64th Annual Tony Awards 'Backstage Live' Interviews: Denzel Washington, Jay Z's Fela! and more
This past Sunday, we did a very special Backstage Live and went live from the 64th Annual Tony Awards. It was an epic 4-hour live stream, and I couldn't have done it without my lovely co-hosts Itay Hod and Brian Balthazar from Pop Goes The Week.
Bringing cutting edge technology to Broadway wasn't only for Tony-Award-winning designer Christine Jones, who won for her work on American Idiot. To make our webcast possible, the N.J. based company LiveU provided the equipment to send a high-quality video signal to the CBS Broadcasting Center from Radio City Music Hall. LiveU achieved this incredible feat by taking our digital video signal and breaking it into six parts. Their backpack-sized unit sent the six pieces through air cards over the phone networks. A server located in our newsroom took in the pieces and re-assembled them into a complete SDI video signal that we could stream live on our website, TonyAwards.com and other on-line partners. All without the expense and management of a satellite truck. What's more, the LAN line in the press room where we streamed had crashed during the event, leaving bloggers and writers in complete frustration for 20 minutes. During the media blackout CBSNews.com and LiveU charged through in an uninterrupted video stream brought to our Tony Awards Backstage Live viewers.
Here are some of the evening's highlights:
Denzel Washington and Viola Davis talk about their 'Fences' win
Bill T. Jones, Best Choreography winner for Fela!, produced by Jay-Z and Jada-Pinkett Smith and Will Smith