Germany's DTM racing series has deployed a private 5G network to carry onboard camera transmissions, working with broadcast service provider TV Skyline and communications specialist Riedel on the project.

The move puts one of Europe's best-known touring car series among the growing ranks of live sports productions that treat private 5G as a working transmission tool rather than a demonstration technology. For DTM, the shift concerns the cameras mounted inside and around the race cars, whose pictures must reach the broadcast compound reliably at circuit speeds.

The three partners behind the deployment each bring a distinct role. DTM supplies the racing series and the production requirement. TV Skyline, a German outside-broadcast and transmission specialist, handles the broadcast side of the equation. Riedel, long known in motorsport for its communications and signal infrastructure, contributes the networking technology and integration.

Why does onboard camera transmission matter for 5G?

Onboard cameras are among the hardest signals in sports television. A touring car brakes, accelerates and corners while its camera streams live video, and every change of position threatens the radio link carrying the feed. Conventional approaches have relied on licensed microwave and dedicated wireless systems, which work but come with constraints on capacity, setup and the number of simultaneous feeds.

Private 5G changes that calculation in a specific way. A network built for the venue, operating on spectrum the operator controls, can serve many cameras at once with the low latency that live production demands. Unlike public mobile networks, a private deployment does not compete with spectator traffic for capacity on race day.

That logic has pushed motorsport and other large-scale live events toward private cellular over the past several years. Series and broadcasters face rising expectations for camera counts, with viewers accustomed to cockpit angles and close coverage from every corner of the track.

What does each partner contribute?

The division of labor in the DTM project follows a pattern now common in sports production.

• DTM defines the coverage requirement and integrates the onboard feeds into its race production.
• TV Skyline applies its broadcast transmission expertise to the video side, ensuring the camera signals meet production standards.
• Riedel provides the private 5G network itself, drawing on its established position supplying communications infrastructure to motorsport events.

Riedel's involvement is notable because the company already carries intercom, timing and data traffic for major racing series. Adding cellular video transmission extends that footprint rather than opening an entirely new one, which reduces integration risk for a series that cannot afford transmission failures during a live race.

How does this fit the wider private 5G picture?

The DTM deployment sits at the intersection of two trends. Private 5G networks have spread from factories and ports into media production, where broadcasters have trialed them for wireless cameras at golf tournaments, stadium events and studio floors. At the same time, motorsport has become a demanding test environment for the technology, since few venues combine high vehicle speeds, crowded radio spectrum and zero tolerance for dropped feeds.

For vendors and service providers, sports production has become a showcase that carries commercial weight. A network that holds up across a race weekend, with cars circulating at speed and cameras rolling continuously, makes a stronger case to enterprise buyers than a controlled pilot on a factory floor.

For DTM, the calculation is simpler. More onboard angles mean a better broadcast product, and a network that carries them without dedicated point-to-point links for every camera offers flexibility that legacy wireless systems struggle to match.

The deployment also reflects how the cost structure of private cellular has matured. Building a small, venue-specific 5G network is now within reach of event production budgets, not just large industrial users, which explains why series like DTM can adopt the technology for a single, well-defined task such as onboard video.

Whether DTM expands the network's role beyond camera transmission — into timing, team communications or additional coverage angles — will show how far event operators can push a single private 5G investment across their production chain.