Hearst Selects JVC GY-HM100 PROHD for Next Generation Newsroom

April 19, 2010 lead

HEARST TELEVISION ADOPTS JVC GY-HM100 PROHD
CAMCORDERS FOR NEXT GENERATION NEWSROOM PROJECT

WAYNE, NJ (April 19, 2010) – JVC Professional Products, a division of JVC U.S.A., announced today that Hearst Television, a station group based in New York City that reaches about 18 percent of U.S. television households through its 29 television stations, is standardizing on JVC GY-HM100 ProHD camcorders for its Next Generation Newsroom Project, a new initiative that expands local news coverage.

After a successful pilot project in three stations last year, the Next Generation Newsroom Project was launched in 2010 with deployments at WPBF in West Palm Beach, FL (DMA #38), and KETV in Omaha, NE (DMA #76). Six additional Hearst stations are now using the GY-HM100 camcorder as part of the Next Generation Newsroom: KMBC in Kansas City, MO (DMA #32), WLWT in Cincinnati, OH (DMA #33), WISN in Milwaukee, WI (DMA #35), WGAL in Lancaster (DMA #39), KOCO in Oklahoma City, OK (DMA #45), and KCCI in Des Moines, IA (DMA #72).

According to Joe Addalia, director of technology projects, WMUR in Manchester, NH, which also serves the Boston market (DMA #7), and WESH in Orlando, FL (DMA #19), will deploy new GY-HM100s within the month. Hearst plans to purchase GY-HM100 camcorders for at least six more stations in 2010.

The Next Generation Newsroom Project represents a paradigm shift in news coverage for the station group. Rather than hold news for regularly scheduled newscasts, these news teams provide live streaming video to the Web, as well as produce edited packages for broadcast. The teams do not replace traditional news crews, but instead augment station coverage. “What we’re pushing is to get more content…faster and direct from the field,” Addalia explained. “Our goal is to increase our reach and win at local news. We’re always live.”

News teams have a portable kit built around a GY-HM100 ProHD camcorder paired with a Dell laptop loaded with Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 NLE software. For news packages from the field, the GY-HM100 records native .MOV files, which can now be used natively with Adobe Premiere Pro for editing – no ingest required. Addalia said the news packages are recorded and edited in HD, then downconverted to SD for FTP transport back to the station for the local news broadcast.

Addalia said the GY-HM100 is the ideal camcorder for the Next Generation Newsroom Project, because it is a full-featured professional camcorder that records to inexpensive SDHC solid-state media, yet it is not intimidating to non-technical personnel. “It’s a small, lightweight package and it’s easy to deploy,” he noted.

ABOUT JVC U.S.A.

Headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, JVC U.S.A. is a division of JVC Americas Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Victor Company of Japan Ltd. JVC distributes a complete line of video and audio equipment for the consumer and professional markets. For further product information, visit JVC’s Web site at http://pro.jvc.com or call (800)582-5825.

9 comments

  1. […] Hearst Corporation’s Next Generation Newsroom Project portends a major shift in thinking for television news room. Beginning with three stations in 2009, moving on to six this year with six more projected to come on board next year, JVC GY-HM100 cameras are marching into the hands of camera crews. […]

  2. […] Hearst Corporation’s Next Generation Newsroom Project portends a major shift in thinking for television news room. Beginning with three stations in 2009, moving on to six this year with six more projected to come on board next year, JVC GY-HM100 cameras are marching into the hands of camera crews. […]

  3. Sean says:

    too cheap to buy a full size camera…. yeah videography isn’t important to hearst

  4. TJ Walkup says:

    For news this is a great leap. With lens limitations it would be rough to use for all applications but this is awesome technology…you have to see it before commenting! Imagine being able to go anywhere in the world and get SD cards for your media. JVC is the best pioneering company on the planet.

  5. Sean says:

    For news this is not a giant leap….TJ Walkup…. TV stations have implemented small cameras before. Sure they can deliver a great picture in daytime for a very low cost. But indoors and at night their small chips blow. And they make it hard for true news professionals to tell stories in a short period of time. Hearst’s move to this gear shows that the value of saving money by buying cameras with less practicality and lower price point is more important than the quality of their photojournalism. Being that Walkup is obviously employed by JVC…. there are much better cameras made by JVC which are suited for professional ENG purposes. This camera is not ENG…for bloggers…fine ….event photographers… fine… enthusiasts fine… it is a boon to people that truely can’t afford a full size eng camera and have to make the sacrifices on the artistic side. And using SD cards that can be bought anywhere…..SO WHAT. A news station should not be sending any crew out unprepared… you expect a professional corporate news crew to stop at CVS to pick up a card for a shoot. I have used all kinds of cameras and many JVC cameras but the callously stupid line that “JVC is the best pioneering company on the planet” HA.
    Not a bad camera for certain purposes and ENG is not one of them…. whoever bought this for Hearst did not bother to ask their photogs about these camera… but nonetheless they will strive to produce compelling stories with these toys. I’m lucky to use a fullsize P2 camera while shooting news…. Rent a small JVC for freelance gigs… and have a ton of fun with my Cannon 7d. Don’t belive the HYPE…we are in the News buisness afterall not the press packet pr business.

  6. Larry Young says:

    Best of luck to Hearst. I wonder how many of these will “Break” in the field.

    I have the feeling these are intended for
    Backpack Journalists – you know, Guys that can write and voice a story but don’t have professional technical skills of a Photog.

    Also, will production be using these as well (CRINGE) or just news?

  7. Ed Sharpe says:

    so much I liked about this camera but… not much zoom range as I remember. We got the Sony Z5 instead.

    ed#

  8. Ted says:

    Seems to me in these economic times, what works, works. I have seen the low light capability and it rocks. Being in the fire service the second the big eng cam comes out, people act weird. They hide from the camera or show boat. This discreet camera is the perfect way to get legit footage. I have used the shoulder stuff back in the day and the recorder and tapes and all the batteries and it was A PAIN. Kudos to Hearst to try it new… If u old eng guys can,t adapt to change then I say become the story cause you will get left behind as is beta as is dv as will hdv and so on. And native FCP the first company to actually build hardware to go with existing software instead of the other way around, making us wait and/or pay for software release/update!,,

  9. michael catalano says:

    I have used this camera for about 6 months now and it has not failed me in any circumstance, indoors or out, the images and sound quality are excellent for eng or any broadcast situation.

    Any low light limitations are easily overcome with an LED on camera light or a simple soft box solution.

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