latakoo (www.latakoo.com), a leading developer of software solutions for the broadcast production industry, has seen a tremendous increase in usage over the past six weeks from its broadcast customers, which include Nexstar Media Group, Tribune, NBC network and O&O stations, among others.
The latakoo cloud-based platform, designed as the fastest, easiest, and most secure way to send video from anywhere to anywhere, has seen a 208% increase in minutes streamed per day in March and a 231% increase in April, on a year-over-year basis. Video files uploaded per customer per day are up 63% in March and 117% in April, on a year-over-year basis. And, already, minutes of video uploaded per customer are up 145% in April, on a year-over-year basis.
The Austin, Texas-based latakoo is headed by founders – and former broadcast journalists – Jade Kurian and Paul Adrian. The company is in the midst of an expansion phase, with new European offices and several new products launching this month.
Some examples of recent latakoo customers include:
- Aaron Nolan, co-anchor of Nexstar Media Group station KARK-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas, and anchor of ‘Newsfeed Now,’ (https://www.kark.com/newsfeed-now/) a daily digital news segment for Nexstar. ‘Newsfeed Now’ is an interactive show that streams daily at 11:00 am CST, and enables viewers to weigh in on various topics; currently, the show is dedicated to Covid-19-related discussions and feeds are sent via latakoo
- Paul Porowski, the news operations manager for WNYW/WWOR New York and New Jersey’s ‘Chasing News with Bill Spadea’ ‘Chasing News with Bill Spadea’ (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3gEYsS6MfY8rwZCAnfMm_A) produces a nightly news program for New York and New Jersey completely remotely, from news gathering to final edit. Reporters with the show are gathering stories primarily with mobile devices and sending the files with latakoo for collaboration. Paul’s editors have immediate access to download the files from a secure cloud site and the final show is compiled remotely
- Luke Hanrahan, a London-based Royal Television Society (RTS) award-winning reporter for news and current affairs (ITV News, BBC and Euronews) uses latakoo for rapid one-man skeleton crew shoots for stories that are aired within hours of sending via latakoo
- Rick Erbach, news director for New Orleans stations WGNO-TV/WNOL-TV NOLA 38, owned by Nexstar Media Group, operates a small crew out of his newsroom, with news sent via iPhones, using latakoo
Watch the latakoo webinar, ‘On Air, Off Prem: Making Deadline in the Age of Social Distancing,’ recorded on April 14, 2020, featuring the above-mentioned latakoo customers, at: https://webinars.latakoo.com/sitepassword/?fwd=%2Flatest%2F
To speak with latakoo customers, and to latakoo executives, ping me on chris@chrispfafftechmedia.com or +1-201-218-0262.
HOW LATAKOO WORKS
latakoo has integrated its system to comply with all corporate firewall and security standards, and seamlessly integrates with asset managers, including Avid, Dalet, Grass Valley and bitcentral systems. Proxy files are created and rapidly uploaded to private latakoo cloud accounts using the patented latakoo compression and upload process for storage and sharing. Associated metadata for files – including video card number, shoot date, camera ID, project number or any custom filed – can be collected for each group of transferred videos. After upload, files are automatically downloaded by latakoo HUB and placed inside a customer’s firewall. Editors than simply drag the group of files into the appropriate bin in Avid Media Composer and the files, along with associated metadata, automatically populates the Avid bin with accurate information.
