LiveNewsCameras.com aggregates live Fox feeds
Cory Bergman February 6th, 2008
This is fascinating. The team at Fox Chicago wondered what it would be like if users were able to see the same live satellite feeds as they see at the station. So they built LiveNewsCameras.com — a compilation of Fox affiliate feeds across the country. The site even has a live moderator, Kat Bockli, who explains what’s happening and what’s coming up. And they’re sending out text alerts of upcoming events via Twitter, which is integrated into the right column. “We are aggregating all the live feeds we can get,” said News Director Andrew Finlayson. “We think of this as an experiment on many levels.” It’s a “terrific concept,” explains Anthony Moor, who punched up the site during Super Tuesday. “And they did it in three weeks.”
So, what do you think?
22 Comments Add your own
1. Safran | February 6th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Site of the year.
2. Jeff | February 6th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I like it and the moderator action is interesting.
3. Z | February 6th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
That’s “Kat”, by the way.
I like it quite a bit. I’m not sure how often I’ll return, but I’ll definitely bookmark it.
4. Don Day | February 6th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Best… idea… ever.
5. Terry Heaton | February 6th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Out-friggin-standing.
6. discreet_chaos | February 6th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Cool site and I’ll have to add it to my bookmarks. It’s kind of Pipeline-like with the use of stationary cameras and unfiltered news, it’s just on a bunch of “channels” and not just four.
I also like the moderator concept and though I guess the introductory nature makes her spiel a little repetitive, she’s doing a good job of pointing out the things that actually have some action.
7. tdc | February 6th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
i think that’s what you might call a channel built for out of market eyeballs.
who you have ever thought?
8. tdc | February 6th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
that should have read: who would have ever thought?
and they label da’buggahs by CITY too.
9. tdc | February 6th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
they’re asking for feedback from mac owners????
man, are they out in front with this thing.
10. tdc | February 6th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
i thought some people just said live streaming 24/7 was prohibitively expensive?
is this 47x that?
11. Jason | February 6th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Freakin Cool …. I need another monitor at my desk!
12. Rick Ellis | February 6th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I understand why people here think it’s cool. I had the same gut reaction when I first saw it. But I actually tried to use it over a period this morning, and I now have a different take on it.
I like the idea in the abstract, but I have trouble seeing exactly who the audience is for the site. Yes, there is a small subset of news junkies who might use it periodically. But I can’t help thinking that it’s an idea in search of an audience.
Plus, there are some usability issues. It’s nor clear what is streaming and where–at least not from looking at the thumbnails. Sure, the moderator provides guidance, but I wonder if that requires more time on the site than the average visitor is willing to invest.
This is a lot like the ObamaTracker site. It’s a great proof of concept, but it doesn’t quite work yet in the real world.
13. Rambler | February 6th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
But…what could it become.
Live events of interest/importance always have an audience.
14. Contrarian | February 6th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Pretty danged “inside baseball” for your average non-news employee. I doubt it’ll draw much of an audience once the novelty, if any, wears off.
15. Michael Gay | February 6th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
In 2 weeks we can post on LostRemote and ask you all how many times you’ve looked at this site in those 14 days. I looked at it 3 times today, but as an average web consumer am not sure if I would look at it again over two weeks.
I strongly believe the Web is an on-demand environment. Give me a site like this with 40 breaking news videos I can click on and I’d be impressed. But what’s the value to me when I see a bunch of radars and skycams with the occasional cooking segment from a noon show? (When I went on during my lunch break I got a TV newscast that is produced for the at-home audience, complete with cooking segment.) The skycams and radars aren’t even local to me, nor could more than 2 be local for anyone since there are only two per market.
I applaud MyFox for welcoming news ideas and making them reality, but prove this works by having compelling content for your consumers, not the critical news junkies. It can’t make any money just impressing the critics for one day.
16. tdc | February 6th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
and how is cnn’s u.s. section any different?
except that at cnn one has to guess from where the headlines are from since non-tv people (myself included) rarely know call letters from coast-to-coast.
granted, there are alot of weather radars, but the thing is one f’in day old.
i like it. i can see it becoming a go to destination that many will attempt to copy.
please do follow up in 2weeks.
17. Z | February 7th, 2008 at 6:31 am
Not really a comparison with CNN’s US section, though. This is fairly unique.
And the weather radars? Likely won’t go away. LiveNewsCameras.com has no real say in what’s being fed at any given moment. So that means skycams and weather radars if there’s nothing to feed in. Or black.
You really need to get over this call letter hate.
18. tdc | February 7th, 2008 at 7:23 am
actually i have no hate for call letters. i just don’t like them. they serve a limited purpose at best in their own market. on cnn or on this venture it’s evident they are looking at a much wider audience. somehow associating a location to a headline might make me more inclined to click on it (that “on demand” thing, ya’know?)
after some more thought, the weather radars are actually a net positive; the weather channel is making hay, right? $5 billion will make you the new owner of a bunch of weather radars!!!
maybe they just need their own screen. which will probably be one of the things they consider later as they add video feeds from around the world. yes, they said those are coming.
judging by the number of positive comments left here vs. the usual drubbing new launches receive here, one might think this thing has a good chance. couple that with its sponsor who has no problem throwing $ at the net and the possibilities are endless.
still don’t like call letters though.
19. tdc | February 7th, 2008 at 7:30 am
“still don’t like call letters though”
the lone exception being that yet-to-be built tv station’s on maui.
you know the one.
20. Brink | February 8th, 2008 at 6:22 am
No one’s going to watch this after the first couple of viewings. At least, no one outside TV news.
it’s a gimmick.
21. Leopold | February 8th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I think the underlying theme here is transparency. They’re giving the viewer what the station sees. That really resonates with some people.
22. geraldz | February 15th, 2008 at 7:23 am
You can quickly and easily tune into LiveNewsCameras and other internet television sites at http://www.RSSLiveTV.com
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