by Dave Garb, Legislative Committee Chair
Last month we talked a little about how PEG Television Channels showed their true value to our individual communities during the pandemic. We all embarked on a “fast tracked” learning curve in order to deliver important information and programming to our audiences.
Local governments, schools, small businesses, community organizations and of course, our residents, all benefited immensely because of the endeavors of their individual access channels.
PEG organizations are the ones who truly bleed the slogan “As Local, As Local Gets”! Or should we say
Hyperlocal???
Let’s review what PEG actually accomplished in the beginning of the pandemic:
1) PEG, as I mentioned, had a limited time to figure out how to continue broadcasting all local
government and public meetings to our residents to maintain transparency. Every PEG station has
different requirements in order to air their specific programming. We had to quickly learn how
platforms, such as Zoom and Cisco, worked with our various channel needs. Not only were we able
to go Live through these means, but we were able to air our vital information to Facebook, YouTube,
ROKU, AppleTV and Amazon Fire. We also were able to stream on individual municipal websites and
PEG websites, and some stations did Instagram and Podcasts. Wherever our audiences were able to
see and hear us, we made sure that the messages got to them!
2) PEG constantly updated essential messages from Mayors, Superintendents and Health Officials.
All of us were put on a 24/7 standby notice to make this happen. PEG channels were also the only
place viewers could go to watch Governor Murphy’s “daily” press briefings in their entirety, both
“live” and “on demand.”
3) PEG recorded a series of chemistry, biology, and other education labs and lectures to be able to
bring the practical education to students’ homes. Many stations tried to create programing to help
parents entertain their kids while they worked from home. PEG even developed specialized
programming around yoga, meditation, drawing, painting and sing-a-long songs that both educate
and entertain. Everyone created unique programming that was something that the residents looked
forward to, learned from, and provided something positive.
4) While many municipal stations don’t normally carry religious services, because of the pandemic,
special arrangements were made with local churches, synagogues and mosques to carry services to
worshipers who were not allowed to attend them in person. Many PEG stations also covered virtual
graduations to give families a chance to celebrate with their graduates when traditional celebrations
were not allowed to be in person. While sports were allowed to be played, attendance was
restricted, so PEG stations carried many local school sporting events so friends and family could
watch their teams and children compete. In addition, events such as Memorial Day parades, that
were not allowed to have an in-person audience, were recorded so they could be seen later,
providing an important sense of normalcy.
5) PEG stations kept their Bulletin Boards up-to-date with local news and announcements from the
latest Covid information to senior hours at grocery stores. This included public service messages
about proper hand washing techniques, social distancing requirements, the need to wear masks,
testing locations and more.
PEG stations are, always have been, and will continue to be the main source for community communications, including the monitoring and involvement with our local government officials and school boards. Unfortunately, it took this pandemic for everyone to realize the benefits of having local channels, and the value which PEG has always provided to local communities.
FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel Responds to Lawmakers’ Concerns About
The Future of the Universal Service Fund
In September, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel penned responses to two groups of lawmakers who had written to Rosenworcel about the future of the Universal Service Fund. In her responses, the chairwoman highlighted the FCC’s Report on the Future of the Universal Service Fund adopted on August 12, 2022. FCC Reports to Congress on Future of the Universal Service Fund
This report is connected to the Infrastructure Act, which includes the largest ever federal investment in
broadband, totaling approximately $65 billion. This Report provides recommendations for further actions
by the Commission and Congress to build upon that investment and improve the ability of the Commission
to achieve its goals of universal deployment, affordability, adoption, availability, and equitable access to
broadband through the Universal Service Fund and other Commission programs, to ensure that all of us have the broadband needed to succeed and thrive today.
The Report includes discussion of the costs of data transportation and their impact on rural providers,
according to Rosenworcel. “It recommends that the FCC initiate a proceeding to consider the future support
needs of networks serving high-cost areas, and in doing so assess what continuing support is needed to
develop, maintain and improve broadband operations in those locations,” she said. “In addition, the Report
includes discussion of middle-mile development in high-cost areas,” she continued, and recommends that the FCC “engage with NTIA on this program, and then study its results and its implications on for High Cost and the other universal service programs.”
Rosenoworcel also states that the Report includes discussion of whether the Universal Service Fund
contribution base should be broadened to include “edge providers,” such as streaming video providers or
major digital advertisers, which are by many accounts responsible for a significant volume of traffic on
networks serving high-cost areas.”
News & Events
Posted: October 25, 2022 by Doug Seidel
Spotlight: North Brunswick – Despite Municipal Building Closure, North Brunswick TV Overcomes Challenges
by Craig Yetsko, Station Manager, North Brunswick Television
Looking back at the past two and a half years, operations at North Brunswick TV could best be summed up with a quote from the movie Heartbreak Ridge as Clint Eastwood’s character, Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway told his platoon: Improvise, Overcome, Adapt.
The station overcame and adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic in a number of ways. They included:
▪ Airing daily, then weekly, briefings to keep residents up to date on the pandemic. The briefing
team included Mayor Francis ‘Mac’ Womack, Councilwoman Amanda Guadagnino, Office of
Emergency Management Coordinator Mark Cafferty and School Superintendents Dr. Brian Zychowski (March 2020 – June 2021) and Janet Ciarrocca (July 2021 – August 2022).
480 briefings were aired between March 11, 2020 and the final briefing on August 17, 2022.
▪ Airing live virtual Township Council, Planning and Zoning Board meetings via the TriCaster TC1 feed and
through the station’s Cablecast system
▪ Broadcasting virtual Township events and programs, including exercise/yoga videos for seniors
In June 2021, Township Council meetings were transitioning from virtual to hybrid. While it was challenging initially to get the right sound and video setup, meetings were beginning to run smoothly by August. With the Council Workshop meeting room set for hybrid meetings, work shifted to the main Council Chambers.
Progress towards hybrid was being made until everything changed again on September 1, 2021. The remnants of Hurricane Ida caused significant damage and closure of the Township Municipal Building. While the studio equipment was spared, conditions inside the building were not conducive for in person operations.
The station overcame this obstacle by going remote via Anydesk to access the studio’s computer and operate the station. Having used Anydesk during the pandemic, the transition was seamless. It allowed
for easy program scheduling on the Cablecast system, updating the bulletin board and editing video on DaVinci Resolve.
Township Council Meetings were held virtually after the storm, and then shifted to the Board of Education Meeting Room in November 2021 for a few meetings. The meetings switched to virtual during the winter but since March have been back at the Board of Education.
The meetings at the Board of Education are hybrid with virtual attendees logging in through Go To Meeting with the screen shared on 4 monitors around the room through the Kramer VIA program. In the control room, a TriCaster TC410 Plus is used for video production. The system was not hard to get used to as the station has a TriCaster TC1 in the studio.
Meetings are aired live with the assistance of the Board of Education’s IT staff. They remotely switch the port which allows the TriCaster feed to broadcast on the channel.
While Township Council meetings have gone hybrid, the Township’s Planning and Zoning Board meetings are held virtually. They are recorded and broadcast during the week and through the weekend.
The one area which has returned to normalcy has been coverage of Township events. These include the Memorial Day 5K Walk/Run, Memorial Day Ceremony, National Night Out, Tunes at Twilight Summer Concert Series and North Brunswick Heritage Day. Events are recorded using a JVC GY-HM170U camera.
For non-Township programming, the station broadcasts Aging Insights, Spotlight on Middlesex County, R&B Bistro and Classic Movies with Ron MacCloskey. North Brunswick TV is currently in development of its own Classic Movies show with Mayor Womack as host.
Looking ahead, assessments will be made on the existing studio equipment as well as evaluating the best broadcast setup for hybrid meetings in the Council Chambers. The lessons learned and adaptation to new technology from 2020 to 2022 will only help North Brunswick TV in 2023 and beyond.
Posted: October 25, 2022 by Doug Seidel
A Retrospective on the Importance of PEG – The Full Picture
by Dave Garb, Legislative Committee Chair
Last month we talked a little about how PEG Television Channels showed their true value to our individual communities during the pandemic. We all embarked on a “fast tracked” learning curve in order to deliver important information and programming to our audiences.
Local governments, schools, small businesses, community organizations and of course, our residents, all benefited immensely because of the endeavors of their individual access channels.
PEG organizations are the ones who truly bleed the slogan “As Local, As Local Gets”! Or should we say
Hyperlocal???
Let’s review what PEG actually accomplished in the beginning of the pandemic:
1) PEG, as I mentioned, had a limited time to figure out how to continue broadcasting all local
government and public meetings to our residents to maintain transparency. Every PEG station has
different requirements in order to air their specific programming. We had to quickly learn how
platforms, such as Zoom and Cisco, worked with our various channel needs. Not only were we able
to go Live through these means, but we were able to air our vital information to Facebook, YouTube,
ROKU, AppleTV and Amazon Fire. We also were able to stream on individual municipal websites and
PEG websites, and some stations did Instagram and Podcasts. Wherever our audiences were able to
see and hear us, we made sure that the messages got to them!
2) PEG constantly updated essential messages from Mayors, Superintendents and Health Officials.
All of us were put on a 24/7 standby notice to make this happen. PEG channels were also the only
place viewers could go to watch Governor Murphy’s “daily” press briefings in their entirety, both
“live” and “on demand.”
3) PEG recorded a series of chemistry, biology, and other education labs and lectures to be able to
bring the practical education to students’ homes. Many stations tried to create programing to help
parents entertain their kids while they worked from home. PEG even developed specialized
programming around yoga, meditation, drawing, painting and sing-a-long songs that both educate
and entertain. Everyone created unique programming that was something that the residents looked
forward to, learned from, and provided something positive.
4) While many municipal stations don’t normally carry religious services, because of the pandemic,
special arrangements were made with local churches, synagogues and mosques to carry services to
worshipers who were not allowed to attend them in person. Many PEG stations also covered virtual
graduations to give families a chance to celebrate with their graduates when traditional celebrations
were not allowed to be in person. While sports were allowed to be played, attendance was
restricted, so PEG stations carried many local school sporting events so friends and family could
watch their teams and children compete. In addition, events such as Memorial Day parades, that
were not allowed to have an in-person audience, were recorded so they could be seen later,
providing an important sense of normalcy.
5) PEG stations kept their Bulletin Boards up-to-date with local news and announcements from the
latest Covid information to senior hours at grocery stores. This included public service messages
about proper hand washing techniques, social distancing requirements, the need to wear masks,
testing locations and more.
PEG stations are, always have been, and will continue to be the main source for community communications, including the monitoring and involvement with our local government officials and school boards. Unfortunately, it took this pandemic for everyone to realize the benefits of having local channels, and the value which PEG has always provided to local communities.
FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel Responds to Lawmakers’ Concerns About
The Future of the Universal Service Fund
In September, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel penned responses to two groups of lawmakers who had written to Rosenworcel about the future of the Universal Service Fund. In her responses, the chairwoman highlighted the FCC’s Report on the Future of the Universal Service Fund adopted on August 12, 2022. FCC Reports to Congress on Future of the Universal Service Fund
This report is connected to the Infrastructure Act, which includes the largest ever federal investment in
broadband, totaling approximately $65 billion. This Report provides recommendations for further actions
by the Commission and Congress to build upon that investment and improve the ability of the Commission
to achieve its goals of universal deployment, affordability, adoption, availability, and equitable access to
broadband through the Universal Service Fund and other Commission programs, to ensure that all of us have the broadband needed to succeed and thrive today.
The Report includes discussion of the costs of data transportation and their impact on rural providers,
according to Rosenworcel. “It recommends that the FCC initiate a proceeding to consider the future support
needs of networks serving high-cost areas, and in doing so assess what continuing support is needed to
develop, maintain and improve broadband operations in those locations,” she said. “In addition, the Report
includes discussion of middle-mile development in high-cost areas,” she continued, and recommends that the FCC “engage with NTIA on this program, and then study its results and its implications on for High Cost and the other universal service programs.”
Rosenoworcel also states that the Report includes discussion of whether the Universal Service Fund
contribution base should be broadened to include “edge providers,” such as streaming video providers or
major digital advertisers, which are by many accounts responsible for a significant volume of traffic on
networks serving high-cost areas.”
Posted: October 25, 2022 by Doug Seidel
5 Things You Didn’t Know LiveU Could Do
by Yervant Keshishian, Sales Engineer & Technical Director Varto Technologies & LiveU Staff
Varto Technologies is proud to host the Jersey Access Group meeting once again at our facility in East Rutherford, NJ. Joining us on Oct 26th will be LiveU’s Mike Mahoney, Director of US Channel Sales who will present the latest solutions from LiveU like the LU810 & LU610S 5G, 4K rackmount contribution encoders along with the LU800 and LU300s field units. Following the presentation, Varto Technologies will demonstrate some features hidden away in the LiveU lineup!
LiveU has an abundance of products and solutions – all with different uses and features that you might not
have known about. Here are five things LiveU can do:
We understand that cost-effectiveness is an important part of any business. And depending on the location and type of event or broadcast, you could be using a lot of data to maintain your stream’s bandwidth. That’s why we created a “Least Cost Bonding” feature directly into LiveU Central. LiveU’s Least Cost Bonding feature allows you to save money on your live productions.
How? While managing your units in LiveU Central, you can set up Least Cost Bonding. In this menu, you can decide what interfaces you would like to prioritize.
For example, you can swap to “Use Ethernet/Wi-Fi First” which will prioritize your wired ethernet or Wi-Fi connections before resorting to using your cellular data. Cellular can be available as back up to your secure internet connection for full redundancy in your transmission.
Of course, “Live” is in our name…but did you know that all LiveU units can also store a high-quality recorded
version of your stream for use afterwards?
Live & Store is built directly into all LiveU HEVC products and can be used to quickly and easily store a recorded, high-quality version of your broadcast locally to the unit, or directly to LiveU Central.
This could be leveraged in an area with poor network conditions if you want to ensure having a high-quality version of your live stream saved locally on your LiveU device. This tool makes it an ideal solution for sending files back to editors in real-time allowing for quick turn-around times to get your content out to the world as soon as possible.
Keeping an eye on your live video feeds is a crucial part of your live broadcast.
Offered with LiveU field units (LU800, LU600, LU300S, LU610) or over any mobile device, Video Return enables field crews to get constant live feeds from the studio, ensuring professionally
produced and smoothly run live broadcasts. The service guarantees sub-second delay from the studio to the field, with super resilient video streaming based on LiveU’s LRTTM (LiveU Reliable Transport) streaming and bonding technology.
LiveU Audio Connect offers high-quality and reliable cloud-based audio solutions, enabling news anchors and producers in the station to communicate easily with camera operators and talent in the field.
Audio Connect offers a variety of communication types:
LiveU Audio Room is the newest addition to the LiveU Audio Connect solution and allows you to treat your
communications through the LiveU system as an open party line for your entire talent and crew.
As the industry continues to move into the cloud, LiveU has
remained focused on creating cloud-based solutions to stay
on the forefront of innovation. By introducing LiveU Cloud
Connect, you can now seamlessly interconnect high-quality,
low latency live video feeds from the field with any of your
cloud-based production platforms.
Simply plug your on-site camera to any LiveU field unit and
seamlessly send your live feeds into your cloud-based
production platform. Cloud Connect offers multiple output options including NDI, RTMP, MPEG-TS and SRT allowing you to take your LRTTM streams and instantly ingest them into your production tool.
Posted: September 22, 2022 by bduthaler
Spotlight: Cranford – Darkest day gave way to its brightest future
by Christine Hoffman, Staff, Cranford Television
PEG TV35 in Cranford was born in 1986 with the help of then Township Committeeman Dan Aschenbach, who understood the benefits of public access to his community. It started at the high school but was moved to the township to give greater community access. That is where it remains today. Cranford resident H. Edward Davenport was asked to help lead the effort to start it up. He had little funds, so he gathered old and used tech equipment and duct taped it into a station that instantly brought local news and interesting stories to Cranford. Ed worked full time at pharmaceutical giant Hoffman LaRoche. He headed its media department which was tasked with making commercials and worldwide product announcements. But for years he volunteered every night at the station and slowly molded the beginnings.
With Cranford residents Ron Brown and Jack Duffy, the three labored for hours on editors like the Toaster, to produce shows such as how to make a good Irish soda bread and the opening of our community center. The station back then brought in many high school volunteers who are now working in areas such as homeland security, the MLB network, and Fox sports. TV35 occupies the lower level in our municipal building. In 2011 Hurricane Irene swamped our local river, which came flooding into the station. We had at least 4 feet of dirty water in our studio and control room. Everything was ruined by the floodwaters. However, TV35’s darkest day gave way to its brightest future.
A good insurance policy enabled the station to leap into this century and allowed us to up our production quality. We now have our third main Tricaster, the Tricaster 2 elite. Our live events are brought in with our Live U 300, and we have three Mac editors with adobe premiere pro. Our studio, recently named the H. Edward Davenport studio, has three Hitachi SD cameras and gray and green curtains for virtual backgrounds. We use SCALA as our billboard software and are in the market for a new affordable one. Unfortunately, our request to fund new software was rejected last year. We have a mobile truck for our graduation coverage and football games.
When our old box truck died, the township’s sewer dept gave us their van. After it was sanitized, we moved in our mobile operations, including a Tricaster TC1. Our coverage is hyperlocal and adds another voice to the community. We show all the regular meetings of the township committee, planning and zoning board, and the BOE, high school graduation, Memorial Day parade, prom and pre-prom parties, church services and townwide events. We have shows that focus on town, health and education issues.
The goal is to give leaders and residents a chance to have their say and to add to the conversation. Some of our more popular shows include Cranford Cooks, which is named after a Facebook group here that highlights culinary dishes people are making and eating. On our show, residents share their cooking tips and recipes with each other. Our high school football, baseball and wrestling teams do well, and so they too are our most popular shows and we cover them on a regular basis. We do try to cover at least one game in each varsity sport per year. With talented home announcers and now the addition of graphics and replay, our residents, alumni and extended Cranford families can really enjoy following their home teams and neighbors. We have a small town feel, and Friday night football brings us all together.
During the pandemic, TV35 brought residents coverage of high school baseball’s Last Dance series. We gave our town a bit of a respite, something to have fun with during a dreary time. People held small family gatherings outside on their patios with their TVs, eagerly waiting for the games to be on. Our team eventually won the whole contest, easily beating top notch private schools, and hundreds of people were able to watch through us. It was the town buzz. In the last few years, we have averaged more than 300 shows that we produce per year. TV35 has two part-timers who work on a daily basis, and several people who work hourly to help with editing and live shows. We always welcome volunteers. TV35 programming can be found on channel 35 on Comcast and Fios, on Facebook and on CranfordTV35 YouTube. While we eye the HD channels longingly, we fear changing location to such high numbers on the dial would confuse our senior citizens, who are among our most loyal viewers. They rely on us to connect them to the community. TV35 started as, and remains as, a labor of love. The staff pours tremendous amounts of time and effort into producing shows and keeping up with technology. Financial constraints keep us at bay, but the station does its job, which is to show the community a reflection of itself and to promote conversations to move the township to new levels.
Posted: September 22, 2022 by bduthaler
Adapting Your Station – Broadcast, Cord Cutters and Hybrid Productions
by Bob Duthaler, President, JAG
If you have been in this business for over 10 years, you recall that there was only one way to do it. The formula was simple, cover the event in full, get it to post and air it on cable – repeat. That applied to both meetings and township events. Somewhere along the way in recent years, the viewing habits of the consumer has changed, and so must the formula. Stations need to adapt to move forward and survive. We will cover three areas to focus on to move forward with: Broadcast Trend, Cord Cutters and Hybrid Productions.
Before I break down the three areas we are going to discuss, I want to plant a thought in your mind about your station. You should think of the station as a marketing arm of your township. But aside from the fact that we cover meetings of all sorts and help keep government open to the public, your station should be used to market all the good things about your town. If you keep that thought in mind, it will help your station move forward with a mission.
Broadcast Trend: This is probably the slowest of all the changes we are going to talk about. Most stations are still broadcasting in SD using analog, composite video, and audio. This is the same technology the stations used in the 70s when the first went on air. That is 50 years without change! Until the cable company’s feet are put to the fire, change will not take place. For that to happen, it needs to take place on both the state and local level. On the state level, JAG has already enacted changes to benefit your station. The BPU has already stated that cable companies like Verizon that are on the system-wide franchise agreement need to provide high-definition channels to municipalities, include station listings on the electronic guide and make available equipment/training for productions. JAG will continue to fight for municipalities on both the state and federal level. But on the local end, you as station managers need to take action to move your station forward. For those with local franchise agreements, you need to prepare for the movement towards HD in your upcoming negotiations. The cable companies are not just going to give you these upgrades, you need to ask and pressure them to do so. In addition, you need to make sure your station is ready for that change. You need to have an HD broadcasting system in place that is capable of sending out an HD-SDI signal that can be handed off to the cable company.
Cord Cutters: To understand this new trend of watching TV (or perhaps we should say video), most of us don’t have to look any further than our own homes. If you have kids under 25 you already know their viewing habits. Most split the consumption of video on a phone, tablet or computer with watching Netflix, Hulu or live sports on a large screen TV. A recent study showed that during the month of July 2022, more people viewed video online than a traditional cable viewing (Note: it should be noted that there is no football in July, which would have changed viewing habits towards traditional). With that thought in mind, you need to start exploring ways to have your content available on multiple platforms. These can include YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms. You should also consider streaming your station live on the web. Plus, to accommodate cord cutters, you should have a plan for an Apple TV, ROKU or Fire TV app. There are several vendors who are supportive of JAG that understand this and have offered up solutions to get you underway.
Hybrid Productions: Here is where we need to embrace new technology, explore what we can do and investigate other possibilities. Hybrid does not only apply to meetings and bringing in Zoom and in-person together. Hybrid explores ways you can take your productions that are normally live-to-tape or post-driver and make them live. Can you have multiple people working in different locations to collaborate to make a production? How can you operate your station virtually? These are all questions and answers to the hybrid production and operation scenario. During the next few months and beyond, we will discuss these through webinars, manager’s round table discussions and vendor presentations. Now is the time to explore these three properties I spoke of and how this can become a marketing arm of your operation to benefit your municipality, school, or organization. Reach out to stations that are doing this already, attend JAG meetings and webinars for further information and reach out to vendors who understand what JAG members are going through, where they want to go and, more importantly, our budget constraints. I hope you take this into account and help move your station forward.
Posted: September 22, 2022 by bduthaler
A Retrospect of the Importance of PEG and News from the FCC
by Dave Garb, Legislative Committee Chair
Over the decades, PEG Television Channels have demonstrated their value to the communities they serve. We have been challenged over and over again to get our vital information out to our local viewing audiences, especially in times of crisis. But there has never been anything more challenging than during the past pandemic. It was the access stations that found ways to get their individual messages directly out to their communities.
PEG channels were one of the few places viewers could go to watch Governor Murphy’s daily press briefings in their entirety, both live and “on demand.” While it is not surprising to find PEG stations carrying this, there were many other ways PEG Channels helped the citizens in their communities. With schools closed, and kids stuck at home, many stations tried to create programing to help parents entertain their kids while they worked from home. This programming included the mayors of several towns reading books to kids to keep them entertained. Other stations developed specialized programming around drawing and painting for kids stuck at home. Several stations even created shows for kids with sing-a-long songs that both educated and entertained.
Many of our PEG Stations carried local high school sports so friends and family could watch their teams compete even though they couldn’t attend the games in person. PEG stations covered graduations virtually to give families a chance to honor their seniors, when traditional celebrations were cancelled.
Clearly, the fight against Covid 19 was a stressful time for people throughout the state, and our PEG stations provided programming designed to ease that stress with programs of Yoga and Meditation.
The Jersey Access Group (JAG) is proud of how our members have responded to the challenges we faced due to this pandemic. It’s clear that our PEG Television Channels have risen to the occasion to prove their true value to the communities they serve.
Straight from the FCC:
In August, the Federal Communications Commission adopted an Order creating the “Your Home, Your Internet” pilot program designed to raise awareness of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) among households receiving federal housing assistance. The one-year pilot program will test the best methods for helping consumers receiving federal housing assistance through the Department of Housing and Urban Development learn about the Affordable Connectivity Program and enroll in the program.
“Broadband is a necessity for American households, yet many HUD-assisted families lack access to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “HUD is committed to ensuring that the people we serve have sufficient internet access for work, school, health care, and other needs. FCC’s new pilot program will make it easier for HUD-assisted families to access reliable and affordable high-speed internet, and I look forward to working with Chairwoman Rosenworcel and the Commission to get more families online.”
The “Your Home, Your Internet” pilot program features enhancements that are designed to help ease the application and enrollment process for federal housing assistance recipients. State and local housing authorities, Tribal Designated Housing Entities, and other state, regional, or local government entities, as well as community partners are eligible to apply for the pilot. Pilot program applicants will be able to submit proposals for specialized ACP outreach efforts, including promotional materials that are directed to federal housing assistance recipients and organizations. Pilot participants also are encouraged to propose application assistance tools which the Commission will evaluate. In addition, the Commission has set aside up to $10 million to support pilot-related activities. The Wireline Competition Bureau will provide more guidance on how to participate in the pilot program. The Affordable Connectivity Program provides a monthly discount of up to $30 per month (and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands) as well as a one-time $100 discount toward a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet. Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a household may qualify for the Affordable Connectivity Program if at least one member of the household meets the qualifications for participation in the Lifeline program. Households that receive federal housing assistance are eligible for Lifeline and the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Posted: September 22, 2022 by bduthaler
PTZ cameras: NDI, HDBaseT, SDI and HDMI
by Marvin Charyn, Director of Broadcast Sales, G&G Technologies
I have about 50 years experience in this industry. Engineering, sales and designing systems.
I graduated from Voorhees Technical Institute which is now a part of Hunter College and continued my education at New York Institute of Technology.
G&G Technologies has been in business for over 34 years. If you go to G&G Technologies website www.ggvideo.com you will find that we are an authorized dealer for over 100 manufacturers.
I am now starting my 11th year at G&G Technologies as the Director of Broadcast Sales.
I will be presenting at JAG’s Sept. 28 meeting. The main topic will be PTZ Cameras, discussing all phases of this particular type of camera such as NDI, HDBaseT, SDI and HDMI. PTZ camera systems are now starting to take over the industry. Most camera manufacturers are now adding this type of camera to their line of products. Municipalities, Courts, Houses of Worship and Schools are now replacing their current camera systems with PTZ cameras. Today all 30 Major League Stadiums have Panasonic Outdoor PTZ cameras installed.
In addition to selling individual items, we also design systems and do On-Site Surveys. G&G also offers equipment rentals with various cameras, intercom systems, lighting packages, etc.
Two of the PTZ cameras I will talk about are the Panasonic AW-HE42K and the JVC KY-PZ200NBU.
The AW-HE42K is a full HD camera with an integrated rotating base equipped with 3G-SDI and a variety of other output connectors. The four types of output interfaces and the genlock function support smooth large-scale shooting with multiple cameras. The camera is perfect for a wide range of environments, from recording and broadcast of lectures, to live streaming at concerts and other events.
HD PTZ REMOTE CAMERA with NDI|HX
JVC’s new HD KY-PZ200N cameras provide optimal streaming image quality and performance for remote production over the internet and is equipped with NDI®|HX and SRT streaming, H.265/H.264/MJPEG encoding, and VITC (Vertical Interval Timecode) multi-camera synchronization technologies.
G&G will be presenting at the September 28, JAG General Meeting via Zoom.
Posted: August 18, 2022 by bduthaler
Glad to be Back
by Jesse Lerman, President/CEO, TelVue
The Eastern Video Expo 2022 brought a welcome end to a two+ year drought of local, in-person trade shows and other industry events, giving participating vendors the opportunity for face-to-face engagement with valued customers once again. It was great to say goodbye to endless Hollywood Squares-like Zoom meetings and welcome back the kind of meaningful conversations and collaborative-based discussions that generate important feedback, crucial for product development.
Before the pandemic, trade shows were a mainstay line item for any company’s marketing budget, and exhibiting to current and prospective customers, suppliers and other business associates was crucial. Most importantly, the EVE gave us a chance to access key decision makers in current and prospective organizations, and to service and support any current accounts’ requests in-person. In addition to having direct exposure to long-time clients, it was a chance to see what other products are being introduced to the market, as well as a forum to unveil TelVue’s key product roadmap items.
While the attendance was lighter than past years, not unexpected for the first post-pandemic return, it actually fostered a very productive climate for more one-on-one discussions with station operators, producers and other stakeholders, so vital to the region’s PEG channel operations. Having a single day on the exhibit floor for vendors to showcase and highlight products felt just right. Ho’Iki’s J Robertson always wins the prize for the most frequent flier miles accumulated to attend the expo once again this year, and it was great to see him, along with everyone whose commute to the event was considerably shorter! Thanks very much to Montclair’s Rick Gearheart for furnishing a huge box of salty snack bags to balance the otherwise heavily chocolate candy-skewed bowl at TelVue’s booth, giving nice balance for grazing throughout the day.
We also said “bon voyage” to one of TelVue’s first customers in the Garden State, Woodbridge’s own Lee Beckerman, as he prepared to sail off in the retirement sunset, and, after 20+ years, it was also the swansong show for TelVue’s own founding partner and SVP of Sales & Marketing, Paul Andrews. It’s been said that retirement is when you trade the boss who hired you for the one who married you, so good luck to Lee and Paul, with both of your new bosses! At least in retirement, you don’t have to request paid time off anymore.
The EVE conference always affords vendors the opportunity for larger group presentations, and TelVue covered a range of new items this year: from next level, integrated social media streaming directly from our very affordable new AIO+ line of Hypercaster server models, automation rules, dual language closed captioning, and a special users group for the JAG Shared Server. Both of our presentation slots on captioning and social streaming were well attended with great engagement, questions, and feedback. Any trade show will offer potential to satisfy one or more of a company’s marketing objectives, but it’s also the chance for engineering and product development staff, who seldom get as much customer contact as they need, to engage directly with end users. EVE is like a dynamic day-long focus group, where we get to review our products and services and assess preliminary customer reactions, critical or not. The annual conference is a valuable testbed for an appreciative audience and TelVue is always grateful to be a part of the robust NJ station community.