Buzzfeed News engaged our live production team to provide technical management and consulting for a 6-hour special covering the 2016 Presidential election. Buzzfeed’s “We Did It, America!” incorporated all of the core components of an election special, but catered specifically to the Buzzfeed demographic. The program streamed live to Twitter, which in 2016, marked the very first partnership between the two media giants.
The special took place at the Buzzfeed headquarters in New York City. Having never produced live content previously, there was no existing production infrastructure available. With offices on the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th floors, bringing in a mobile unit was not feasible. Instead, BMG procured and installed a temporary flight pack spread among two conference rooms. The flight pack included all core components found in a mobile unit or studio: full production switcher, audio console, Chyron graphics system, EVS record and playback system, comms, and CCUs. The Buzzfeed offices did not have enough dedicated power to accommodate our technical setup. This required booking, permitting, and parking a dual generator on street level and obtaining landlord clearance to cable up the side of the building.
“We Did It, America!” was captured with 12 cameras, a complement consisting of three pedestal cameras, three wireless handhelds, and six POVs. The program consisted of live panel discussions with Buzzfeed political correspondents, 1-on-1 interviews, live polling and analysis, and remote correspondent check-ins. BMG engineered and integrated remote guests using Newtek’s Talkshow appliance. Buzzfeed correspondents were stations in Los Angeles, London, New York, and Missouri capturing reactions from the general public both nationally and internationally. As part of the technical execution, BMG was responsible for lighting design and front-of-house audio infrastructure to accommodate a small in-house audience.
