The basic signal – the basis for all match broadcasts
Viewers worldwide follow the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 each matchday. Whether live or in the post-match coverage, the basis for the broadcasts is the basic signal. What the basic signal is, how it is produced and how it is distributed to the viewer – find all information below.
1. What is the basic signal?
The basic signal is the basis for moving images captured in Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 matches. Produced in the stadium, it ensures that entire matches or highlight reels can be broadcast live across a variety of platforms – whether that’s in Germany or anywhere else around the world. As many as 26 cameras record the on field action from inside the stadium.
2. How is the basic signal created?
Every image from every camera is transmitted live to an OB-Van coordinated by the DFL subsidiary Sportcast. The vehicles are parked right outside the stadium. Sportcast, which has been operational since 2006, is responsible for generating a basic signal from all the available camera signals. They do this for all of Germany’s 617 Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 matches, including relegation play offs and the Supercup. This underpins every television signal.
3. How do the images reach their audience?
The signal is transmitted straight to the broadcast station from the OB-Van at the stadium. It is also transmitted by fiber and satellite to the central production site in Cologne, where it is fed into the DFL Media Hub – the world’s biggest database for football video footage. This is how the basic signal for matches is distributed to national media partners for both live broadcasts and news coverage.
International media partners receive a basic signal enhanced with international graphics and English-language commentary. On behalf of the DFL, Sportcast also distributes the basic signal, now a world feed, to media partners outside Germany.
4. Who uses the basic signal?
The basic signal is available to all the DFL’s national and international media partners, which are primarily television broadcasters and streaming services. Media partners add their own specific graphics to the basic signal delivered by Sportcast, and broadcast it via their respective channels to the various devices fans use to watch the Bundesliga around the world.