WRAL-TV Brings Christmas Parade to Triangle Viewers

Santa Claus comes to town for the 2009 WRAL Raleigh Christmas Parade.

Slideshows:

The WRAL Raleigh Christmas Parade: The Floats, the Bands & More
Behind the Scenes: The Unsung Crew Who Brings the Parade to Triangle Homes

The 2009 WRAL Raleigh Christmas Parade went off without a hitch. A crowd of almost 60,000 lined the streets of downtown Raleigh to see a bevy of floats, bands, princesses and more officially bring in the holiday season in the Capitol City.

“Everyone loves a parade!” said WRAL-TV Director of Local Production Phyllis Parish, Executive Producer of the Parade coverage. “And so do we, here at the big 5…the WRAL Raleigh Christmas Parade is always a fun project, but it takes a ton of pre-planning before broadcast day. Producer, Randy Mews, did a super job organizing our production team and communicating with the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association, who plans out the parade’s ‘order of march’.“

Carolina Hurricane Glen Wesley served as Grand Marshal of the 65th installment of the Raleigh institution. WRAL-TV Anchors Bill Leslie & Kelcey Carlson commentated the event, with WRAL-TV Meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner bringing live reports from the street level.

WRAL will air the 2-hour parade broadcast again on WRAL-TV every Saturday in December at 8am; on Dec 5, 12, 19 and 26. WRAL-TV will also present a special holiday rebroadcast at 4pm on Christmas Day.

Happy Holidays from WRAL-TV!

WRAL-TV anchors wave to the crowd from the float for the Big 5.

Marines join MIX 101.5 personalities on the WRAL-FM float to help promote Toys for Tots.

More Links:

WRAL.com Coverage of the Raleigh Christmas Parade – Watch online, see a slideshow & more
WRAL-TV Launched its 2009 Coats for the Children Campaign on the day of the parade. Find out how to donate here

WRAL Crew Works Magic To Bring Parade to Viewers
The winds challenged the three giant balloons in this year’s parade, including a large Christmas gift, a snowflake and a frog prince. WRAL –TV had their own new challenges in production as well. But give the WRAL engineers and production crew a length of wire, a roll of duct tape and a satellite dish, and they can make MacGyver look like a hack.

WRAL-TV turns a frog into a prince with their parade-on-a-budget coverage.

“In order to save thousands of dollars we decided to build our own remote truck this year,” said Parish. “Our Engineering team did a stellar job building our HD remote truck, literally from the ground up. Technically, everything worked smoothly Saturday morn. While our photographers and audio specialists captured great pictures and sound, Bill Leslie, Kelcey Carlson and Elizabeth Gardner did a terrific job describing the parade entries. Director Chris Bolanz calmly worked his magic at the switcher and sent home a clean, very entertaining 2-hour broadcast. Kudos to everyone involved in this live production!”

WRAL-TV Chief Engineer Pete Sockett said that in all 400 person hours went into the prep and building of the temporary production trailer. Having the small trailer as compared to the large HD Production Truck made their jobs harder.

“We had to borrow a lot of equipment, pull a lot of equipment out of service here at the station (some of it last minute because it is used every day),” said Sockett. “Then we also had to build out the trailer. Fred Kelly gets kudos for a great design. Also, the production had to be simplified as we had less cameras and id all of the graphics here at the station.”

But WRAL-TV was up to the challenge. Our number one goal? Bringing a great product to our viewers. This year we did it for less, but the spirit of the holidays once again made it into Triangle homes, and to the many folks lining the parade route, thanks to the diligence, hard work and excellence of the many people who make up the Big 5.

“Yet again the guys did a fabulous job, they always pull it off…while I’m never surprised, I am always amazed!!!” said Sockett.

The many people that made up the WRAL Parade Coverage crew once again showed that WRAL can make magic happen.

2009 WRAL Christmas Parade

The 2009 WRAL Raleigh Christmas Parade takes to the streets of downtown on Saturday, November 21st.
This little one and her Dad stroll down the route before the parade starts.
Krispy Kreme is a favorite among little ones getting ready for the action to begin.
The parade gets underway.
The Broughton High School Marching Band.
The Shop Local Raleigh Trolley moves down Fayetteville Street.
WRAL-TV Anchors & Reporters wave to the crowd from the TV 5 float.
WRAL-TV's Gerald Owens (l to r) goofs for the crowd along with Greg Fishel, David Crabtree & Renee Chou.
Wool E. Bull represents his team in the parade.
WRAL-TV's Richard Adkins captures Sheriff Donnie Harrison for the viewers.
WRAL-TV's Keith Baker finds use #4892 for duct tape.
WRAL-TV's Elizabeth Gardner joins the group of Y Guides & Princesses as they march.
The Capital Bank float is filled with holiday cheer.
Approximately 60,000 people came out to see the parade in downtown Raleigh.
The Safety Patrol kids all ham it up for WRAL-TV's Keith Baker.
Betty & Wilma flew in from Bedrock to ride on the Time Warner Cable float.
Shaggy peaces out on the Time Warner Cable float.
The Bluestone High School Marching Band from Skipwith, Virginia.
Carolina Hurricane Glen Wesley serves as Grand Marshal for the parade.
Stormy does some fancy dancin' for the crowd.
The Carolina Hurricanes' mascot storms down the parade route.
WRAL-TV's Debbie Tullos (right), field producer for the parade, runs down the next shot with Elizabeth Gardner.
Children are bundled in anticipation of seeing Santa.
WRAL-TV's Elizabeth Gardner has no fear when it comes to interviewing parade entrants both large & small.
The Southeast Raleigh High School Marching Band.
Some of Santa's elves show up in a truly mini minivan.
Santa's elves get the crowd cheering.
Little Miss North Carolina winners wave to the crowd.
Queen Elizabeth marches with The Renaissance Festival.
Wake County Librarians march in formation, leading the bookmobile down the parade route.
Even snowmen show up to watch the parade.
WRAL-TV's Tim King (r to l) keeps things running smoothly as Bill Leslie & Kelcey Carlson commentate for the viewers at home.
A giant frog makes his way down Fayetteville Street.
The carollers sing for WRAL-TV's Elizabeth Gardner.
No parade would be complete without princesses.
Even the farmers get festive for the WRAL Raleigh Christmas Parade.
The cast of Cinderella wave from the Raleigh Little Theatre's float.
Children march with the Marbles Museum contingent.
The soldiers on the ReMax float get a huge cheer from the crowd.
The AKC shows off many different breeds of dogs in their entry.
Miss North Carolina, Katherine Southard, chats with WRAL-TV's Elizabeth Gardner on the parade route.
The Leesville High School Marching Band.
The Leesville High School Marching Band.
The Chick-Fil-A cows are a hit.
ZZ Top entertains the crowd on the 100.7 The River float.
NC Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler makes a grand entrance on a giant grocery cart.
Even the littlest ones get into the spirit in the parade.
The Carousel Paints & their Cowgirls.
Horses make their way down Fayetteville, as they did many decades ago.
A decorative train from Leith Honda.
Bank of America brings the biggest gift of all to the parade.
The Helping Hand Mission Marching Band is always a highlight of the parade.
WRAL-TV's Keith Baker (right) captures the MIX 101.5 float on camera.
WRAL-TV's Elizabeth Gardner (center) hops up on the MIX 101.5 float for an on-air interview.
WRAL-FM's Vanna Fox gives a wave to the crowd.
Young toy soldiers from "The Nutcracker" march down Fayetteville Street.
The grand finale: Santa Claus & his reindeer.
Santa Claus thrills the children in the crowd.
The Enloe High School Marching Band.
The Enloe High School Marching Band.
Let it snow! This truck follows the last few entries with some man-made flurries.
The Raleigh Fire Department wraps up the 2009 WRAL Raleigh Christmas Parade.

WRAL Christmas Parade – Behind the Scenes

A meeting of the minds: WRAL-TV's Pete Sockett (l to r), Tony Patterson & Charles Braswell get ready to bring the WRAL Raleigh Christmas Parade to viewers in the Triangle.
WRAL-TV's Al Robinson bundles up for his camera perch atop the cherry picker.
WRAL-TV's Stuart Todd (left) & Tim King are on site early.
ATC's James Farmer becomes a TV guy again for the day.
The WRAL Parade coverage on a budget: the big HD truck is replaced by a make-shift trailer.
WRAL-TV's Mike Upchurch gets set for the parade coverage.
It may not be as fancy as in years past, but the WRAL crew created a workable production facility for the 2009 parade.
WRAL-TV's Charles Braswell makes a final check in the production trailer.
WRAL brings the Raleigh Christmas Parade to viewers in high-definition.
The WRAL news trucks line the street just down from their broadcast location.
WRAL-TV's Bill Leslie (left) & Kelcey Carlson get set to commentate the 65th Raleigh Christmas Parade.
WRAL-TV's Debbie Tullos gets set to produce her portion of the parade.
WRAL-TV's Richard Adkins (right) gets his camera equipment ready while Tim King makes sure all connections are set.
WRAL-TV's Keith Baker takes in a quiet moment before the frenzy starts.
Members of WRAL's A-Team finalize prep for the broadcast: Mike Upchurch (l to r), Charles Braswell, Mike Mory, Richard Adkins & Al Robinson.
WRAL-TV's Kelcey Carlson (left) spends a few minutes with her son, Charlie, before the floats begin to roll by.
Head of WRAL's MacGyver Team, Pete Sockett makes a final check in the down-sized production trailer.
WRAL-TV's Tony Gupton (left) & parade executive producer Phyllis Parish take their places in the production trailer.
It's almost parade time, and the production trailer & set and ready.
WRAL-TV's Kelcey Carlson (l to r) & Bill Leslie do a soundcheck with Stuart Todd.
It's lights, camera, action for WRAL-TV's Keith Baker.
WRAL-TV's Al Robinson (right) rises to his vantage point above the parade as Tim King helps supervise.
WRAL-TV's Greg Hutchinson helps bring the parade the viewers at home.
WRAL-TV's Richard Adkins captures the WRAL float for the viewers at home.
WRAL-TV's Al Robinson, on his high perch, had to face off with giant snowflakes, frogs & Christmas packages during the parade.
The snowflake handlers get it turned in time to miss taking out Robinson.
WRAL-TV's Stuart Todd shoots the WRAL commentary from the scaffolding.
WRAL-TV's Ryan Craig (right) works the news camera while Anne Johnson snaps pix for WRAL.com.
It looks like WRAL-TV's Keith Baker is about to be attacked by a giant frog with his camera as his only weapon.
Only WRAL-TV's Elizabeth Gardner's shoes know exactly how many miles she walked interviewing and commentating from the parade sidelines.
WRAL-TV's Elizabeth Gardner (right) conducts interviews on the street with the help of cameraman Keith Baker.
WRAL-TV's Keith Baker captures everything from tall to small on camera.

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WRAL-TV Brings Christmas Parade to Triangle Viewers

November 24, 2009

2009 WRAL Christmas Parade

WRAL Christmas Parade – Behind the Scenes