OUTSIDE BROADCAST

OB satellite uplinks – there is light on the horizon!

Over the past few years, we have seen pretty big technology changes in the media entertainment industry, especially in the outside broadcast (OB) landscape. With this evolution has come a great deal of technological innovation based around IP delivery and increased wireless connectivity – technologies that have changed the face of contribution, which has previously always been reliant on satellite uplinks for connectivity. Some might say that the use of satellite up and down links within the outside broadcast environment has had its day… or has it?

South African-born space entrepreneur, Elon Musk, is busy developing his Starlink project, a network of nearly 12,000 internet satellites in orbit that could provide live up and down link connectivity for broadcasters, with little or no latency. OB is one area in the broadcast business which remains particularly challenging. We live in an ‘instant world’, which has grown an appetite for instant coverage of breaking news, live music events and, of course, our insatiable demand for live sport. For the old-school broadcaster, competition has become quite fierce as technology and the cost barriers to entry have reduced, making it simple for anyone to stream live content at the touch of the button.

Monetisation is also at play here. Broadcasters have to up the ante and offer better quality and wider choices, otherwise consumers will simply go elsewhere. There are loads of examples in the broadcast business where monetisation is impacting their models. The outside broadcast industry is one that is seeing that impact, with many vans now staffed by a small group of staff who have to operate all the equipment, do all the filming, editing and contribution, etc. themselves. This is putting added pressure on those people at the helm and making production more challenging to uplink the content to the right place in a timely matter.

Traditionally, most OB trucks were built with satellite antenna dishes as standard – but, with other ways to get the feed from the field back to the broadcast centre effectively, has the satellite uplink become obsolete? Satellite does come with a number of challenges, especially when faced with reduced crews: without skilled satellite operators on site, it is all too easy to misalign the antenna, which

can lead to a degradation of the feed or even a total loss of signal, and so one of the biggest challenges for OBs is getting consistent quality throughout the process. Many of the challenges of satellite have been solved with better technology – auto-pointing antennas and amplifiers make accuracy easy, and there is no longer such a pressing need for trained staff to operate equipment in the field.

The advantage of satellites is that they offer coverage virtually anywhere in the world. You don’t have to rely on existing infrastructure to ensure a feed and no additional preparation is needed – something crucial in a time-critical industry like news, for example. As anyone operating in the OB space knows, existing ground data infrastructure is often problematic, either because it is totally lacking, or because all the local data bandwidth is being used by other operators. When it comes to breaking news, like coverage of disasters, for example, any existing connection infrastructure is likely to have been damaged or destroyed. In these cases, satellite is the only way to get a quick, reliable connection out. Its reliability and efficiency remain unrivalled.

However, latency has always been an issue with satellite links: the delays creating awkward moments between host and presenter on live crossings, for example. New satellite technology such as Space-X’s Starlink programme could well assist the OB industries traditional link and contribution issues. Starlink, once complete, would consist of nearly 12,000 satellites, blanketing the Earth with high-speed, low-latency and affordable internet access, as well as a possible connection hub for users like broadcasters. That’s more than six times the number of all operational spacecraft

“The advantage of satellites is that they offer coverage virtually anywhere in the world. You don’t have to rely on existing infrastructure to ensure a feed and no additional preparation is needed – something crucial in a time-critical industry like news, for example.”

now in orbit. Each Starlink satellite can handle eleven hundred 4K streams simultaneously and the goal is to finish the project in 2027.

The problem with data beamed over existing satellites is that it suffers from lag. That’s because nearly all those spacecraft orbit some 35,000 kilometres from the surface, in a geostationary location above the Earth. That’s enough distance to cause a more than half-second of lag in audio, and even more in video data. The Starlink satellites will sit at an altitude of about 550 kilometres, which is about 65 times closer to Earth than geostationary satellites — and therefore has far less lag. Each final Starlink spacecraft will link to at least four others using lasers, so that they can beam data over Earth’s surface at nearly the speed of light, thus bypassing the limitations of fibre-optics.

Half of the maximum 4,400 low-Earth orbit satellites are supposed to be deployed by 2024, and the full constellation by 2027. SpaceX is not stopping with 4,400 satellites in low-Earth orbit. It also plans to roll out 7,500 satellites in very-low-Earth orbits, or about 338 kilometres in altitude, providing another blanket of ultra-fast up and down link capabilities.

The global economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are taking shape, as markets tumble and countries take emergency actions to respond. As global habits change to adapt to the new realities of the outbreak, consumer spending is also likely to fall, and the impacts could have far-reaching effects on the media, sports and entertainment industries. The outside broadcast sector is perhaps set to be hardest hit, with mass cancellations or postponements of major sporting events worldwide. I’m not sure how we will survive without the Super Rugby over the next few months, but we all know that, in time, the industry will bounce back, and everything will get back to normal. In the meantime, just sit back and relax – do a bit of stargazing and watch Elon Musk’s satellites pass by as the Starlink network evolves before your eyes.

– Ian Dormer