Gravity Media and the Mana Sports and Entertainment Group partnered on coverage of the head-to-head men’s endurance sport race in Germany that relied on an advanced REMI (remote integration model) production setup.
Some 50,000 people across the globe watched the race on YouTube and Facebook. Nine and half hours of live coverage of the Pho3nix SUB7 SUB8 Triathlon in Germany, powered by Zwift race was produced from the Gravity Media Production Centre in Sydney.
Coverage of the event spotlighted Gravity Media’s technical innovation. Sixteen cameras beamed in from the Laustitzring racetrack in Brandenburg, Germany, fed the remote IP broadcast switched from Sydney. Live coverage of racing was bookended with pre- and post-race content, featuring special guests, pre-recorded content and technical analysis.
Live coverage was streamed on the Pho3nix Foundation’s YouTube channel. A peak of 28,880 concurrent viewers watched the racers finish under goal time. There were 202,300 logged views after 24 hours, and the stream is projected to exceed a quarter of a million views over the next week, Gravity Media said.
Coverage was also mirrored on Facebook, where it reached 174,438 views and 15,995 link clicks. Related social media post engagement logged a 600% increase from baseline, it said.
More than 90 Gravity Media personnel from Australia and France produced the coverage, said Mike Purcell, head of production and executive producer at Gravity Media Australia, adding that equipment from all of the company’s offices, including Germany and the U.K. was used.
Gravity Media used a large amount of equipment to provide the necessary communications and video circuits used. Talkback was delivered via Unity communications using bonded devices. A total of 20 cameras were deployed, including specialty cameras on motorcycles and a drone. Polecams and a Shotover camera with gyro-stabilized head were also deployed.
All feeds were transported via AviWest bonded IP transmitters. Other tech included 20 EVS record ports spread across three XT3 servers linked in the control room, sever SRT return video fees, three GFX engines and multiple edit suites in Germany and Australia. Personnel included two dedicated highlight loggers, a social media team managing all social content and on-screen graphics from Gravity Media’s Australian design team and produced by Girraphic, the company said.
