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Makin’ Aiken Happen Behind The Scenes |
Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker (right) names May 16th as Clay Aiken Day as Aiken’s mother, Faye Parker, looks on. |
With the sudden rise to fame of local American Idol favorite Clay Aiken, Capitol Broadcasting’s television and radio stations have been a focal point for coverage of the competitions and backstage. However, not many people know that the conduit for all of this coverage is thanks to another CBC subsidiary, Microspace. The satellite-provider has been supplying the transmission for much of the Clay Aiken events and appearances in North Carolina.
For example, when WRAL-FM’s Bill Jordan & Sheri Logan appeared on the national Fox News Channel for a live interview about Clay, Microspace provided the transmission. National programs including Entertainment Tonight and EXTRA have been feeding Clay footage through Microspace.
The Microspace transmission began in earnest on Friday, May 16, 2003, when Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker dubbed the date “Clay Aiken Day.” Both Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition and EXTRA fed their coverage of the proclamation ceremony through Microspace, including exclusive interviews with Aiken’s mother and his friends from the YMCA.
The FOX News Channel footage of the crowd watching AI at Raleighwood also fed through Microspace.
So, when the Clay mania dies down, will Microspace have anything to do? According to Satellite Uplink Operator Eddie Mullins, they do and will have plenty.
“The Clay Aiken story is just one of many that we’ve been working on,” he said, “including the Meg Scott Phipps situation, the Donahue fiasco from over the weekend, the Festival of Flight, Speed Week in Charlotte, the Wakefield Golf Tournament, and the ACC baseball tournament up in Salem.” — A full plate for the world’s largest provider of broadcast video, data and audio satellite services for business applications.
