Steve McCarron working with street cams to cover a police chase in Bellevue. Trying to confirm reports of the route, whether there were any injuries, a description of the suspect and the outcome of the chase. In other words, KOMO 4 doesn’t have SQUAT!
Seattle TV is nowhere close to KTLA, KCOP, KCAL in Los Angeles where there is coverage several times a week, LIVE and tracked with cameras from a reporter in a helicopter. Need I say, KOMO 4 gave us NOTHING regarding this multi-freeway chase — possible shooting, but KOMO can’t be certain. But– they are making calls. They will let you know later.
LIVE DESK – what?
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Their drone use seems to be limited. They are a good tool but seldom used. (Perhaps) due to flight restrictions but would be effective in live events.
For clarification I don’t remember that the tragic accident happened off the Space Needle it was my understanding it happened off the helicopter deck at the Sinclair building regardless it was sad but not surprised that they don’t have a helicopter anymore after that and number two cheap cheap and they use drones instead now LA’s got a much bigger Market maybe what they need to do is to get a live feed from the guardian one when it’s in use
UPDATE** Got a great update from the media man in the know. There are NO news choppers at all in use in the Seattle market, ending about 2 years ago. I thought as much, apparently even KIRO joined in the shared agreement. So now we know that using traffic cams is about the best anybody can do. There are more traffoc cams than ever, so they can be used effectviely for some coverage, usually traffic accidents.
There was a time when all three Seattle stations had choppers. KOMO-AIr 4, KING-Sky King, KIRO-Chopper 7. (KCPQ excluded). As cuts had to be made after the 2008 economy crashed, KOMO and KING started sharing aerials in a collaborative money agreement. KING’s pilot retired as well. Then came the terrible KOMO chopper crash off the Space Needle helipad in 2014 that killed two. In short, freeway chases are a cottage industry for stations covering the huge L.A footprint and massive highway system. They compete on every one with much of the coverage moved to their websites, not the full channels. Seattle was never into that chase coverage and today I see very few aerials at all. I think KIRO is the only full time player.
That is a damn shame. KOMO should have left it alone rather than stumble through a laundry list of details they couldn’t produce and just a promise that they are making calls to get info. A non-starter.
There were four choppers for a couple years in the mid-’90s when KSTW had one.
Before my time here, but thanks for the update on that. My range is 2004-2025 here.
This must have been during the KSTW CBS moment.