It was surprisingly quiet around Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg when TechCentral arrived five hours before kick-off of the Rugby Championship clash between the Springboks and their old rivals, the All Blacks, on 31 August.
We were there not so much to watch the clash between the two titans of world rugby – although we did manage to catch the game – but rather to get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at what’s involved in broadcasting a major international sporting event on South African soil.
With a match start time of 5pm, TechCentral arrived at the 63 000-capacity stadium early to visit to IP1, MultiChoice Group-owned SuperSport’s new flagship outside broadcast truck – and to engage with people who operate the technological marvel on wheels on match day.
The truck – SuperSport declined to say how much it cost, though the figure we heard informally was eyewatering – is capable of delivering 4K video feeds of major matches around the world. The truck, informally (and fondly) nicknamed the Queen by SuperSport employees – is the star in the fleet, kitted out with the very latest in modern broadcasting gear.
The entire truck was designed and built to SuperSport engineers’ spec in Germany.
When TechCentral arrived at the stadium, there was already a hive of activity in the stadium precinct’s south-western corner where IP1 and an SABC outside broadcast truck – the public broadcaster had reached a deal to sublicense the game from MultiChoice given its historical significance – were stationed for the match.
On big match days – like the Boks vs All Blacks game – SuperSport has about 100 staff present at the stadium, with another 30 or so at the studio in Randburg. Smaller matches have about 40 SuperSport staff at the stadium and, if required, around 25 people in Randburg.
The broadcaster has eight outside broadcast trucks in its fleet, which – depending on the location of matches – can handle between 10 and 12 productions per weekend. SuperSport uses its outside broadcast trucks for about 680 productions every year.
Key facts about the flagship IP1 outside broadcast truck include:
- Timeline to build was 15 months;
- The system integrator was Broadcast Solutions of Germany, with the coach build by Hoffmann Germany;
- It lays the foundation for 4K/UHD and IP (internet protocol)-based workflows at SuperSport;
- It supports native UHD 3 840x 2160p internal workflows;
- It features 24x Sony native UHD cameras – 16x standard frame rate, 4x super-slows, 2x ultra-motions and 2x RF UHD cameras;
- 4x robotic cameras, 8x replay servers (wired for 10), 2x audio mixer consoles (introduced for multiple language mixing) are also part of the truck’s design;
- Video/audio formats supported are 4K/UHD and Dolby Atmos/Dolby 5.1
- The truck supports voltage of 240/415V and is fitted with dual-input three-phase 150A Marechal (5-pin) connectors and 8kVA UPS
- About 70sq m of operational workspace;
- About 35t in gross vehicle mass;
- 30 workstations for SuperSport staff inside the vehicle; and
- The truck is the first in Africa (at this magnitude of technical build) to accomplish a fully functional IP ST21110 NMOS-capable facility, which boasts an Arista monolithic architecture workflow at its heart.
TechCentral was given a detailed tour of IP1 by Palesa Selepe, manager of engineering operations (outside broadcast) at SuperSport. In the video, Selepe takes viewers through every aspect of the outside broadcast truck, from audio and video management to how the broadcaster uses a drone on match days.
We also witnessed the “go-live” – the start of the match day build-up broadcast on SuperSport — and concluded our visit with an interview with SuperSport CEO Rendani Ramovha.
For the record, South Africa beat New Zealand 31-27 in one of the all-time great encounters between the two proud rugby-playing nations. Enjoy the behind-the-scenes look (watch the video above) at what was involved in bringing the epic clash to South African audiences and to viewers around the world. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
Get breaking news from TechCentral on WhatsApp. Sign up here.
