The clock is ticking down on 2015, so what better time to look back and see what were the big stories of the year as determined by you, our readers. Here are the top 10 most popular stories from the last 12 months on TV Technology.

10. List of Experimental Licenses Reveal Interesting HF Data Comm Experiments
Jan. 16, 2015 - Ham radio operators have been using the shortwave (“high-frequency” or HF) bands for data communications for over 50 years, but the data rates are much less than those available with dial-up modems.

9. SDI vs. IP: Which Switch is Which?
Oct. 14, 2015 - I’m sure you’ve heard about how everything is going IP e.g., Internet of everything.

8. Handgun-Firing Drone Clip Gets Attention
July 17, 2015 - A YouTube user who goes by the handle of “Hogwit” has posted a 14-second video that’s quickly gaining the attention.

7. CBS Alerts FCC to TV Tuning Failure 
Sept. 23, 2015 - CBS is urging federal regulators to make sure TV manufacturers are following the rules with regard to broadcast tuners.

6. NBC Resets With New Tech for Super Bowl XLIX
Jan. 27, 2015 - NBC will put its broadcast sports prowess to the test on Feb. 1 when it takes on the task of covering Super Bowl XLIX.

5. Harmonic is Buying Thomson Video Networks for $75 Million in Cash
Dec. 7, 2015 - Harmonic announced it has signed a binding offer to acquire Thomson Video Networks for $75 million in cash and up to $15 million in post-closing adjustments.

4. Is HDR Worth It?
Oct. 15, 2015 - It’s official: the Consumer Electronics Association has announcedits industry definition for High Dynamic Range compatible video displays.

3. Dronecam Captures Tech Changing Bulb at 1,500 Feet
Jan. 7, 2015 - Drone footage continues to break new ground even as feds grapple with how to regulate the unmanned aerial vehicles.

2. Thank You, WDBJ 
Aug. 27, 2015 - I’m supposed to write about science and policy; dry stuff that glazes eyes over. 
I’m not supposed to write about two young journalists getting gunned down on live television. 

1. FCC Upholds $1.4 Million EAS Fine Against Viacom, ESPN
Jan. 20, 2015 - The Federal Communications Commission is upholding $1.4 million in fines against Viacom and ESPN for misusing the Emergency Alert System warning tones.

WASHINGTON – Broadcast trade organizations joined forces to launch the “Alison & Adam Memorial Fund” to support families of the victims of the Roanoke TV shooting.

The National Association of Broadcasters, the Radio Television Digital News Association and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that they will contribute to and accept donations from broadcasters on behalf of Alison Parker and Adam Ward. Commitments of $40,000 have already been offered by broadcaster interests, according to NAB.

Parker and Ward were tragically killed by a former employee in a Wednesday shooting on WDBJ-TV, Roanoke, a CBS affiliate owned by Schurz Communications.

A portion of the contributions will be distributed to family members of Parker and Ward by the NAB. An additional contribution will go to Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, who was injured in the incident.

Any remaining funds will be directed to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based organization dedicated to press freedom and protecting the rights of reporters to work without fear of reprisal. NAB previously donated $10,000 to CPJ following the murders of James Foley and Steven Sotloff, American journalists abducted and murdered while covering the Syrian Civil War.

“Our hearts are heavy with grief over this horrifying act of violence against two individuals with a zest for life and a love of broadcasting,” said NAB President Gordon Smith. “We encourage our member companies to join with NAB in supporting the families of these two young journalists, who were taken way too soon.”

“This unspeakable tragedy has shocked every member of the journalism community,” said Mike Cavender, executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association. “We hope donations provided through this fund demonstrate a small measure of our support for the families of Alison Parker and Adam Ward.”

“This senseless and tragic loss has touched a cord throughout the television industry,” said Bob Mauro, president of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “Our hearts and prayers are with Alison’s and Adam’s families. We encourage our members to support this effort and hope these donations help them in their time of need.”

Contributions to the Alison & Adam Memorial Fund can be made by sending checks made out to:

NAB Alison and Adam Memorial Fund
C/O NAB
1771 N Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036

NAB is also developing an easy online method of contributing to the Alison & Adam Memorial Fund which will be available on NAB’s Website in the very near future.

WASHINGTON—The American flag flying in front of the offices of the National Association of Broadcasters is flying at half mast today, in honor of WDBJ's Adam Ward and Alison Parker, gunned down on Wednesday morning while doing a live shot in Moneta, Va.

Images of Adam Ward, top, and Alison Parker, were supplied by Dave Walton of JVC. “We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at WDBJ7. About a year ago Alison and Adam graciously provided us with these images.” Their murder during a live on-air report deeply affected many throughout the television industry.
Scholarship funds are established in their memory. Information about donating is available on WDBJ’s Website.

I’m supposed to write about science and policy; dry stuff that glazes eyes over.

I’m not supposed to write about two young journalists getting gunned down on live television. Two twenty-somethings doing a tourism piece in small-town America.

No one is ever supposed to write about that.

No one is ever supposed to see murder perpetrated on live TV.

No one is ever supposed to see the footage of it race across the Internet like a wildfire.

No one is ever supposed to get in front of a camera and announce that their colleagues have been murdered in the course of doing their job, as WDBJ president and general manager, Jeff Marks, did.

“You send people into a war zone and into dangerous places, riots, and you’re afraid they’re going to get hurt,” he said. “You send people out to do a story on tourism, how can you expect this to happen?”

Marks and the WDBJ staff, in a remarkably balanced display of professionalism, grief and respect, soldiered through that terrible day, following the story that left their two young colleagues dead.

They then became the story when national news teams showed up. The distraught fiancé, clutching a photo album to his chest. The paternal Marks, his pained expression. A man well into his career, surrounded by dynamic young reporters, just starting out in theirs.

All because of someone with a broken mind and hurt feelings.

How could Marks have known? How could anyone have known that somewhere down the street, a sad man was slowly going insane.

The shots that rang out Wednesday morning in Moneta, Va., reverberated throughout the world, and certainly throughout the television industry. Perhaps because of an affinity for the news business. Or perhaps because the images of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, the reporter and videographer who were murdered, revealed such warm and joyful human beings. The type of young people you want your children to become. The days of young adulthood when everything is still possible.

May this not pass in vain.

May we all bear witness to the comport of Marks and the WDBJ staff in the aftermath of the shooting and be reminded that journalists don’t have “jobs.” They have a responsibility.

Thank you to the staff at WDBJ in Roanoke, Va., for showing the world what it means to be a journalist in a country where the practice is considered vital to democracy. Thank you for reminding the world what a call to action in the newsroom really means, and how all else is put aside in the name of reporting the news.

Thank you for doing it with such dignity, and with such an honest display of genuine humanity. Tears were appropriate. The images and sentiments you shared on social media helped us all transition from disbelief into grief. Even in this way, you continued to be outstanding journalists. You allowed us to witness the impact of tragedy in a way seldom seen. Not just the typical pictures of perpetrator and victims, but the tidal wave of agony brought about by violence.

You may not know right now how strong you are, but the rest of the world does.

So thank you, because we will remember that day and their lives when we need to; when we need to soldier on rather than curl up on the floor and cry.

And thank you beyond words for bringing such honor to your industry. We salute you, we grieve with you, and we thank you so very, very much.

WDBJ posted this image of Alison Parker, left, and Adam Ward, in the wake of the shooting that left the young journalists dead.

MONETA, VA.—The news became the news on Wednesday when a gunman opened fire on a reporter and her camera operator as the pair did a live report from a small Virginia community. The story unfolded across social media after Alison Parker, 24, an her videographer, Adam Ward, 27, were shot at approximately 6:45 a.m. Eastern Time while Parker was interviewing Vicki Gardner, a local Chamber of Commerce representative. Gardner was injured in the shooting, underwent surgery and was expected to recover, according to WDBJ, where Parker and Ward worked.

The shooting went out over live TV and was captured via smartphone video by a viewer who posted it to Facebook. The video showed Parker interviewing Gardner when shots suddenly rang out. Both women ducked, then Parker fell just as the camera view jerked into blurriness before landing sideways on the ground. The shot then returned to a stunned Kimberly McBroom at the anchor desk at WDBJ, the CBS affiliate licensed to Roanoke and Lynchburg, Va., owned by Schurz Communications.

McBroom had teased the live shot on Twitter, and then fell silent until hours after the shooting, when she posted, “Heartbroken over the loss of two members of our @WDBJ7Mornin family… There are simply no words.”

Leo Hirsbrunner, also a morning anchor at WDBJ, posted an Instagram picture of Parker and Ward horsing around and said, “I will miss these guys more than words can ever say. Made each and every morning at work so much brighter!”

Both Parker and Ward were in relationships with other WDBJ employees. Ward’s fiancée, a producer at WDBJ, is said to have watched him die on air. Parker was seeing WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst, who posted a picture of the two of them on Twitter after the shooting, saying, “We didn’t share this publicly, but @AParkerWDBJ7 and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb. ”

While authorities searched for the gunman, WDBJ President and General Manager Jeffrey Marks joined the morning anchor crew to confirm the deaths of Parker and Ward. “We are choosing not to run the video of that right now, because frankly, we don’t need to see it again. Our staff doesn’t need to see it again.”

The shooter was soon identified as a former station employee, Vester Lee Flanagan, who went by the name of Bryce Williams on the air, and who posted video of himself shooting Parker and Ward on Twitter under his handle, @Bryce_Williams7. Flanagan tweeted that “Alison made racist comments,” and that “Adam went to HR on me after working with me one time!!!”

Flanagan’s Twitter account was suspended, but Jezebel reported that there were two videos, around 20 seconds each, that showed Flanagan approaching Parker, Ward and Gardner.

“He circles around them and points a gun at them; none appear to notice. The camera angle drops slightly as he fumbles with something. He then raises the gun, the muzzle visible in the frame, and fires at Parker, who screams and begins to run,” the news outlet said.

Around 11:30 a.m. ET, WDBJ reported that police were in pursuit of Flanagan on I-66 in Fauquier County, Va., when he shot himself.

It was also around this time that ABC News reported that between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, a 23-page fax had come over from an individual identifying himself as “Bryce Williams.” It was turned over to authorities. In it, Flanagan said the June 17 church shootings in Charleston, S.C., pushed him over the edge, and that he identified with mass murderers Sueng-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech killer, and with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the shooters responsible for the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.

Authorities took Flanagan to an unnamed medical facility, where he was initially reported to be in critical condition before being pronounced dead at around 1:30 p.m. ET, according to published reports.

The shooting reverberated across the television community. Mike Cavender, executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association issued the following statement:

“RTDNA is horrified and saddened by the senseless deaths of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, the two WDBJ employees. “While the shootings are under investigation, our most sincere sympathies go out to their families and friends and all who worked with them at WDBJ.”

Gordon Smith, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, said, “Today’s news of the tragic murders of broadcast journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward is heartbreaking and horrifying. These were two young journalists who were simply trying to serve and inform their communities. Our broken hearts go out to the families of Alison and Adam, to the staff at WDBJ, and to the employees of Schurz Communications.”

The Communications Workers of America also weighed in, saying the shooting “struck close to home” for its members.

“The threats journalists face on the job every day do not normally include their coworkers. But tragically, work-related shootings and other violence are not uncommon in the United States. Our members in the media sector and all of the Communications Workers of America are gravely concerned about this issue and committed to helping build safe workplaces.

“Whatever the shooter’s motive, two young people who were looking forward to long and happy lives are gone today. We join with WDBJ, the Roanoke community and all those who loved Alison and Adam in mourning their loss.”


Photo of Parker and Ward from WDBJ-TV.

WASHINGTON—NAB President Gordon Smith has issued a statement in response to the deaths of WDBJ journalists Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, who were shot and killed Wednesday morning during a live broadcast in Montea, Va.

"Today’s news of the tragic murders of broadcast journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward is heartbreaking and horrifying. These were two young journalists who were simply trying to serve and inform their communities. Our broken hearts go out to the families of Alison and Adam, to the staff at WDBJ, and to the employees of Schurz Communications."

For more information on this story as it breaks, click here. 

WASHINGTON—Following the deaths of WDBJ-TV journalists Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, who were shot and killed during a live broadcast in Moneta, Va., Wednesday morning, the Radio Television Digital News Association was issued a statement.

"RTDNA is horrified and saddened by the senseless deaths of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, the two WDBJ employees," said Mike Cavender, RTDNA executive director. "While the shootings are under investigation, our most sincere sympathies go out to their families and friends and all who worked with them at WDBJ."

"Tragically, these shootings are the worst example in a continuing series of attacks on live television crews," he added, "Safety and security of our people is always of paramount concern, but as these attacks show, such violence can occur even in the most unexpected of situations."

For continued updates on this story as it breaks, please click here.