NEW YORK—Drone pilots are now available for individual TV and film projects courtesy of a new nationwide service from Measure. The Measure Media (M2) division is a nationwide network of full-time drone pilots that specialize in airborne storytelling needs, according to Measure.

The M2 service includes Eric Austin, an Emmy-award winning aerial cinematographer, and his Helivideo Productions, which Measure recently acquired. Helivideo is a supplier of low-altitude aerial video for web, television and film, and will serve as the building block for M2.

M2 will focus on supplying professional unmanned aerial filming services for both broadcast and recorded sports, live concerts, television, film and commercials. It will also assist with aerial visuals for brand marketing, 3D mapping and virtual reality needs.

Joining Austin, who will serve as lead pilot, as part of the leadership team for M2 is Jon Ollwerther as vice president; Greg Ramey, former senior operations director for BLADE; and Nirel Levi, former consultant at Deloitte & Touche.

Measure reports that M2 has already been in operation for a couple of months and in that time has worked with ESPN, ABC, CBS, Coach, Rihanna, Fenty/Puma, Cartier, New England Productions, NBC Sports and The Olympic Channel.

HOUSTON—As national and local broadcasters prepared and made their way down to Texas prior to Hurricane Harvey making landfall, some drone crews from Measure made the trek to provide their services in covering of the historic storm. Enlisted by a national network and a local Houston station, Measure helped provide the public with visuals of what is going on and what areas may or may not be safe.

The Measure crews consist of two employees, a pilot and a visual observer/camera operator, equipped with a primary and backup drone; for this event the crews have the DJI Inspire 2 with a Zenmuse X5S 4/3 camera with interchangeable lenses. To date, Measure has assisted in three live broadcasts during Harvey, transmitted via LiveU packs, according to Jon Ollwerther, Measure’s vice president of media.

“Right now the service we’re providing is a public service, we’re letting the public know what is going on,” Ollwerther told TV Technology.

While drones are becoming a more common tool for newsrooms, drone services like what Measure provides can be helpful in situations that call for operators more experienced with drones.

“Some networks and some stations want the ability to fly drones themselves,” Ollwerther explains. “But when a natural disaster like this occurs, the scope and scale is just too huge and the story too large for their news crews to be focusing on shooting a story from the ground and from the air. So what we do is really absorb that overflow demand.”

In the past, Measure has provided its drone services to networks like Fox, ABC and CNN. But Measure’s drones won’t be limited to helping broadcaster’s coverage of Harvey, the drones will also provide additional services to the affected areas. Ollwerther indicates that Measure has contracts with telecommunications, engineering and energy companies to use drones for vital infrastructure inspections during and after the storm.

Ollwerther also says that Measure is expecting to provide additional drone services the impacted areas in Louisiana, though said that nothing is confirmed as of publication.

WASHINGTON—Broadcast news organization now have their very own training, equipment and support kit for Unmanned Aerial Systems, aka drones, courtesy of Measure. The toolkit can now be used with Measure’s turnkey broadcast news service, which gives media and broadcast companies the option to outsource its drone operations to Measure pilots or use the toolkit to capture its own footage.

The toolkit package provides assistance for an organization that want to fly its own drones. It provides broadcast-ready drone and camera hardware, including the DJI Inspire 2 and DJI X5S Micro 4/3 camera with interchangeable lenses. There is a LiveU Bonded Cellular Uplink that enables live footage to be transmitted directly to the customer’s production booth without a satellite or microwave truck. It offers a pilot training program specifically designed for newsgathering. Additional features include pilot, flight operations and equipment tracking; maintenance and repair support; preferred insurance; regulatory support; and help desk assistance.

Measure’s new broadcast toolkit is part of an expansion that also includes the opening of new offices in Washington and Los Angeles.