| | April -20198IP technology in sports broadcast is increasing its stature in playing game-changing role in sports broadcast technology. While the largest sports broadcasts have been placing a growing reliance on IP to enhance and grow, the smaller broadcasts are utilizing IP in creative ways to make production of their shows much more efficient.In terms of the technical facilities that are used for these shows, a sports television show has traditionally come with one or more expanding tractor-trailers packed with cameras, microphones, lenses and litany of other equipment. Along with that truck come the engineers­people who, years ago, were a special breed: master of the dark arts of baseband and analog; at the time, these people had a professional space to themselves fitting neither into the space of computer science nor conventional electrical engineering.Today, a newer television truck shares a more DNA of a data center or server farm than it does the television studio of old and the television engineers' skill set is more akin to someone who works in cutting edge IT. While IP in the world of broadcast was hard-fought at first: adoption was slow and cumbersome, and not without its failures, it has become the norm to meet today's production demands.We think of sports products as a pyramid: at the very tip of the pyramid are top-tier properties and jewel events such as, The World Series, NFL Playoffs, US Open, The Daytona 500, and so on. The middle tier is the regular season professional and Division I college sports. The wide base represents the myriad of scholastic (college and high school) and other smaller professional sports.As we look toward the top of our pyramid, IP has been used in recent years to enhance some of the largest of the shows done today. The growth in the sheer number of cameras and By Michael Davies, SVP-Field & Technical Operations, FOX Sports Media GroupThe Digital and IP Rise and Reign Over Sports BroadcastMichael DaviesIN MY OPINION
< Page 7 | Page 9 >