Georgia’s Macon State and TriCaster PRO prove a professional broadcast can be created on a tight budget

PA popular college tailgating show gains attention from fans around the world thanks to TriCaster PRO and IPTV

Macon, GA – January 22, 2007 -- Most schools and universities in the United States face the problem of staying on top of the latest technological advances with a relatively tight budget. Macon State College in Macon, Georgia faced a similar problem – delivering high-quality sports productions on a budget. Not wanting to sacrifice either the show’s integrity or quality, but lacking resources to purchase a live truck, university staff and students invested in a NewTek TriCaster,  a live news truck in a 10-pound, portable and affordable box. TriCaster is used to record and stream the college sports and tailgating show live on the web. This extremely popular show features guest coaches, players and “in-the-crowd” interviews showcasing parents of athletes.

Macon State College Professor of Information Technology Jim Leonard involves local community businesses and high school students to create, produce and support the show. This is coordinated through local Cox Communications affiliate, WMAZ-TV, Macon’s CBS affiliate and local cable company which provides broadcasting and streaming capabilities. The show continues to gain an increasing fan base and since the broadcast is also streamed, anyone around the world can tune in.

“This show has really brought together the community on so many different levels,” Leonard says, adding that the most impressive aspect of the show is that it’s produced entirely by high school and college students. “These students are incredibly driven and talented,” Leonard says. “The quality of their producing really comes across during the broadcast.”

TriCaster enables Leonard and his team to produce professional-quality broadcasts at an extremely affordable price. “TriCaster has all of the power found in a live news truck,” Leonard explains. “It has really given us a cutting-edge on media technology at a fraction of the cost.”

Leonard says the students, along with the broadcast, have been showcased by several local television stations and newspapers. “This has been a huge deal for us, especially utilizing student talent and using Internet television for a broadcasting board,” he says adding, “We’ve even helped some other Georgia universities get started in live webcasting,”

The show and program has become so popular, Leonard developed a course for live television and Internet sports broadcasting and production. Leonard says the course offers students the opportunity to participate in live “in-the-field” local sports broadcast production. “The course itself requires very little classroom time,” Leonard explains. “Instead, students are primarily working as part of the team producing live TV/Internet basketball and baseball broadcasts for the middle Georgia region.”

Chandler Lee, a student who began producing Macon State College’s broadcast three years ago when only a sophomore at First Presbyterian Day (FPD) High School, says this program is the only one of its kind in the United States. “I believe our broadcasts could go up against any broadcast in the nation,” he explains. “And I know without TriCaster, our broadcasts wouldn’t be as good as they are now.”

Another unique quality of the show is Internet broadcasting. The growing trend of Internet Protocol Television, or IPTV, is something Thane Goode of Cox Communications is well aware of. Already the Internet Service Provider for FPD, Goode says taking it to the next level was natural. “Macon State College and First Presbyterian Day High School are way ahead of the game when it comes to Internet television,” Goode explains. “They saw the possibilities of live webstreaming this show in order for anyone to access it regardless of location – parents, family members and friends that may be out of town – they don’t have to miss these very important life events anymore.”

Leonard says this is another reason why Macon State invested in TriCaster. “TriCaster makes it so easy to broadcast live over the Internet – you plug in and you’re ready to go,” explains Leonard. “With recording and editing capabilities for later on-demand viewing, TriCaster was the obvious choice.”

Brandon Obenauf, a senior at FPD High School and CEO of the FPD broadcast team, has been producing the college’s various sports and tailgating shows for several years. “It’s a great feeling to be able to offer this type of broadcast to so many different people, especially with the Internet,” he explains. “But what’s even better is all of the support we receive from the community and local businesses – people really are excited and care about what we’re doing at Macon State College.”

Obenauf says he has seen broadcasting equipment improve over the years but has never seen anything like TriCaster. “TriCaster allows us to broadcast like a professional,” he says. “We really have all of the power the Atlanta Braves live truck has in this little box – it’s amazing.”

Awards
Since its launch in 2005, TriCaster has won the following industry awards: 2005 Technical Emmy® nomination; Government Video Salute 2005; NAB AIM Award; Computer Graphics World Editor’s Pick NAB 2005; Streaming Media Magazine Producer’s Pick; Church Media Hotlist NAB Best of Show; EventDV Editor’s Pick Best of 2005; Byte Media Labs Cold Dead Fingers Award; studio/monthly “Hot” rating; DEMO@15 Producer’s Pick; 4Ever Group Product Innovation Award; Videomaker Magazine Best Products 2005; Videoguys Top 10.

Pricing and Availability
For more information, please visit http://www.newtek.com or call NewTek Sales at 1-800-368-5441, international callers dial +1-210-370-8000.  To locate a NewTek Authorized Reseller, please visit http://www.newtek.com/dealers, or to locate a NewTek International Distributor, please visit http://www.newtek.com/dealers/international.php

About NewTek
With headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, NewTek is a leading provider of full-featured video editing, live production, presentation and visual effects tools including TriCaster™, VT[4]™, SpeedEDIT™, 3D Arsenal™ and LightWave 3D®.

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