Disc golf – PDGA Euro Tour 2023

Ten broadcasts from seven countries

Ten broadcasts were produced from seven different countries: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia and Spain. The LiveU system was central to the success of the production. The broadcasts were directed from Rockway Oy’s studios in Vallila, where the commentators also presented this international production. Rockway acquired its LiveU system through Mediatrade. The system currently comprises seven field units and two LU2000 servers.

LiveU already in use for years

The US tour organisation Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT) has used the LiveU system in its own broadcasts for several years, so systems integration was effortless for the two events DGPT produced from Europe with its own resources. DGPT’s production capacity was expanded with Pulsea’s LiveU system to cover 12 cameras, as bringing the entire system from the United States to Europe would have been difficult and expensive.

“The largest production was the European Open in Nokia, with two simultaneous streams produced using 12 cameras and a commentary booth.”

Varied terrain and environments challenge TV production

The key challenge in disc golf production is the location and layout of the courses. The European Open in Nokia is an exception, as it is played in the centre of Nokia, but most courses are in sparsely populated areas, and in forests too. Trees, bushes and changes in terrain play a central role in the sport, but they pose challenges for traditional TV production. In addition, players move in groups of four, and in the forest a disc can easily slip into the undergrowth.

From the LiveU system to Rockway Oy’s Vallila Studio

With the LiveU system, camera video and audio were transmitted wirelessly to Rockway’s studio even from the most difficult conditions, using SIM cards from local mobile operators. The system can also send the director’s instructions as talkback directly to the camera operators via LiveU. This lets the cameras move freely around the area. With extra batteries, we were able to produce two broadcasts a day, each lasting more than 7 hours.

Production equipment

A few extra kilos did not trouble the camera operators, and we experienced relatively little signal loss overall. We delivered the broadcast to DGN in HD, but tested at every venue that 4K quality would also have been possible. Latency was held steady at two seconds, but we also tested that a one-second latency would have been possible. The cameras used were the Sony FX6, FX30 and A7. We operated one of the FX30s with a DJI RS3 gimbal, and a Mavic Pro 3 drone was also used in the broadcast. The cameras were routed from the receiving LU2000 servers via NDI to Vmix and Tricaster, where they were mixed into the broadcast with graphics and commentary.

In summary, without a system like this, producing disc golf in this form cost-effectively would be almost impossible.

The system makes mobile productions possible from anywhere, as long as there is a 4G mobile network on site. The cost savings are considerable compared with the traditional approach of producing the whole broadcast on site and sending the finished programme to the channel via an OB truck. Savings also came from needing relatively fewer people – the broadcasts were produced by a 12-person crew, including two commentators.