In the new eSports Special by TVTechGlobal, Neil Romanek explains how broadcasters are working in the fastest growing sector of the entertainment industry. eSports is one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the entertainment industry and it should be treated like one – a big one – and one with a whole new level of special requirements and special opportunities. We are proud to say that Forscene’s eSports cloud workflow for Gfinity was a featured case study published by TVTechGlobals’ first eSports Special.

Gfinity uses Forscene to help grow their fan base through faster and improved use of video in social media and exploitation of archived video content. Beyond its own tournaments, Gfinity provides a full turnkey solution for any brand wanting to create their own eSports tournaments and has staged premium eSports events for leading publishers and brands including ‘Call of Duty’, ‘FIFA’, ‘Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, “Rocket League’, Street Fighter V, and ‘Forza Racing Championship’.

Download the full case study

The post Cloud-based eSports workflow for Gfinity appeared first on Blackbird.

We’re so used to TV being our primary source of content that this presumption forms the basis of second screen’s definition. And, in most cases, it’s true.

Second screen content is supplementary

Watching TV and using your mobile phone to tweet about a live broadcast, to vote for your favourite contestant in a reality show or to find extra information has become part of our everyday viewing routine.  

But, to date, second screen content has been supplementary.  While it might make us feel more involved or distract us during the boring bits and ad breaks, it hasn’t formed an essential part of the viewing experience.  Content creators and broadcasters have historically struggled to prove a return on investment in second screen content, so although it’s becoming an essential tool for audience engagement, some see it as just another cost associated with making TV programmes.       

But that’s not the case with eSports.

eSports is a digital-first format

Professional multi-player video game contests, known as eSports or pro video gaming, have existed since the first arcade games, but surged in popularity in recent years.  Competitive events fill stadiums with fans and give away millions in prizemoney. With tech-savvy enthusiasts that share and view gameplay online using platforms like Twitch, eSports has not needed traditional media to grow an audience that exceeds 300 million fans.  

But, with an increasing number of mass-media broadcasters wanting a piece of professional video gaming’s audience and eSports set to be the next big broadcast thing, the question is, will the increase in TV coverage cause eSports to fall into the traditional second screen pattern?

Here’s why we think not:  

eSports is turning TV into the second screen

• eSports is interactive

Unlike television programming, watching eSports is not a passive activity. Viewers engage with content and chat online with gamers during gameplay.  Television viewing doesn’t offer the interaction that eSports viewers expect as part of their viewing experience.

• There’s too much content for TV

eSports isn’t one game or discipline like tennis or football, it’s a category – like watersports.  One channel can’t cover all that – at best a channel could cover the highlights.

• Mass media won’t meet the needs of the eSports player

eSports players expect a level of game play detail that will alienate the mass audience of TV.  To appeal to a TV market coverage needs to be accessible – but eSports viewers that play the games want information that wouldn’t appeal to a casual spectator.    

We predict that eSports will continue to primarily engage with its core audience online, while broadcast coverage will become the second screen for professional gaming content – providing supplementary content that attracts a wider audience.

How broadcasters can capitalise on eSports content

• TV will create emotional connections

By featuring in-depth back stories on key personalities and behind the scenes documentaries about the growth of eSports, broadcast programming can feed fans’ need for insider information and generate emotional investment in the sport with human interest stories.   

• Broadcast will provide impact for big events

TV is the perfect medium to convey the energy and drama of big eSports championships to those unable to attend.

• TV will help eSports reach new audiences

Broadcast can potentially provide the mainstream exposure to new audiences that wouldn’t ordinarily discover eSports online – and then open that online world up to these audiences.  The more accessible content shown on TV will help new audiences get an understanding of the way eSports works and act as a gateway to the online content. 

In the eSports world, TV is used to induce newcomers and the pros engage online. While eSports makes the move to mass media and other sports transition from broadcast-only to online distribution, it’s clear that sports content creators are going to need the tools to produce and share content to any platform easily and efficiently.  Get in touch to find out how Forscene solves this challenge.   

Follow Forscene on social media:

Twitter     Facebook     LinkedIn     Google+

The post Why true fans will never watch eSports on TV appeared first on Blackbird.

We got off to a great start in February when IMG licensed Forscene to create content for all the distributor’s digital rights channels. As an organisation we were thrilled that the world’s largest independent distributor of sports programming recognised Forscene as the leading cloud post-production solution for digital content creation. We added to our golf portfolio in April, working on location with Wazee Digital (formally T3Media) on a major golf event held in Augusta. In June, deltatre was first to use the Forscene / Microsoft Azure fully virtualised platform on the largest athletics event held in 2015 in Azerbaijan. Later that same month, we announced Forscene’s selection as part of a global sports brands clipping workflow on a three-year agreement starting August 2015.

Rugby World Cup

But as a born-and-bred South African and staunch Springbok supporter, my standout project for 2015 was definitely the Rugby World Cup. We provided additional Forscene capacity and licencing to the IMG Digital team to create official Rugby World Cup digital video content throughout the tournament – and while the Springboks narrowly avoided an early exit, I’m pleased to say that Forscene never dropped the ball.

Hailed as the most successful Rugby World Cup ever, this year’s tournament was also the most digitally engaged Rugby World Cup to date. Social media activity during the 2015 pool stages exceeded that of the whole of the 2011 New Zealand Rugby World Cup’s and #RWC2015 was used twice a second for the duration of the event. A major contributor to this digital success was the availability of video content online and on social platforms – there were over 270 million video views on all social media channels, the website attracted 25 million unique users and the official App was downloaded 2.8 million times with use in 204 nations.  What’s even more impressive is that the team responsible for creating all the official digital video content consisted of just four editors working on standard laptops.

The workflow was simple and efficient. Forscene servers were installed on-premise at IMG’s Stockley Park facility in West London, which was serving as the tournament’s broadcast centre. As the live broadcast feeds streamed into the facility, the Forscene servers transcoded the full resolution HD-SDI feeds and uploaded proxy live feeds into the IMG Forscene accounts. IMG’s team of four editors started editing these feeds in Forscene seconds behind the live growing file – creating match edits, in-match clips and post-match interview and press conference highlights. Pre-made graphic stings and sponsor branding elements were incorporated into the edits before the final conformed sequences were published via World Rugby’s Pulse CMS to the official Rugby World Cup website. While the workflow was simple, the volume and quality of video content produced by the IMG digital production team over the course of the 24 Rugby World Cup match-days was astounding.

Forscene has once again proven its worth on one of the biggest sporting events of the year. We look forward to servicing our exciting 2016 agreements and are confident in growing Forscene rapidly as the sports digital content editing tool of choice.

Follow us on social media:

Twitter     Facebook     LinkedIn     Google+

The post Online video attracts 25,000,000 unique users to Rugby World Cup website appeared first on Blackbird.