Broadcast News

Bookmark and Share
28/11/2018

CP Communications And Red House Streaming Attend New York City Marathon

News Image
CP Communications and its recently launched Red House Streaming business unit took to the streets of New York City on 04 November to manage end-to-end content acquisition for the TCS New York City Marathon.

The crew achieved 100 percent video and audio coverage of the men's and women's races across all five boroughs, unleashing a comprehensive IP and bonded cellular network across the 26.2-mile race course for the first time.

The IP content acquisition strategy utilized four Smart® cars, four motorcycles, and other special motorized systems (including two POV wheelchairs) outfitted with cameras and Mobile Viewpoint bonded cellular solutions. These were all networked for transport to CP Communications’ flagship HD-21 RF truck. All signals were received and processed on HD-21 before being passed to the NEP ESU broadcast trucks at the finish line, which produced world feed uplinks as well as local and national television feeds.

Now in its 48th year, the TCS New York City Marathon is considered the largest marathon in the world, with more than 50,000 participants in this year’s race. Starting in Staten Island, the racers wound their way through Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx before finishing in Manhattan at the southern edge of Central Park.

According to CP Communications CEO Kurt Heitmann, his team took into consideration areas with cellular coverage challenges along the course, particularly where large spectator crowds could potentially overtax cellular networks. In addition to areas near the crowded starting line, cellular coverage was expected to be challenging along the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge heading into Brooklyn. These required careful attention to ensure no video and audio signals were lost.

"The core of our operation comprised three main sites; at the starting line in Bay Ridge, near the Millennium Hotel in Manhattan and at the finish line. In addition we had three highly robust unilateral IP streaming sites in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan. We utilized nearly 600 unique IP addresses from Brooklyn through the Bronx coupled with a MIMO mesh network across the Verrazano Bridge to backfeed internet to our Smart® cars and deliver intercom as well as other services," said Heitmann. "We added COFDM traditional microwave receivers to get the coverage we needed off of the bridge, due to the limited cellular coverage, and deployed COFDM near the finish line for the same reason. That safeguarded our operation for the first and last mile of the race, in the event that limited cellular coverage caused the signals to drop.

"We were extremely pleased that the strength of the network architecture allowed us to stay purely in IP through to the finish line after crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge," he continued. "In the end, we carried bi-directional video and bi-directional audio from 11 cameras and 240 intercom ports over IP and bonded cellular, with Mobile Viewpoint solutions providing the robust compression we needed to optimize bandwidth and deliver exceptional video quality. This was a first for the New York City Marathon, and a big step up from our past coverage strategies."
VMI.TV Ltd

Top Related Stories
Click here for the latest broadcast news stories.

02/10/2024
New QuickLink StudioPro™ Controller Control Panel To Launch At NAB New York
QuickLink is launching the new QuickLink StudioPro™ Controller control panel at NAB New York (Booth 1145). Also, at NAB New York, QuickLink will be de
26/09/2024
Marshall To Display Cutting-Edge Cameras At NAB New York
Marshall Electronics is to highlight a range of its cutting-edge cameras at NAB New York 2024 (Booth 1352). Marshall offers a wide selection of PTZ an
26/09/2024
Black Box® To Showcase Control Room Solutions At NAB New York
At NAB Show New York 2024, Black Box® is to showcase its cutting-edge control room solutions, featuring the Emerald® Unified KVM-over-IP product line
04/10/2024
Radio Alpha Newco Brasilia Selects AEQ FORUM IP Digital Console
Radio Alpha Newco Brasilia is a regional radio station with coverage in the capital area of the country, broadcasting from 89.9FM modern programming w
07/06/2024
Disguise Opens New Production Studio In New York City
Disguise has opened a new office in the heart of New York City. Featuring a state-of-the-art virtual production space with both LED and green screen s
10/09/2014
New TVU Pack To Feature Vislink Hybrid Microwave IP Technology
TVU Networks and Vislink are to launch a new TVUPack with Vislink’s integrated hybrid microwave IP technology. The jointly developed TVUPack is descri
25/01/2008
Prism Sound Supplies Software To Business Line Cellular Systems
Prism Sound has supplied a dScope Series III audio analyzer and VISIO adapter to Business Line Cellular Systems, a division of NXP Semiconductors. The
06/09/2018
Sony Expands Solution Capabilities To Unlock Full Potential Of IP
Sony has expanded the capabilities of its IP Live Production System solutions by announcing further support for SMPTE ST 2110 in both HD and 4K. "The
08/01/2020
Barix Launches IP Former
Barix has launched of IP Former, the company's newest innovation for adding IP networking capabilities to new or existing loudspeaker designs. Replaci
10/08/2018
AIMS Returning To IBC For IP Showcase
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) is returning to IBC this year to help host the IP Showcase. AIMS members are working toward standards-based
20/09/2024
Disguise Drives TUDN's Virtual Sports Coverage
Disguise, the leader in real-time production technology, along with services division Meptik, collaborated with Spanish-speaking sports network TUDN,
13/12/2021
CP Communications Provides Live Coverage Of The TCS New York City Marathon
CP Communications has successfully provided live coverage – featuring direct feeds of the professional athlete races – at the 50th running of the TCS
09/12/2019
CP Communications Manages End-To-End Content Acquisition
For the 25th year, CP Communications managed end-to-end content acquisition for the TCS New York City Marathon. Now in its 49th year, the TCS New York
16/07/2019
Embrionix To Exhibit SMPTE ST 2110 IP Conversion And Processing Solutions
Embrionix has announced it will feature its range of software-defined (SMPTE ST 2110) IP conversion and processing solutions geared toward simplifying
03/04/2014
Grass Valley Extends IP Portfolio At NAB
Newly-absorbed into the Belden Brand, Grass Valley is to expand its IP portfolio with the launch of the IRG-3401 IP Gateway module and Kaleido-IP X310