International Day of Yoga Livestream
As part of the International Day of Yoga, an event India has held worldwide since 2015, we broadcast a live feed of the Turkey leg of the event to India's state broadcaster, DD National (Doordarshan). Reaching an audience of nearly 1 billion people with this live broadcast was a genuine source of pride for us.
Objective and Requirements
As part of the project, thousands of people across dozens of countries worldwide would be practicing yoga simultaneously.
What was asked of us was to deliver the Turkey leg to Doordarshan TV's servers smoothly and with minimal delay.
The live feed we sent would be selected and put to air by the control room team in India. As with any live broadcast, there was zero room for error on this project.
Once the project was approved, we immediately moved into the planning (pre-production) phase.
Live Broadcast Planning Phase
The venue was the open-air area of the Haliç Congress Center along the Golden Horn, and hundreds of participants were expected.
Since it was an open-air location, we were also able to use drone footage — we wanted to capture different angles and showcase the symmetry of the yoga mats laid out on the ground.
Based on our site survey and our previous experience running events at the same venue, we decided to use the following equipment;
- 6 broadcast cameras (Sony PMW-350K)
- 1 Jimmy Jib,
- 1 Drone
- BlackmagicDesign Studio HD switcher
To get better footage, it was also important to install custom 180x180cm non-wobbling platforms under each camera and to secure drone flight permits.
Livestream Day
While the event company handled their own setup, we began ours and ran rehearsals ahead of the broadcast.
We eagerly awaited the "your turn Türkiye" message from the coordination group made up of officials in India and production companies from other countries.
Led by instructors, hundreds of people began practicing yoga along the shore of the Golden Horn. We started transmitting the live feed to India.
While the broadcast was underway, canoeing and rowing lessons were also taking place on the Golden Horn. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, we captured as much of it as we could and worked it into the broadcast, hoping to showcase a bit of Istanbul's beauty along the way.
On this project, which we wrapped up smoothly and without a hitch, behind-the-scenes videographer Özberk Erçe Erikli asked production lead Ferit Çağlar Gündüz a question: Any stress?
There was no stress that day, but knowing that 1 billion people were watching our feed carried its own weight.
If you'd like to watch the behind-the-scenes footage from this project:
Frequently Asked Questions
What was done as part of this project?
Vusto broadcast the Turkey leg of India's International Day of Yoga event live from the Haliç Congress Center to India's state broadcaster, DD National; the broadcast reached an audience of nearly 1 billion people.
What equipment was used for a livestream of this scale?
6 broadcast cameras (Sony PMW-350K), 1 Jimmy Jib, 1 drone, and a BlackmagicDesign Studio HD switcher were used; custom stable platforms were also installed under each camera.
What's the most critical factor in large-scale livestream projects like this?
Since the footage was sent directly to a control room team abroad, there was zero room for error — ensuring a smooth, uninterrupted signal was the most critical factor.
