coverage during January’s presidential election in Sri Lanka. The main Sri Lankan public and private broadcasting companies selected LiveU for election day coverage. Several broadcasters increased their fleet of units before the elections, having successfully used the technology for live newsgathering, while others acquired and used their units for the first time during the election.
targeting viewers across the length and breadth of the vast country. Newsgathering, which is the core to any news channel, was a focus area and LiveU units proved to be of great value. They allowed faster movement between locations, quick deployment time and flexibility to provide live feeds across varying networks. We were clearly ahead of other channels because of the effective and efficient field units." Earlier this year, as has of course been very widely covered, there were general elections held in Greece. Once again, broadcasters recognised that cellular uplinking technology could provide truly dynamic coverage. Greek broadcasters who used LiveU’s technology included: Alpha TV, STAR Channel, MEGA Channel, SKAI TV, Antenna TV, ACTION 24, NERIT (public broadcaster) and KRITI TV. International broadcasters included: Russia Today, CNN, Canal+, CNBC and Associated Press. This was a combination of short- and long-term users. Broadcasters deployed technology from across the LiveU platform, with LiveU Central LiveU’s cloud-based, unified management platform that provides operators with a range of essential tools, also playing a key role. Broadcasters used LU500 and other LiveU uplink units. Panos Pierides, of Pierides TechnoSystems, LiveU’s Greek partner, worked with the broadcasters to ensure that all requirements were met. He said,
“Broadcasters were attracted by the simple and fast movement from one location to another that this technology allows. Everyone knows how important and dramatic these elections were and technology came to broadcasters’ aid. Athens in particular is a crowded city and hard to move around in at the best of times. Cellular uplinking provided broadcasters with a dynamic way of being where the story is with flawless coverage, day and night.” Not only that, but of course filming can take place while on the move, which broadcasters took advantage of. Connectivity was via both 3G and 4G networks with the international broadcasters also using store and forward. In addition to the live pool feeds that were provided to all broadcasters by the Public Broadcaster NERIT via point-to-point links, satellite feeds and fibre connections, LiveU usage was responsible for more than 50 per cent of total live transmissions during the election period. LU500 backpacks and LU-Smart mobile apps were also used to provide round-the-clock live video
When local operators started to deploy and offer LTE service in Sri Lanka, LiveU had engineers on the ground making sure units were compatible with local LTE technologies and customers could immediately benefit from the new service. Several broadcasters replaced their old LiveU backpacks for smaller, stronger LU500s and increased their number of units, while others had their units upgraded to support the new technologies. Mr. Priyal Udugampola of MTV Channel, a long time user, said, “With LTE-support and the new smaller LU500 backpack, LiveU was the obvious choice for the elections. Its mobile app for smartphones, LU-Smart, offered an added advantage, enabling us to cover more locations, live, around the country.” Increasing the viewership of elections is important not only in television channel competition terms but also in encouraging democracy and getting more people to vote. Bringing the action to the screen in a dynamic, fleetfooted way has never been possible in the way that it is now.
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