• Case study

Sports broadcaster revolutionizes broadcast production with Audinate’s Dante Connect

Sports broadcaster adopts Dante Connect for reliable, low latency cloud-based audio transport for live event mixing and production.

Dante Connect Case Study

In the fast-evolving world of broadcasting, staying ahead of the curve is paramount. For one of the prominent players in the broadcast industry, this means embracing cutting-edge technologies to deliver high-quality content efficiently and cost-effectively. One such technological leap included the adoption of Dante Connect, a cloud-based audio transport solution from Audinate.

The journey with Dante Connect began as early adopters of this revolutionary technology. Recognizing the potential to transform their production workflows, the team evaluated and implemented early versions of Dante Connect.

Previous implementations of cloud-based broadcast workflows haven’t handled audio in the best ways. They were inflexible, limited, and often required multiplexing audio and video into a single stream. This created many challenges and obstacles for productions and the team desired more flexibility and power. Dante Connect provided the ability to send up to 256 channels of uncompressed audio using Dante, and most importantly, separated from their video streams. When coupled with cloud-based audio mixing tools, the audio flexibility and fidelity desired by the production team was now a reality.

The team chose a sport with a small, but devoted following as the first implementation of Dante Connect. By leveraging a cloud-based audio transport solution, the team was able to create broadcast streams that captivated thousands of viewers online. The entire production, captured remotely, saw audio and video streamed to the cloud for subsequent broadcasting. This marked a turning point, proving that remote production could be efficient, high-quality, and flexible.

Having successfully tested Dante Connect for an entire season, the team’s confidence grew. They extended the technology’s use to broadcasts of a sport with a large, worldwide following. This implementation allowed mixing editors to seamlessly integrate commentary from remote locations into live broadcasts, fostering new creative possibilities without the logistical challenges of travel and on-site production.

One of the driving forces behind the team’s embrace of Dante Connect was the cost-effectiveness it offered. Traditional Outside Broadcast (OB) trucks, while effective, are costly and inflexible. By utilizing cloud-based solutions like Dante Connect, the team realized significant cost savings and production flexibility. The ability to deploy instances in a matter of minutes, as opposed to waiting for a replacement OB truck to arrive, further solidified the appeal.

Dante Connect’s integration aligned with a growing industry trend towards remote hosted, or cloud-based production. The team had been testing REMI workflows for broadcast prior to 2020, and with the emerging challenges posed by the pandemic, Dante Connect enabled contributors to work remotely without sacrificing quality. This transition, now benefiting from Dante Connect, also empowered production teams to cover multiple events in a single day, all from a central location.

Dante Connect also aligns with the team’s larger goals of achieving a net zero carbon footprint. Moving audio production to the Cloud provides the same reliability and production quality while reducing carbon emissions from transporting talent and equipment to remote locations.

For decades this team has trusted and relied upon the audio experts at HHB Communications to recommend and supply the best audio broadcast and post-production solutions. “This customer has always been at the forefront of technology ensuring their workflow is utilising the latest technologies to deliver the best service. By utilising Dante Connect, a high-quality audio transport, we can help ensure the future and quality of their cloud-based broadcast production workflow,” says Matthew Fletcher, Head of Sales.

Fletcher continued, “It was our pleasure to work with both Audinate and this customer to implement Dante Connect. Our longstanding relationship with Audinate is based on our belief that they manufacture the best AoIP transport technology. In supplying Dante Connect, we know that it is the best and most reliable tool available,”

The journey with Dante Connect is far from over. With intentions of expanding to new countries the cloud-based production workflows are supported through the use of AWS Direct Connect. By architecting their system this way, the team gets a dedicated 40 gigabyte of bandwidth, and reduce the chance of hitting data transfer bottlenecks or unexpected increases in latency. As cloud broadcast productions continue to grow, Dante Connect’s scalability and versatility stand ready to meet new challenges and evolving needs.

Dante Connect encapsulates the essence of innovation in broadcasting. By embracing cloud-based audio transport, this team has unlocked new levels of efficiency, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. The collaboration with Audinate has not only transformed their production workflows but has also set a precedent for the industry’s future. As this broadcaster continues to pioneer new frontiers, Dante Connect remains at the heart of their broadcasting success.