Slashing the Cost of Live Broadcoasts

A broadcasting company uses Lumens PTZ cameras in Belgium to record political debates.

The “old way” in which a broadcasting company covered live political debates in Belgium proved extremely cost-prohibitive for the company and disruptive for the audience watching the debates.

First, there were the costs of renting professional cameras; they needed three for the camera operators covering the event. Two were located above the audience to capture the wide-angle shots and one camera operator was on foot covering close-up shots.

The two stationary cameras inevitably blocked the line of sight for several audience members or created noise that made it difficult for people to hear the debates. In addition, two controllers were needed to oversee the camera operators, making five the minimum number of people necessary to cover the events.

For the 2014 national elections, they knew they needed a better solution; therefore, this broadcasting company began looking into Lumens’ pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) cameras.

The primary challenge they encountered in these debate settings was the vast contrasts: the auditoriums were dark while the stages hosting the candidates were brightly lit—circumstances that would cause a great deal of noise within the camera images. This broadcasting company wondered how the Lumens VC-G50 camera would function under such extreme conditions. After testing, they soon realized the cameras could perform without a glitch.

This broadcasting company ultimately invested in two Lumens VC-G50 cameras and changed their configuration for covering debates. They mounted one of the cameras on the ceiling and one on a tripod; they while they still use a camera operator, the five people originally required for coverage has been reduced to three.

There are now two controllers and one camera operator, which bring the cost to operate the broadcasts down to a fraction of the cost.