Brad on Broadcast

In today’s fast-paced and intense production and broadcast studios, professionals usually have all they can handle just keeping up with a day’s activities. And for many, by the end of the day or week, all they want is to forget where they work and all the technology.

Others, however, are invigorated by such pressure, and a few of these even want to share their skills and knowledge with others. If you consider yourself in this category, read on. more

Purchasers of Google TV sets and set-top boxes (STBs) may be experiencing a bit of buyer’s remorse. It seems their new (and expensive) TV sets have yet to realize Google’s promise of any content from any place at any time. more

Much is being written about cloud-based storage for data applications. Certainly the advantages of offloading large-scale storage needs holds promise and efficiency to some users. When looking at production applications, the choice may be less clear because only now are A/V solutions starting to become available. more

The recent dustup between Comcast and Fox got me to rethinking the whole issue of content delivery. Just how important are cable and satellite companies in getting entertainment to American viewers? Will program and content owners simply sign deals with Hulu, Google TV, Apple TV or Boxee to bypass cable and satellite? Can viewers really “cut the cord?” Uh, maybe not. more

Another “pay me” battle has erupted, this time between AT&T and Scripps. In early November, Scripps Networks pulled the Food Network, HGTV, DIY Network, Cooking Channel and Great American Country cable channels from AT&T’s U-verse video service. The action left 2.7 million AT&T U-verse customers without their weekly fix of home-improvement, cooking and music channels. more

In today’s tough job market, anything you can do to improve your marketability through skill enhancement has got to be a good thing. In line with improved training, HP just launched a new networking certification program called ExpertONE. The program is focused on building skills not only in the technical space but in the business financial space. more

The clock is counting down, and broadcasters and cable operators are joining forces (fancy that?) to ask the FCC to extend the deadline. Currently, radio and TV stations, as well as cable operators, must implement the next generation of emergency alert technology, known as Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), by March 20, 2011. FEMA began this 180-day countdown to implementation when it signed off on the technical standard in mid-October. more

In a speech before the October Spectrum Summit, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the FCC is fully prepared to mandate incentive auctions, which will drive some broadcasters off the air. Oh, he didn’t put it in such dire terms. Rather, Mr. Genachowski compared his goal of putting broadband in every pocket to Eisenhower’s building of a nation-wide highway system. more

Here’s a prediction about the 2011 CES convention. The key theme, unlike last year, won’t be 3-D television, but rather, Internet-enabled television sets and Google-OS set-top boxes (STBs). more