The Cornerstone of Raycom Media’s Live Video Strategy Starts with Reliability and Familiarity

Raycom Media, one of the nation’s largest privately held broadcasters, owns and provides services for 63 television stations in 42 markets and 20 states across the U.S. Raycom Media stations cover much of the Southeast and Gulf Coast and recently experienced some of the worst devastation caused by mother nature: A storm in August pounded the coast and dropped nearly two feet of rain; then Hurricane Matthew dropped more rain on the Atlantic Coast. Many of Raycom Media’s affiliates were affected by the storms.

To assist its regional affiliates and provide as much coverage of the natural disaster as possible, Raycom Media deployed “Go Teams” that included broadcast and digital producers, photographers, multimedia journalists, and additional LiveU backpacks.

“We were able to move personnel and equipment from other stations and pipe them into the system. The reliability and familiarity of the LiveU backpack and workflow made it invaluable for us. Everything worked without a hitch,” noted Bob Kroeger, executive director of IT.

Baton Rouge (WAFB) has been in the news for various breaking news events over the last six months, including the shooting of Alton Sterling, the riots that followed, the shooting of six Baton Rouge police officers, and the flooding.

Raycom Media sent an additional 16 LiveU units from its stations to cover everything that was happening in Baton Rouge. The broadcaster then sent more LiveU backpacks to the Atlantic Coast stations affected by Hurricane Matthew.

“LiveU was a major component of covering these events,” Kroeger added.