Sports broadcasters up the tech ante to bring viewers closer to the game

Today, viewers can participate in polls, predict match outcomes and post queries to commentators, all using their smartphones while watching the game at home on TV

As viewers get tech-savvy, sports broadcasters and organisers are cranking up their technology game to offer a more immersive experience to the sports audience. 

Industry estimates put sports at 25-35 per cent of all television and online video viewership globally. This is only set to rise, with more and more sporting tournaments getting launched every year. And with the penetration of smartphones, online video and a perennial connectivity through the social media, viewers want more juice on their favourite sports, teams or players.

TV broadcasters were able to foresee this demand well in advance. Which explains why SonyLIV, the over-the-top video (OTT) service from Sony Networks, was able to host over 70 million online viewers from India, who logged in to watch the FIFA World Cup in June 2018. The number, while huge, is way below the 202 million-strong audience of the Indian Premier League, logged by Hotstar in April. 

SonyLIV had employed a fairly interesting tech feature to engage users during the Football World Cup. Through what the company calls the ‘second screen’, viewers watching the live match on TV were able to participate in the game through their smartphones. They could participate in real time polls, offer match predictions and even post questions to the commentators, all through the smartphone. Watching the match on TV and engaging with it through smartphone is the next stage of immersive sports viewership, an experience that is only going to be enhanced, going forward, says Uday Sodhi, executive Vice President and head of digital business at SonyLIV. 

“We are planning to add more features to the ‘second screen’. Viewers, at some point, may be able to see match stats like procession and hits on the goal (in football), player info, team history and a lot of other interesting stuff. This will satisfy the needs of the most ardent of sports fans,” said Sodhi. This technology was also used in Kaun Banega Crorepati, when viewers were able to participate in the ‘fastest finger first’ poll from the comforts of their homes, Sodhi added.

Here, the OTTs are more focused on hooking sports watchers as viewership is increasingly moving online. There is much more sports content than ever before, as well. Between 2012-15, eight sporting tournaments, including the Pro Kabaddi League and Indian Super League, were launched and eight more are in the pipeline—most of which are likely to be broadcast online, according to a 2017 report by consultancy Ernst & Young. 

“Digital consumption has also been instrumental in driving fan engagement in new age sports properties. Sports properties are connecting with their audiences online, and this consumer database on digital will be key to connect with the audience for further downstream ancillary revenues (digital fan memorabilia, loyalty programme, contests/polls etc.),” Raghav Anand, director–digital media & sports at EY, noted in the report.

The live streaming players are using, among other things, services of a firm called Akamai. Akamai is a cloud delivery platform for video and live streaming companies. Its proprietary stack allows faster video streaming anywhere in the world. Basically, the platform optimises information packets and routing so that it gets delivered faster to the end consumers. 

“Think of it this way. Akamai tells you the shortest and fastest route to reach from point A to B through the crammed city roads, which in this case is the Internet,” says Sandeep Reddy, country sales manager for Media at Akamai. Through this, online broadcasters have been able to bring down latency (delay in live stream signal vis-a-vis broadcast signal) to 10 seconds from 30 seconds earlier, the company claims.

Outside of the TV, newer technologies are taking sports a notch higher on the field. New camera technologies are now capable to record 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels resolution) video and stream it across online channels. Here, the wait is for TV and desktop screens to catch up (support 4K) and become cheaper. 

A new kind of camera, called the ‘spider cam’ is now introduced in cricketing events. The spider cam hangs on cords suspended across the length of a stadium and can go as low as the height of player, to deliver what is called a 'player’s view of the match'. High definition cameras, alongside internet of things (IoT) tracking devices, are also being used in practice to analyse player performance, track medical progress and prevent injury.