5G is a wireless broadband technology aiming to enable new services for consumers and business users. It is expected to provide high throughput, low latency, and highly reliable wireless connections, which may allow broadcasters to produce content in a more efficient way and improve their offering to viewers and listeners.
Broadcasters expect that 5G can be used to improve technical and operational efficiency, increase flexibility, and reduce production costs. 5G is also hoped to enable new production workflows, in particular in news gathering, remote production, coverage of live events, and user engagement.
For these opportunities to materialize it is necessary that specific technical and other requirements in content production can be met in the 5G context.
The EBU’s project group 5G in Content Production brought together broadcasters and the industry with the aim to:
- Define the relevant audiovisual production use cases for 5G across various genres including news, OBs, events, studio and location production.
- Identify and quantify the associated technical and operational requirements.
- Identify and communicate technology readiness and delivery timescales and roadmaps for trials.
- Gain a thorough understanding of the working practices and standardisation timetables within the relevant standards development organisations (SDO), in particular 3GPP, and contribute to their work where relevant.
- Inform EBU members of the potential benefits of the new standards and/or possible issues;
- Act as a user group in the market, communicate broadcasters’ needs in the production domain to telecom operators, manufacturers, MNOs, industry fora, and the regulators.
These objectives have largely been achieved and, therefore, the group has been closed.
The EBU continues to facilitates a dialogue with the wider industry on a range of issues related to 5G, including business arrangements amongst the stakeholders along the value chain.