How dynamic scaling can transform live sports broadcast

Sports organizations face a complex landscape driven by increased viewer choice, diverse expectations, and market expansion into untapped regions. Optimizing sports distribution needs real-time responsiveness, which relies on highly adaptable technical infrastructure.

Traditional delivery methods such as satellite still provide reliable, high-quality coverage over a broad footprint. Yet the associated costs have pushed the industry to explore alternative solutions. By integrating modern IP workflows with existing systems, broadcasters can create a hybrid environment, blending the strengths of satellite with the flexibility of IP-based technologies for optimal results.

Broadcasting in the era of disruptive technology

When things change fast, orchestration is a critical component to manage the complexities of large-scale event delivery, in real-time. With broadcasters increasingly adopting remote production workflows, it enables users to manage content from different remote venues across multiple regions too.

The role of dynamic resource allocation

Live sports broadcasting is uniquely high-stakes, requiring infrastructure that can handle multiple high-definition feeds, real-time replays, and alternate camera angles. Scaling to meet demand often involves managing significant bandwidth requirements and ensuring redundancy.

Dynamic resource allocation through orchestration tools, enables broadcasters to optimize resource use while maintaining reliability. With scalable cloud-based solutions, broadcasters can manage large volumes of content and adjust to fluctuations in demand. For example, a cloud-native architecture enables the seamless routing of live feeds through scalable, global distribution networks. These workflows offer the ability to accommodate more feeds and viewers as required.

In practice, this means broadcasters can support complex setups involving 4K or even 8K video feeds without introducing latency or compromising quality. By leveraging redundant internet connections and advanced error-correction protocols such as SRT or RIST, broadcasters can minimize packet loss and ensure consistent performance.

Scaling across global audiences

Cloud scalability is particularly transformative for events with international audiences. The right software-defined video network (SDVN) technology enables broadcasters to distribute feeds in multiple formats to diverse regions. Orchestration tools can increase resource allocation to handle additional global demand, and then scale down afterwards to control costs.

The advanced elastic scaling within GlobalM allows broadcasters to quickly provision additional cloud resources for high-demand events, such as multi-sport tournaments. Dynamic orchestration tools further streamline the process by automating resource allocation, reducing the operational complexity of scaling IP contribution and distribution across different regions.

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Enhancing viewer experience through orchestration

Orchestration plays a critical role in modern sports broadcasting by managing the complex workflows required for live event delivery. They allow broadcasters to efficiently manage tasks such as encoding, processing, and delivery, ensuring operational efficiency even under fluctuating demand.

For instance, real-time orchestration can dynamically adjust the type of service a resource provides, such as switching between receiving, transcoding, or sending streams. This adaptability allows for seamless content delivery across multiple regions and platforms, all without impacting the quality of service.

By leveraging cloud-based or hybrid workflows, broadcasters can also achieve sub-second latency, which is crucial for real-time engagement, such as live betting or interactive viewing features. Advanced routing, error correction, and redundancy mechanisms ensure uninterrupted delivery even during critical moments.

Tailored distribution for diverse needs

One of the key advantages of modern orchestration tools is their ability to customize content for specific platforms or audiences. High-definition feeds can be transcoded to lower resolutions for mobile device delivery or adjusted to meet the requirements of different regions.

This adaptability starts further up the chain with point-to-multipoint distribution, where feeds are simultaneously tailored for multiple customers with varying specifications. For example, one customer may require a 1080p VBR feed, while another may need a 1080i CBR feed. These adjustments can be made dynamically, ensuring consistency across all endpoints. This flexibility is particularly beneficial when broadcasters need to accommodate last-minute changes, such as adding new rights holders or expanding coverage for high-profile events.

As the sports broadcasting industry evolves, rights holders are under pressure to deliver more content to more platforms while keeping costs manageable. Cloud-native workflows, combined with robust orchestration, help broadcasters to bypass expensive physical infrastructure, enabling faster, more flexible deployments. Hybrid workflows offer other cost advantages by leveraging local resources for routine operations and cloud resources during peak times.

An orchestrated path forward

The demands of live sports broadcasting are driving innovation across the industry. Dynamic scaling through advanced orchestration not only addresses operational challenges but also enhances the viewer experience, making content more accessible, engaging, and reliable.

As audiences continue to grow and diversify, the ability to scale seamlessly, adapt to fluctuating demand, and optimize costs will remain critical. By embracing these technologies, broadcasters can ensure that live sports events reach their full potential, meeting the needs of fans worldwide.

Paul Calleja, GlobalMPaul Calleja graduated from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology with a diploma of Audiovisual systems in 2003. Upon graduation, he worked in outside broadcast and at Sky Channel Australia as an engineer. In 2005, Paul relocated to the UK and after briefly working on contracts with Ascent Media and Technicolor Network Services in systems engineering roles. Paul joined the BBC in 2006 working as a senior broadcast systems engineer at BBC Television Center London. In 2008, he joined the EBU, designing and project managing many different technical projects, for both sports and news applications. In 2019, he took the role as CTO of GlobalM and became CEO in September 2023.