MOMOTV, A League Apart

Taiwan may not be a sporting giant, but with over 23 million people, there’s certainly no shortage of sports fans, especially when it comes to baseball and basketball.

Sports content in Taiwan is growing, with the number of new dedicated sports channels continuing to see an uptrend.

Apart from holding exclusive broadcasting rights, the only way for Taiwanese TV stations to get a slice of the lucrative TV sports action is to either stream more live matches or upgrade their production quality. Better yet, why not do both. That’s exactly the game plan for MOMOTV, a digital TV station based in Taipei.

Owned by the Fubon Group, MOMOTV first started broadcasting in 2011 covering a wide genre of programmes including news, lifestyle, entertainment, kids and sports.

To keep pace with the growing demand for live sports, MOMOTV turned to Sony to build a customised 4K OB Van. Delivered in March 2019, the OB van is complemented with a wide array of Sony 4K broadcast solutions.

Said Super Chang, Director, Field Production Center, MOMOTV: “This is our first 4K OB van. MOMOTV worked closely with the Sony team to build and kit the OB van in record time. By expanding our live 4K capabilities we hope to stay ahead of the game and continue delivering top-notch quality to our viewers.”

To deliver the best sporting action, MOMOTV acquired a long list of breakthrough Sony 4K solutions including the HDC-4800 4K/HD Ultra High Frame Rate camera system, HDC-4300 4K/HD studio camera, XVS-8000 & XVS-7000 multi-format switchers, PWS-4500 live production server and BVM-X300 4K TRIMASTER EL™ OLED critical reference monitor.

Added Chang on the selection of Sony for its 4K acquisitions: “Sony has an excellent track record in supporting TV stations from start to finish. In the 4K arena, they stand out with a wide range of 4K solutions tailor-made for our current and growing needs.”

Amongst the Sony equipment MOMOTV invested in, Chang had special words for the Sony HDC-4800 camera system: “The Sony HDC-4800 is the ultimate camera for sports coverage. This high-speed camera allows us to capture dynamic sports action with ultra-smooth slow-motion.”

Considered the gold benchmark for live sports production, the HDC-4800 offers spectacular 4K recording at up to 480 frames per second in 4K or 960 fps at HD resolution. Teamed with the BPU-4800 4K UHFR Baseband Processor Unit, it’s a complete live solution for 4K Ultra High Frame Rate (UHFR) recording and playback.

Although MOMOTV will use most of the Sony equipment for its live coverage of the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the ASEAN Basketball League, it has the flexibility to deploy the newly-acquired equipment for events and studio use.

Echoed Chang: “Our main goal now is expanding our 4K sports content but we will certainly use our new Sony equipment for medium and large-scale production events too. Together with our new OB van, MOMOTV is ready to map out a new journey in 4K.”