Global Edmonton takes to the air ... finally › edmonton television news 2007 › television in edmonton › television

It had to happen sometime ... and on June 19th it did: the launch of Global 1 Chopper Traffic reports.

Early morning viewers were startled when an animated version of the Robinson R-44 Raven II seemed to fly out of their TV screens like a kamikaze mosquito, heralding the first regular coverage from the craft.

Those following this story closely finally learned that Kris Burkholder was to provide the airborne reports, and the first shots from inside the chopper indicated how small a workspace she had to operate from.

Surprising also was the clarity of the audio broadcast. Listeners of the Canadian Traffic Network-provided reports on Corus radio stations have long put up with barely discernable reporting from the previous Robinson craft.

TV viewers of the reports gained a sense of appreciation of how difficult calling the traffic shots and locating accidents from high above is as Kris and her pilot were in search of an accident during one of the first broadcasts.

"Let's look together and see if we can find anything going on here ... " Kris began one segment.

"Sometimes we do get reports and by the time we get to them they're kind of gone so ... "

"Looks like there's something possibly southbound ... I'm not certain ... I really don't see much of a crash there."

"Oh look it – now we do, for heaven's sakes. Looks like it's northbound just off of Wye Road and you want to stay in the left lane."

Global viewers will have to get accustomed to trying to make out a location on their screens while they hear reports of other traffic tie-ups elsewhere in the city – not an easy thing to do over the morning's first cup of coffee.

Impressive, though, was the stability of the images and the zoom ratio of the camera that had to be at least 30 to 1.

With Kris taking on the Global TV reports in addition to her duties at CHED, Shannon Tyler's role on the Early Morning News remains a bit foggy.

On launch day, Shannon did the reports during the show's first hour from the studio. She may stay on hand covering for technical glitches and occasions when the chopper is grounded due to weather (it was a poorly-kept secret radio reports were then done from the ground with helicopter sound effects added).

And then there is the matter of CHED's claim to exclusive helicopter-based traffic reports. As of Global's launch date, the banner on the radio station's web site remained unchanged.

Only eight months in the making, Global 1 made an impressive debut while raising the bar on the local media scene.

And the old Corus chopper? Word has it that it is being stripped and re-painted for use in another market.

For the rest of the day Global used every opportunity to remind viewers their chopper was operational.

New introductions featuring Global's image voice Jim Hault were put into service for the Noon, 5:00 and 6:00 newscasts.

Edmonton ... we have liftoff

The newest eye on Edmonton is in the air and on the air

It's a view you'll only see on Global Edmonton

No one is committed to covering Our City, Our News, like Global Edmonton

There's only one [insert time] newscast you need to watch and it starts right now ...

Lynda Steele was later joined by Gord Steinke in welcoming Chris Hayden to Global's Early News programs.

The former 26-year Edmonton police sergeant demonstrated the use of the Global 1 sunshade and the capabilities of the helicopter camera's zoom lens.

No doubt proud of their latest news and ratings gathering tool, Global salted their bumpers with various shots of Edmonton landmarks such as Rexall Place, West Edmonton Mall, downtown and the Telus World of Science (aka the Odyssium aka the Edmonton Space and Sciences Centre).

With viewer attention now focused on reports from the chopper, one broadcast on the second day of the news tool's work seemed slightly out of focus.

However, problems of traffic build-up at the notorious 23rd Avenue - Gateway Boulevard intersection (looking south) were all too clear.

Two weeks earlier, Global Edmonton had showed off their new craft during its fall programming schedule launch at the Winspear Centre for Music – read all about the debut in a previous installment of the Global Edmonton takes to the air series.

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