UEFA EURO 2024 Radio International Sound (RIS) streaming service

Solution

A new RIS Streaming Service

The RIS streaming service they proposed would provide each licensee with the original sound and video of the live match feeds so that they could produce their own commentary, mix it with the original sound, and distribute it to their respective broadcast workflows located around the world. 

The solution would also provide UEFA’s EURO 2024 takers with five major capabilities:

1. Ultra-low latency, secure web streaming globally, providing high resolution (1920x1080p, full adaptive bit rate) over a standard internet connection
2. Access to “raw” match streams in the form of SRT streams, enabling direct integration into local production environments and offsite workflows
3. A complete web front end, providing secure authentication, streaming, playback and live match integration throughout the tournament
4. Complete operational support for the 51 matches, including pre- and post-match access, inherent automatic redundancy, and failover resilience
5. End-to-end quality of service and viewing analytics after each match, including latency, streaming quality, viewing duration and distribution metric.

UEFA worked closely with TBS and Eluvio for nearly a year leading up to the tournament to build and deliver the final solution.

Approach

Implementing the enhanced RIS Streaming Service

Serving as the end-to-end solution provider, TBS split the implementation into three parts: Contribution, RAW SRT streams, and RIS streaming and web front end. All elements were integrated and managed via a team of media specialists from its London-based Master Control Room (MCR).

Contribution

Content ingest: High bitrate IPTS match feeds from stadiums in Frankfurt were backhauled to London via the Telstra Global Media Network (GMN) and injected into the Telstra Internet Delivery Network (IDN). This provided the SRT sources to the Eluvio content fabric, in turn delivering the HLS ABR streaming solution.

RAW SRT Streams

RAW, redundant SRT streaming output: This RAW SRT streaming element was delivered via the Telstra IDN to takers globally. Telstra’s high-capacity internet peering arrangements and cloud infrastructure were also leveraged for this part of the solution.

RIS Streaming and Web Front End

• High-resolution, low-latency and fully-redundant RIS Streams: These streams were delivered into the Eluvio content fabric directly from the MCR in London using the Telstra IDN. TBS also provided contributing host compute, IP transit, and validation nodes as part of the Eluvio fabric.

• Just-in-time publishing, distribution and ultra-low latency HLS streaming: The Eluvio content fabric provided global takers with 2 seconds latency from content fabric ingest to players and 5-6 seconds from backhaul to eyeball. Streams were also configured for automatic failover to the player with fully redundant content fabric inputs.

• Personal individual watermarking and encryption: Each HLS stream was personally watermarked for the taker with their identity and fully encrypted end-to-end via the Content Fabric.  Watermarking policies were configured via the Live Stream Manager.

• Modern streaming UX: A new website property was developed using the Eluvio Creator Studio App and Media Wallet, enabling takers to securely sign on, watch the games live on a browser or mobile, select from multiple audio tracks, and provide real-time commentary to listeners. 

• Secure access: Takers around the world used a secure login to access the streams and web site, including strict authentication, windowing/rights enforcement, and concurrent login management. All capability was built-in, eliminating the need for 3rd party entitlement or asset control.

• Integration with UEFA Systems: The entire solution was integrated with the UEFA back-office management system, allowing automatic updates of match metadata and seamless flow of a data-driven pipeline. This replaced the need for a separate content management system (CMS), and made the system fully self-managing, reducing staff requirements. It also allowed for complete control of authorization and anti-piracy at the source.

• Analytics & Reporting: Using the Eluvio Content Analytics App, UEFA could review the viewing metrics and the live streaming statistics for delivery quality of service (QoS). Analytics data was continuously updated and presented via graphs, tables and other visualizations to provide comprehensive and easy viewing of both real-time and historical content. Daily reports were also exported for executive review.

Impact

UEFA Scoring Goals for its takers with its UEFA Euro 2024 RIS Streaming Service

The UEFA EURO 2024 RIS streaming service, delivered by UEFA and powered by Telstra Broadcast Services and Eluvio, demonstrated a fast, highly efficient, and cost-effective approach to stream live premium sports content. The service’s ultra-low latency, global reach, and integration with UEFA’s systems set a new standard for precision, consistency, and high-quality streaming experiences for UEFA’s broadcast partners worldwide.