Helicopters Used for News Coverage

Well whatever the anorak-y technology term that currently being used....I didnt think that UK media listens to scanner traffic. What do you know of the media use of monitor police scanners there? In North America (US/Canada) is very common to monitor scanner traffic. That way news crews can be scrambled to a scene.

Traffic cameras may work in the UK but not here. Not all camera systems are open to broadcast operators. In my market on one station has a exclusive agreement with the toll-system to use traffic cams but that doesnt include the state interstate system or city surface streets. which are run by different organizations. So in the UK traffic cameras might work. But of course considering the size of our road system not every inch is covered by cams like the UK.

My opinion of police chases changes have changed drastically. I have wavered back and forth. I do think they have a public service value. How the chase is covered depends on the station and the market and if its covered at all. Where I live they typically do not cover them, they arent very frequent. The news channels sometimes will pick them up. In years past they used to take the affiliate coverage all the time. That has decreased over the years because of several incidents that have occurred. On air shootings and suicides, etc. Now most station put their chopper shots on 5-10 delay. Plus the tabloid nature of the story. It has no value to a national audience, as they arent being affected by a chase in Compton CA. But for the city in which the chase is occurring I would say it does have some value as it warns people to be caution or to move out of the way.

Scanners can't monitor emergency services communications in the UK. They're digital and scrambled, so without the appropriate kit and key you can't listen in.

The UK is covered in cctv cameras, all major road junctions are covered, along with most urban road systems. Many of these cameras can be viewed by the public in webcam format, and are often shared with the media. It's a regular occurance to see a reporter in a motorway control room on expected busy travel days.

North American police scanners are digital as well but they are not usually scrambled....thanks for your explanation. Now I understand why it takes so long for the media there to get to a breaking story.

FYI here is the legal stuff about the American use of police scanner traffic if you are interested. http://www.rtdna.org/content/scanners#.UysYJIXLJFs
In Canada some municipalities encrypted and the media went nuts so they supply them with some codes to access scanner traffic.

Anyway back to Chopper Chat......
What about the use of Helicopters during storm coverage, not the aftermath but during the actual storm?

Are you serious?

Not exactly anorak-y - just the name of the system used, like GSM for mobile phones, DECT for cordless etc. It's being rolled out pretty-much Europe-wide for emergency services communications (though is also used by other users - railways, factories, power stations etc.)


It's illegal - therefore no respectable news organisation would do it. Breaking the law is kind of frowned upon.

I believe the law was made more explicit with the 2006 act. Prior to this it was a little greyer (reception wasn't technically illegal, but using the information received, or divulging it to a 3rd party was)



Less of an issue in the UK (and Europe). We have a far lower homicide rate (and in the UK a very different gun culture - though this is broadly true across Europe) and far fewer hours of local news to fill each day - so there isn't a need to scramble a crew in the same way.



Though my understanding is that most traffic reports from helicopters are for metropolitan areas, where heavy traffic is experienced, and I'd expect key areas to be covered by cameras for the benefit of the operators of the road system?

In the UK it's common for the BBC London morning bulletins to include shots from the various travel cameras to highlight issues, or point out good traffic conditions, on major routes.

Yeah. Serious as a heart attack. You've never seen it? Its amazing. They been doing it in Oklahoma and Texas for decades. But Oklahoma City stations are famous for it. Check these out.

Oklahome City gets hit by more tornadoes than any city in the country. Its a city of 1.3 million people. The tv stations have been doing this for years and they are experts at this. They usually get their choppers going when atomophere is ripe for tornado outbreaks.
SkyNews9 from KWTV-tv
and Bob Moore Chopper 4 from KFOR -tv

These meterologists, pilots and storm chasers are often credited for saving lives with their coverage
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/als-morning-meeting/214008/oklahoma-governor-thanks-media-for-tornado-coverage/
KWTV 9 was the first station to use a helicopter to broadcast live tornado coverage in 1981.
The heart stopping coverage of last years coverage of a 2 mile wide EF5 tornado that slammed into an elementary school. It was devasting to watch the tornado leave the path of destruction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/business/media/helicopter-brings-viewers-vivid-images-of-tornado.html?_r=0

I think Arnie Pie is the closest that sort of thing gets to UK TV, thank goodness.

As we covered in the weather thread, we don't have "exciting" weather in the UK. A storm here is either electrical or wind based, neither of which are suitable flying conditions. Plus, you don't see anything unless the camera happens to be pointed in the right direction at exactly the right time. The other type of bad weather we get is either snow or rain, and generally you can see enough of that out of your window. The choppers get sent up to film the aftermath (pretty / destroyed / underwater) as that's where the interest is. A helicopter shot of rain water running off the lens is pretty dull.

[Yes, we get lots of tornadoes, but as said before, they last a few seconds and don't cause any damage in 99.9% of the time. By the time you've scrambled the crew to Redhill, the whole thing would be over.]

Anyone know how it works with Arena crewing the helicopters?

They provide the camera operators as well as the pilots according to their website. So do they just have crew for the BBC and Sky helicopters waiting to go everyday? Or is it more of an on call situation?

Breaking Coverage - Houston. Massive apartment home complex burning. Complex was under construction.

Click below for live Chopper coverage froom KTRK-8 Houston
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/live

There's nothing like a good bit of arson, to unite a local community.

Here is a mid-1990s promo for an Arizona station's news chopper and its pilot:



And here is this pilot in action for the morning news: