Casting It Right

As much as we love watching sports events live, little do we know about what goes into making it a multi-billion dollar industry.

- Anisha Gakhar

Sportscasting is a term coined to denote live, real-time coverage, broadcast and streaming of sports events; on television, radio, smart phones, and other broadcasting media. Sports events have always been held dear by consumers and broadcasters alike. The acceleration of technology in this arena of broadcasting, has gained a velocity that is bound to increase with time. It is a tedious task to foresee what’s coming next. Diversification, segmentation, distribution of content, consumption via all possible devices, eliminating timing and territorial constraints are turning the industry dynamics into a digital era phenomenon. According to Forbes, the biggest reason for growth in the sports market is projected increases in revenue derived from media rights deals, which is predicted to surpass gate revenues as the sports industry’s largest segment.

“Since the advent of organised entertainment, which can be traced back to several thousands of years ago, sports have always attracted massive attention, and as a result have a notable social impact ever since,” said Alexander Stoyanov, sales director, PBT EU. Yet, down to our human nature, we do not accommodate monotony well. Consumers are always on the lookout for something new and immersive. Reworking on conventional ways of how a sport is represented to the public – making it appealing and flamboyant, is what drives technological advancement. Better picture, better sound, and an all angle perspective are fundamental to providing the viewer with a real-life viewing experience. “Virtual studios where the hosts interview holographic versions of a sports star now seem stunning. Tomorrow it will all be part of the game,” added Stoyanov.

THE BASICS