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Literary gala · 20 destinations at once
Simulcast live streaming — one gala, twenty channels and two language versions
The ceremony of the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award at Teatr Polski in Warsaw. Four cameras, two independent language programmes and a parallel broadcast to 16 Facebook pages and 4 YouTube channels.
The challenge
An international award needs an international audience
The Zbigniew Herbert Foundation has awarded this prize since 2013 for a lifetime achievement in poetry — a statuette and a cheque for 50,000 US dollars. In 2017 it went to the South African poet Breyten Breytenbach, presented at Teatr Polski by Katarzyna Herbert and a representative of the PZU Foundation.
The audience for an event like this is bilingual and scattered by definition: some watch in Polish, some in English, and every partner — an institute, a library, a theatre, a newsroom — wants the broadcast on their own page rather than a link pointing somewhere else. Hence not one stream but two language versions delivered to twenty destinations at once.
How we did it
Two independent programmes from one floor
Four XDCAM cameras produced one set of pictures, but two separate programmes came out of it. Each had its own vision mix, its own audio chain and its own captions — because the Polish version put Herbert’s poems on screen in Polish, and the English one showed their translations.
Four cameras, one floor
The stage of Teatr Polski, the laureate, the laudator and the performers: actors reading Herbert’s poetry and a piano recital by Włodek Pawlik. One camera rig served both versions.
Two mixes, two audio chains
The Polish and English versions ran in parallel: separate cuts wherever a different caption had to appear, and a separate audio source — the original speech or the interpretation.
Graphics in both languages
Poems, name captions and title cards prepared as two complete sets. A viewer on the English channel never sees Polish captions — they get a coherent programme in their own language.
Delivery to 20 destinations
Sixteen Facebook pages and four YouTube channels — two per language version. The broadcast also went out on culture.pl, the portal of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
Two versions
The same gala, two complete sets of material
It shows most clearly on the cards announcing the broadcast: the same design, the same set of partner logos, two languages. Everything that appeared on screen during the event worked the same way.
Equipment
What we brought to this gala
4× XDCAM camera
Four channels covering the stage of Teatr Polski: wide, speaker, performers and detail. The same kit is available through our streaming equipment rental.
Dual-programme flypack
A mobile control room with the capability of an OB van, configured to run two programmes at the same time, with separate outputs and separate graphics.
Fan-out to 20 targets
Distribution was handled by our streaming server: one input per language version, a dozen-plus parallel outputs to the platforms.
Watch the stream
The full ceremony — English version
The complete recording of the gala: the presentation of the award, the laudation, Herbert’s poetry read from the stage and piano improvisations inspired by the laureate’s paintings. The Polish version of the same evening is available on the Polish version of this page.
The outcome
One evening, two language versions and three complete sets of recorded material — Polish, English and a short-form report.
The organiser received more than a broadcast: a ready archive. Two full recordings of the gala for publication in both language areas, plus a shorter report piece for the foundation’s and the partners’ own communication.
Twenty parallel streams sound extravagant until you count the reach. Every partner — the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the National Library, Teatr Polski, Polish Radio, TVP Kultura — carried the event on their own page, to their own community. Instead of a link to click, the viewer got the gala where they already were.
The same mechanism works for any event with multiple patrons: an industry conference, an awards gala, a congress. The production cost is paid once, while the reach multiplies by the number of partners.
FAQ
Simulcast live streaming — common questions
What is simulcasting (multistreaming)?
It means broadcasting one live production to many channels and platforms at the same time. At the Herbert Award gala the signal went out simultaneously to sixteen Facebook pages and four YouTube channels. For the viewer it is an ordinary stream on their favourite page; all the complexity stays on the production side.
How many channels can you stream to at once?
In practice the limit comes from uplink bandwidth and platform rules, not from the technology. Twenty destinations is what we handled at this gala; with more partners we add further outputs on the streaming server.
Can every partner have the stream on their own page?
Yes, and that is the whole point of simulcasting. Each patron and partner broadcasts the event on their own page, to their own community, instead of sending it away with a link. All we need is a stream key from every account.
How does a two-language broadcast work?
They are two independent programmes made from the same floor: a separate vision mix, a separate audio chain (original or interpretation) and a separate set of graphics. The viewer on the English channel gets a coherent English programme, not a Polish stream with a voice-over added.
How many cameras does a gala in a theatre need?
For a ceremony with speeches and a performance, four is comfortable: a wide of the stage, the speaker, the performers and a detail. On two cameras you have to choose between who is speaking and what is happening on stage.
Do we get the recording for later use?
Yes. For this gala we delivered three sets of material: the full Polish recording, the full English one and a shorter report piece. The scope is agreed before the event, because it affects how the production is set up.
How much does a simulcast production cost?
It depends on the number of cameras, language versions and delivery targets. A single-camera stream to one channel is a different budget from a four-camera production with two programmes and twenty outputs. Tell us how many partners you have and we will price the actual scenario.
Running an event with many partners?
We will produce it multi-camera, prepare the language versions and deliver the signal to every partner’s page at once — from one floor and within one production budget.
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