NBC Affiliate Provides Working Lab for Journalism Students Who Cover Breaking News and Broadcast Live Feeds Using Dejero Bonded Cellular Transmitters
KITCHENER, Ontario -- Dec. 11, 2013 -- Dejero today announced that KOMU-TV Channel 8 in Columbia, Missouri, a full-power NBC affiliate owned by the University of Missouri and operated by the prestigious Missouri School of Journalism, has expanded its electronic newsgathering (ENG) capabilities with Dejero LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitters. Using the Dejero systems, student journalists can gain valuable experience in remote live news coverage and transmit high-quality live or recorded HD video from breaking news locations unreachable with traditional technology.
Operating as a commercial station, KOMU-TV is the only major network affiliate in the U.S. that is also a university-owned working lab for students. Broadcasting six newscasts and more than five hours of news daily, the KOMU-TV newsroom is completely staffed by upper-level and graduate Missouri journalism students who serve as producers, writers, and reporters.
Joining KOMU-TV's fleet of two ENG and two SNG vehicles, the ruggedized LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitters are easily carried to remote news locations. Equipped with only the LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitter and an HD camera, the students are able to file live reports from areas that are unreachable by the vehicles. The transmitters' adaptive bit rate bonded cellular encoding combines available cell and wireless networks to ensure reliable, high-bandwidth transmission of the HD video. Back in the newsroom, a Dejero LIVE+ Broadcast Server receives the feeds and integrates them into the live news broadcast. Or, using the LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitter's store-and-forward capabilities, reporters can capture footage and transmit it for editing and later broadcast.
"One of the reasons the Missouri School of Journalism is so well respected is because we give our students hands-on experience with the tools and technologies they're likely to encounter in their first television job. After using the Dejero LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitters, we believe bonded wireless technology will help shape the future of professional ENG," said Stacey Woelfel, associate professor of journalism, University of Missouri and news director, KOMU-TV. "With the Dejero transmitters, we were able to effectively double our newsgathering capabilities without the large capital investment of additional trucks. Plus, the systems are so easy to use that our students can get on location, set up quickly, and send back a great picture with virtually no assistance or training, a huge timesaver for me."
To date, KOMU-TV news crews have used the LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitters to broadcast a wide range of live stories including footage from away games of the University of Missouri Tigers' football team, crime scenes, city council meetings, and weather news. In one very recent and widely publicized example, a Missouri state appeals court overturned the conviction of someone who spent almost a decade in jail. Because the press conference was held in an upstairs hotel room, running cable from an ENG or SNG van would have been difficult, if not impossible -- but the KOMU-TV news crew was able to go live with the entire press conference using the LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitters.
"By creating a real-life lab experience for journalism students, the KOMU-TV newsroom is recognized throughout the broadcast industry as the premier training ground for television journalists," said Brian Cram, CEO of Dejero. "We are proud that Dejero LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitters are playing an important role in educating future television professionals about leading-edge newsgathering technology."
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About KOMU-TV Channel 8
Serving the viewing audience in Columbia, Mo., KOMU 8 broadcast its signal for the first time on Dec. 21, 1953. Students have always been a part of the KOMU 8 experience. The station went on the air as an experiment of sorts, the brainchild of University of Missouri journalism professor Edward C. Lambert. Students served as interns in the early years, but in 1970, that all changed when they began to fill the roles of reporters, writers, producers, and photographers for all of the station's newscasts. Those students have gone on to work at the network level, in every state, and around the world. KOMU generates all its revenue from advertising, with no state funding, and reinvests all surplus cash in continuous development of its educational mission. While KOMU 8 strives to bring the best education to its students, the news station also works to bring Mid-Missouri the best news coverage and has received numerous awards for its on-air news.
About Dejero
Dejero offers the most extensive and versatile range of bonded wireless uplink solutions for mobile newsgathering. Winner of numerous industry awards, the Dejero LIVE+ Platform and its patent-pending Intelligent Connection Management combine adaptive bit rate encoding with the latest advancements in 3G and 4G LTE mobile technologies -- making electronic newsgathering as immediate, portable, reliable, and cost-effective as possible. From any location around the world, the LIVE+ Platform enables both traditional and online broadcasters to transmit high-quality HD or SD live video using a variety of mobile devices, including professional-grade rugged transmitters, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Dejero LIVE+ products can be set up anywhere in seconds to broadcast live to television viewers, stream to the Web, transmit recorded video for later use, share video content with other organizations, or send files remotely. Innovative engineering from wireless experts combined with input from many of the world's top broadcasters has produced the Dejero LIVE+ Platform. Dejero is based in Kitchener, Ontario.
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