Streaming

This is part of the community media services (CMS) model that is one  way to shore up revenue for local media.  It has the potential to replace some  advertising revenue lost to search engines and social media.

Overview  

Streaming refers to any use of internet to deliver audio and video to many receivers.  Some streaming applications are direct competitors for cable television audiences.

Here we are interested in small public service organizations who use essentially the same software and similar platforms to deliver low-cost a/v services.   Live and/or pre-recorded streams are now possible at every level of audience size and complexity at a low cost.

Streams can go out over platforms such as  YouTube,  Facebook Live,  Periscope,  Kuaishou,  Douyu,  bilibili,  Twitch, and 17 

sites like  have become popular outlets for watching people play video games, such as in esports, Let’s Play-style gaming, or speedrunning.

Conferencing  software   

If you want small groups of people to participate, possibly use …

• Zoom —
• Verizon Bluejeans —
• Microsoft Teams —

These small group sessions can be broadcast to larger groups …

Example of a switched, mixed, live stream event 

Here’s one experience from the April 12, 2022 Society of Professional Journalists Region II conference:

Going into the SPJ conference, we already had a professional Zoom account, two laptops, several condenser microphones, lots of cameras with clean video, tripods and a large control monitor. We also had an overhead projector (supplied by the conference center).   We had to find auditorium speakers and a lot of cabling and cable cover strips (for safety).

The only additional expense for our small video unit was an audio mixer ( we bought a Soundcraft Notepad 8fx $150) and a video switcher ( In the photo above, we are using a Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro for $495 .). We recommend the next level up (ATEM Mini Pro at $995) because the $495 version has a serious flaw in not allowing audio out monitoring.  (This can be fixed with a workaround, which involves turning on Quicktime audio recording and monitoring that, but still it’s a pain).

A “stage plot” for the livestreamed event shows how the system worked.