First Live Production and Transmission of Immersive Audio on Commercial OTA Digital Television in Latin America

Abstract

Since 2017, Globo Television has been testing and evaluating immersive audio systems to use on over-the-air (OTA), pay TV, and streaming services to increase the user experience of our viewers and listeners, giving a sense of “being there” and exploring off-screen sound information, especially on live events. From that point until the present experimental content has been produced, some experimental transmissions made via streaming services, over-the-top (OTT), and OTA. This was done in collaboration with representatives from industrial and academic sectors in a regulatory committee. In 2020, a reviewed standard NBR 15602–2—the audio coding part of Brazil’s Digital TV standards—was published, which included immersive audio systems as optional. In September 2020, immersive audio was delivered on an OTA commercial channel in São Paulo, reaching more than 17 million people. Dolby Atmos audio service was used in the transmission with no negative impact on legacy receivers. This innovation presents live immersive audio transmissions across an entire workflow, from venue microphone audio capture, through an audio production chain, and extending from the exhibition center to TV transmission.