TV News Departments Could Dump Helicopters In Favor Of Camera Drones
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Will the TV news helicopter make way for the drone camera? Could be.
TV's eyes in the sky have been around for decades and you can often see them hovering over news scenes. On the horizon, at least figuratively, are drones that do the same thing.
One is available now for $400,000 and Mike Cavender, executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), says it or something like it will probably catch on.
"The ability to put a camera, if you will, high above a news event or a situation for which you want coverage, at minimal expense, when you compare it to a live, staffed helicopter, I think that's a potentially tremendous advantage for a news station."
Cavender says the prospect of a news drone is so imminent that an RTDNA event later this year will discuss the technology.
