NBCU Adopts Panasonic AVC-Ultra Cams

NBCUniversal News Group has standardized on Panasonic AVC-Ultra AJ-PX5000G 2/3-inch P2 HD and AJ-PX270 1/3-inch P2 HD handheld camcorders for field news acquisition for all NBC News shows as well as for use by MSNBC, CNBC and Telemundo, Panasonic said today at its NAB Show press conference in Las Vegas.

The network also has acquired Panasonic VariCam 35 camcorders for specialty shots, such as high-profile interviews of politician, and is standardizing on the AVC LongG25 codec as its acquisition and mezzanine format.

Leonard Venezia, NBCUniversal VP of field operations and engineering, appeared in a video Panasonic played during the press conference to discuss the decision to adopt these technologies. In it, Venezia said a team of NBC engineers traveled to Japan in 2010 to meet with Panasonic and discuss the network’s requirements for field cameras.

“We would like to believe NBC Engineering played an important role in the development of this camera [the AJ-PX5000G],” he said in the video.

NBCUniversal will use the AJ-PX5000G as its workhorse field camera, he said. The AJ-PX270 will be used as a second camera and also for foreign assignments where NBC News wishes to keep a low profile, he said in the video.

Panasonic also announced at the press conference that Cox Media Group is upgrading its news acquisition cameras group-wide with the adoption of the AJ-PX5000G, the AJ-PX800 2/3-inch P2 HD shoulder-mount and AJ-PX270 cameras.

The cameras will be deployed at 14 Cox Media Group stations and one local cable channel. The stations include: WSB  Atlanta; WFXT Boston; WFTV Orlando, Fla.; KIRO Seattle; WPXI Pittsburgh; WFOX and WJAX Jacksonville, Fla.; WSOC Charlotte, N.C.; WHIO Dayton, Ohio; KOKI Tulsa, Okla; and WHBQ Memphis, Tenn. WPXI, WFXT and WSOC have already taken delivery of the cameras.

The rollout of the cameras at Cox Media Group began in the first quarter of the year and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2016.

At the event, Panasonic also said Meredith Corp. has bought 30 of its AJ-PX800 cameras for ENG operations at KTVK-TV in Phoenix.

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