Digital SNG: Technology Gains Make Journalists Even More Mobile

Revolutionizing How News Packages are Filed

While improvements in conventional fixed satellite service DSNG have been substantial, the impact of consumer video and IP products combined with mobile satellite technology also has been very significant. CNN’s digital newsgathering operations developed a portable kit that lets journalists report, edit and produce news packages or go live from nearly anywhere on the globe. "CNN’s digital newsgathering system has revolutionized the way we file recorded packages and do live broadcasts while cutting transmission costs dramatically," says CNN’s Frank Barnett, vice president of CNN Newsbeam. "With a Mac laptop and an Internet connection (DSL, broadband, BGAN, satellite, Wi-Fi, wireless card) we can go live and file reports from almost anywhere in the world. This capability has been especially beneficial internationally, as the equipment is extremely small, lightweight and can run off car, truck or camera batteries as well as AC. Also, since some IP transmissions can be done via the Internet there is little or no incremental cost."

Hughes Network Systems’ 9201 mobile satellite IP terminal is part of the CNN satellite newsgathering solution and operates over the Inmarsat BGAN system. The 9201 BGAN mobile terminal enables reporters to deliver streaming news and is packaged in a small backpack including video encode/decode equipment and battery power. CNN’s solution includes a portable encoder from StreamBox, which encodes and decodes video footage in real time, providing high video quality at low data rates.

In January, CNN and its technology team received a Technology and Engineering Emmy from the U.S. National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for "development and implementation of an integrated and portable IP-based live, edit, and store-and-forward digital newsgathering system." The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards honor excellence in advances in the use, creativity and adaptation of technology that enhances or improves the consumer experience with media across multiple platforms. CNN’s newsgathering system previously was recognized by the International Broadcasting Convention, receiving awards for Content Creation and the select Judges Prize for the top entry of the year.

Technology’s Impact

What do these technology advancements mean for the news companies? "In the past, an organization has had to plug a tape into a machine at some dedicated fiber or satellite uplink location," says Dick Tauber, vice president of Transmission Systems and New Technology for the CNN News Group. "Now we can use portable laptops and compression to send packaged video over the Internet. Portability, obviously, has been a large part of this. It is much easier to get a laptop and small satellite IP device into remote areas than it is to drive a truck or fly in a dish."

Will the new smaller units open this technique up to more users? Inmarsat BGAN terminals capable of IP streaming are available from Hughes Network Systems and Thrane & Thrane and can cost $3,000. Terminals can also be rented from $17 per day or less from distributors. Within five minutes, a user can establish an IP data connection streaming at the maximum 256 kbps data rate and begin accruing airtime minutes at rates that can start at $16.99 per minute. A StreamBox ACT-L3TM encoder can be deployed on a laptop with proprietary video compression, which allows two 256 kbps channels to be "bonded" into a single half-megabit upload path. "Anyone who has a laptop and an Internet connection can take advantage of this technology. Mobile satellite IP terminals are still relatively expensive to own and operate, regardless of their portability, but are still vastly less expensive than buying a satellite truck or flyaway," says Barnett.

CNN is by no means the only broadcaster to use this technology. ABS-CBN, the largest television network in the Philippines, uses a similar solution for delivering live and file-based video over low data rate connections such as BGAN, 3G networks and other IP networks. The system includes a StreamBox portable encoder, an IFB server and a decoder for live and file-based reporting. Other StreamBox broadcast and news customers include Fox News Channel, Belo Broadcasting, CNN, DHS, Pappas Telecasting, SABC and Time Warner. "In a country of more than 7,000 islands, news logistics are a challenge," says Maria Ressa, senior vice president for ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. "The StreamBox newsgathering solution enables us to deploy smaller teams to cover breaking news and deliver stories faster." As a substitute for the cost of C-/Ku-band full-resolution standard satellite transmission, ABS-CBN camera operators and reporters are trained to capture video, edit and transmit the video via broadband, HSDPA (broadband cellphone) and Inmarsat BGAN networks. The technology helps the broadcasters deliver "high quality news quickly, reliably and at a lower cost."