Case Study: Polar Bears International achieves live, multi-camera tundra broadcasts to classrooms with Telestream Wirecast

Polar Bears International Brings Us to the Icy Tundra with Wirecast

Polar Bears International (PBI) is a nonprofit that educates the public about polar bears and Arctic climate change through live field broadcasts from a Tundra Buggy in Churchill, Manitoba. Their challenge was producing engaging, multi-camera educational programs from an extremely remote location—requiring live switching between cameras, on-screen graphics and slides, and reliable Internet transmission while surrounded by wildlife.

PBI uses Wirecast Pro on a MacBook Pro to switch and stream feeds from multiple Sony PTZ cameras, onboard panel cameras, a Peavey audio mixer with Sennheiser mics, and a FireWire capture device; the show is mixed in the buggy and encoded for transmission over a private omnidirectional wireless link and long-distance backhaul to the Internet. The “Tundra Connections” series is now in its seventh year, reaches tens of thousands during the four-week season, and brings live polar bear science into classrooms worldwide.

Polar Bears International

BJ Kirschoffer

Director of Field Operations