UK Media Playing 'Catch-Up' To Tech-Savvy 'DIY' Broadcasters

The recent round of rioting and violence that blighted the country provided further evidence, if more was needed, of the way technology is changing the nature of broadcasting and journalism, writes Hans Eriksson, Executive Chairman of Bambuser.
Around the world, from newsrooms in Scandinavia to participants in the Arab Spring Uprising' and last week's looting in London and Manchester, unprecedented numbers of people are instantly broadcasting events onto the web.
Gone are the days where 'going live' necessitated uplink trucks, satellite dishes, frantic calls to satellite coordinators and high costs.
Now both professional and 'DIY/citizen broadcasters are taking to the air and getting their stories out live, equipped with little more than their mobile phone and access to a 3G or Wi/Fi network - and doing this at a very low cost.
The practice gained significant momentum in Cairo earlier this year when an informal army of young, media-savvy activists risked their lives to broadcast events live from Tahrir Square. This was a key tipping moment when the uptake of the technology moved from the periphery to the mainstream.
In my Nordic homeland, a range of newspapers and national broadcasters in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark have taken notice and moved to equip and enable their staff to broadcast live onto the web.
We're also seeing numerous journalists in France, Spain, Italy and Russia utilising the opportunities presented to them.
For Sweden’s SVT (Swedish Public Television, the country’s equivalent to the BBC), the decision to use Bambuser began as part of a drive to find user generated content. SVT has now expanded its use of the technology to improve and expand regional newsgathering, allowing it to cover niche events that previously went unreported.
But on this side of the North Sea, media outlets haven’t been as quick to leverage the advantages offered.
They've been left behind by the general public, as record numbers of people dusted off their mobiles and provided gripping, live coverage of last week’s riots. In order to be competitive in the future I'm convinced all media outlets will need to equip their reporters with services like Bambuser to ensure that every reporter can submit live and exclusive video content instantly.
However one regional newspaper, the Liverpool Daily Echo, has shone through the mist. Over the past year, it has enthusiastically embraced the technology as part of a strategy to immediately engage readers, regularly broadcasting coverage of press conferences from Liverpool Football Club.
Last week digital reporter Dan Kay was broadcasting the 'clean up' of the streets when he came across the local MP, Luciana Berger, bagging the first interview she'd done since the riot.
Another key moment for the paper was last year’s live broadcast of the club’s High Court ruling victory over its former owners. Here was a local newspaper, competing equally with national broadcasters, broadcasting a quote from the chairman directed specifically for the people of Liverpool.
The message to 'keep the faith' was particularly well received by both the paper and it's readers – giving the Daily Echo a substantial and well-earned lead on its rivals.
Over the last six months, we've been busy developing enhanced apps that make use of hardware accelerated video.
In short, it means Bambuser now has a higher frame rate, sharper video and better audio – while at the same time needing less bandwidth. The improvements are more apparent when using the most up to date smart-phones (iPhones as well as numerous Android models) as well as the iPod Touch 4th Gen.
Another key advancement is how the technology now automatically assess the quality of the connection and then varies the quality of the broadcast accordingly so viewers don't suffer increased latency.
Undeniably, users are victim to the quality of the signal they receive. If they're competing with 50,000 others for bandwidth at Twickenham, the end result won't be ideal.
However this is set to change in the near future with the 4G trials in Cornwall that will ultimately give smart-phones the same uplink speed as fixed-line broadband connections.
It's apparent the modern mobile phone is changing the nature of broadcasting – and will continue to do so.
But with the general public leading the charge, how long will it be before the broadcasting industry catches up?
(BMcN/BMcC)