The South Korean public television sports channel is using LiveU for the live production of its 2023 golf tournaments

SBS Golf - LiveU in action 1 (comp)

South Korean sports channel SBS Golf is using LiveU for the live production of its 2023 professional golf tournaments.

Multiple LiveU field units are being used around each golf course, connected wire-free to the LiveU receiver in the production van or other outside broadcast facility.

The camera crew just has to turn up on the day with LiveU backpacks.

LiveU’s reliability was a key factor in SBS Golf’s decision to partner with the company.

The deployment followed extensive testing of the LiveU EcoSystem, the company’s set of IP-video products and services. LiveU’s IP-video solutions and on-site workflow offer increased efficiency, replacing traditional Radio Frequency (RF) and cabled-cameras, which require line-of-sight and longer set-up times.

“There’s no heavy labour required before each tournament, where previously we had to set up lengthy cables and RF systems”

Young-min Kwon, executive producer at SBS Golf, said: “We became fascinated by the possibilities enabled by LiveU, seeing that we were good to go so quickly – with lower costs and less work.

“There’s no heavy labour required before each tournament, where previously we had to set up lengthy cables and RF systems, including a crane 40 meters up in the sky. We also saw the resiliency of LiveU’s technology for ourselves when the units continued to operate in a thunderstorm on Jeju Island. Our reporter was able to carry on interviewing the players with no interruption.”

SBS Golf - LiveU Central

Kwon adds: “LiveU’s portability means our camera crew can follow each player as they take their shots, creating a truly immersive fan experience. It fascinated us that we could even stream live from the halfway houses (snack bars), something we couldn’t do before with RF due to signal loss.” 

The production covers over 50 KPGA (Korea Professional Golf Association) and KLPGA (Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association) tournaments. SBS’s live coverage is transmitted live on its linear pay-TV channels, digital channels and YouTube Live to millions of golf fans in the region.

Yaal Eshel, general manager, LiveU Asia, said: “Golf is one of Korea’s most popular sports and we are thrilled that one of the leading sports channels in the region, SBS Golf, has selected LiveU for their live productions. This use case demonstrates the efficiency of our EcoSystem over traditional production methods for golf and other live sports when production teams need to cover so much ground. Using LiveU, camera crews are free to move with the players, transmitting in real-time via the on-site receiver to linear TV and online destinations.”

SBS Golf is part of SBS Medianet, a South Korean company by SBS Media Holdings, producing media, broadcast and telecommunication products for non free-to-air networks.