On Call’s QuickSPOT Enables Colorado Station to Deliver Live Coverage of Waldo Fire

Colorado’s KKTV was the first news station on the scene at the Waldo Fires in Colorado Springs and offered live streaming coverage of the battle against what Colorado Springs Fire Chief called an “epic firestorm”.

An automated satellite solution from On Call Communications gave KKTV a unique advantage over their competition with their ability to deliver live coverage from the hard to reach areas. KKTV is using 3G/4G aggregation packs and combining them with QuickSPOT, a mobile, automated satellite solution that gives them on demand satellite Internet service.  The service provides a dedicated satellite link that delivers high quality, stable video streams when microwave is unavailable or 3G coverage is unreliable.  The combination creates a very simple to use and efficient solution that allows the station’s photographers to cover stories.

“The automated satellite system helps us break the stories faster.  Within minutes of arrival on scene our photographers can already be sending live streaming video. ” said Nick Matesi, VP/General Manager of KKTV.

In the midst of the worst fire to ever impact the city of Colorado Springs, KKTV delivered 130 hours live, continuous  coverage to the community from areas where they typically would not be able to get a signal out. The fires present a particular challenge to report  as the firefighting efforts are concentrated in the hills and canyons around Colorado Springs making it challenging to deliver live signals.

“We wanted to design a really efficient system to streamline our field operations to deliver more live video,” says James Ocon, Vice President-Technology for Gray Television. “The new system is working great as we’ve seen with the live coverage of the fires.”

KKTV recently acquired the QuickSPOT system. As a result of the coverage of the fires, the team has decided to make the system a permanent part of the station’s live news coverage.

“We are pleased to be able to assist KTTV in deploying technology that allows them immediate access to the blaze,” says Jim Gilbert, On Call’s CEO. “Gray Television, KTTV’s parent, is very progressive, and has done a great job integrating new and cutting edge technologies to help modernize their newsgathering operations.”