Immersive Audio: Adoption in Broadcast

Immersive audio formats like Dolby Atmos and MPEG-H are no longer limited to cinemas. By 2025, they are widely used in broadcast and streaming, particularly for sports and entertainment.

Why It Matters

Immersive audio enhances the viewer experience by adding height and spatial positioning. For sports, it puts audiences inside the stadium. For concerts, it recreates the venue atmosphere.

Technical Requirements

• Microphone arrays: Capture height and surround elements.
• Audio objects: Flexible rendering on different devices.
• Metadata: Carries spatial information through the chain.
• Monitoring tools: Visualize objects and beds in real time.

Engineering Challenges

• Compatibility: Streams must downmix cleanly to stereo and 5.1.
• Bandwidth: Immersive mixes increase data rates.
• Training: Operators need new skills for mixing and QC.
• Device support: Not all endpoints render immersive formats equally.

Industry Adoption

Major sports events now regularly produce in Atmos. Streaming platforms promote immersive mixes as premium features. Standards groups continue to refine guidelines for interoperability.

Immersive audio is no longer experimental. Broadcasters that adopt it differentiate their content and meet growing audience expectations.