Juventus F.C. Broadcasts Live Football with Tieline ViA:
By Corrado Alvares, Technical Manager of Television and Digital Broadcast, Juventus Football Club
My name is Corrado Alvares and since 2016 I have held the position of technical manager of the Juventus football club’s television and digital broadcast structure.
Juventus Football Club uses the Tieline ViA codec for live or deferred commentary of Mens First Team Serie A and UEFA football matches, as well as Juventus F.C. Women’s First Team matches. The configuration we normally use includes a single commentator only, as we rarely have a guest as a second voice. For stadium ambient effects we arrange for the host broadcaster to provide a clean sound effects feed to attach to the stereo auxiliary input on the ViA. We mix the voice with the ambient effects in stereo that we receive separately. The host broadcaster also picks up the output of the ViA and multiplexes it with the video feed that we receive via EI Towers or satellite. In addition, we always use the file recording feature on the ViA as a backup of the commentary.
The most common IP connection we use is cellular data via a modem, with a LAN connection also used sometimes along with WiFi when available. When stadiums are crowded, working only with cellular SIM cards can be risky because of network congestion. Therefore, it is useful to have other stable IP connection options for connecting back to the studio.
We connect and stream audio using Opus encoding at the best quality possible. At the studio we connect to our Tieline Gateway 4 codec, which integrates with our Riedel intercom system and a Lawo audio console – all via Madi. When the ViA at a stadium connects to the studio it receives a mix-minus feed that we manage using Lawo mixer auxiliaries, and this feed includes all connected guests during the broadcast.
The system is stable and reliable with negligible latency and excellent audio codec quality. Our commentators find the ViA is very convenient and streamlined for commentary use. They are also very satisfied with the audio quality of the unit. Our engineers and announcers also find the ViA is very intuitive to use. It has good battery life and an excellent failsafe system which keeps the unit powered even if we lose external power.
In summary the ViA codec is perfect. It allows me to broadcast our football matches from anywhere on the planet that I have access to data coverage. The matrix editor provides the flexibility to configure routing based on technical needs and commentator requests. Plus, the Cloud Codec Controller is very useful for remote configuration of our codecs from anywhere.
Want to know more?
For more information on the Gateway 4, ViA and other Tieline codecs visit www.tieline.com/products or contact Tieline sales:
- For USA, Canada & Latin America contact: sales@tieline.com
- For Australia and International: info@tieline.com
(“Juventus Goes Live with ViA” first published in RedTech Magazine, July/August 2023)
