The Challenge
The Oscars attract worldwide interest and, in many cases, the pre-show coverage garners more global attention than the primetime telecast. Studio City, CA-based production company, Streaming Media Live was commissioned by IMS to bring in LiveU as the transmission safety backup plan for the Mexico-based TV Azteca Oscars live production. The team couldn’t afford to lose their transmission during the 4-hour broadcast, requiring a robust and stable independent secondary transmission path for their international broadcast. Based on the company’s history of producing other key critical broadcasts for Newsmax and Golden Boy Promotions, LiveU’s resiliency and flexibility were second to none.
The Solution
LiveU’s LU800 PRO4 was deployed at the Main Show remote location atop the roof of the Hollywood Museum. TV Azteca Studio anchors were flown in for the event. B-Roll, red carpet looks, and interviews were pre-recorded, played live into the control room, and pushed for the rooftop host to comment on and toss to. The LU800 included a mix of cellular modems (some with 5G) and allowed the crew to send multiple feeds/paths from one encoder. The 4-channel LiveU decoder was placed across the street at The Oscars International Media Compound inside the Production Truck. The entire live broadcast was transmitted directly to TV Azteca and distributed to millions of viewers.
“Producing an event of this magnitude takes coordination between teams onsite and in different locations. The right technology to orchestrate the production is key and there is no room for error. LiveU gave us a rock-solid solution that we could put our trust in; so we can deliver the quality our audiences expect in a high-profile event like the Oscars.”
- David Simpson, Broadcast IP Engineer, Streaming Media Live