- “RTL Aktuell” broadcasts live from the Allianz Arena via 5G
- Successful live TV test from the fanzone in Cologne in collaboration with Sony
Not only did the German team get off to a dream start to their preparations for the 2024 European Championships on Friday, but Deutsche Telekom’s 5G business customer solutions also managed to impress with their performance. RTL Germany and n-tv’s coverage of the opening match in Munich was enriched with live broadcasts by reporters over Deutsche Telekom’s 5G network. Friday evening’s European Championship matches offered a wide range of possibilities for the use of innovative network solutions, enabling a variety of live broadcasts. These include Deutsche Telekom’s 5G Campus network, installed specifically for RTL, which was put into operation a few days ago.
In addition, the media company has been using a “live video production” product since last year, which is also transmitted over Deutsche Telekom’s 5G Standalone (SA) network. For live video production, 5G SA is available throughout Germany. Journalists reported live in front of and from the Allianz Arena in the highest quality of image and sound for n-tv’s news programs and RTL’s flagship news program “RTL Aktuell”. Live video production is now regularly used in RTL/n-tv’s coverage and is booked almost every day during the European Championships.
Successful premiere for RTL, Sony and Deutsche Telekom
Right next to the RTL Media Centre in Cologne is one of the official public viewing locations for the European Championships. Thanks to its direct proximity to the transmitters, namely the Deutsche Telekom Campus network, live reports from the Fan Zone can be transmitted from the location via 5G. What’s special about this setup is that it uses a new camera system from Sony and Sony Group company Nevion, which is part of the Networked Live ecosystem.
In summary, the system received 5G signals directly via the integrated SIM card and could transmit images in real time to the studio without any additional mobile solutions. This enabled high-quality live connections for reporters in the public viewing zone. The 5G campus network provided the basis for multiple parallel data streams with very high bandwidth. Again, several live broadcasts of n-tv news and pre-match reports for MagentaTV took place here.
Sony camera test details
Armed with two mobile 5G cameras, the RTL team has been working in a public viewing spot in Cologne over the past few days, where they tested four different functions, all of which worked fine over a 5G connection.
- Ultra-low latency live video production
- Audio intercom for direct communication between control room, camera operator and interviewer.
- It returns video to show the camera operator or interviewer in real time what is currently being broadcast.
- Remote Camera Control allows you to control various camera parameters remotely from the control room.
The test used two Sony FX6 cameras, each connected to a CBK-RPU7 HEVC 4K/HD remote production unit for ultra-low latency HEVC video encoding. The encoded output was connected to the 5G campus network in the 3.7-3.8 GHz frequency range via Sony’s PDT-FP1 portable data transmitter and decoded by the NXL-ME80 processor. RTL’s existing Nevion VideoIPath SDN control software system was used to distribute the images and audio received over the 5G network to RTL’s SMPTE ST 2110-based IP production infrastructure. To ensure high quality sound, Sony’s UWP-D series wireless microphones and receivers were used.
