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Four Channels, One Game
By Joseph Maar
DALLAS, TX--In a move likely to change the way fans watch sports on television, a new service begins this fall that gives Dallas area cable viewers the option to choose among four channels when watching a single sporting event.
New York-based ACTV has been testing production and delivery to a limited number of TCI cable households in the Dallas area, running area baseball games throughout the summer. Production executives plan the full service area rollout to include Dallas Mavericks NBA games and Stars NHL contests.
With many stations on the verge of digital television, ACTV will likely become a role model for those broadcasters who plan to multicast a program and enhance commercial advertising.
The company augments live telecasts on Fox Sports Southwest using their own control room, isolated cameras and stats person. Viewers operate a remote control to select which channel they prefer to watch, the content changing continuously on each one. The primary telecast stays on a screen that technicians often squeeze-up to reveal additional channel options.
The service, called "Individualized Television," is a variation on multicasting. "It's a program that allows people to custom tailor what they see, based on what interests them," said Brent Imai, ACTV's vice president of programming and production. "Individualized Television allows the viewer to say, 'OK, at this particular time, this is more interesting to me than the main feed.'" The additional channels always have a small box running the live game so viewers don't miss any action.
According to Imai, a typical baseball game might include channels showing "a player interview, a close-up shot of the batter with additional statistical information around him or a highlight package" of scoring. He added, "What we do is present different options throughout the show that viewers can selectÉ based on their interests."
ACTV's research discovered that viewers don't want to be the director, constantly switching channels to see the flow of a play. Instead, they prefer content. So if Mark McGwire is batting on one channel, another might show replays of his home runs, a third might show a pre-game interview with McGwire and a fourth could show him on an iso-shot with statistics.
Many of the options include moving video. According to Imai, the reply channel is very popular. "You might see all the home runs in a game, all the scoring plays in a game, a package of errors we call 'Oops'É or something called 'On Fire' where you see a bunch of strike-outs by a pitcher."
ACTV's production team works in a control room away from the stadium. Only three people are at the game: a statistician, a camera operator and a routing person. The camera operator hears ACTV's producer/director and works to isolate whatever is necessary. The routing position is in the main production truck and can feed any shot back to the control room.
Also on the crew are three editors, two Chyron operators, two technical directors, a producer/director and a studio host. Two of the editors use Tektronix Profiles to build real-time highlight reels and playback elements. The third works on an Avid, playing back features and sound bites. The Chyron operators run up to four character generators. Since some have dual-outputs, the operators control a total of six graphics channels simultaneously.
For audio and switching, there is only a computer. "One of the things you'll notice when you walk into our control room is that there's no switcher," said Imai, "because you'd have to have an octopus for a TD who could simultaneously be pushing different buttonsÉ on four channels."
As a result, ACTV uses a sophisticated switching, routing and audio computer that can change images on multiple channels at the same time.
One TD runs this switching system while another controls a computer that delivers data to set-top boxes. The data includes anything from trivia contest information to regulating remote control features.
ACTV can also enhance commercial advertising. "We might ask which Toyota car is of interest to you, list four different kinds of cars and let (viewers) choose which one of those cars they want to watch at the commercial break," remarked Imai. "It's much more effective in terms of advertising if you let the person have some authorship in what information is being sent to them."
The system requires a subscriber to have a newer, digital, set-top box. At present, ACTV works with General Instruments' model DCT 1000 cable box, which TCI is installing into many of its digital cable homes. ACTV is working on future arrangements with other manufacturers.
For transmission, ACTV compresses their four channels into an MPEG-2 signal taking up only 6 MHz of bandwidth. Thus technicians can fit the entire service on a single satellite transponder plus conserve space on cable TV lines.
After Dallas, the company has announced future plans to move into other markets, including Fox Sports Bay Area (San Francisco) and Fox Sports West (Los Angeles).
The challenge of producing four telecasts simultaneously is a new and creative one for production professionals. In addition, future ACTV productions will include non-sports programs such as game shows, children's programming and even newscasts.
For more information on ACTV call (212) 262-2570.
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