Live television demands precision. There is no pause button. Our systems are built for live work, not just recording: stable feeds, sharp visuals, and reliable control, integrated as a natural part of the production rather than a risk.
For the past three years we have provided live drone broadcasting for ESPN and Tulsa Tough, covering sports, concerts and festivals, corporate events, parades, and emergency/disaster response coverage.
The deliverable here isn't a file. It's a live source the director can cut to, integrated into the production the same as any other camera.
4K Ultra-HD video transmitted from the aircraft into the production in real time, not recorded and handed over afterwards.
The transmission chain that puts the aircraft on the switcher, specced and tested against the venue before the event.
A second aerial camera flown into the action for the shots a stabilised rig can't reach, available live rather than in post.
The aerial camera's own recording kept alongside the live feed, so the production has clean footage for highlights and recaps.
The aerial operator on production comms and in the rundown, taking direction live like any other camera position.
3 seasons
ESPN & Tulsa Tough
4K
Ultra-HD live streaming
Nationwide
Travel for events
Everything that can be decided before the event is decided before the event, because live is the one job where a problem on the day is a problem on air.
What the aerial camera is for in the rundown, who is directing it, and where it sits in the cut. The aerial position gets scoped like a camera position, not booked like a vendor.
RundownVenue walk, airspace authorisation, launch and recovery points, and an RF check — because a downlink that works in an empty stadium can fall over in a full one.
RF checkFeed into the truck, colour matched to the other cameras, comms tested, and the aerial flown through its planned moves before doors open.
RehearsalOperator on comms, taking direction live, with battery cycles planned around the rundown so the aircraft is in the air for the moments that matter.
LiveLive drone coverage is a cost-effective alternative to a helicopter, and it can go places a helicopter can't.
Cycling, football, baseball, racing, and golf — aerials that follow play rather than sit above it, including FPV chase where the sport moves fast enough to need it.
Crowd scale and site geography as a live cutaway, flown around a set schedule and coordinated with stage production.
Route coverage that moves with the event instead of waiting for it to pass a fixed camera.
Live aerial coverage of developing situations and disaster response, where getting a camera up quickly matters more than getting it up perfectly.
For three years running we've provided live drone broadcasting for ESPN and Tulsa Tough — credentialed, in the truck, and on comms with the director.
That's the part worth checking when you hire for live work. Plenty of operators can fly. Fewer have sat in an OB truck with a feed on the switcher and a director in their ear.
ESPN · NCAALive aerial feed on the ESPN broadcast — NCAA Cross Country.
Control RoomIn the ESPN control room: the aerial feed as one source among many.
CredentialedESPN NCAA Cross Country credential — working crew, not a spectator with a drone.
Through an SDR downlink from the aircraft to a receiver on the ground, then out as SDI into your truck or switcher like any other camera. We survey the venue's RF environment beforehand, because a link that works in an empty stadium behaves differently in a full one.
Yes — the operator is on production comms and works to the rundown. A live aerial camera that can't take direction is a recording, not a camera position.
Low enough to cut to live. We'll give you the measured figure for your specific chain during the signal survey, since it depends on the receiver and how the feed is converted at your end.
Battery cycles are planned against the rundown so swaps land in breaks rather than in the middle of the action, and the director always knows how much air time is left. For longer events we plan the coverage around multiple flights rather than pretending one will cover it.
Substantially, and it gets closer. A helicopter gives you altitude and endurance; a drone gives you proximity, faster setup, and the ability to fly a route through a venue rather than over it. For most events that trade is worth making.
Yes, nationwide. Oklahoma is home ground but live broadcast work travels, and travel is quoted up front rather than added afterwards.
