Panasonic P2 Cast COX WFTV Finds Invaluable for Hurricane Coverage

COX MEDIA GROUP’S WFTV DEPLOYS PANASONIC P2 CAST SYSTEM TO SUPPORT

SAFE, FAST NEWSGATHERING DURING HURRICANE SEASON

During the historically-active 2017 hurricane season, Florida-based

broadcasters faced a multitude of issues during Category 4 Hurricane

Irma, one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic,

from transmitting the news in volatile weather to keeping viewers

without power abreast of crucial information via social media.

ABC affiliate WFTV-TV, the Cox Media Group (CMG) station serving the

Orlando, FL market, relied on Panasonic’s P2 Cast cloud-based news

production system throughout the super-charged storm to get news

to air/on-line quickly and to keep its reporters safe.

P2 Cast allowed WFTV crews to minimize their exposure to hazardous

conditions since they were not connected with cable or other devices.

At any time, the crews could change locations and seek areas with

better cover from the weather while shooting and sending clips back.

CMG’s Director of News Technology Dave Sirak describes ENG

operations during the storm, “Our crews were scattered in

safe locations around central Florida, assigned 12 hours on -

12 hours off shifts and staying at their location to avoid travel

on roadways. Conditions varied from full exposure to rain and

wind to internal locations inside emergency operations centers.

We sent our crews with food and first aid kits, and we delivered

fuel and other supplies in a roving fuel truck before and after

the storm.”

“We had approximately half of our AJ-PX800 AVC-ULTRA

camcorders using the P2 Cast system. In some case our crews

were working in traditional live trucks or with bonded cellular

backpacks, but the automatic upload of the proxy video allowed

us to keep our laptops stored and safe and to keep the cards in

the cameras, which were tightly wrapped and protected from

water intrusion. Removing the cards would have disrupted the

protective rain gear, and wet hands on electronics should be

avoided due to exchange of moisture on the cards, which can

fog the camera internally, which is fatal,” Sirak notes.

BROADCAST

info.panasonic.com/p2-cast

| Sign-Up for a 3 Month Free Trial of P2 Cast