Attracting a record television audience from around the world for a women’s soccer tournament, the Women’s World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand in August was broadcast with the help of ViaLite RF over fibre technology. Broadcasters needed to relay the video streams from numerous wireless cameras and reliably backhaul all the content to OB trucks and production studios.
Independent broadcast support company Versatile Broadcast met this challenge by using ViaLite links to send the signals received by pitch-side antennas through to production studios using fibre-optic cable. The fast-moving action meant that the links had to be of the highest quality to handle the large amount of video generated. They also needed to be ultra-reliable for such a high-profile event.
Neil Shepherd, Managing Director of Versatile Broadcast, said: “ViaLite’s fibre kit is so simple to integrate in the equipment we provide for sporting events. Broadcasters find it easy to use and its reliability and dynamic range exceed our expectations. We plan on building more of these fibre systems to fulfil our broadcasters’ needs at future events.”
Amair Khan, Business Development Manager for ViaLite, commented: “This summer ViaLite has been extremely busy delivering RF over fibre solutions for broadcasters using wireless camera systems. Backhauling the video content is a demanding task, considering the amount of signals present in the 1 GHz bandwidth of our fibre links. With the Women’s World Cup, the challenge wasn’t just the amount of video and audio content but the number of broadcasters covering the event from all over the world.”
Versatile Broadcast used six Green OEM format ViaLite links. Their ultra-wide dynamic range enables indoor and outdoor broadcast operators to transport multiple RF feeds between cameras, wireless microphones and production communications. The use of fibre ensures signals are free from co-channel interference, as isolation using fibre is much better than with coaxial cable.
Versatile Broadcast supports many sporting events around the world from minor to major competitions, including Premiership and Championship football, cricket, boxing, snooker and horse racing.
England’s Lionesses reached the final round of the tournament in Sydney, where they lost 0-1 to Spain.
