BT Sport: Object-based delivery ‘next big thing’
June 28, 2018
By Colin Mann
Jamie Hindhaugh, COO of BT Sport, has suggested that object-based delivery will be the next major initiative as the broadcaster continues to innovate in its goal of putting the customer at the heart of sport.
Delivering a keynote address at the Love Broadcasting Summit in London, Hindhaugh noted BT’s previous initiatives in sports coverage, such as Ultra HD, HDR, Dolby Atmos and 360 VR, suggesting that the telco’s arrival in the sector, starting from scratch, had engendered an attitude for being innovative and different. He said that initiatives such as 4K were not “innovation for innovation’s sake” but about making its audiences closer to the action.
He didn’t see VR and 3D as necessarily the future for sports viewing, as they lacked the social aspect, with BT preferring to offer such options as different camera angles, instead suggesting that object-based delivery would grow with the spread of IP. “We will start giving you objects, packages, templates, so you can create your own version of what you are watching.”
Hindhaugh said that hardcore fans of MotoGP could benefit from additional graphics and stats available to the broadcaster. BT would curate the data, and allow the viewer to choose their preferences from the programme feed. “That’s where we’re going. That’s where the next big initiative is coming through, combined with 5G mobile.”