21 November 2011

Discourse offers NZ’s only HD election night coverage - on a shoestring

Discourse Votes 2011 - a live election night video webcast is being produced by local podcast The Discourse Weekly Show, described by its creators as New Zealand’s “best” podcast.

Produced on a shoestring budget, the Discourse crew aim to deliver a highquality, informative and humorous broadcast with regular results updates and interactive viewer feedback.

The show will be produced in high-definition (HD) and streamed live to viewers over the internet, making it New Zealand’s only HD election broadcast. Discourse Votes 2011 will follow the podcast’s light-hearted and anarchic style.

Show host Morgan Nichol, joined by with co-hosts and expert guests, will be discussing the night’s issues and results. Other contributors from around the country will join in through phone and Skype connections to offer local insight and commentary.

“We really enjoy making the weekly podcast, and couldn’t pass up this unique opportunity to make a huge leap into live internet TV” says Discourse host Morgan Nichol.

“Between us, we have some great connections, and figured we could make a really good show for a tiny budget,” says Discourse co-host Dylan Reeve. “The biggest hurdle was graphics. Without a good way to visualise the election data, we may as well be doing radio,” says Reeve.

Swedish national broadcaster SVT provided the solution to that issue with their open-source CasparCG broadcast graphics software. The software allows the Discourse team to offer real-time on-screen results graphics. “Once we found CasparCG I was really convinced we could actually make the type of high-quality show we’d be happy with,” says Reeve.

Also lending a hand are local video dealer DVT and video hardware manufacturer Blackmagic Design, who have contributed equipment on loan. Award-winning web developers CactusLab have kindly offered their offices and high-speed internet connection as the broadcast location.

“We’re getting really excited about the show,” says Nichol, “we’re still flying by the seat of our pants, but we’re confident viewers will experience something really different and really good.”

Discourse Votes 2011 will be live on Saturday 26 November from 7pm. http://www.discourse.co.nz/election/

ENDS

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