Screen & Broadcast

EBU launches IP live production network

Technical teams from public service broadcasters to share experience of the switch from SDI to network-based production.

Translated from Dutch by AI

The European Broadcasting Union is launching a community of practice for technicians moving live production to IP networks. The first meeting is scheduled for 27 October at 4.00 pm CET.

The new group builds on the EBU’s existing LiveIP Community, the association of public media organisations. Participants can share experience from real productions, discuss technical problems and document working methods that other broadcasters can adopt.

In IP production, audio, video and control data are processed as network streams. In broadcast environments, this is done using standards such as SMPTE ST 2110, as well as protocols for discovery, timing and connections between devices. The switch therefore requires not only new equipment, but also network expertise and adapted operational processes.

The EBU is linking the community to the Live IP Media Sandbox, a test environment in which members can trial IP production setups. The intention is for lessons from such implementations to feed back into the wider group. The initiative therefore focuses on the design, commissioning and day-to-day management of IP environments.

The community is chaired by Markus Berg of Südwestrundfunk and Peter Brightwell of the BBC. Pavlo Kondratenko is EBU coordinator. The organisation is initially targeting staff at EBU members, meaning commercial facilities companies do not automatically have access.

For broadcasters upgrading their studios or outside-broadcast infrastructure, the business significance lies mainly in skills and interoperability. The EBU is not announcing a new purchasing standard or investment programme. It is, however, seeking to prevent every broadcaster from solving the same problems around network design, timing, security and management independently.

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