ip-sng based regional newsgathering in sweden two years ... years... · ip-sng based regional...

IP-SNG based regional newsgathering in SwedenTwo years M2sat SNGstreamer with SVT regional TV stations

File: Svt 2 years article_240810.doc © H.J.Urlings, 2010 www.m2sat.com1

IntroductionIn 2010 we find the broadcasting industry fully engaged in a transition stage where traditionalbroadcast technology is being complemented with new IP-based solutions. The installedMPEG-2 based broadcasting infrastructure is challenged by new ICT developments at everypart of the broadcasting chain from content acquisition and contribution up to distribution.Beside uncertainty about future technology standards this brings also opportunities.

One interesting area here is the satellite newsgathering area, where new IP-based technologyare taking regional and local TV stations and their news shows to a new level. This inparticular by easy to use live satellite newsgathering tools like IP-SNG that have becomeavailable to regional news producers and journalists over the last couple of years.

Was satellite newsgathering until recently affordable only for national or international events,developments in satellite, video and IP technology allowed a new generation of IP-SNG toemerge, like the M2sat SNGstreamer, bringing live newsgathering now within the reach ofevery regional and local level TV station.

One of the most compelling examples of IP-SNG use in Europe comes from Swedish SVTthat two years ago purchased a fleet of 6 IP-SNG vehicles for their chain of regional TV-stations. With this SVT took a leading position in Europe when it comes to using cost effectiveand state of the art IP-SNG systems for live news gathering for their regional TV station newsshows.

In this article were are going to look how the M2sat SNGstreamer IP-SNG system over thelast 2 years has revolutionizing the newsgathering process for the SVT local TV stations inSweden. The production of local TV programs for the regional TV stations of SVT changeddramatically as live video feeds from local news and event sites now have become commonplace, and are used on a daily basis making regional news shows vibrant with live news itemsand bring them close to the public.

Says Anders Höög (responsible for the introduction of the system): "It really changed the wayyou can be in a location, TV is now much more closer to the viewer then before, and this isalso good public relations for SVT. You have the SVT logo out that people recognize. Evenwith a relatively small event, SVT is there, broadcasting live."

SVT requirements two years ago where very challenging: they wanted not only an easy touse SNG system without making any compromises to video quality, they also wanted to maketheir (regional) TV news programs better and more lively with the system, and on top of that itneeded to be cost effective and able to drive own news show production costs.

Now, after two years, it seems time to explore if they managed to achieve their goals ofproducing high quality live regional news television in a cost effective way.



SVT IP-SNG newsgathering infrastructure

With the above goals in mind, SVT two years ago purchased and established a completenewsgathering infrastructure for its chain of regional TV channels. The complete networkconsists of six vehicle base IP-SNG systems and two down link stations in Karlstad andStockholm that are connected to the core SVT video network. The IP-SNG’s are in used toprovide live video links of regional news and events directly into the news programs of the 5regional TV stations on a daily basis, and when appropriate also into the national newsshows.

When we take a closer look at the two main components we see the following:

M2sat SNGstreamer IP-SNG uplink unit M2sat 2,4 mtr Downlink Antenna (Karlstad)

SVT uses standard vehicles to mount theSNGstreamer antenna. A separate flightcasecontains the satellite modem, MPEG-4encoder and control system. To cope with theweather conditions in Sweden SVT a simplebut effective antenna cover is applied.

The down link station is a receive onlysatellite system with antenna, demodulatorand video decoders that supports up to 8simultaneous connections from up linkvehicles. They are connected to the SVTinternal video network for distribution of thelive video feeds to SVT studio’s.

SVTSNGstreamer network

Mobile UplinkStations

Fixed

Downlink

Station

Karlstad

Fixed

Downlink

Station

Stockholm

SVTintranet

Mobile UplinkStations

TV-studio A TV-studio B TV-studio C TV-studio D

Sirius-4



How is the IP-SNG network used ?Since their deployment 2 years ago, the IP-SNG up link units are used on a nearly daily basisby the different regional news crews, feeding their live videos into the news shows of theregional TV stations but also regularly into national SVT news shows. Before the IP-SNGnetwork was introduced SVT was using an average of 1 hours of satellite transmissions perday using a traditional MPEG-2 based SNG van. End of 2009 the IP-SNG network was usedfor more the 750 live transmissions already with a typical use of 5 to 20 minutes per unit perday.

Typically a journalist and cameraman/woman news crew takes the uplink unit to the newslocation by car. They park the car making sure they have a line of sight to the south and setsthe system up by powering the unit. The satellite antenna then automatically finds thesatellite.They then call the studio to tell them they are ready and connect the camera. Afterconfirmation from the studio technician that the connection is established, they starts thecamera and the live video stream to the studio.

SVT IP-SNG ready for line upout in the field

SVT studio technician using theSNGstreamer control system for line up

Says Anders Höög, that was responsible for the introduction of the new system: “Crews areusing the mobile uplink system with great success streaming live into our news programs.Cameramen are very happy because of the new systems easy and fast operation. Even acameraman with no training got it running in less then 5 minutes! The remote control hasworked fine. Finding the satellite and doing the line up procedure is done in 10 minutes whichis really impressive. We are very happy with the performance.”

Between the different regional SVT stations we see also some variation in the use of the IP-SNG, in particular between urban and rural areas in Sweden. In urban areas we see moreshort transmissions of up to 5 minutes mostly come from a newsgathering type of use. TheIP-SNG is used here to quickly drive up to a breaking news location and cover the event livein the news. The ease of use and quick set up new IP-SNG system has dramaticallyincreased the “scoop” capacity of SVT, and it is now quite common that SVT is the first tocover news event.

From the rural areas in Sweden we see a bit longer transmissions as we see that the IP-SNGis used more for live coverage of regional events and festivals. In some cases the IP-SNGhas been set up by the regional TV station as a local production facility including camera,editing and uplink facilities at the event location from where they are able to provide live videocontributions to the different SVT regional and national TV shows covering the event.

Over the last two years and with more then 1000 deployments of the IP-SNG system, SVThas gained a vast experience with the system, and has turned it into a reliable and stablenewsgathering tool, where it is extremely rare for a planned live coverage to fail for technicalreasons. Proper training of the news gathering teams and a good preparation have turned outthe key to success here.



What impact does the system have on the TV programming?

SVT two years ago wanted a newsgathering system that was able to produce programs thatwere closer to the audience. TV audiences have become used to live news, e.g. by the use ofsatphones in the international news, and now expect the same from their national or regionalnews shows. With a regional TV station, people expect to recognize themselves in the news,and ideally see themselves, their family, friends or townspeople in there.So did SVT manage to get closer to the public with it’s new system as they intended to do?

What effect does the IP-SNG system have on SVT regional tv-programs?

• Live coverage brings more drama to the news item. SVT viewers show joy andexcitement when live news broadcasts are done directly from their (home) location. Newscrews are able to spent more time on producing a high quality content, selecting a goodlocation and rehearsing movements, and do not have to worry about the travelling fromthe news location back to the studio, like in the old days to bring back their video materialin time.

• More scoops is another main advantage of the system. Regional TV stations can nowreport breaking news stories with live TV reports. Says Anders Höög: "SVT newsexecutives found out that it takes only very little time to be at the news location. Thismeans SVT became the first to have the news. One of the first scoops that was madewith the system was an armed robbery back on the border to Norway, maybe 150 kmaway from the Karlstad IP-SNG base. It took the team 2 hours to be on the spot and thenwe started streaming, also down the web. We then were the first in Sweden to have livepictures. We were even earlier then Aftenblatt which is the largest newspaper in Sweden,that had no pictures at all. We had streaming video, even before they got still images ontheir web site."

• SVT is getting closer to the audience: viewers described more excitement for the regionalnews program when it is broadcasted directly from sites they recognize. The livetransmission also creates a curiosity and a sense that anything can happen. Says AndersHoog: "It really changed the way you can be in a location, TV is now much more closer tothe viewer then before, and this is also good public relations for SVT. You have the SVTlogo out that people recognize. Even with a relatively small event, SVT is there,broadcasting live."

• Introducing InteractivityFor it’s TV news feeds SVT was already using a hybrid distribution model both of TV andinternet for their programs. The IP-SNG video feeds are used live in the TV broadcast butare also put online and offering full interactivity to complement the TV transmissions.



The Impact at SVT GävledalaPerhaps the best way to demonstrate the impact of the IP-SNG is with the example of SVTGävledala.

- insert photo Niklas –

Says Niklas Lindh, editor and responsible for the IP-SNG unit: “Since SVT's regional newsstation Gävledala, about 200 km north of Stockholm got their uplink-car a lot has changed.The news program itself has evolved very much, both in terms of journalistic gravity, presenceand dramaturgy. Viewers reflect a tremendous joy and excitement when Gävledala broadcastdirectly from their location.

From the program point of view, viewers often describe more excitement in the regional newsprogram when it is broadcasted directly from sites that they recognize. At the same time itcreates a curiosity and a sense that anything can happen. Employees also expressed agreater work desire through the possibilities that the SNG provides. Although it is sometimesstressful the staff believes it is much more fun to work with the news production sinceGävledala got the satellite uplink.

Without a doubt, the SNGStreamer has been one of the most valuable tools for SVTGävledala over the years - both in terms of program quality, joy of work and appreciation fromthe audience.”

Production and financial aspectsIn parallel to SVT’s goal to increase the quality of their regional TV programs with the IP-SNG,another main goal was to drive down production costs for their regional TV news programs.The new system needed to be a more cost-effective production tool when compared with livestudio shows or the old way of working with the news crew driving to and from the newslocation, bringing the video material back to the studio and show the pre-recorded newsitems in the news show.

To meet this requirement the IP-SNG system was challenged in three areas: the investmentcost for the system, the operational costs and the satellite capacity needed to operate thesystem.

When looking at the investment costs we see that the IP-SNG is dramatically lower in pricethen traditional SNG solutions as it uses off-the-shelf VSAT equipment that has a much lowercots price. VSAT equipment has proven it’s reliability in industries like the oil industry, miningor the construction industry that rely on VSATs all over the world to provide them a reliablemeans of communication from their remote locations, but as it is produced in higher numberthe cost per unit is much lower then traditional broadcast equipment.With the level of use of the IP-SNG systems that SVT shows, the daily cost of the system,based on a write off of the investment costs, has gone down to a dramatic low level of lessthen Euro 100 per IP-SNG per day.

To drive down operational costs main challenge was to eliminate the need for a dedicatedsatcom engineer or operators both at the uplink unit at the news location or in the studio.Traditional MPEG-2 based SNG systems, like the Stockholm based SVT SNG, can beoperated only by a highly educated and specialized crew. For this one unit alone SVT has ateam of 4-5 SNG operator engineers standby.

To meet this challenge the M2sat SNGstreamer platform has an advanced control systemthat eliminates the need for additional satcom engineers. One part of the system is the use ofan auto pointing antenna in combination with a clever antenna pointing mechanism that can



be operated with a touch of a button. The control system enables full control not only over theRF transmission but also over the encoding platform. The operation of the IP-SNG down linksystem at the studio side is integrated in the work of the studio technician that now effectivelymanages the whole end-to-end video service, again eliminating the need for additional humanresources.

Bringing down satellite capacity costs was tackled by using a MPEG-4 encoding platform.This resulted in only half (or less) bandwidth costs for the IP-SNG when compared totraditional MPEG-2 based SNG’s as the encoding is done more efficient and requires onlyhalf the bandwidth or less. Using MPEG-4 encoding with a 4,5 Mhz satellite slot results inbroadcast quality video, but also 2,5 Mhz slots result in a very good video quality. By thissatellite costs were effectively half of those of traditional SNG’s. Another advantage here wasthat the costs are also variable and on a pay-as-you-use basis and therefor very well tomanage.

ConclusionsLooking back on two years use of the M2sat SNGstreamer with SVT we can conclude that IP-SNG system radically changed the way national, regional and local TV stations/programs inSweden now bring news to their audiences.

Has SVT succeeded achieving their goals for a cost effective system with a major impact onlive news shows and the quality of regional news shows ? We think they did.

Where news crews in the past needed to drive back to the studio to deliver their videomaterial, since the introduction of the IP-SNG video material gets to the studio instantly livevia satellite. The time that is saved by that is now used to make the news item better in termsof journalistic gravity, presence and dramaturgy. SVT news crews express a greater workdesire through the possibilities that the IP-SNG provides. It is just more fun to make a livereport.

The live aspect also gives more impact and drama to the news item itself. Not only at thenews site where the presence of the IP-SNG creates a curiosity and a sense that anythingcan happen. From the living room, the audience describes more excitement for the regionalnews program when it is broadcasted directly from locations that they recognise and know.

Looking at the costs of the complete IP-SNG infrastructure we can speak of a success aswell. As the system is used by the 5 regional SVT TV stations in Sweden on a nearly dailybasis we see that the investment costs go to a level of below Euro 100 per unit per day. Theadvanced control system of the M2sat SNGstreamer keeps operational staffing costs to aminimum as no additional human resources required to operate the system. And spacesegment costs are not only half of what they used to be but are also on a pay-as-you-usebasis and can be managed very easy.

The example of the M2sat SNGstreamer based newsgathering system for SVT regional TVstations shows how the use of IP-SNG’s can dramatically change the way of working within alocal TV station news show. With the IP-SNG TV stations can cost effectively produce livenews content in close collaboration with their audience, bringing more drama and involvementto the regional news show, and we just have scratched the possibilities of the system when itcomes to the live coverage of events.



About the authorHub Urlings is a satellite communications expert and co-founder of M2sat. With hisbackground of nearly 20 years satcom experience Hub Urlings works with his internationalclients to develop cost efficient solutions for video contribution, global broadband connectivityand streaming video connections.

Who is M2sat ?Multi Media Satellite Services BV is a system integrator and provider of broadband satellitesolutions. M2sat is specialized in satellite video systems like the M2sat SNGstreamer andprovide satellite video and broadband IP solutions to customers in the press and media,corporate and government market. All M2sat systems are highly cost effective, simple tooperate and easy to transport.

M2sat RentSat serviceIf you are interested to try out the SNGstreamer, or have a temporary video requirement e.g.for an event, you might be interested in rental solutions. We rent out mobile broadbandsatellite systems for satellite news gathering, video up-linking, streaming or temporarybroadband connections at event sites. Check out www.rentsat.com on how this works.

More Info?If you want to know about the M2sat SNGstreamer platform and how IP-SNG’s can bring yourbroadcasting organization or local news stations to the next level, contact me [email protected] or give me a call at +31 20 4945097.

Check out www.m2sat.com for more info on our solutions.



What is the M2sat SNGstreamer?The SNGstreamer is a compact and easy to operate satellite system for satellite newsgathering or for live video streaming from events. The SNGstreamer has an uplink unit withauto-pointing satellite antenna and a flight case to connect the video and audio equipment atthe news- or event location. At the studio side there is the down link system with a receivingsatellite antenna connected to a flight case that provides a live video/audio output to thestudio network or streaming server.

How does it work ?The antenna for the up link system can be transported on the roof rack of any vehicle with theflight case inside the car. The whole system is controlled from the receiving side in the studio.All the camera crew needs to do is to park the car facing south and switch on the power, therest is controlled from the studio.

Who is using the system?The SNGstreamer is used by (regional) TV stations for satellite news gathering bringingbreaking news directly and live into their news shows. The system is also used by eventstreaming companies to provide live video feeds from sport, cultural or corporate eventsdirectly to the internet or intranet.

What does it cost ?As represant of the new generation of IP-SNG systems, by using state of the art VSATtechnology, the latest MPEG-4 encoding technology and a advanced system control systemthe M2sat SNGstreamer cuts investment and operational costs in half when compared totraditional SNG systems.

M2sat is renting out the complete system for less then Euro 1000 a day, but for customerslike SVT costs are at a level of below Euro 100 a day. There is no additional staffing costs, asno satcom engineers are needed to operate the system. For the live transmission you needonly half the satellite bandwidth when compared to a traditional SNG system, bringing downthe satellite costs to a level between Euro 200-300 per hour depending on the satellite used.

More info?If you want to know how the M2sat SNGstreamer can bring your broadcasting organization orlocal TV news station to the next level, contact us at [email protected] are happy to discuss your requirements.Or check out www.m2sat.com

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