with some scenes utilising a super-wide 14mm lens. He tried Leitz and a set of Zeiss glass before settling on Panavision Primo 70s.

“The Primos give a very sharp but not too harsh picture,” Steel remarks. “The fall-off from focus is gentle and smooth, and had that slightly 3D feeling. More importantly, our focus pullers liked them.”

The decision to shoot spherical with Anamorphic Panavision G Series lenses on the flashbacks was made early-on, since a version of the film being made for IMAX in territories such as the UK has a dual aspect ratio. These scenes start 2.39:1 and open to 1.85:1 as the balloon rises into the sky’s wider vistas.

Steel designed just one LUT, which DIT Tom Gough would run through Pomfort's LiveGrade to manage the colour workflow on-set. “With 666 VFX shots, the files would be transformed and converted multiple times from RAW to EXR, so we wanted to keep the procedure as simple as possible,” says Steel.

On seeing a screening of the film, Steel concludes, “When I watched the finished picture, I found myself carried away by the story and at moments wondering how that was ever possible. It was amazing. I felt like I was in the clouds.”