Case Studies - Information, Communication and Electronics

Background

Wales Rally GB is one of the UK's biggest sporting events, bringing the excitement of the World Rally Championship (WRC) to 120,000 fans in the heart of Wales.

On Sunday 9th November 2003 the final stage of the WRC was scheduled for live broadcast across the globe for the first time. A team consisting of ISC (International Sportsworld Communicators),
NorthOne (formerly Chrysalis) and BBC Outside Broadcasts were tasked to make this happen.

ISC has held the TV and commercial rights to the WRC since April 2000. Their investment in ground breaking technology helps deliver innovation to the footage year on year. BBC Outside Broadcasts,
work for many clients in supporting, developing and producing projects across the country. NorthOne is a public company that incorporates radio broadcasting, music publishing/recording, book publishing and mobile content within its core business.

Key Benefits

• A world's first - for live, multiple camera programming for a geographically dispersed event such as WRC. Skylink enabled what
  previously could not be done.
• Resilient solution in an extremely challenging environment meant optimal programming choice for programme directors.
• >50% cost savings in the delivery of the solution.
• >98% video relay availability.
• Integrated video and radio relay solution, produced further cost savings.
• Reduced project risk.

'We wanted to produce WRC live and we were told in no uncertain terms that it couldn't be done. But the team proved everybody wrong and core to the solution was QinetiQ's antenna technology. It worked like a dream and they will play a key role in the future development of live WRC TV.' Neil Duncanson, MD, NorthOne.

Challenge

The challenge for the World Rally for many years was to move from recorded shows to live shows so, with a huge amount of publicity surrounding the final stages of the championship, relaying live action to racing enthusiasts and broadcasters was crucial to furthering the event's popularity.

'There is increasing competition for scheduling time for broadcasters who must deliver improved return on investment. For years people have asked us when we were going to provide live coverage but the challenge was always how to bring multiple camera shots into the programme.' states Simon Long, MD, ISC.

The challenge of delivering simultaneous pictures from each of the four cars on the stage, could not be satisfied with these traditional solutions and a new outside broadcast solution was required. Getting pictures from mobile on-board cameras is traditionally achieved using either a terrestrial RF (Radio Frequency) receiver network or helicopter RF repeaters.

Terrestrial networks are inflexible and typically uneconomic for geographically dispersed events, as they require significant installation, security, maintenance and support. The use of helicopters as a stand-alone solution for supporting multiple on-board cameras is expensive and unreliable since the helicopters
are unable to fly in bad weather.

Solution

QinetiQ has been working with BBC Outside Broadcasts since 1996, using smart antenna technology for enhancing wireless camera systems. This collaborative work formed the basis of the solution to the WRC problem.

QinetiQ were required to prove the capabilities of Skylink to BBC Outside Broadcasts in a live environment and showcased the commercial service, in action, at events including the Tour de Suisse and the Zurich Grand Prix. QinetiQ then completed two successful field trials during August and September 2003, after which the team was awarded the Wales Rally contract.

Stephen Watson, Skylink Product Manager, QinetiQ, commented, 'The broadcasting industry as a whole has been wanting to produce live rally coverage for many years and QinetiQ was delighted to be able to leverage its expertise to enable this groundbreaking effort.'

The QinetiQ lead team delivered an integrated solution for BBC Outside Broadcasts consisting of the aircraft and the antenna technology. The solution was designed so that BBC Outside Broadcasts were able to optimise value for money by integrating the video relay solution with the existing platform used for the radio communications for the WRC. Additional, extensive, savings were realised in the support costs offered by a single plane solution versus the alternative of using four helicopters and associated support crews.

As the antenna has no moving parts and steers the beams electronically it was able to manage feeds from each of the four cars on the stage dynamically, allowing complete programming choice for the directors.

Results

This event was watched live by over 80 million viewers - a step change from half hour highlight programmes delivered 48 hours later. It offered the programme makers a new dimension to their portfolio and is likely to change the way the viewer can participate in future events of this kind. The WRC was watched last year by a total of 685 million viewers across 3399 broadcasts worldwide, amounting to over 114,000 broadcast minutes.

Tracking four camera uplinks simultaneously from one plane provided significant cost savings approximately 50 percent) over a multiple helicopter solution, whilst maintaining the airborne flexibility to cover a different rally stage if required. To overcome the challenges of tree cover on the circuit, the plane maintained a 1.5km triangular flight path above the stage; this ensured that the uplink angle between the transmitter and the plane was minimised which kept the RF break-up to a very low level. In fact, Skylink delivered >98 percent video relay availability.

Skylink went on to cover the London Marathon for BBC Outside Broadcasts later that year.

QinetiQ Solutions

Skylink is the world's first video relay service at 30,000ft, enhancing wireless camera reliability and capability in all outside broadcasts.
The QinetiQ phased array technology making this happen offers:

• Electronic steering of multiple beams
• Low profile antenna random
• Configurable for different events and customers