BT Utilizes Nevion Media Gateways, Monitoring Probes to Deliver ICC Cricket World Cup in 4K

BT Media & Broadcast used Nevion’s media gateways and monitoring probes to deliver to Star Sports India live 4K UHD coverage of the ICC Cricket World Cup that took place in Australia from February 15th to March 29th 2015.

BT Media & Broadcast was chosen by Star Sports India to provide the complete 4K UHD production and transmission solution to their Direct to Home (DTH) playout affiliates in India for the first ever broadcast of live cricket in 4K UHD in the world. Cricket is a hugely popular sport, with a billion viewers estimated to have tuned-in worldwide when India played Pakistan in Adelaide on 15 February 2015, according to CNN.

BT Media & Broadcast used Nevion’s VS902 media gateways to provide IP encapsulation of the compressed 4K UHD signal and protection for the global transmission to three affiliate DTH sites in New Delhi and Star’s HQ in Mumbai. BT Media & Broadcast also used Nevion’s FCS1000 Plus to perform proactive network and remote 4K UHD signal monitoring in BT Tower in London, UK.

“This is a very high profile project, with many eyes watching”, says Jonathan Wing, Global Sales Directorat BT Media & Broadcast. “We have been working with Nevion for many years so we knew we could trust the technology to deliver this world first.”

“Many people talk about live 4K UHD coverage, but few are actually doing it”, says Nick Pywell, VP sales UK and MEA at Nevion. “This project shows that, with the right equipment and know-how, it is possible to take live sports events filmed in 4K UHD on one continent and transport them over IP to passionate fans on another continent, while monitoring the signals from even further away on a completely different continent!”

BT Media & Broadcast and Nevion will be speaking at NAB 2015 in Las Vegas, addressing “IP’s Next Leap – The Modern IP Contribution Network”, in the Broadcast IT Infrastructure session, Tuesday, April 14, 2015, 9am.