NAB 2010: JVC Snags Hearst Deal

To provide handheld camcorders for backpack journalists

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/13/2010 5:40:32 PM

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JVC announced Tuesday (Apr. 13) at NAB that station group Hearst Television will be buying its handheld GY-HM100 ProHD camcorders for its take on the "backpack journalism" journalist concept, which Hearst calls the "Next Generation Newsroom Project."

Hearst piloted the Next Generation project in three stations last year, and has launched it this year at WPBF West Palm Beach and KETV Omaha, Neb. Six more stations are now using the GY-HM100 camcorders, which records natively in the .mov format on SDHC media cards and lists for $3,495. They include KMBC Kansas City, Mo.; WLWT Cincinnati; WISN Milwaukee; WGAL Lancaster, Pa.; KOCO Oklahoma City; and KCCI Des Moines, Iowa.

The JVC cameras are being used in conjunction with a Dell laptop loaded with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 nonlinear editing software, which Hearst is implementing across the group for various applications. News packages are recorded and edited in HD, then downconverted to SD and sent via FTP transport back to the station for inclusion in local newscasts.

Hearst outlets WMUR Manchester, N.H. and WESH Orlando are slated to deploy the new cameras this month, and Hearst plans to purchase additional GY-HM100s for at least six more stations this year.

"It's a small, lightweight package and it's easy to deploy," said Hearst Director of Technology Projects Joe Addalia in a statement.