TVU Networks Enables Live, Global Broadcast of Copa América Tournament With Smart Phones Over the Cloud

TVU Networks has helped the Confederation of independent Football Associations (CONIFA), representing more than seven billion people in eighty regions around the world, achieve a seemingly impossible goal.

“With the TVU ecosystem, four or five people in different countries participating in production and transmission, a few pieces of basic equipment, and a couple of smart phones, we were able to stream live to the whole world from one small city in southern Chile,” says Diego Bartolotta, President of CONIFA Americas. “Before the Copa América, I was a bit incredulous that we could achieve the quality broadcast of a professional football game with only interconnected phones. But TVU has totally changed my perspective. First-class quality broadcasting in this fashion can give us the widest possible reach and will be very important for the future of CONIFA’s games and tournaments throughout Latin America and around the world.”

In late June, CONIFA successfully produced and broadcast a professional football tournament from the remote Chilean city of Linares, with practically no equipment, minimal personnel and at a low cost. Even more challenging, due to last minute problems with the conventional transmission system, they had just few days to plan and carry out production of this high-profile event. The solution CONIFA employed to achieve their goal in record time was a mix of TVU Networks cloud-based solutions that enable a new way of producing sporting events with smart phones.

CONIFA’s hardware on-site in Chile consisted only of three smart phones and two tablets connected to the available 4G network with SIM cards, plus microphones, tripods, and stabilizers for field shots. A TVU PowerPac ultra-portable lithium-ion battery pack kept the phones and tablets charged. TVU cloud-based solutions – TVU Producer multi-camera live production platform; TVU Partyline cloud collaboration solution; TVU Remote Commentator cloud-based commentary platform; and the TVU Anywhere mobile, live streaming app – did the rest of the work to create a reliable and affordable workflow with just a few technicians on-site.

For the Copa América event, the video captured with smart phones and tablets in Chile was sent directly to TVU Producer via the cloud, where two TVU Networks’ solutions architects in Mexico managed the video, graphics, and audio production. TVU Remote Commentator, also managed from Mexico, enabled TVU staff to insert stories and comments from guests around the world in the transmission, keeping all elements perfectly in sync. Via TVU Partyline, crew members in both locations collaborated in real-time during the production. Finally, TVU Anywhere live-streamed the broadcast on CONIFA TV, other content distribution networks, and social media platforms.

“We’re proud that the TVU ecosystem met CONIFA’s formidable challenge, delivering the high quality of a traditional broadcast, with reliability, stability, and worry-free operation even in an extremely demanding environment,” says Rafael Castillo, TVU Networks General Manager/Vice-President, EMEA and Latin America. “With our modular, building block approach with easy-to-deploy infrastructure-free solutions, limited resources and remote locations no longer limit what you can achieve.”