CBS affiliate WTSP-TV, in St. Petersburg, FL, used Skype last week for a live report on the run-up to last week’s BCS college football championship game.
WTSP reporter Janie Porter, reporting live from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, set up her own camera, opened her laptop, connected the camera to her computer, slipped a wireless connection card into her laptop, called up Skype and used her Blackberry to establish IFB. It all worked perfectly.
The reporter’s kit consisted of a Dell laptop with Avid Xpress Pro, Avid iNews running on an HP laptop with Skype, a Sony HDV camera with simple light kit, a tripod and Blackberry (which becomes IFB during Skype live shots).
WTSP news director Darren Richards told Poyner Training that the process was surprisingly simple. “We used a camera with Firewire video out to a reporter laptop computer. We then used Skype to send the picture via a wireless AirCard.”
The key to a smooth shot, said Richards, is having a solid high-speed connection. The slower the connection, the worse the signal becomes.
