During the summer, as the nation went into lockdown, Webex was used to connect colleagues, friends and families at work and at home.
It helped people feel together during the pandemic, thanks to its high-quality, secure video and reliable streaming capabilities.
This week, we’re proud to announce that we’ve partnered with Steph’s Packed Lunch as its official video conferencing provider, bringing Webex’s famous reliability and broadcast-quality video capabilities into the studio.
The daily show, hosted by renowned consumer journalist Steph McGovern, will be broadcast live from a new studio at Leeds Dock, overlooking the spectacular Leeds Waterfront. Every weekday at 12:30pm, the show will feature celebrity guests, fantastic food, intriguing real-life features and a mix of the best entertainment, lifestyle and consumer news making the headlines.
Cisco Webex will connect Steph to viewers and guests, and will future-proof the show with a virtual studio audience in case of further lockdown measures being introduced. Starting a show during these uncertain times is a challenge for any broadcaster, and we’re delighted that Webex can help ensure continuity should the country need to introduce tighter restrictions.
As well as bringing guests into the studio virtually, Webex can also bring audience members into the studio via video link, ensuring Steph and her guests receive the full chat show experience. For any live show, the audience is hugely important, whether they’re in the studio or at home. Webex breaks down the fourth wall and helps connect audience members at home with Steph and her guests.
The show wants to bring in audience members from different communities to review the day’s news, so ensuring a reliable and broadcast-quality video link is key.
The technology can manage up to eight simultaneous point-to-point video calls into the studio. Cisco is providing eight codecs in the studio, and will deploy its DX80 video conferencing suite into the field where necessary. The software can also be deployed onto guests’ own devices.
Cisco’s engineers worked with the production crew to install the technology in the studio, before providing comprehensive training.
Our team of experts are now only ever a phone call away should the production crew need anything.
Steph’s Packed Lunch joins a number of world-famous TV productions who have partnered with Webex for their video conferencing needs, including Jimmy Kimmel Live, CNN and Wir Sagen Danke.
During the pandemic, the whole world has come to rely on video conferencing to stay connected. It has become the new normal. However, for broadcasters whose job it is to keep the nation entertained and informed during these tough times, it is imperative that they use a video conferencing partner that can produce reliable, broadcast-quality streams.
Over the summer, we’ve all seen our fair share of video call fails – just look at Gordon Brown slamming his laptop shut after his feed dropped! – but thankfully, Webex continues to be the gold standard for quality, reliability and security when it comes to video conferencing.
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