World Roller Games takes over Barcelona in remote production as 4,000 athletes take to their wheels

From skateboarding to scooters and speed events, the 2019 World Roller Games in Barcelona, Spain, took place with TVU Networks’ technologies underpinning the broadcast.

This year, The World Roller Games hosted 11 different disciplines including inline freestyle, rink hockey, roller derby, skateboarding and more. Over 4,000 athletes participated, representing 81 countries from all over the globe, while 140,000 visitors attended the 14 venues across Barcelona.

TVU Networks worked directly for the World Roller Games, supplying to the host broadcasters, TV3 and La Xarxa.

Efficient and reliable

The companies producing the World Roller Games were in search of an efficient and reliable way to broadcast from multiple remote locations throughout five cities. The organisers also wanted to find an innovative way to cover the diverse array of sports represented in the competition from the various types of venues in which the games would be held.

TVU Networks helped make the broadcast happen at the World Roller Games 2019

The producers of the event turned to TVU Networks. They deployed 14 TVU One transmitters, some of which were connected to OB vans at venues and the rest of which were mobile.

Feeds were synchronised using TVU Timelock and sent to the Technical Operations Centre, where producers could insert graphics, create highlights and then distribute streaming video worldwide with TVU Servers.

Synchronised signals were sent to La Xarxa for distribution using one TVU Remote Production System (RPS) unit. TVU also provided the World Roller Games with a full duplex VOIP channel which is integrated with all TVU One devices so that people at the venues could communicate with those in the Technical Operations Centre.

Speaking to SVG Europe, Yoni Tayar, marketing director at TVU Networks, said: “TVU Networks was in charge of providing the live feeds of the Word Roller Games directly to the Word Roller Games’ Technical Operation Centre. For distribution, World Roller Games used TVU Networks’ equipment (TVU RPS) to send six synchronized ‘fully produced’ feeds to La Xarxa, and La Xarxa then took their own solution to globally broadcast the games.

“As for TV3, they used their own equipment to receive the live feeds we made for the World Roller Games, as well as to distribute the feeds globally,” he noted.

Perfectly synchronised

On the challenges faced in helping the World Roller Games to broadcast globally, Tayar said: “Regarding the TVU solutions, the main challenge was to have all live feeds from different venues perfectly synchronised, including the score board that was used for the graphics (which we managed to do using TVU TimeLock, a software feature that synchronised our backpacks together). The second challenge was that all 14 packs (our TVU One Backpack,) were used not only for live video transmission, but also for video return and intercom.”

Commented Javier Grima, executive producer of the World Roller Games 2019: “TVU offered incredibly flexible solutions as well as a wide range of equipment to use for everything from transmission to remote production. We were able to capture, produce and distribute the live broadcast at a cheaper cost than traditional satellite and fibre solutions without sacrificing quality. The technology was so advanced that it made operations easier and more efficient than before.”

Despite less-than-ideal circumstances, TVU Networks’ tech worked well. The speed marathon final, which ran a course of 42,195 meters, was broadcast from the streets of Barcelona from a motorbike. TVU One was able to transmit high quality, low latency HD video while on the move over a significant distance for the complete duration of the race.

Additionally, the beachside location of the speed road competition track made it difficult to get a strong connection. Regardless, transmission from the site was smooth, with minimal sub-second delay.

“We’re honoured to have helped broadcast the 2019 World Roller Games,” said David Jorba, TVU Networks’ EVP, managing director of Europe. “The uninterrupted high quality coverage across the 14 different venues was further testament to the unparalleled performance of our solutions in challenging environments and network conditions.”

All TVU Networks solutions utilise HEVC/H.265 compression standard to optimise data use and generate less overhead, leading to lower operational costs while delivering even greater transmission reliability. TVU One’s award-winning mobile IP video transmitter allows up to 4K60fps HDR live transmissions at bit rates as low as 3Mbps. TVU Timelock and TVU RPS are a reference in the industry for remote, multi-camera production, offering unmatched synchronisation and wireless capabilities over a standard internet connection.