48 WEATHER FOCUS Live Broadcasting
Andrew Forster has been a cameraman and editor, working with all the major Australian broadcasters, and now specialises in live links and satellite technology. He is a supplier of these technologies out of his base in Brisbane to Australian channels Seven, Nine and Ten for news reporting and on live location reporting. He has worked with several different cellular bonded solutions, including those by TVU, LiveU and now Dejero (in New Zealand, LiveU tends to be the most popular solution; in Australia it’s Dejero). Forster also runs his own outside broadcast company, Next Up Digital, and regularly does live weather, most recently from Fort Douglas, Palm Cove and Cairns for Channel 7’s Sunrise programme. FLASH FLOODS But live weather reporting is increasingly more than just cheerful exchanges with the in-house meteorologist, umbrella in one hand and a mic in the other. More often it’s about getting up-to-the-minute information out from major disasters. Forster supplied his bonded cellular gear to Channel 7’s Sunrise TV show for its live news coverage of the Townsville flood, which inundated the Queensland city earlier this year and killed four people. “I also sent a 1.2 metre satellite dish up to the flood for 7News Brisbane,” he explains. “Our Dejero transmitter did live crosses during the Sunrise programme, but we also used it for doing newsgathering throughout the day to send content back to Seven in Sydney, for them to cut together a story.” The portability of blended data technology allows a lone reporter or small team to be flexible and fast. “They often wouldn’t know where their location would be for the night. With the Dejero, they could switch it on and connect
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE Where a satellite truck takes time to set up, a journalist equipped with a cellular bonded pack can stay on the move
I DON’T THINK IT WOULD BE OVERSTATING IT TO SAY THAT THE IDEA OF STORMCHASING STARTED IN OKLAHOMA CITY
straight into the master control in Sydney from anywhere and then have that split out into other networks. It became useful to get out quick news feeds.” Forster notes that the satellite truck reporting on the floods was required to move quickly when flash flooding threatened. The truck may require 30 minutes to break down and another 30 minutes to set up again somewhere else, but a single journalist with a bonded cellular pack can relocate to a new location in as long as it takes to walk, run or drive there, broadcasting along the way. Satellite technology also requires a clear line of sight to the sky to send and receive a signal, whereas cellular blended technology allows you to be inside a building or a car, which allows for more options in location, as well as greater safety. That’s not to say that blended cellular is always the way to go – if you’re hundreds of miles into the Outback, the only connection you’re likely to get is via satellite. Forster has contributed to the coverage of several of Australia’s big tropical storms, including Cyclone Debbie in 2017. “Sometimes coverage of these events gets on the silly side,” he says. “We’re telling
people to stay out of the weather, and we’re the ones racing into it. “I think the most interesting thing is covering people’s resilience. They’re throwing all their personal belongings into a dinghy or whatever they can find that floats. They’re trying to rescue what they have left, not knowing what the damage will be until they come back when the water subsides. You’re capturing a moment in their lives that’s a low point, but without covering those personal moments, I don’t think it really hits home for those watching.” OKLAHOMA’S STORM CHASERS “Weather is quite the business where we are,” jokes Todd Spessard, VP of content for Griffin Communications. The regional broadcaster, based in Oklahoma, US, boasts TV, radio and outdoor advertising, and is still under the same family ownership it had when it launched in 1951. Oklahoma takes its weather very seriously. In 2013, the state experienced the El Reno tornado, the widest in recorded history with winds measured at 484 kilometres per hour. “Our stations have always been at the cutting edge of technology, going back
TWISTER Storm chasers in Oklahoma now stream continuously, with social media providing a major audience
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