Chou and Gupton Introduce the Newest Drive 5 Ride During WRAL’s Noon News

WRAL-TV Anchor Renee Chou and WRAL-TV Broadcast Engineer Tony Gupton got to initiate the newest WRAL Drive 5 truck during WRAL’s Noon News on Thursday, February 26, 2015. The winter weather-laced roads provided the perfect opportunity to give the new ride a spin, although not literally, don’t worry. Chou and Gupton drove the roads of the Triangle to bring our viewers an up-close-and-personal look at driving conditions and introduce the new features added to the latest WRAL vehicle.

“They let me out of the station!” posted Chou on her Facebook. “Rode shotgun in our newest WRAL Drive 5 truck. In addition to the dash cam that shows you the roads, this truck comes with an interior camera so you can put a face with the voice doing road condition play-by-play. It made its debut on our noon news!”

Chou had been working the anchor desk to bring the winter weather news to viewers. She was excited to get a chance to inaugurate the reporter seat in the new truck. She loved that the ride was clean, comfortable and had that new car smell.

“I like that the interior camera, not only can you see the reporter, but you can also see a bit of the photographer who is driving as well,” she said. “Shows the whole team hard at work!”

Gupton ably drove the truck around as Chou reported back to the station. They were not only able to show the road ahead of them, but the view inside the truck. On air Chou teased with the other anchors that reporting from the new Drive 5 meant having to wear make-up. Previously, the reporters couldn’t be seen, a little like being on the radio. So the crew had fun joking about that as the truck debuted.

“This ‘Drive 5’ system is a dual HD camera system, with embedded talent audio, a mini video switcher with a remote trigger so the reporter can change our camera views without taking his\her eyes off the road and a LED lighting grid mounted at the passenger visor,” explained Gupton, who picked up the new ride in Tampa, Florida on Tuesday, February 22nd. “System includes reporter IFB as well as a hardline mic input.”

WRAL-TV News Director Rick Gall credited Gupton for getting the vehicle deployed so they could try it out on Thursday.

“Our coverage of winter weather has dramatically changed with the addition of Drive5 live shots,” said Gall. “This latest upgrade is part of our ongoing efforts to continuously enhance our coverage.”