What happened to all the live video streams from storm spotters?

[J. W. Bowers]

I used to go to the News 9 (OK City) radar and click on the icons for the various spotters and watch their video streams. Not any more-nothing there. Which is sad-there used to be almost a hundred if conditions were right. Now I can catch 1 or 2 on ChaserTV and 1 or 2 on TVN Weather. Where did everybody go? And why?

 

[rdale]

One of the requirements for spotter streams is activity worth spotting and streaming I saw dozens during the active stuff a few weeks ago.

 

[Randy Denzer]

Myself and Verne Carlson were some of the first TVN streamers and earned top streamer spots before WDT pulled away from TVN. For all the 100s of thousands viewer minutes and "Top Streamer" Bonuses I never made more than $650 per season. Streaming is a pain in the behind! and so many things can go wrong.

 

[Austin Davis]

I'll be streaming via SevereStudios as much as I can this season around the Northeast Oklahoma area.

 

[Adam Lucio]

Streaming seems to be decreasing in popularity among the more seasoned chasers. Its a pain and there isn't much to gain in return. I used to deal with it because I could earn an easy 75-100 bucks on a big chase day but the revenue sharing plummeted so much I just got tired of dealing with it. I think I only streamed once last year...I'm still debating on it this year but right now am not too motivated unless the incentives have increased.

 

[Andy Wycislo]

I agree with Adam. There's just no benefit. The couple times I've had large numbers of watchers I never made nearly enough to cover my yearly subscription to the streaming service, let alone the extra data it consumes. Plus, there just isn't an easy software/hardware solution to make it work easily without lots of issues.

I like watching the live streams, but I understand why fewer are doing it. Personally, for me it's got less to do with the money and more to do with the common problems. If someone could develop an easy to use hardware/software solution that's RELIABLE (set it and forget it), I'd be tempted to do it again. Until then, probably not.

 

[rdale]

If someone could develop an easy to use hardware/software solution that's RELIABLE (set it and forget it), I'd be tempted to do it again. Until then, probably not.

https://new.livestream.com/broadcaster-mini

 

[Jarod Carlisle]

http://static-shell.cerevo.com/en/index.html

 

[Dan Robinson]

Maybe everyone is finally realizing the sad realities about streaming. I've posted this take on streaming before, and my opinion hasn't changed one bit:

While its pioneers and providers had good intentions, streaming is one of the worst things to come along in storm chasing. It's all cost (in more ways that one), little to no reward. It adds significant workload to a chase (an additional camera to buy and pay attention to). Media pays peanuts to use streams on-air (in the rare event they do pick your stream). It chews up your mobile data. Online viewers are generally unappreciative and demanding ("MOVE THE CAMERA NOW!!!" "WHY ARE YOU GOING *THAT* WAY???"). The additional task of babysitting the stream is a liability. You have to constantly make sure the camera is pointing the right way to catch anything, or else miss the shot and face the wrath of your self-entitled viewers. Finally and most importantly, other than the 60 seconds someone is looking at your stream, nobody cares.

Streaming has already cost me dearly in making me miss shots I've been trying to get for a long time. I personally hate streaming and will never do it again.

I don't understand why anyone would make the decision to stream these days, unless that person is still in the delusional "I'm going to get my name out there and be the next big thing in chasing" mode. I guess it's one of those things that has to be learned the hard way.

I predict streaming will be a thing of the past in 5 years once everyone realizes the reality about it. Maybe other than having something like a static GoPro streaming to Youtube, but not for any other reason but to have a backup copy of dashcam video.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Those devices - they look nice, but again, why should I or anyone spend $300-$700 more on equipment for the sole purpose of trying to entertain unappreciative viewers or help save TV stations/networks thousands of dollars in sending their live trucks out or purchasing a sat feed. Buying those things for any TV purpose is personally-funded corporate welfare. Then again, so is selling video for $100, so it shouldn't surprise me if many start going that route.

 

[Jarod Carlisle]

Meh, I had little cost in my streaming. The liveshell I linked above was provided by a local TV station, I already had 2 cameras and I had unlimited data at the time (although spotty, as it was Sprint. Now I have 15Gb/mo with actual coverage with Verizon, but my partner has 20Gb to offset said chewing up). We had no pressure to "perform", simply left the camera on the windshield unattended and got what we got. But then, I was not under a contract or anything either, my stream was provided with no compensation.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I tried streaming once and got so frustrated, I threw everything in the back of the SUV and enjoyed my chase. I hated to try to fix technical problems, and babysit hardware and software problems. When I chase, I'm all about simplicity and enjoying the chase.

 

[Bob Hartig]

A couple years ago, I began evaluating what it was that I was about. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was live streaming. But doing it was such a pain in the butt. I'm not a prominent chaser, but when I do get to go out, I want to focus on what matters, and that is the storms. I want to appreciate them for all they're worth. I concluded that live streaming just gets in the way of that. It's a major attention sink when I need to be, and want to be, watching the sky. Plus, I found that it was affecting my choices. I let a storm get past me a few years ago because I was parked in a strategic location for streaming as a wall cloud crossed the highway in front of me. I did that because I was talking with the local news and wanted to give them a good screenful of what I was seeing, but I should have been repositioning out ahead of the storm.

Never again. On those occasions when I've got the money and opportunity to chase, I'm not going to let live streaming divert me from what really counts and what I care about most in chasing.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Absolutely! I couldn't have said it better myself Bob!

 

[Dan Robinson]

I missed the Gateway Arch getting struck by lightning in 2013 because I thought TWC had my stream live. I stopped on the Eads Bridge to frame a shot for them for several minutes. A few minutes later, I was setting up my cameras downtown and missed the Arch strike by 30 seconds. I later found out that my stream wasn't actually being used. I missed a shot I'd been trying to get for 3 years and didn't even make a sale. Even if I had, it wouldn't have been worth missing that shot. Good riddance to streaming!

TV stations are for-profit entities and there is no good reason to do anything for them for free, even if they pay for equipment or gas money. I don't care how nice they are. They're on TV every day. They get more publicity than any chaser ever will, and they still get a paycheck. I never saw a dime of benefit for any of my free TV appearances, and no one remembers a day later anyway. Why provide products or services to multi-million or billion dollar companies for free or cheap? They'll pay millions for a new studio and thousands for a sat uplink no problem. They can afford to pay a chaser enough to allow the purchase of equipment and the time needed to babysit the stream, but they won't because everyone gives it away. I won't bash anyone who still does that, but man, why? Not me. If anyone is thinking about doing it, just ask yourself what you're getting out of that deal. It's really nothing, and that's just not fair to you or for anyone.