With the advent of social media platforms and camera accessibility, there are now a multitude of platforms with which any person with a smartphone can begin streaming to with little-to-no technical understanding. With the addition of an app like Teradek’s Live:Air, the only step to enhancing your journalism experience is to be where the story is! Here’s how the Live:Air app is a game changer for mobile journalists everywhere.
Accepted by All Major Social Media Platforms
Every journalist wants to get as many eyes on their content as possible, and Live:Air can help you with that. With multiple social media platforms pre-integrated into the app, you can select any platform of your choice with the click of a button, whether it be Facebook, Ustream, Twitch, etc. Don’t use any of these services? Not to worry, because the app also allows custom selecting of platforms that are not pre-configured via RTMP.
In addition, one of the unique features of the app is that it allows you to broadcast to more than one of these destinations at the same time. This feature requires a subscription to Teradek’s CORE cloud-based servers (more info on this at the bottom) but if you have a following on more than one platform, or just have an interest in expanding your influence to multiple social media outlets, multi-destination broadcasting is just a couple of clicks away.
Freedom to Switch Between Broadcast and Pre-Recorded Footage
Live streaming is the epitome of content delivery, and nothing will give your broadcast a more authentic, news-like feel than the ability to switch between live and pre-recorded video clips. Imagine you are filming on the site of a major event and don’t have the time to bust out Live:Air. With the app, you have the freedom to broadcast off-site and roll footage of the event while you stream to give your stream a live-TV feel.
This can give your stream more context and authenticity, kind of like how news channels implement cutaway footage to give their current broadcast a relevant example.
Add Your Personal Signature to Each Broadcast
This is one of the greatest features of the app, as it allows you to add your “signature” to your stream in the form of overlays.
The app gives users the option of adding lower thirds and custom graphics that can serve multiple functions from giving your news stream a title to inputting a name if you are interviewing someone. At the same time, a well-placed logo can help your audience identify with your network, essentially adding your own brand to your stream. And because these are overlays, the stream will hardly be affected by the inserted graphics.
The app comes preloaded with a number of stock overlays already, but the best thing to do would be to add your own custom graphics to create your own brand.
Integrates With Teradek’s Cloud-Based Management System: CORE
Nothing says authentic news source than a subscription to Teradek’s CORE system, which opens up a number of additional options for mobile journalists.
CORE is essentially a cloud-based monitoring system that also allows for archiving of recorded videos and expanded outreach to multiple social media platforms.
Want to stream your content to Facebook, Periscope AND Ustream at the same time? CORE's system allows you to stream to an unlimited number of destinations simultaneously, helping you obtain more viewers from different platforms. You can also choose to give your news stream additional context by switching the live stream to a pre-recorded video saved in your CORE cloud.
As mobile journalism rises in popularity, we’ll be seeing more and more users embrace this new form of news reporting. Live:Air provides all the tools to give even the most novice of smartphone users the ability to stream to their platform of choice. With nothing but a smartphone and an app, your news streaming experience can have both the look and feel of an authentic, live-TV news source.