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TURIN, Italy — Juventus Football Club uses the Tieline ViA codec for live or deferred commentary of Juventus men’s and women’s Serie A and UEFA football matches. The configuration we normally use features a single commentator only, as we rarely have an analyst or “color” commentator for a second voice.
For ambient stadium effects, we arrange for the host broadcaster to provide a clean sound effects feed to attach to the stereo auxiliary input on the ViA. We mix the separate received voice and ambient effects in stereo. The host broadcaster also picks up the output of the ViA and multiplexes it with the video feed we receive via EI Towers or satellite. In addition, we always use the file recording feature on the ViA as a backup of the commentary.
Connections
The most common IP connection we use is cellular data via a modem, with a LAN connection and Wi-Fi when available. When stadiums are crowded, working only with cellular SIM cards can be risky because of network congestion. Therefore, it is useful to have other stable IP connection options for connecting back to the studio.
We connect and stream audio using Opus encoding at the best quality possible.
The ViA codec is perfect. It allows me to broadcast our football matches from anywhere on the planet where I have data coverage.
At the studio we connect to our Tieline Gateway 4 codec, which integrates with our Riedel intercom system and a Lawo audio console, all via MADI. When the ViA at a stadium connects to the studio, it receives a mix-minus feed that includes any and all connected guests during the broadcast, which we manage using Lawo mixer auxiliaries.
The system is stable and reliable, with negligible latency and excellent audio codec quality. Our commentators find the ViA very convenient and streamlined for commentary use. They are also very satisfied with the audio quality of the unit. Our engineers and announcers also find the ViA intuitive to use. It has good battery life and an excellent failsafe system that keeps the unit powered even if we lose external power.
The result
In summary, the ViA codec is perfect. It allows me to broadcast our football matches from anywhere on the planet where I have data coverage. The matrix editor provides the flexibility to configure routing based on technical needs and commentator requests. Plus, the Cloud Codec Controller is very useful for remotely configuring our codecs from anywhere.
The author is technical manager of television and digital broadcast for Juventus Football Club.
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