Helicopters Used for News Coverage

The odd thing about that incident is the statement released after it happened (http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_25367272/kdvr-will-apologize-explain-indecent-air-goof?source=inthenews), pointing out that tit was accidentally broadcast from the control room, and not from the tablet seen in the clip - which seems a really odd distinction to make. But in general, going through images on social media in such an unchecked way is just stupid.

LOL!

Presumably a distinction made at the request of the presenter holding the tablet... so no one thinks that he has pictures like that on his device

Ah, of course, very good point. And quite stupid of me to not have considered that.

Sorry if I de-railed the discussion for the sake of a bit of innuendo, but I couldn't resist.

Has anyone seen the Sky News Copter recently? I haven't watched much Sky News since the 2010 Election and debates.

How many Choppers do Sky News utilize?
What about the BBC do you they have one based in the North (Manchester) and South (London)?
Seems like they are rarely used, they are expensive to operate though.

AIUI the BBC and Sky both have deals with Arena Aviation, who operate one helicopter for each of them, based at Redhill Aerodrome in the South East (close enough to London - where helicopters are more likely to be used), and they are of a type that can be flown flexibly over London.

http://www.arena-aviation.com/aircraft.html

I believe the deals are based on buying a certain number of flying hours per year - rather than having a 24/7 dedicated helicopter - and there are also sharing agreements between the BBC, ITV and Sky that allow for pooling of pictures (though not always of pooling of control of destination) - which is particularly useful when one helicopter needs to refuel. Other broadcasters can hire helicopters from Arena, or Flying TV, on an ad hoc basis, though this is based on availability, and may take longer to set-up.

However UK News culture is far less 'chopper obsessed' than the US - partially because we have far fewer local news minutes to fill, and because we have fewer long car chases. (One ITV franchise holder, TVS, operated a helicopter in the 80s, as much to provide flexible radio links for terrestrial outside broadcasts as for picture coverage from the air, in the days before SNG)

I think the last time the Sky helicopter was used was during the Somerset floods a few weeks back. Most of the top news stories of late have been strictly international affairs, so less need for domestic helicopters to be used.

I think the Sky copter was actually used for the Budget coverage yesterday. Sky utilise their copter quite well. They had Jeremy Thompson broadcasting live aboard the helicopter during the flooding. The Sky copter is also used to take library footage when it is not required live on air.

Well the most common uses you see choppers used is for traffic reporting rather than car chases which in total flight hours is very rare.. LA and the Southwestern states being the exception.

What you think about Choppers being used for car chases?
Oh here is a big question... Police scanners are the media allowed to monitor them? I've heard they arent...but im not sure?

That's quite disturbing audio.

I think they're used for a bit of drama on the traffic reporting though... CCTV cameras usually work just as well.



Don't see the point - and it glamourises crime in a way I'm not very comfortable with.



This http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/enforcement/spectrum-enforcement/guidance suggests that it is pretty straight forward in the UK. It isn't legal to listen to a broadcast not intended for you OR that is unlicensed (presumably when within licensed spectrum.) They specifically list the situation you describe at the end.

That said - most police radio is now Tetra digital isn't it - so scanners are not suitable.