Maury, The Steve Wilkos Show Rely on The Video Call Center for Live Remote Guests

The Video Call Center (VCC) has been selected as a technology partner for the second consecutive year by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios to bring live remote guests to Maury and The Steve Wilkos Show for the 2021-2022 broadcast season. VCC smartphone-based, remote contribution services provide clients with a reliable solution for booking virtual, top-tier guests in shows that offers the highest-quality low-latency audio/video while dramatically reducing travel costs, and environmental impact.

“Re-signing our agreement with VCC makes perfect sense for the production of our nationally syndicated shows like Maury and The Steve Wilkos Show,” says Stamford Media Center’s Vice President and General Manager, Vinnie Fusco. “We began working with VCC initially at our Stamford Media Center Studios to address pandemic-related production challenges but discovered that VCC’s remote production technology is a cost-effective way to work. As we continue to produce our shows in a safe COVID-compliant manner, VCC gives our producers the tools to book dynamic remote stories that make our shows compelling.”

This is the second consecutive year NBCU Syndication Studios has selected VCC to provide live remote production services. For the previous season, VCC enabled more than 800 remotes for the two shows, including as many as 22 guests in a single production day. The VCC package provided last season to the Stamford Media Center provided pre-production call-producing services, technology, as well as live support during production hours.

“High-energy shows like Maury and The Steve Wilkos Show depend heavily on great banter between show hosts and guests who may be anywhere in the world,” says VCC CEO Larry Thaler. “VCC enables NBCU Syndication Studios to extend its reach to access the most relevant guests and have them on air in real-time at the highest quality. VCC helps producers achieve their goals by managing the key pre-production steps and providing advanced technology to ensure effortless, face-to-face conversations occur between studio hosts and their guests.”

VCC’s StageDoor feature enables remote VIP guests to join the production simply by clicking a texted or emailed hyperlink, with no need to create user names or download software, making participation simple for new contributors. This link connects them with an experienced VCC Call Producer who utilizes VCC’s new Tenaciti feature to optimize the connection for each guests’ device and bandwidth for the best possible audio and video during long-duration shoots. VCC Call Producers also take cues from the Stamford Media Center creative team to ensure that guests are fully prepared for their appearance, know what to expect, and look their best. During production, VCC’s patented technologies deliver hyper-low-latency video return and IFB mix-minus for effortless interaction between host and guest.