Mark Sudduth
EF1
The idea is simple: stream live video of your storm chasing work for a fee to subscribers on an Internet site. Will it work? It has so far for my team and I on our hurricanetrack.com subscriber site. We started this in 2005 with TS Arlene and it grew from there. By the time we got to Wilma almost two years ago now we had over 1100 paid subscribers. I was hoping for 500 to call it successful. The 2005 season certainly helped that but we retained enough interest in 2006 and now this crappy season to make me believe that there is an audience for this. Your true hard core weather fans.
Jesse Bass and I talked about streaming tornado chases live ever since the 2005 success but never put much thought in to it. After the slow 2006 hurricane season, I thought I would give it a try in 2007 on my own. So, in late April of this year, I flew to OKC and rented an SUV. I quietly went about my business of chasing the 4/23 and 4/24 storms in OK,TX and KS. I had no trouble streaming all of my chasing on both days live. Several colleagues back East were watching along with one in Nevada. Not a web cam JPEG but actual live streaming video with audio. I simply packed the right gear to do this and did it. Nothing magical about it. I have done it many times over during hurricanes and this was just about the same thing except I did not have to worry about all of the things one does in a hurricane. While I did not see any tornadoes, I saw plenty of action to keep me happy and prove that I could stream live if needed.
As an example, I love a good storm just like anyone on this board. I do not see supercells much in North Carolina and have only chased one other time: May 29, 2004 (story for another day). During my April recon trip to the Plains, I was on the LP cell near Pampa. I was by myself for the trip but had my closest colleagues watching live while I sat on the side of the road and streamed the damn thing live! LIVE! It was awesome. I just held the camcorder out the driver window with the firewire attached to a laptop and streamed! They could hear my excitement as the storm grew and moved slowly (I mean SLOWLY) northward. It looked good on the stream but my audio, the audio of ME being so excited to see something so unique was what made it cool. Jesse was right there with me by virtue of his PC. Another colleague in Nevada was watching from a laptop in his CAR! We were all "in the storm" together yet I was the only one actually there. How cool is that? I knew I had to share this with other people and thus the idea of doing more with tornado chases, and other severe weather too, began to really take shape.
I ended the chase trip in Nickerson the next day, just after all the excitement but I have to tell you, the people who were watching me drive from Wichita to Nickerson had a great time as they got to hear my excitement, my frustration with the traffic once I got off the Interstate and the fact that the sun was going down and the tornado was likely over. All of that was broadcast live from my SUV and a small handful of people were watching. It was then that I knew this could work. I flew home the next day and waited for hurricanes that have yet to show up- at least not in the U.S. unless I was in High Island, TX...doh!
So, our plan is to provide our existing subscribers of hurricanetrack.com's live service with extra coverage of tornado and other severe weather outbreaks- LIVE. We won't be able to sit out there for weeks on end waiting for severe weather. We will have to be selective and choose days that offer the best overall chance of success and fly out. This includes not only the chance of severe weather and tornadoes but WHERE said chances might take place. Our best success will come on days like May 29, 2004 and April 23/24, 2007 when the heart of the Alley is primed for tornadic supercells. Our biggest limitation is the Sprint network coverage area. We use Sprint to stream the video and if we do not have a signal, we cannot stream live. They do have roaming agreements with other carriers and that might work but we'll have to get lucky and be in the right place at the right time in order for this to work as we see it. But don't think it can't happen. Take a look at the Sprint coverage maps and see where their coverage extends. A lot of E-W highways in most of KS are covered as are most N-S routes as well. Their network is getting bigger and faster each year too and that will only help the effort.
Also, even if we don't get a tornado, there is other action to consider: hail, awesome lightning, the chase itself, the stops for food, the other chasers (guess I will have to carry 100 legal documents with me for people to sign unless I call this "news"...) and all sorts of unknowns that people like to see. That is what we call "life" and to be more precise, "chaser life". I think people got the wrong idea on the other thread about bad drivers, we are not looking to stream chasers and their chases but our chases and what WE encounter- which might be YOU. If so, come on over and say hello. We're not asses with an ego to promote. We just think this is a cool idea. It's the entire package that I firmly believe enough people will be interested in to give this a shot and grow the idea. I would rather do this than have to worry about a van full of people and what could go wrong there. I have the deepest respect for you tour operators in that regard! The legal issues alone would drive me crazy...
We do not at all think we can come out and make thousands of dollars chasing live on the Internet but we can give it our best shot and hopefully pick the right day(s) and nail it. We will alert our subscribers via email as to our plans and they can watch as much as they want as we do our thing. The beauty of it is that they can "talk" back to us via email and share in our excitement or success or failure. We noticed this phenomenon immediately after starting hurricanetrack.com live with people communicating to us through their computers as we did our missions. It's incredible to know that even a few hundred people are glued to their PCs watching YOUR work in action. There is a lot more to it than I care to get in to here but it really does work and given the right conditions, Jesse and I plan to do it in 2008 as much as possible.
While I can appreciate the challenges of doing something like this, it will be more than worth it if we can pull it off just once. Anyone who is watching will feel as if they are there with us. How do I know this? They tell me that during our hurricane missions. Again, it is amazing to know that people are there with you in a virtual sense. The porn industry has made billions doing live sex shows, why can't chasers cash in on the weather fans' interest in severe weather and give THEM the show of their lives? Now we can. We have done it and will do our best to continue to do it and at the very least, we will enjoy the chase. Now we can have people from anywhere on the planet riding along with us via their PC. That is enough of a reason to do it above any other. As I said in a private message to one of the posts, if it was easy, I would not do it as everyone else would already be doing it.
Lastly, I know that chasers have been doing work live for TV for many years. This is not what I am talking about. I am wanting to broadcast the chase day- the whole thing. People can tune in and out as they wish and check on our progress. And when things look good and we are on a possible tornado, then we can send out another email alert to people and let them know to tune in. It is live chasing over the Internet that we are working on. We have the experience with hurricanes to know it does draw a crowd and pays the bills. If we can get lucky and nail it on the Plains once or twice, then we will be happy. That's it. Now it's a matter of waiting....waiting for that right day when it all comes together...but that's what helps to make this so fascinating and I can't wait to share my fascination with severe weather to my audience online, no matter the size.
Jesse Bass and I talked about streaming tornado chases live ever since the 2005 success but never put much thought in to it. After the slow 2006 hurricane season, I thought I would give it a try in 2007 on my own. So, in late April of this year, I flew to OKC and rented an SUV. I quietly went about my business of chasing the 4/23 and 4/24 storms in OK,TX and KS. I had no trouble streaming all of my chasing on both days live. Several colleagues back East were watching along with one in Nevada. Not a web cam JPEG but actual live streaming video with audio. I simply packed the right gear to do this and did it. Nothing magical about it. I have done it many times over during hurricanes and this was just about the same thing except I did not have to worry about all of the things one does in a hurricane. While I did not see any tornadoes, I saw plenty of action to keep me happy and prove that I could stream live if needed.
As an example, I love a good storm just like anyone on this board. I do not see supercells much in North Carolina and have only chased one other time: May 29, 2004 (story for another day). During my April recon trip to the Plains, I was on the LP cell near Pampa. I was by myself for the trip but had my closest colleagues watching live while I sat on the side of the road and streamed the damn thing live! LIVE! It was awesome. I just held the camcorder out the driver window with the firewire attached to a laptop and streamed! They could hear my excitement as the storm grew and moved slowly (I mean SLOWLY) northward. It looked good on the stream but my audio, the audio of ME being so excited to see something so unique was what made it cool. Jesse was right there with me by virtue of his PC. Another colleague in Nevada was watching from a laptop in his CAR! We were all "in the storm" together yet I was the only one actually there. How cool is that? I knew I had to share this with other people and thus the idea of doing more with tornado chases, and other severe weather too, began to really take shape.
I ended the chase trip in Nickerson the next day, just after all the excitement but I have to tell you, the people who were watching me drive from Wichita to Nickerson had a great time as they got to hear my excitement, my frustration with the traffic once I got off the Interstate and the fact that the sun was going down and the tornado was likely over. All of that was broadcast live from my SUV and a small handful of people were watching. It was then that I knew this could work. I flew home the next day and waited for hurricanes that have yet to show up- at least not in the U.S. unless I was in High Island, TX...doh!
So, our plan is to provide our existing subscribers of hurricanetrack.com's live service with extra coverage of tornado and other severe weather outbreaks- LIVE. We won't be able to sit out there for weeks on end waiting for severe weather. We will have to be selective and choose days that offer the best overall chance of success and fly out. This includes not only the chance of severe weather and tornadoes but WHERE said chances might take place. Our best success will come on days like May 29, 2004 and April 23/24, 2007 when the heart of the Alley is primed for tornadic supercells. Our biggest limitation is the Sprint network coverage area. We use Sprint to stream the video and if we do not have a signal, we cannot stream live. They do have roaming agreements with other carriers and that might work but we'll have to get lucky and be in the right place at the right time in order for this to work as we see it. But don't think it can't happen. Take a look at the Sprint coverage maps and see where their coverage extends. A lot of E-W highways in most of KS are covered as are most N-S routes as well. Their network is getting bigger and faster each year too and that will only help the effort.
Also, even if we don't get a tornado, there is other action to consider: hail, awesome lightning, the chase itself, the stops for food, the other chasers (guess I will have to carry 100 legal documents with me for people to sign unless I call this "news"...) and all sorts of unknowns that people like to see. That is what we call "life" and to be more precise, "chaser life". I think people got the wrong idea on the other thread about bad drivers, we are not looking to stream chasers and their chases but our chases and what WE encounter- which might be YOU. If so, come on over and say hello. We're not asses with an ego to promote. We just think this is a cool idea. It's the entire package that I firmly believe enough people will be interested in to give this a shot and grow the idea. I would rather do this than have to worry about a van full of people and what could go wrong there. I have the deepest respect for you tour operators in that regard! The legal issues alone would drive me crazy...
We do not at all think we can come out and make thousands of dollars chasing live on the Internet but we can give it our best shot and hopefully pick the right day(s) and nail it. We will alert our subscribers via email as to our plans and they can watch as much as they want as we do our thing. The beauty of it is that they can "talk" back to us via email and share in our excitement or success or failure. We noticed this phenomenon immediately after starting hurricanetrack.com live with people communicating to us through their computers as we did our missions. It's incredible to know that even a few hundred people are glued to their PCs watching YOUR work in action. There is a lot more to it than I care to get in to here but it really does work and given the right conditions, Jesse and I plan to do it in 2008 as much as possible.
While I can appreciate the challenges of doing something like this, it will be more than worth it if we can pull it off just once. Anyone who is watching will feel as if they are there with us. How do I know this? They tell me that during our hurricane missions. Again, it is amazing to know that people are there with you in a virtual sense. The porn industry has made billions doing live sex shows, why can't chasers cash in on the weather fans' interest in severe weather and give THEM the show of their lives? Now we can. We have done it and will do our best to continue to do it and at the very least, we will enjoy the chase. Now we can have people from anywhere on the planet riding along with us via their PC. That is enough of a reason to do it above any other. As I said in a private message to one of the posts, if it was easy, I would not do it as everyone else would already be doing it.
Lastly, I know that chasers have been doing work live for TV for many years. This is not what I am talking about. I am wanting to broadcast the chase day- the whole thing. People can tune in and out as they wish and check on our progress. And when things look good and we are on a possible tornado, then we can send out another email alert to people and let them know to tune in. It is live chasing over the Internet that we are working on. We have the experience with hurricanes to know it does draw a crowd and pays the bills. If we can get lucky and nail it on the Plains once or twice, then we will be happy. That's it. Now it's a matter of waiting....waiting for that right day when it all comes together...but that's what helps to make this so fascinating and I can't wait to share my fascination with severe weather to my audience online, no matter the size.
