January 15, 2025 • 21 mins
In this debut episode of Critical Connections, Ivy Cuervo and Michael Stanton from Dejero sit down with Lawrence Partington, CIO and founder of TV2GO. As one of Dejero’s earliest adopters, Lawrence shares how the technology has revolutionized his work—from enabling a livestream for the Canadian Space Agency to empowering his mobile studio truck to broadcast live interviews from virtually any location. Discover the innovation driving connectivity and the stories behind it.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
So I thought, why don't
we build a truck, a mobile studiothat I'm sitting in right now,
and it can go to, you know, fartherafield. It can go to an event in Ottawa,
it can go to Montreal, it can Buffalo,wherever or maybe there's some VIP
who just hasn't got time at the TorontoFilm Festival to come to the studios.
(00:22):
So the studio goes to them.
Dejero GateWay,14 cellular antennas on the roof,
a rack of encoders and a highperformance Starlink antenna.
So Starlink does the heavy lifting,but it's shaky.
It has dropouts.
So the Dejero GateWay smooths it outand that signal is perfectly smooth.
(00:50):
Hello, I'm Ivy Cuervo with Dejero.
Welcome to Critical Connections,
a podcast that featuresthe stories of the people and companies
helping to keep our communitiesconnected, informed and safe.
Let's, for a brief moment,travel back in time.
You're a news team racing against deadline,
getting ready for a live hitat the top of the 6:00 news.
(01:13):
The producer is countingdown to the reporter,
but then, just as they start talkingabout the day's big story, the feed drops.
Anybody in news has been there.
Thankfully, a lot has changed.
Innovations such asDejero's Smart Blending
Technology is making work in the fieldmore seamless for news teams.
(01:34):
Joining me now are two peoplewho've witnessed the dramatic shift
in broadcasting.
First is Lawrence Partington,the Chief Innovation Officer and Founder
of TV2GO.
That's a video transmission servicescompany in Toronto, Ontario that offers
broadcasters live solutionsvia satellite, fiber,
bonded cellular and video over IP.
(01:57):
Lawrence is a long timeDejero customer and has led the way
on many cutting-edge projects,which we will chat about today.
Welcome, Lawrence.
Thank you for having me.
And here with us is also Michael Stanton,
Dejero's Director of Sales for the Americas.
He started his career working in newsroomsfrom a news photographer
(02:18):
to assignment manager.
He really has seen it all.
Thanks for being here, Michael.
Thanks for having me, Ivy.
Okay, let's get started.
Lawrence, let's go back to the early days.
You and your partner in work and life,Carol, started a sports production
company in the 80s,starting in film and moving to video.
And then, like many broadcastersat that time, you started renting
(02:41):
satellite trucks andeventually started buying them.
You have covered the Calgary and VancouverOlympics with your suite of trucks.
Talk to us about that time and some ofthe challenges that you faced.
Our niche in thebroadcasting world was always:
We were the private producers who couldget access faster than anybody else.
(03:06):
It was always,
we'll get your project airedbefore the competition.
So in the earliest days,when you're shooting
film, that led you toall kinds of crazy things.
We were chartering planesto get to a film lab.
We were editing video in chartered jets.
My favorite one though,
Carol Patterson,my partner and camerawoman,
(03:27):
she was in Europe filming WorldCup ski racing, filming 16 millimeter.
She would shoot the film, runto the nearest airport.
And in those days,you could go up to someone and say,
oh, you're flying from London.
Would you mind carrying this can of film?
Don't open it.
Oh, no, no, you'll ruin it.
And they said, fine,
and someone from ABCor BBC would get the film
(03:48):
and satellite it back to Canada,and I'd distribute it,
and we did crazy stuffand it became so much easier,
we thought, with satellite trucks,we embraced those in a big way.
But Dejero is a whole new level.
That's very cool.
Michael, you were also,you know, in the news business.
What was it like?What do you remember of those days?
(04:08):
Yeah, I remember I used to be an assignmenteditor for a number of years
and assignment manager.
I just remember we were so focusedon the logistics around gathering the news
and getting the video and interviews
back to the station in a reasonableamount of time to make air.
And, you know,I found out about Dejero technology,
and I was like, this is a game changer.
And it really was. Itrevolutionized the industry.
And you know, for me,I was also in the news business.
(04:30):
I remember the early dayscutting tape to tape in northern Ontario.
And, you know, eventuallylearning about the
Dejero Pelican casesthat you can take anywhere.
So it's kind of interesting how we allcome full circle with this conversation.
Lawrence, I wanted to ask yousort of a follow up, which was
you ended up moving awayfrom satellite trucks about ten years ago,
(04:53):
and then you began to buya whole bunch of Dejero gear.
I'm curious what attractedyou to Dejero back then.
So talk to us about someof those first products
you you tried out.
Sure.
Well, we saw in thesatellite truck business.
We were half news andhalf broadcast sports.
(05:14):
The sports business remained,but news just vanished.
It disappeared overnightto Dejero and bonded
cellular. We actually
were made an offer we couldn't refuse.We had a very high
end satellite truck in 2014.
Dome Productions, a big playerin the Canadian market,
bought it. And we did a non-compete
(05:38):
for five years.
I had to stay out of the satellitetruck business,
so we still had to teleportand all these other facilities, but
we were looking for alternatives
because our customers were still askingfor transmission solutions.
So we went with the, the first thing wasa I think you called it a GoBox.
It was that Pelican case.Had a couple of those, and then EnGo came.
We went through a few generations ofEnGo with the H264
(06:02):
and H265 encoding.But my favorite has been the GateWay.
Now we're back in the satellite business now.
We have satellite trucks, but we'reputting GateWays in the satellite trucks
because even though satellite
remains the gold standard for transmitting
live sports, it can be weather affected.
(06:25):
And having another route back,
maybe SRT over internet,
back to the teleporthas saved us a couple of times.
So interesting.
It's always interesting to me to hearhow people come about the Dejero products
or how they're introduced to it,and then how they begin to, to use it
(06:47):
and put it in workflowsacross, you know, different sectors.
Michael, it was about ten years agothat you made the leap
from broadcastingto working with Dejero.
Tell us about that change
because I think it kind of it'sinteresting and it applies
to the discussion.
Yeah, well, we've seen a lot of changein the news industry.
You know, back from when I started,I started working in TV in the late late 90s.
(07:10):
And, you know,everything was really reliant on
video and video-baseduncompressed video transmission.
And now we talked about GateWay,you know, really
the future was just moving ones and zeros.
And so Dejero has done a really good jobof kind of taking the future
of what we see IP connectivityand building it into the GateWay product.
One really cool thing about,this podcast right now is always showing
(07:34):
the different types of connectionsfrom different cities around the world.
For example, right nowI'm just on a local, you know, network.
So are you.
But Lawrence,you're on a special network right now.
I am on a GateWay.
I'm practicing what I preach. I'm sitting,
I'm sitting in a truck right nowtalking to you.
(07:55):
I've got a camera in front of me,and I've got GateWay.
And, and this, this video programthat you're running with Riverside.
But it's running on the GateWay.I've got a great connection,
you know, works well.
That's so cool, Lawrence, you're winningin life right now with this connection.
I wanted to ask you because you've donesome pretty interesting projects.
(08:16):
You've had some interesting workflows,
and one of them includesthe Canadian Space Agency.
You worked with them once in 2012using satellite trucks,
and then again in 2019using Dejero GateWay technology.
Tell us how that switchmade the difference.
In 2019, David Saint-Jacques,a Canadian astronaut,
(08:37):
was on the InternationalSpace Station and,
the Canadian Space Agency wanted to do
live, interactive eventswith with schools and politicians
and VIPs and business conferencesand any time they can get a crowd together
who wanted to talk to an astronautfloating upside down in space.
when the International Space Stationis over North America for 28 minutes,
(09:01):
a tracking satellite in Houstoncan just see it going over the horizon.
So you have 28 minutes plus or minus 30 seconds.
So we had to time it very precisely.
But NASA got the signaland put it up on another domestic
satellite, a geo satellite. TV2GOdownlinked it in Toronto at our teleport.
(09:22):
And then, Chief EngineerFaisal streamed it.
The key techwe had in a flight case, a WayPoint.
So anywhere we went, we were in Inuvik,we were in Tuktoyaktuk,
we were in Umiujaq
in Nunavik in northern Quebec, remote spots.
And we were able to get the signal,
stream to us, put it up on a big screen,and then we used
(09:46):
an EnGo to transmit the students'or the politicians' questions back to NASA.
It was about a five second delay,but the astronaut would hear the question
and talk to the kids.It was very, very cool.
And they were all streamed on YouTube orthey were available to TV news.
That's so interesting.
You've seen so many evolutionsin the world of broadcasting.
(10:09):
The pandemic was,of course, a dramatic shift
for really, you know, for so many peoplearound the world.
You and Carol ended upselling your business, but that didn't
slow you down.
You're still working with TV2GO,as a Chief Innovation Officer.
So, you know, that means essentiallyyou're always looking for the next best
new thing.
One of your latest projects was building
(10:32):
a remote studio in a van for big networks.
Tell us about that.
Well, we're part of TV2GO,
TV2GO International now,
we reincorporated in 2020.
Part of that businesshas always been live studios.
So when we have a little singlecamera studio in Toronto
(10:54):
where guests for CNN or Fox or BBCwould come in, sit down,
put in an earpiece like thisand a microphone and talk to Anderson
Cooper in New York or Atlanta or wherever.
So that's great
for the GTA, the Greater Toronto Area.
And there are lots of these studios aroundNorth America, but very few in Canada.
(11:16):
So I thought, why don't we build a truck,a mobile studio
that I'm sitting in right now,and it can go to,
you know, farther afield. It can goto an event in Ottawa,
it can go to Montreal, it can Buffalo,
wherever or maybe there's some VIPwho just hasn't got time
at the Toronto Film Festivalto come to the studios,
(11:37):
so the studio goes to them.The more I thought about it,
this could also work as an uplink truck.
I mean, the connectivity is fabulous.
This can be a satellite truck
that actually works going down the road.
You know, and and it'sso much cheaper than an uplink truck.
So, I mean, for a customer wanting
to rent this kind of vehicle... So quickly,
(12:00):
it has, Dejero GateWay,
14 cellular antennas
on the roof, a rack of encoders dependingon which the client wants to use,
and a high performanceStarlink antenna.
So Starlink does the heavy lifting,but it's shaky.
It has dropouts.
(12:21):
So the Dejero GateWay smooths it out,and this signal is perfectly smooth.
It's a great combination.
Why don't we put a productionswitcher in it too?
And you could do small scale programs.
So I just keep adding featuresto this thing.
So interesting.
do? You want me to take you for aquick look?
Okay. Alright.
I'll start the tour right here.
(12:41):
Here's our Blackmagic Design's
8-input ISO switcher.
We're set up right nowfor remote studio configuration.
This is the kind of thingwhere we, TV2GO,
offers this service to the likes of CNN,
Fox News, PBS, BBC.
When there's a guest in Toronto,they come into the studio now.
(13:03):
We can go fartherafield with this vehicle.
We've got LED lighting withNanlite Softboxes,
both sides, fully adjustablefor color, temperature and intensity.
There's our battery indicator there.
We can run 18 hours and 26 minutesmore at this battery load.
Prompter.
(13:24):
There's a rack with the encoders in it,like the LTN global encoder,
which the networksall seem to prefer for live interviews.
There's the all important Dejero GateWay andits companion Starlink right beside it.
We have seating, the driver and passenger
seat spin around,and there's our workstation.
(13:45):
The audio operator or graphics opcan sit there.
Now, let's go outside.
We have a
2024 Ram ProMaster Super High Roof.
I'm six feet tall, so that was important.
This vehicle has seven feet
interior headroom.
(14:07):
It's, It's a big deal.
This port here is for shore power.
Just takes a regular 15-amp household circuit,but you don't need it
because in the back,we have ten kilowatt hours of
lithium phosphate batteries right here.
This vehicle will run as you see it,configured with all the monitors
(14:28):
running for like, 20 hours,
completely silent and emission free.
It would even run going down the road.
Now here is a 56-inchflat screen in the back.
It's currently showing the multi-viewer.
Thanks for the tour, Lawrence.
It was super cool.
So from the Space Stationto OB trucks to NASCAR.
(14:50):
Everybody loves cars,but more importantly, sports cars racing.
Tell us a little bit about that project.
Okay.
We have a client, Joel Robinson.
Shoots NASCAR Canada.
That's a domestic, second tierNASCAR stock car racing series.
He has one event.
(15:12):
Takes place at an airport in Quebec.
He's not allowedto lay cables at his event.
So our solution for the reallyhardcore fans who want to stream it on TSN
Plus and Flow Sports, which he has a dealwith NASCAR in Charlotte.
What we do,
we give them four Dejero’s on four keycameras.
(15:33):
His director is calling the race,like telling him who to cover.
I'm pretty experienced in car racing too,so I can see what he's doing.
I'm switching in our studio in Torontowhere the four incoming shots,
we're adding computer graphics,and his announcer is in a third location
a couple of hundred kilometers awayat another racetrack, and he's seeing it
(15:54):
streamed, and he's comingback to us over SRT,
and it all comes together and it's,you know, a live car race courtesy of Dejero.
And you're using, in thatinstance EnGo’s, yes?
EnGo
yeah, actually, all of the NASCAR events,have at least one EnGo.
That's the front end.
(16:14):
He goes to all the races,even with a, with a mobile
and and streams it back to TV2GObecause from TV2GO
we're able to send SDI fiberto some broadcasters
who want it that way, RTMP to others,SRT to others.
And there's a European taker as well.
(16:35):
So, so we can add many flavorsincluding satellite.
When we
look to the futureof the broadcasting industry, you know,
what do you think lays ahead?
We all know that there's been,you know, significant
budget cuts across the industry,we've seen layoffs.
(16:56):
It is the reality of the times.
I want to get the insightsfrom the both of you.
And maybe let's start with Michael first.
What are your thoughts onwhat are some of the things that we'll see
in the next year,that could potentially impact workflows?
Yeah, I would say
You know, we've really seen
a lot of consolidation aroundNorth America in the media industry,
and it's really drivinga lot of efficiency.
(17:17):
Some of those may be, you know,good things, right?
People don't think about the goodthings they would do.
But I think what we're starting to see,especially in larger
markets, is you're starting
to see more community journalistswho are powered by Dejero, right?
So they're actually embeddedin a local community.
They may live there.
I think it's a project that one of our,
one of our customersdoes here in Los Angeles,
and it's really bringing local contentto the viewers in that area.
(17:39):
So I think as technologyhas helped progress that along,
where back in the day,you know, you needed the Microwave,
you needed the satellite truck,you need all of this equipment
usually needed a 2 to 3 personcrew to do a story.
Now they can send one person out to coverthat and make an impact in the community.
What about yourself,
Lawrence?
What are your thoughts on what lays aheadfor the broadcasting industry?
(18:00):
I think it's all abouthybrid workflows for transmission.
Big time sports.
The Super Bowls, the NFL.
They're going to stay with satellitebecause the transmission,
even though it's expensive, it'sa tiny, insignificant fraction
of the rights feesand the, the production costs at stake.
(18:21):
It's.
So there's no pointin taking any kind of chance.
They'll have two satellite trucksand a fiber optic plan as well.
But you drop down a tier,
for sports that are more of interest to,
maybe the streaming audience,like that NASCAR project.
They can't afford satellite truck.
It just doesn't, isn't justified.
(18:42):
So if you can get the same qualitybecause the audience doesn't
want the quality to go down,the quality has to stay there.
But the producer doesn'thave that revenue.
So he's looking to save money.
And the Dejero Starlink combination
is, is a fabulous solutioncompared to a satellite truck.
The vehicle, depending on whichflavour of Dejero you're renting,
(19:04):
it's at least $1,000 a day cheaper,and there's no space time, right?
Which is $250 an hour US dollars.
So significant savings.
Wow. On one hand, you want the most resilientconnectivity, but on the other,
it needs to fit within the constraintsof a very, you know, challenged budget.
(19:25):
What does success look likefor you, Lawrence?
For your customers and for yourself?
What does it look like to me?
Well, I, I feel we have to do,
80% of the job for 20% of the cost.
You know, I think that's the goal.
And it's it's coming all over the place.
The cost of camerasis so much cheaper today in real dollars.
(19:48):
Forget inflation.
So much cheaper todaythan it was 40 years ago.
30 years ago. 20.
I mean, you used to need a mortgageto buy a beta cam,
you know, now camcorders,
A lot of things have changed.
My iPhone is better, you know,
the technology is just getting betterand better.
So young producers going into the sportsfield, which is my expertise,
(20:13):
they just have to
no matter what they taught themin film school, they have to look
to the next generation of, of products,artificial intelligence, the
the cloud based editing,file sharing, remote
remote, production and,and things like Dejero.
It's, for, for transmission and delivery.
(20:34):
It's, it's an exciting time,
but I think the people who can master
the new tech will will do well.
There are more broadcasters if you countall the streamers than ever before.
So there's more of a market.
It's a smaller market,like smaller audience,
smaller budget,but more venues, more events.
(20:56):
Yeah. What I'm so excited about,
the future of Dejero is really the IPconnectivity
that we're really startingto offer everywhere.
You know, from the advancementsin Starlink, like Lawrence mentioned,
or even KUIP based satellites, the GEOsand LEOs that we're now working with.
You know,we really have a bright future ahead.
Well, thank you both for this insightfuland fascinating conversation.
(21:17):
To learn more about Dejero’sCritical Connectivity for captivating
coverage for broadcasters,or to book a demo, head to dejero.com.
So I thought, why don't
we build a truck, a mobile studiothat I'm sitting in right now,
and it can go to, you know, fartherafield. It can go to an event in Ottawa,
it can go to Montreal, it can Buffalo,wherever or maybe there's some VIP
who just hasn't got time at the TorontoFilm Festival to come to the studios.
(00:22):
So the studio goes to them.
Dejero GateWay,14 cellular antennas on the roof,
a rack of encoders and a highperformance Starlink antenna.
So Starlink does the heavy lifting,but it's shaky.
It has dropouts.
So the Dejero GateWay smooths it outand that signal is perfectly smooth.
(00:50):
Hello, I'm Ivy Cuervo with Dejero.
Welcome to Critical Connections,
a podcast that featuresthe stories of the people and companies
helping to keep our communitiesconnected, informed and safe.
Let's, for a brief moment,travel back in time.
You're a news team racing against deadline,
getting ready for a live hitat the top of the 6:00 news.
(01:13):
The producer is countingdown to the reporter,
but then, just as they start talkingabout the day's big story, the feed drops.
Anybody in news has been there.
Thankfully, a lot has changed.
Innovations such asDejero's Smart Blending
Technology is making work in the fieldmore seamless for news teams.
(01:34):
Joining me now are two peoplewho've witnessed the dramatic shift
in broadcasting.
First is Lawrence Partington,the Chief Innovation Officer and Founder
of TV2GO.
That's a video transmission servicescompany in Toronto, Ontario that offers
broadcasters live solutionsvia satellite, fiber,
bonded cellular and video over IP.
(01:57):
Lawrence is a long timeDejero customer and has led the way
on many cutting-edge projects,which we will chat about today.
Welcome, Lawrence.
Thank you for having me.
And here with us is also Michael Stanton,
Dejero's Director of Sales for the Americas.
He started his career working in newsroomsfrom a news photographer
(02:18):
to assignment manager.
He really has seen it all.
Thanks for being here, Michael.
Thanks for having me, Ivy.
Okay, let's get started.
Lawrence, let's go back to the early days.
You and your partner in work and life,Carol, started a sports production
company in the 80s,starting in film and moving to video.
And then, like many broadcastersat that time, you started renting
(02:41):
satellite trucks andeventually started buying them.
You have covered the Calgary and VancouverOlympics with your suite of trucks.
Talk to us about that time and some ofthe challenges that you faced.
Our niche in thebroadcasting world was always:
We were the private producers who couldget access faster than anybody else.
(03:06):
It was always,
we'll get your project airedbefore the competition.
So in the earliest days,when you're shooting
film, that led you toall kinds of crazy things.
We were chartering planesto get to a film lab.
We were editing video in chartered jets.
My favorite one though,
Carol Patterson,my partner and camerawoman,
(03:27):
she was in Europe filming WorldCup ski racing, filming 16 millimeter.
She would shoot the film, runto the nearest airport.
And in those days,you could go up to someone and say,
oh, you're flying from London.
Would you mind carrying this can of film?
Don't open it.
Oh, no, no, you'll ruin it.
And they said, fine,
and someone from ABCor BBC would get the film
(03:48):
and satellite it back to Canada,and I'd distribute it,
and we did crazy stuffand it became so much easier,
we thought, with satellite trucks,we embraced those in a big way.
But Dejero is a whole new level.
That's very cool.
Michael, you were also,you know, in the news business.
What was it like?What do you remember of those days?
(04:08):
Yeah, I remember I used to be an assignmenteditor for a number of years
and assignment manager.
I just remember we were so focusedon the logistics around gathering the news
and getting the video and interviews
back to the station in a reasonableamount of time to make air.
And, you know,I found out about Dejero technology,
and I was like, this is a game changer.
And it really was. Itrevolutionized the industry.
And you know, for me,I was also in the news business.
(04:30):
I remember the early dayscutting tape to tape in northern Ontario.
And, you know, eventuallylearning about the
Dejero Pelican casesthat you can take anywhere.
So it's kind of interesting how we allcome full circle with this conversation.
Lawrence, I wanted to ask yousort of a follow up, which was
you ended up moving awayfrom satellite trucks about ten years ago,
(04:53):
and then you began to buya whole bunch of Dejero gear.
I'm curious what attractedyou to Dejero back then.
So talk to us about someof those first products
you you tried out.
Sure.
Well, we saw in thesatellite truck business.
We were half news andhalf broadcast sports.
(05:14):
The sports business remained,but news just vanished.
It disappeared overnightto Dejero and bonded
cellular. We actually
were made an offer we couldn't refuse.We had a very high
end satellite truck in 2014.
Dome Productions, a big playerin the Canadian market,
bought it. And we did a non-compete
(05:38):
for five years.
I had to stay out of the satellitetruck business,
so we still had to teleportand all these other facilities, but
we were looking for alternatives
because our customers were still askingfor transmission solutions.
So we went with the, the first thing wasa I think you called it a GoBox.
It was that Pelican case.Had a couple of those, and then EnGo came.
We went through a few generations ofEnGo with the H264
(06:02):
and H265 encoding.But my favorite has been the GateWay.
Now we're back in the satellite business now.
We have satellite trucks, but we'reputting GateWays in the satellite trucks
because even though satellite
remains the gold standard for transmitting
live sports, it can be weather affected.
(06:25):
And having another route back,
maybe SRT over internet,
back to the teleporthas saved us a couple of times.
So interesting.
It's always interesting to me to hearhow people come about the Dejero products
or how they're introduced to it,and then how they begin to, to use it
(06:47):
and put it in workflowsacross, you know, different sectors.
Michael, it was about ten years agothat you made the leap
from broadcastingto working with Dejero.
Tell us about that change
because I think it kind of it'sinteresting and it applies
to the discussion.
Yeah, well, we've seen a lot of changein the news industry.
You know, back from when I started,I started working in TV in the late late 90s.
(07:10):
And, you know,everything was really reliant on
video and video-baseduncompressed video transmission.
And now we talked about GateWay,you know, really
the future was just moving ones and zeros.
And so Dejero has done a really good jobof kind of taking the future
of what we see IP connectivityand building it into the GateWay product.
One really cool thing about,this podcast right now is always showing
(07:34):
the different types of connectionsfrom different cities around the world.
For example, right nowI'm just on a local, you know, network.
So are you.
But Lawrence,you're on a special network right now.
I am on a GateWay.
I'm practicing what I preach. I'm sitting,
I'm sitting in a truck right nowtalking to you.
(07:55):
I've got a camera in front of me,and I've got GateWay.
And, and this, this video programthat you're running with Riverside.
But it's running on the GateWay.I've got a great connection,
you know, works well.
That's so cool, Lawrence, you're winningin life right now with this connection.
I wanted to ask you because you've donesome pretty interesting projects.
(08:16):
You've had some interesting workflows,
and one of them includesthe Canadian Space Agency.
You worked with them once in 2012using satellite trucks,
and then again in 2019using Dejero GateWay technology.
Tell us how that switchmade the difference.
In 2019, David Saint-Jacques,a Canadian astronaut,
(08:37):
was on the InternationalSpace Station and,
the Canadian Space Agency wanted to do
live, interactive eventswith with schools and politicians
and VIPs and business conferencesand any time they can get a crowd together
who wanted to talk to an astronautfloating upside down in space.
when the International Space Stationis over North America for 28 minutes,
(09:01):
a tracking satellite in Houstoncan just see it going over the horizon.
So you have 28 minutes plus or minus 30 seconds.
So we had to time it very precisely.
But NASA got the signaland put it up on another domestic
satellite, a geo satellite. TV2GOdownlinked it in Toronto at our teleport.
(09:22):
And then, Chief EngineerFaisal streamed it.
The key techwe had in a flight case, a WayPoint.
So anywhere we went, we were in Inuvik,we were in Tuktoyaktuk,
we were in Umiujaq
in Nunavik in northern Quebec, remote spots.
And we were able to get the signal,
stream to us, put it up on a big screen,and then we used
(09:46):
an EnGo to transmit the students'or the politicians' questions back to NASA.
It was about a five second delay,but the astronaut would hear the question
and talk to the kids.It was very, very cool.
And they were all streamed on YouTube orthey were available to TV news.
That's so interesting.
You've seen so many evolutionsin the world of broadcasting.
(10:09):
The pandemic was,of course, a dramatic shift
for really, you know, for so many peoplearound the world.
You and Carol ended upselling your business, but that didn't
slow you down.
You're still working with TV2GO,as a Chief Innovation Officer.
So, you know, that means essentiallyyou're always looking for the next best
new thing.
One of your latest projects was building
(10:32):
a remote studio in a van for big networks.
Tell us about that.
Well, we're part of TV2GO,
TV2GO International now,
we reincorporated in 2020.
Part of that businesshas always been live studios.
So when we have a little singlecamera studio in Toronto
(10:54):
where guests for CNN or Fox or BBCwould come in, sit down,
put in an earpiece like thisand a microphone and talk to Anderson
Cooper in New York or Atlanta or wherever.
So that's great
for the GTA, the Greater Toronto Area.
And there are lots of these studios aroundNorth America, but very few in Canada.
(11:16):
So I thought, why don't we build a truck,a mobile studio
that I'm sitting in right now,and it can go to,
you know, farther afield. It can goto an event in Ottawa,
it can go to Montreal, it can Buffalo,
wherever or maybe there's some VIPwho just hasn't got time
at the Toronto Film Festivalto come to the studios,
(11:37):
so the studio goes to them.The more I thought about it,
this could also work as an uplink truck.
I mean, the connectivity is fabulous.
This can be a satellite truck
that actually works going down the road.
You know, and and it'sso much cheaper than an uplink truck.
So, I mean, for a customer wanting
to rent this kind of vehicle... So quickly,
(12:00):
it has, Dejero GateWay,
14 cellular antennas
on the roof, a rack of encoders dependingon which the client wants to use,
and a high performanceStarlink antenna.
So Starlink does the heavy lifting,but it's shaky.
It has dropouts.
(12:21):
So the Dejero GateWay smooths it out,and this signal is perfectly smooth.
It's a great combination.
Why don't we put a productionswitcher in it too?
And you could do small scale programs.
So I just keep adding featuresto this thing.
So interesting.
do? You want me to take you for aquick look?
Okay. Alright.
I'll start the tour right here.
(12:41):
Here's our Blackmagic Design's
8-input ISO switcher.
We're set up right nowfor remote studio configuration.
This is the kind of thingwhere we, TV2GO,
offers this service to the likes of CNN,
Fox News, PBS, BBC.
When there's a guest in Toronto,they come into the studio now.
(13:03):
We can go fartherafield with this vehicle.
We've got LED lighting withNanlite Softboxes,
both sides, fully adjustablefor color, temperature and intensity.
There's our battery indicator there.
We can run 18 hours and 26 minutesmore at this battery load.
Prompter.
(13:24):
There's a rack with the encoders in it,like the LTN global encoder,
which the networksall seem to prefer for live interviews.
There's the all important Dejero GateWay andits companion Starlink right beside it.
We have seating, the driver and passenger
seat spin around,and there's our workstation.
(13:45):
The audio operator or graphics opcan sit there.
Now, let's go outside.
We have a
2024 Ram ProMaster Super High Roof.
I'm six feet tall, so that was important.
This vehicle has seven feet
interior headroom.
(14:07):
It's, It's a big deal.
This port here is for shore power.
Just takes a regular 15-amp household circuit,but you don't need it
because in the back,we have ten kilowatt hours of
lithium phosphate batteries right here.
This vehicle will run as you see it,configured with all the monitors
(14:28):
running for like, 20 hours,
completely silent and emission free.
It would even run going down the road.
Now here is a 56-inchflat screen in the back.
It's currently showing the multi-viewer.
Thanks for the tour, Lawrence.
It was super cool.
So from the Space Stationto OB trucks to NASCAR.
(14:50):
Everybody loves cars,but more importantly, sports cars racing.
Tell us a little bit about that project.
Okay.
We have a client, Joel Robinson.
Shoots NASCAR Canada.
That's a domestic, second tierNASCAR stock car racing series.
He has one event.
(15:12):
Takes place at an airport in Quebec.
He's not allowedto lay cables at his event.
So our solution for the reallyhardcore fans who want to stream it on TSN
Plus and Flow Sports, which he has a dealwith NASCAR in Charlotte.
What we do,
we give them four Dejero’s on four keycameras.
(15:33):
His director is calling the race,like telling him who to cover.
I'm pretty experienced in car racing too,so I can see what he's doing.
I'm switching in our studio in Torontowhere the four incoming shots,
we're adding computer graphics,and his announcer is in a third location
a couple of hundred kilometers awayat another racetrack, and he's seeing it
(15:54):
streamed, and he's comingback to us over SRT,
and it all comes together and it's,you know, a live car race courtesy of Dejero.
And you're using, in thatinstance EnGo’s, yes?
EnGo
yeah, actually, all of the NASCAR events,have at least one EnGo.
That's the front end.
(16:14):
He goes to all the races,even with a, with a mobile
and and streams it back to TV2GObecause from TV2GO
we're able to send SDI fiberto some broadcasters
who want it that way, RTMP to others,SRT to others.
And there's a European taker as well.
(16:35):
So, so we can add many flavorsincluding satellite.
When we
look to the futureof the broadcasting industry, you know,
what do you think lays ahead?
We all know that there's been,you know, significant
budget cuts across the industry,we've seen layoffs.
(16:56):
It is the reality of the times.
I want to get the insightsfrom the both of you.
And maybe let's start with Michael first.
What are your thoughts onwhat are some of the things that we'll see
in the next year,that could potentially impact workflows?
Yeah, I would say
You know, we've really seen
a lot of consolidation aroundNorth America in the media industry,
and it's really drivinga lot of efficiency.
(17:17):
Some of those may be, you know,good things, right?
People don't think about the goodthings they would do.
But I think what we're starting to see,especially in larger
markets, is you're starting
to see more community journalistswho are powered by Dejero, right?
So they're actually embeddedin a local community.
They may live there.
I think it's a project that one of our,
one of our customersdoes here in Los Angeles,
and it's really bringing local contentto the viewers in that area.
(17:39):
So I think as technologyhas helped progress that along,
where back in the day,you know, you needed the Microwave,
you needed the satellite truck,you need all of this equipment
usually needed a 2 to 3 personcrew to do a story.
Now they can send one person out to coverthat and make an impact in the community.
What about yourself,
Lawrence?
What are your thoughts on what lays aheadfor the broadcasting industry?
(18:00):
I think it's all abouthybrid workflows for transmission.
Big time sports.
The Super Bowls, the NFL.
They're going to stay with satellitebecause the transmission,
even though it's expensive, it'sa tiny, insignificant fraction
of the rights feesand the, the production costs at stake.
(18:21):
It's.
So there's no pointin taking any kind of chance.
They'll have two satellite trucksand a fiber optic plan as well.
But you drop down a tier,
for sports that are more of interest to,
maybe the streaming audience,like that NASCAR project.
They can't afford satellite truck.
It just doesn't, isn't justified.
(18:42):
So if you can get the same qualitybecause the audience doesn't
want the quality to go down,the quality has to stay there.
But the producer doesn'thave that revenue.
So he's looking to save money.
And the Dejero Starlink combination
is, is a fabulous solutioncompared to a satellite truck.
The vehicle, depending on whichflavour of Dejero you're renting,
(19:04):
it's at least $1,000 a day cheaper,and there's no space time, right?
Which is $250 an hour US dollars.
So significant savings.
Wow. On one hand, you want the most resilientconnectivity, but on the other,
it needs to fit within the constraintsof a very, you know, challenged budget.
(19:25):
What does success look likefor you, Lawrence?
For your customers and for yourself?
What does it look like to me?
Well, I, I feel we have to do,
80% of the job for 20% of the cost.
You know, I think that's the goal.
And it's it's coming all over the place.
The cost of camerasis so much cheaper today in real dollars.
(19:48):
Forget inflation.
So much cheaper todaythan it was 40 years ago.
30 years ago. 20.
I mean, you used to need a mortgageto buy a beta cam,
you know, now camcorders,
A lot of things have changed.
My iPhone is better, you know,
the technology is just getting betterand better.
So young producers going into the sportsfield, which is my expertise,
(20:13):
they just have to
no matter what they taught themin film school, they have to look
to the next generation of, of products,artificial intelligence, the
the cloud based editing,file sharing, remote
remote, production and,and things like Dejero.
It's, for, for transmission and delivery.
(20:34):
It's, it's an exciting time,
but I think the people who can master
the new tech will will do well.
There are more broadcasters if you countall the streamers than ever before.
So there's more of a market.
It's a smaller market,like smaller audience,
smaller budget,but more venues, more events.
(20:56):
Yeah. What I'm so excited about,
the future of Dejero is really the IPconnectivity
that we're really startingto offer everywhere.
You know, from the advancementsin Starlink, like Lawrence mentioned,
or even KUIP based satellites, the GEOsand LEOs that we're now working with.
You know,we really have a bright future ahead.
Well, thank you both for this insightfuland fascinating conversation.
(21:17):
To learn more about Dejero’sCritical Connectivity for captivating
coverage for broadcasters,or to book a demo, head to dejero.com.
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