DTV Audio Group Workshop

Monday, December 16, 2019
Location: Concourse A, Concourse Level
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.

Audio for a New Television Landscape

The nature of television distribution and consumption is rapidly changing.  Ubiquitous and inexpensive wireless and broadband networking; smart TVs and mobile devices; and massively-scalable cloud computing have created completely new entertainment distribution pathways which are swiftly upending the traditional broadcast model.  The transition from “hardwired” to “virtualized” distribution has expanded the possibilities for television audio innovation, further raising the bar on ultimate quality of premium viewing experiences, while presenting creative challenges in translating these experiences to an ever-widening range of devices.

The advent of affordable consumer 4K and HDR on smart TVs and other devices has radically transformed the at-home viewing experience.  Combined with the story-telling power of premium episodic content and streaming movies, upscale home viewing has supplanted cinema as the ultimate Hollywood entertainment consumption experience.  Audio has been front and center in this transition as more and more premium content becomes available in Dolby Atmos immersive surround.

The dramatic resurgence of surround sound, and emerging interest in next-generation enhanced-surround, is built on the ability to virtualize surround presentations over a growing range of devices and environments. These include increasingly sophisticated immersive-audio-capable soundbars and TV sets, alongside enhanced surround virtualizing headphones, earbuds and mobile devices.

Just as we squeeze the last drops of performance from the current audio encoding systems, we are beginning the transition to next generation systems.  How will workflow adapt to efficiently support legacy and next-gen distribution concurrently?  What is the real production appetite for advanced personalization and accessibility?  Are there production efficiencies to be gained by adopting a more modular mix-and-match approach to managing music, effects, and dialogue elements separately in transmission?

For live sports and entertainment production, these evolving distribution paradigms and enhanced focus on audio quality are creating opportunities for innovation in production techniques and distribution workflows.  At the same time, under the ever-constant pressure on budgets, content creators are increasingly leveraging virtualized remote production to efficiently manage staffing and equipment deployment in the field presenting another set of audio challenges and opportunities for innovation.

Just as sports audio production is changing, the sports themselves are also changing.  The most significant example of this is Esports where sophisticated in-game audio, sound reinforcement, player monitoring, and IP virtualized production all come into play to present further new challenges.

Time Session
10:00 - 10:10 a.m.

Audio Opportunities in Evolving Distribution Paradigms

Featuring: Roger Charlesworth, DTV Audio Group, Executive Director

10:10 - 10:20 a.m.

Leveraging Audio Plugins in Live Production

Featuring: Ben Davis, Waves Audio, North American Sales Manager

10:20 - 11:00 a.m.

Digital Microphone Acquisition Processing and Control

Panelists:
Ben Escobedo, Shure, Senior Market Development Specialist
Brian Glasscock, Sennheiser, User Experience Researcher

11:00 - 11:40 a.m.

Audio and Communications for Virtualized Remote Production

Panelists:
Thomas Carlisle
, Sneaky Big, Senior Broadcast Engineer
Mike DiCrescenzo, NBC Universal, Senior Audio Engineer
Mark Stephens, AWS, Global Tech Lead, Media & Entertainment Partners
Glenn Stillwell, PAC-12 Networks, Audio Operations Manager

11:40 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Audio for Tokyo 2020

Featuring: Karl Malone, NBC Sports and Olympics, Director of Sound Design

12:00 - 12:30 p.m.

Sound Design and Integrated Post and Graphics Workflows for Atmos in Live Sports

Featuring:
Brian Rio, Turner Studios, Director of Sound Design

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

Break

1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Transitioning to Next-Generation Audio Services and Making the Case for Accessibility, Personalization, and Adaptable Enhanced Surround

Panelists:
Tim Carroll, Dolby Laboratories, Senior Director Technology, Sound Group in the Office of the CTO
Mark Francisco, Comcast, Fellow, Accessibility and Inclusive Experience
Tom Sahara, Media Technologist and Advisor; SVG, Content Security Work Group, Co-Chair
John Schur, Telos Alliance, Vice President of Television Solutions
Jim Starzynski, NBC Universal Advanced Engineering, Director and Principal Audio Engineer

2:30 - 2:45 p.m.

Break

2:45 - 3:45 p.m.

Meeting the Challenges of Esports Audio

Panelists:
Jake Dodson
, Riedel Communications, Head of Product Management
Pete Emminger, Blizzard Entertainment, Senior Director, Global Broadcast
Steve Harvey, Pro Sound News, West Coast Editor
Will Taylor, Square Wave Productions, Senior Audio Engineer