NEW YORK—One of the toughest jobs I’ve had in my career is when LG Electronics wanted me to pull off a live stream for a Broadway-inspired launch event, in the middle of Times Square.
I was working as a producer for the media company Digital Media Etc. and it was my job to make sure the broadcast was flawless for the entire day. This involved setting up wireless cameras on the ground, broadcasting the event to one of the jumbo Times Square screens hundreds of feet in the air and simultaneously to multiple live streaming platforms.
Cable runs were not permitted because we were in the middle of Times Square. There was no staging, so any passerby—or even the performers—could have tripped and the feed would have been disrupted. Even if we had approval, there was no way to create a safe cabled workflow.
The sheer amount of RF and wireless interference in Times Square also posed a threat that could also potentially interrupt any form of transmission. For the best chance at success, I decided to go with a completely wireless and IP-based workflow using a few Teradek products.
Teradek Bond II offers six cellular connections to help deliver content.NO CABLES NECESSARY
To start, I used the Teradek Bolt 600s for all three cameras to transmit the feed to their respective receivers, which were outfitted with directional panel antennas. This effectively replaced the long cable runs from the camera sources that I would typically use. The zero delay video signals from the Bolts then routed to the switcher where we produced the final mix.
I sent the program feed via SDI into Teradek’s Bond II cellular bonding solution. With the Bond II’s six cellular connections, I found a way to create a reliable and high bandwidth network that would deliver broadcast quality to my destinations. And as for reliability, if one network unexpectedly disconnected, the feed would still send uninterrupted and intact with the additional connections.
SENDING THE FEED
Once our feed was encoded by the Bond II and sent over our robust internet connection, the signal was directed to Teradek’s Core cloud-based fleet management solution. With Core, I could easily route, DVR, and configure all of my destinations; this included YouTube Live, Livestream, and a Teradek Cube decoder that fed the iconic LG jumbo display for the entire downtown to see.
It’s unbelievable how much flexibility Teradek products give you, and the ease of setup is unmatched. You couldn’t have put us in a more unpredictable production environment, but when it came down to it, everything just worked.
It takes years to build up a reputation, but only seconds to tear it down. With my company, BeTerrific, this LG production was big enough to potentially damage our foundation, but we chose Teradek. Thanks to their products, we really made the impossible possible and we couldn’t have done this without its support.
Michael Artsis is a five-time Emmy Award-winning television producer and director. Founder and CEO of BeTerrific based in New York. He can be reached atartsis@beterrific.com.
For more information, please visitwww.teradek.comor call 949-743-5780.
