IBC 2017: A Media Blueprint for the Intersection of Sports and the Transition to IP

Written by Joey Bischof, Sales Lead – Sports Broadcaster & Leagues

Sports: Few (if any!) other categories of live entertainment garner as much “return on emotion,” to borrow a clever phrase coined by my colleagues over at EVS. And they’re right. Consider this: Sports is the least time-shifted genre of TV. According to research from TiVo (Tivo Research, 4Q 2015), less than 18% of viewers go back to watch a recording of a sporting event. That’s opposed to the 72% who go back to watch shows they’ve recorded in the “drama” category.

In other words, nothing says “viewer engagement” more than dropping everything, just to see a game “live.”

Sports, is (pardon all puns) sprinting ahead in the all-IP transition that we see so many media and entertainment companies considering. Why, because sports drives the majority of pay TV value, and it constantly pushes the edge of technology. Sports, perhaps not surprisingly, is driving the shift to 4K — in cameras, infrastructure, and the TV sets themselves. It led the linear category in the shift to multi-screen viewing. From teams to clubs to leagues to stadiums, it’s all about creating the best possible fan experience.

Sports will be a major component of the demonstrations you’re likely to see this week at IBC — our stand #1.A71 included. We’ll be showcasing a sports-heavy sampling of our overall Media Blueprint, with our friends at EVS. Our intent is to combine the state of the art, in our respective wheelhouses, so that sporting content providers (networks, clubs, franchises, etc.) can do things like:

Seamlessly send custom video content (live and replay) to giant scoreboards, digital signs, and the mobile gadgetry of the fans

Keep fans more engaged with what’s happening, whether or not they’re actually at a particular game

Increase fan retention and build new sources of revenue

Press a button to fast forward on live TV, to know who scores next (ok, ok, just kidding on that one.)

All of this is happening, perhaps not surprisingly, with an “ecosystem” / partner-fueled mentality, which is important to all of our customers (sports aficionados and otherwise.)

The goal is to help media and entertainment companies in Sports with the build-out of an IP fabric, with next-generation data centers that manage workflows a lot more easily, and across larger areas — in a self-sustaining way that gives them “control over their own destiny,” while lowering operational expenses.

In a way, it’s sort of a “Sports Media Blueprint” — a mission-specific microcosm of our overall Media Blueprint. Because the sports vertical is changing just as much, and as fast, as it is for broadcasters and content providers. The transition is just as impactful.

That’s a long way of saying — there’s a huge amount of action happening at the intersection of “sports,” in general, and the IP transition. Plus, because it’s sports, it makes for some cool demos. Why not stop by and take a look at how it’s all coming together?