Was it as stable as a satellite or fiber feed? No, but it got us 80% of the way there for a fraction of the money. Without fail, I could hear producers’ jaws drop on the other end of the phone when we connected because they couldn’t believe what they were seeing over Skype. To work with certain international broadcasters or lower budget operations in the past, I would set up the guest in the same studio we would use for a live satellite or fiber interview and then using something like the Blackmagic Web Presenter, route that final studio interview over Skype.

The quality has only a little bit to do with the platform itself and more to do with the technical setup. Those Skype video interviews don’t have to look awful either. All you need is a guest with a computer or even a smartphone. Skype and similar services remove the need for all that infrastructure. It also cost thousands of dollars for three-to-five minutes of airtime and still does because this is still how most remote, live TV interviews are coordinated. Not too long ago, a live interview with someone in another city would require traveling to a dedicated studio with either satellite or fiber uplink capabilities and then a team of people on both ends to coordinate IFB, uplinks and other details. The thing is, Skype and other live video conferencing platforms are actually kind of amazing and more than a little revolutionary in the realm of multimedia communications. Nevertheless, the demands of 24-hour cable news and the availability of the right guest at the right time have meant cable news networks and international broadcasters have increasingly turned to live Skype video interviews. Incredibly intelligent researchers, professors and business leaders frequently have their insight undermined by low quality video and unfortunate framing that leaves audiences staring up their noses instead of listening to what they have to say. Most live TV interviews over Skype look awful.

Googlefiber cannot connect to skype