The CCTV reporting team selected the TVU One backpack as their core technical equipment for frontline reporting. This choice solved the challenge of signal transmission in extreme environments....
TVU Networks Pioneers Groundbreaking Coverage of 2025 Kumbh Mela Festival
TVU Networks provided professional broadcasting solutions to cover one of the world's largest religious gatherings.
View Related ProductsCupertino, CA – February 8, 2025 –TVU Networks has achieved an unprecedented broadcasting milestone, delivering comprehensive live coverage of one of the world’s largest religious gatherings – the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj, India. Running from January 13 to February 26, 2025, this momentous spiritual event occurs every 12 years and is expected to draw an extraordinary 450 million devotees and visitors to its sacred grounds.
At the confluence of three sacred rivers—the Ganges, Yamuna, and Saraswati—millions of pilgrims gather for ritualistic bathing, seeking spiritual purification and liberation during this six-week festival. While multiple Indian media outlets have undertaken broadcasting this family-centric gathering, the sheer magnitude of the event demanded innovative technical solutions to surmount significant obstacles in delivering comprehensive coverage.
The technical hurdles proved formidable: massive network saturation from hundreds of thousands of concentrated participants, challenging terrain creating persistent signal coverage gaps, and the imperative for extensive mobile broadcasting that demanded both portability and unwavering signal reliability. In response, media outlets deployed TVU Networks’ sophisticated three broadcasting solutions, engineered specifically to address these complex demands.
At the ground level, mobile reporting teams utilize TVU One backpacks, enabling fluid, dynamic coverage across the festival grounds. These sophisticated portable units harness proprietary Inverse StatMux Plus (IS+) transmission technology (Patent US10020914B2), working in concert with HEVC format smart VBR encoding and Forward Error Correction (FEC). This technological convergence enables reporters to transmit pristine, stable live broadcasts from the most crowded bathing areas and ceremonial sites.
Strategic positioning of broadcast vehicles and temporary studios throughout the festival grounds forms the second solution of coverage. These vehicles, equipped with TVU MLink transmitters and arrays of omnidirectional antennas, substantially expand signal reach. The professional-grade transmitters excel through sophisticated multi-network aggregation, seamlessly integrating 5G, 4G, WiFi, and ethernet connections to establish dependable transmission channels even amid intense network congestion.
The third solution comprises TVU Rack Router 5G units serving as advanced network hubs within temporary studios. These robust systems simultaneously maintain connections to up to six 5G cellular networks while preserving compatibility with satellite, microwave, WiFi, and ethernet connections. This versatility ensures stable internet access with remarkable bandwidth capacity reaching 1Gbps, supporting the entire array of electronic and broadcasting equipment.
“We are incredibly proud to provide the technological backbone for broadcasting this historic spiritual gathering.“ Subodh Aggarwal, General Manager for South Asia at TVU Networks, reflected on the achievement, “Our three solutions specifically address the unique challenges of the Kumbh Mela—from the massive network congestion to the need for both mobile and fixed broadcasting positions. The successful implementation demonstrates our commitment to delivering reliable broadcasting solutions even in the most demanding environments. This achievement sets a new benchmark for large-scale event coverage in India.”
