KPTV, the Meredith Broadcasting-owned FOX affiliate in Portland, OR, is supplementing its electronic newsgathering technology with a new camera-mounted device that can deliver live news coverage via a WiMAX broadband network.
The 1.5lb device, LiveEdge (from Louisville, KY-based Nomad Innovations) makes use of 3G and 4G wireless telecommunications networks for contribution of live video as an alternative to traditional microwave and satellite uplink trucks.
The sale to KPTV comes one month after the company’s first international sale to C5N, a 24-hour news network in Buenos Aires, Argentina. C5N is using LiveEdge to deliver live news reports via a local WiMAX network.
In Portland, KPTV will rely on the new technology for an aggressive expansion of its newsgathering footprint in the community without incurring the expense of adding traditional microwave trucks. According to station general manager Patrick McCreery, using LiveEdge and WiMAX for news contribution “will fundamentally change how we collect and distribute live news.” Besides cutting the capital expense of adding new live field resources, the technology will help KPTV reduce operating expenses when compared to its current use of microwave and satellite technology.
LiveEdge provides two-way audio/video/data connection between the scene of a news story and the studio. LiveEdge delivers secure connectivity to iNews, ENPS, nonlinear editing and other production systems. A return path provides IFB and intercom via a Bluetooth interface as well as confidence video or teleprompter.
Nomad Innovation’s technology can transmit video via 3G and 4G networks in NTSC, PAL, SDI and HD formats.