Fox Sports Wins the World Cup with Aspera

During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, FOX Sports faced the daunting challenge of broadcasting all 64 matches in HD and Ultra-HD to a massive US audience. The logistical and financial burden of relocating their state-of-the-art post-production operation from Los Angeles to Russia seemed insurmountable. However, FOX Sports found an innovative solution with IBM Aspera, enabling them to revolutionize their Edit@Home production workflow. By leveraging Aspera's high-speed streaming technology, FOX Sports was able to edit content remotely in near-real time, effectively bridging the geographical gap between Moscow and Los Angeles.

Aspera's groundbreaking technology facilitated the seamless transfer of over 2,700 live feeds via commodity internet, overcoming Russia's unique connectivity challenges. Feeds from the Red Square studio set and 12 stadiums across Russia arrived “ready to work” directly into editorial teams’ systems in Los Angeles within seconds of the live action. This capability not only shortened the production cycle by hours but also delivered a seamless viewing experience for the audience.

Telestream’s Lightspeed Live systems, an IBM Business Partner, played a crucial role by supporting camera and other feeds. This integration ensured that all event-related content was fully captured and made accessible within the FOX Sports content management system in the US. The ability to write growing files and baseband records straight to storage in Los Angeles for editors to pull directly into their Premiere editing suites with minimal delay was a game-changer.

The implementation of IBM Aspera transformed FOX Sports' content processing workflow, enabling faster program reception and eliminating time wasted on locating and sending missing assets. This investment in future-proof technology allowed FOX Sports to maximize speed while minimizing costs, setting a new standard for remote sports broadcasting.

Value Results:

• Reduced time from live action in Russia to editable footage in Los Angeles to under 10 seconds.

• Transferred over 2 petabytes of video between Russia and the US over unmanaged internet.

• Created more than 150 feature highlights to support live coverage across two FOX channels.

• Achieved significant cost savings by avoiding the relocation of post-production operations.

• Improved content accessibility and streamlined workflows for editorial teams.