TelVue JAG 2024 Conference Recap – Beyond Cable, Accessibility, AI and more. 

by Jesse Lerman, President/CEO, TelVue Corporation

TelVue was thrilled to engage with so many of you at this year’s JAG conference. We are proud again to be the conference Diamond sponsor and the technical partner supporting JAG’s Internet Channel and Shared Server. The one-day conference featured an expanded number of sessions. Based on the strong attendance, the conference committee did a fantastic job selecting relevant topics. TelVue was honored to participate in multiple sessions, including Beyond Cable, Closed Captioning and the annual TelVue User Group. 

At the TelVue User Group, I reviewed key new features released over the past year, with a focus on the recent HyperCaster 8.5 release including:

  • Redesigned, responsive calendar scheduler for programming efficiency and a seamless mobile experience
  • New 1-week scheduling view that makes it easier to visualize and plan your programming
  • Expanded scheduling user roles for volunteers, camera operators, and more

We appreciated so many of you attending our User Group. It gives us a chance to get valuable feedback for prioritizing our development roadmap.

Reviewing What’s New and HyperCaster 8.5 at the Opening TelVue User Group

HyperCaster 8.5 With New Mobile & Weekly Scheduling

HyperCaster 8.5 With New Mobile & Weekly Scheduling

Accessibility was a hot topic at the conference, especially with the new DOJ ADA rules for government entities that requires websites to comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), including captioning web video. Panelists Mike Wassenaar, President of the ACM, and Jeff Bayne, partner, Spiegel & McDiarmid, reviewed all of the requirements in detail. TelVue followed up with a practical session focusing on technology choices and costs to comply, including TelVue’s ultra-affordable SmartCaption™ automatic closed captioning solution, and TelVue CloudCast’s WCAG-compatible web players and apps for streaming.

Another DOJ ADA requirement is that videos include audio description, audio narratives of key visual elements in programming, which, unlike captions, is currently very expensive to implement. The DOJ rules do allow for financial hardship exemption, but the burden of proof falls on the stations. Rapidly evolving AI technology could help lower the cost of audio description in the future, and having a grace period to comply, plus possible exemptions, adds needed breathing room.

I collaborated on the Beyond Cable session with Gina Forbes and Joe Fernandes from Woodbridge TV, and Brandon Uhlig from Metuchen Media, reviewing tips and best practices to leverage social media, streaming, OTT and mobile to reach new audiences and demographics, increase engagement, deliver in high-definition, and access detailed viewership analytics to help you achieve your core mission. TelVue’s CloudCast streaming platform makes it easy to launch branded channels on OTT and mobile apps complete with analytics, and also offers revenue generation opportunities including paywall and pre-roll ads.

Beyond Cable Session – Social Media, Streaming, Mobile & OTT

JAG presented special awards to Nick Besink, a generous, technical and operational resource for so many stations, and to Geoffrey Belinfante and Dave Garb with well-deserved Presidents Ovation awards for their incredible leadership. TelVue is honored that they are all long-time customers, and we deeply appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with such deserving thought leaders. Ken Fellman received the Serving Community Media Award for his dedicated work keeping JAG informed on legislative and regulatory issues. Congratulations to all!

Since the JAG conference, TelVue has been busy working on our next round of innovations and unveiled our latest demos and upcoming features at ACM National in June, including:

  • Automatic AI Meeting Agenda Generation
  • Sitewide Video Caption Transcript & Chapter Search
  • Motion Logos & Backgrounds
  • TelVue Cloud Storage Service for Secure, Broadcast Archiving
  • Full-motion Browser Template Previews, Streaming Background Audio with Ducking, and Everlasting Schedules for InfoVue CBB / Signage.

As the pace of technology and broadcast advancements accelerates, one can only guess what the hot issues will be for next year, but we can be sure JAG 2025 will be ready with the perfect sessions. Listening to your great feedback, TelVue will continue to innovate to make sure our products and services are staying ahead of the curve to help you save time, expand viewership, increase accessibility, generate new sources of revenue and future proof your stations.