On BBC Breakfast this morning, viewers will have seen BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones cover the launch of the UK’s first 5G network from Covent Garden. But they won’t have seen that his segment was also beamed back to BBC New Broadcasting House over the very same 5G network to be played out live in the show.
This is the first time a public 5G network has been used by a production team for a live TV programme, and demonstrates the potential that 5G has in broadcast production. Over time the internet will play an increasingly important role in all aspects of broadcasting – from production scenarios like this, to the way content is distributed and ultimately enjoyed by people wherever they are.
Live outside contributions form a major part of news, current affairs, sport and a range of other programmes. They can be sent back to production studios in a variety of ways, including existing 4G networks. 4G network links require multiple connections to provide the capacity to carry the live video feeds. In this 5G trial only one connection was needed, reducing both the complexity and cost of the production.
To make the trial possible, specialised 5G modems were connected to BBC News cameras to take advantage of the new 5G network. The trial also allowed the teams to explore different encoding options to compress the video, allowing it to be sent back to New Broadcasting House, and decompressing it for live playout.
