SCA Deploys Tieline IP Codecs for Sports Remotes
The Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) radio network in Australia relies on Tieline IP codec technologies for live sports outside broadcasts and other live radio shows.
The transition from fixed line technologies like ISDN into the realm of IP deliver the ability to create radio programming more easily and much more affordably. Often in the past it was necessary to use outside broadcast trucks with link paths or fixed lines like ISDN to get signals back to a radio studio for a live broadcast. This was often expensive and time consuming to set up.
IP technology nowadays reliably transports audio over IP to studio locations with multiple layers of network and connection redundancy. It is now so reliable that it has completely revolutionised the way in which outside broadcasts are performed.
SCA AFL Football Coverage
SCA use Tieline codecs for a variety of sports outside broadcasts and sports related programming and other network radio shows. SCA have been utilising Tieline Merlin IP codecs for broadcasts at stadiums around Australia to cover AFL football, NRL and cricket matches for a number of years now. On the eve of the AFL Grand Final, SCA broadcasted the drive shift “Rush Hour” show for several hours using Tieline Merlin codecs attached Telstra LANES routers.
“The Rush Hour show was live onsite at Melbourne Public on South Wharf in the Docklands featuring announcers James Brayshaw and Billy Brownless, along with live music from The Living End, 300 guests in attendance, and live callers throughout the show,” said Andrea Cole, SCA’s Technical Production Manager. “The show was flawless live with no loss of connectivity or dropouts. Two stereo codecs were in use. One fed stereo program back to the studio, with a return mono mix minus feed for the announcers and a mono mix minus for the front of house PA. The second codec was used for producer communications between the studio and live venue.”
SCA’s codecs are configured to use Tieline’s SmartStream PLUS dual redundant streaming technology, which in real-time employs hitless packet switching for ultra-reliable IP streaming over redundant IP paths. Connections are delivered over the Telstra LANES cellular network, which is preferred as it is designed for mission critical connections due to its prioritised access to 4G and 5G data networks. Dual routers with SIM cards ensure divergent paths for additional redundancy in case of any packet loss.
On grand final day the codecs were used by SCA from 8am to 2pm at the AFL Live Site main stage opposite the MCG. Three shows were broadcast live in the lead-up to the grand final. “For the AFL Live Site setup we had 6 mics and headsets set up with wireless IEMs and I used Dan Dugan automixing features to optimise the clarity and volume in this outdoor environment,” said Andrea Cole, SCA’s Technical Production Manager.
Inside the stadium for the call of the grand final, and at other fixed stadium commentary positions around Australia, codecs are connected to DVN paths via media converters to Telstra fibre circuits, creating a reliable path from the stadium to the studio codec.
Tieline ViA Deployed Around Australia
Tieline ViA portable remote codecs are also deployed at football matches with sideline commentators for AFL matches in Hobart, Launceston and Cairns. The sideline commentator uses these portable codecs connected over Telstra LANES to report from the boundary line and can also interview players and officials after matches if required.
“When we use the ViA codec for our boundary rider reporting on AFL games we transmit the boundary mic back to the studio on the left channel and the right channel can send a local PA feed or umpire audio feed,” said Andrea. “The built-in matrix editor in the codec makes it very simple to customise the mix for any situation.”
ViA codecs are also used for other live programming such as the Fox breakfast show on 101.9 The Fox in Melbourne, whereby announcers can broadcast from within moving vehicles and provide a wide variety of engaging live entertainment by visiting venues and people around the city.
From a remote control perspective, SCA engineering staff, or the Network Operations Centre in Sydney, can remotely monitor, configure and manage all the network’s codec feeds and infrastructure using Tieline’s Cloud Codec Controller software.
How Has Tech Innovation Impacted Sports and Other Outside Broadcasts?
The latest broadcast codecs can also integrate with IP studio infrastructure with support for a number of IP protocols. For example, Tieline’s Gateway codecs can decode incoming IP audio streams and integrate them seamlessly into studio AoIP systems with support for AES67, ST 2110-30, ST 2022-10, as well as proprietary protocols including:
- Dante
- RAVENNA
- Livewire+
- WheatNet-IP
This means that networks that have different brands of AoIP system infrastructure installed across multiple broadcast plants, however they can standardise codec infrastructure as it supports multiple protocols.
Ultra reliable cellular technologies such as Telstra LANES provide a data path that is both affordable and reliable. Andrea Cole, SCA’s Technical Production Manager stated that “the ability to go to a stadium like the MCG with 100,000 people all using their phones and have no dropouts is incredible.” Newer technologies such as Starlink also provide affordable and reliable data connectivity options in rural and remote areas. There are very few limitations these days as to from where you can broadcast live.
Technologies such as Tieline’s SmartStream PLUS redundant streaming and Fuse-IP data bandwidth aggregation, as well as Forward Error Correction, automated adaptive jitter buffering and error correction, deliver the secret sauce in codecs to ensure reliable connection paths for mission critical broadcast transmissions. The ability to broadcast live reliably from anywhere has never been simpler.
Want to know more about Tieline products and software?
For more information on 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
(“SCA Deploys Tieline for Sports Remotes” first published in RedTech Magazine, May/June 2024)
