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Warning: Live TV production troubleshooting contradictions can trigger cognitive dissonance.
As live sports broadcasts resume in the U.S., the industry is grappling with how to keep its crews safe by following strict COVID-19 guidelines—established by the U.S. government and the industry itself—while maintaining the high production quality viewers expect. Safety precautions now being employed include keeping onsite crews to a minimum and sanitizing trucks before and after events.
Lets’ start by stating the obvious: TV reporters are not trained lighting designers. When the pandemic hit, stations were forced to figure out new ways of socially distanced, on-air reporting, and initially asked reporters to pick a well-lit room in their house and place a lamp behind the camera to illuminate their face.
Engineers and production crews help local TV stations maintain distancing and a sunny on-air personality.
People are not just flocking to beaches and holiday resorts as lockdowns are eased but also to their TV screens for viewing of returning live sports.
The global lockdowns have come just too soon for 5G mobile services to help mitigate disruption to production and content creation.
The first set of quarterly financial results during the lockdown has given the clearest indication yet of what impact the crisis is having on sectors and individual companies in the video services and broadcasting sector, with a stark divide between winners and losers, but with all players affected in some way.
These days TV broadcasters are working feverishly to work out new remote production workflows for stay-at-home talent, but for radio broadcasters it’s been business as usual. In fact, many engineers have found that the remote control features they already use for troubleshooting are highly extensible and can be slightly modified for use by production staff.