A problem faced by virtually all major operators within their infrastructure, but not only those - the high interest of sports fans and the associated network congestion. No matter how much the operator officially promises to the media that it has strengthened the servers, taken all measures that should prevent the problem, everything is very often repeated with another attractive transmission anew.
This is not only a problem for Czech or foreign TV services, but also for streaming platforms such as Netflix, which is increasingly fond of live sports broadcasts. As we've reported, the global giant's coverage of boxing's Jake Paul and legend Mike Tyson failed. However, not because of the presentation of the event - it had a top-notch execution, but precisely because of technical problems that were practically no different from the situation of Internet TV.
A Solution Called 5G Broadcast
The 5G Broadcast technology currently being tested by Czech Radiocommunications (CRA) declares the main advantage to be providing coverage for a virtually unlimited number of viewers. Therefore, if 5G Broadcast technology could be implemented not only in mobile phones but also in TV sets, then the application of the streaming service (in the case of the viewer) would only need to be updated and the classic internet stream would replace the signal transmission via classic TV transmitters. While the whole thing may sound like science fiction, at least in the case of mobile phones, commercially 5G Broadcast technology will be a reality sometime by 2030.
"For now I would say that nothing is changing on the production side, but in the future it could help, for example, when there is just a problem with data connectivity, that is, when it comes to signal contention. Within 5G Broadcast we could use the backhaul channel because it has significantly lower latency than standard streaming," said Josef Uhe, CTO of Nova Group, in a recent interview with MediaGuru.cz. For CRA, terrestrial distribution could be an interesting business opportunity for Netflix, for example, in the future.
O2 TV Free ended in a dead end
As part of the expansion of digital terrestrial TV broadcasting, business models have come and gone that have now fallen into oblivion. One of these was O2 TV Free, through which O2 Czech Republic offered viewers the opportunity to access football broadcasts. Despite the fact that the programme was available in linear distribution only in standard definition as part of free TV, in a way it was a visionary project of the then head of O2 TV David Duron. Indeed, terrestrial broadcasting does not have to solve the problem of insufficient data connectivity.
O2 TV Free has been available since March 2017 on DVB-T multiplex 4 of Digital Broadcasting, combining a model of free and premium content (accessible via HbbTV). The app in particular, available via the red button, was a sort of very stripped-down version of the classic O2 TV, limited only to O2 TV Sport channels and the option to play back. While the content distributed by the classic TV signal was available completely free of charge, to access HbbTV the interested party had to dig very deep - 69 crowns secured the unlock for just 24 hours. After a year, the O2 TV Free programme ended and briefly continued to operate in FTV Prima's HbbTV menu before it was discontinued altogether.
Netflix is on a roll with sports broadcasts
While subscribers in the Czech Republic have for many years associated Netflix only with streaming classic home TV entertainment, i.e. movies, series, documentaries or concerts, the American streaming giant is increasingly in favour of sports broadcasts, as evidenced not only by the already publicised broadcasts of the trio of WWE wrestling competitions in the Czech Republic, but also National Football League (NFL). Two matches will be offered during the Christmas holidays, on Wednesday 25 December.
The match between the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens will also be filled with a performance by singer Beyoncé Knowles, who will sing one of her songs from her latest album Cowboy Carter. With the announcement of the performance by singer Beyoncé, Netflix has launched a new era of collaboration with the NFL. It will bring more sports broadcasts in 2025 and 2026.
The technical problems of streaming will need to be solved in the future, and that saviour may ironically be the already repeatedly buried terrestrial transmitters.
Source: mediaguru.cz
