UNO TV is one of the oldest educational television studios in the state of Nebraska. As part of the University of Nebraska Omaha’s College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media, UNO TV provides student-produced content for their school in addition to Nebraska Public Media. “Our role is to help the students understand how to execute productions on different scales”, said Lyle Kwiatkowski, studio coordinator of UNO TV.
In order to give students real world TV production experience by doing live broadcasts, UNO TV invested in a Comrex LiveShot. This has enabled students to report from locations in Omaha like the Durham Museum or Mahoney State Park, as well as other places on UNO’s campus.
“Because we have a deal with T-Mobile, we typically use MiFi hotspots. We just plug the MiFi into the USB ports on top of the unit, and that sends our signal back to the station,” said Kwiatkowski. “We also use WiFi because we have a robust WiFi connection on campus.”
Kwiatkowski appreciates the flexibility that LiveShot affords. “The versatility that [it] provides is excellent. Sometimes we do troubleshooting in the field, but that’s part of the job. If you can learn how to troubleshoot in real time for a production, you’re going to be a lot further along than having someone do everything for you and expecting it to work.”
“Wear Black, Give Back” is a two-day fundraising event with a 24-hour giving period sponsored by the University of Nebraska Foundation. Kwiatkowski wanted to help support the local non-profit, but the LiveShot units owned by UNO TV were already committed. He reached out to Comrex to see if they could help with the extra equipment needed for the event.
“The folks at Comrex said, ‘No problem. I’ll send you the gear you need – you just need to cover shipping,’” said Kwiatkowski. “We’re under significant budget stress here at the university as many institutions across the country are, and it was very refreshing to have a partner in Comrex to help us execute this event and showcase to our students what’s possible.”
To provide coverage of the event, UNO TV had three camera operators, two desk anchors, and about 10 students running different positions. They also had a drone which was purchased to entice communications students to pursue a minor in aviation. For the fundraiser’s big kickoff party, UNO TV combined footage from LiveShot with footage from a drone they’d received from the university’s aviation department. “It turned a lot of heads, and the foundation even asked for the footage to use in years to come,” said Kwiatkowski.
“I think the LiveShot, especially at its price point, is second to none for the quality we’re able to get out of it, and it’s come in handy on so many different occasions.”