A day after GoPro’s stock took a bashing following reports that Apple might be considering an action cam of its own, GoPro announced it’s pressing forward with new efforts to expand its horizons and win new business.
The California-based company said Wednesday it wants to get into the professional live-broadcasts game and to that end has done a deal with a tech outfit specializing in the transmission of HD video.
Wireless transmitter
GoPro has hooked up with Vislink to create a wireless transmitter that links up with its GoPro Hero4 cameras, allowing TV networks to easily show live point-of-view footage during sports competitions and other events.
The transmitter, rather like the camera, is small enough to be hardly noticed by a wearer, allowing them to feed live footage straight to a program director, giving them another option, and an exciting one at that, in real-time shot selection.
GoPro said in a release put out Wednesday that while its cameras are already used in a professional setting (by broadcasters fixing them to athletes or to gear during televised events), “to date the footage has been restricted to a post-production workflow with memory cards being shuttled back to the truck to provide a look back at the action.”
Thanks to its partnership with Vislink, an official solution now exists for GoPro products, enabling the transmission of HD action as part of a live TV broadcast.
“Our partnership with Vislink brings a new level of excitement to live broadcast and we can’t wait to see what players, broadcasters and fans do with this new innovative solution,” GoPro president Tony Bates said.
The new wireless HD transmitter will be demoed during a number of live events this winter – including ESPN’s Winter X Games 2015 Aspen between January 22 and 25, and select AMA Monster Energy Supercross events – with information on availability and pricing promised in the spring.
