​Donal Scannell Set To Revolutionize Broadcasting

Arama CEO and Cleaghmore native, Donal Scannell, has worked on everything from ‘The Late Late Show’ to IRFU Rugby Specials to U2 tours.Last month saw him as shortlisted as one of 12 to pitch his startup idea in  Enterprise Ireland’s prestigious Annual Showcase.   On one occasion Garbally-educated Donal was sat in Tallaght Stadium, watching Shamrock Rovers play Dundalk in the League of Ireland when the realisation hit him, this game was never televised to - so many fans were unfortunate to miss out. He needed a way to make these games accessible.

Arama, with the assistance of Trinity Engineering Professor Anil Kokaram, uses its combination of algorithm-based video technology and human expertise to cover events such as football matches.

Donal stated: “We take a defined space, like a pitch, and we map it out with our cameras, then we train our algorithm to follow what’s important. We can take all these big wide shots from the area and select areas of interest which are then transmitted back to studio for a director to choose from.”
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Arama use AI and Computer Vision to give humans superpowers - a crew of three can achieve what currently takes 33 people, turning everything on its head using software, specifically AI and Video Processing.

Ciaran Donegan, Anil Kokaram and Donal Scannell of Arama

RTÉ and Premier Sports are on board as trial partners and they are in talks with Sky Sports and Eleven Sports. Arama has slashed the costs of TV outside broadcasts - They can do for €5,000 what currently costs €40,000.

Other companies also offer solutions to reduce the labour involved in outside broadcasting, but Arama believes its selling point is the combination of AI and human knowledge it uses on live events.

The Enterprise Ireland-backed firm has already raised €330,000 in seed funding and is targeting a further €700,000 investment in the coming months.

In the long run, Arama believes it can allow the world’s biggest broadcasters to cover far more football matches and later hopes to move into other live events.