KITCHENER, ONTARIO—KTBS Channel 3 in Shreveport, La., has expanded its live electronic newsgathering capabilities with Dejero Live+ 20/20 Transmitters. The station also will soon deploy the Dejero Live+ Mobile App to members of the news staff, enabling them to capture and transmit live video using their iPhone 5s.
A regional television station serving 28 counties and parishes in East Texas, Northwest Louisiana, western Oklahoma and southern Arkansas, KTBS was the first station in its market to adopt bonded cellular newsgathering equipment. The rugged and portable transmitters are in daily use by KTBS field news crews, enabling them to transmit high-quality live video without having to deploy microwave trucks. With the Dejero Live+ Mobile Apps, reporters already in the field will be able to cover breaking news without having to return to the station for additional equipment, and they will be able to switch between the front and back cameras of their iPhones.
“With Dejero we’ve been able to triple our live news coverage, and our microwave trucks are now second-tier resources. In the time it takes to get a truck to the site, park it, and get the mast up, we can already be receiving live video back at the station from the Dejero equipment,” aid Dale Cassidy, chief engineer, KTBS 3.
Currently, most KTBS newscasts include at least one live shot using a Live+ 20/20 Transmitter, and the systems have been used for sideline coverage of football games as well as local government, crime and human interest reports. All of KTBS’s Live+ 20/20 Transmitters include built-in cellular and wireless modems, which can bond multiple networks as required to ensure necessary bandwidth for transmitting broadcast-quality video. A Dejero Live+ Broadcast Server in the KTBS broadcast facility receives the video feeds and processes them for playout to live news broadcasts.
The Dejero Live+ 20/20 Transmitter’s compact and lightweight form factor was a deciding factor as KTBS evaluated ENG solutions.
“It’s much easier and faster to train our users on the Dejero Live+ 20/20 Transmitters than to train truck technicians, and if our field reporters run into any difficulties, the Dejero support number is right on the box, so they can get immediate assistance,” Cassidy said.
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