Landmark book, co-authored by NEP CTO George Hoover and Tim Boston, present in-depth picture of remote broadcasting technology and operation.

NEP today announced that the company’s chief technology officer, George Hoover, and co-author Jim Boston have published the second edition of their acclaimed book, “TV on Wheels: The Story of Remote Television Production.” First published in 2002, “TV on Wheels” covers the history, planning logistics, operations, and technology that define today’s remote broadcasting industry.

“In his 20 years with NEP, George has led the modernization and diversification of our fleet and studios, and ensured that the NEP reputation for excellence continues to grow along with our involvement in sports and entertainment events,” said Kevin Rabbitt, CEO, NEP. “But beyond NEP, George is revered in the industry and he’s literally written the book on remote broadcasting. We congratulate both George and Jim on the new edition of ‘TV on Wheels,’ truly the definitive book on this exciting and complex world.” 

“Our intent with the updated book is to provide a detailed tour through a segment of the broadcast industry that is at the forefront of how media will operate in the future,” Hoover said. “Many of today’s most important technologies, such as HD, 4K, and virtual graphics, grew to critical mass as a result of the pioneering efforts of on-location television producers.”

“TV on Wheels” is considered such a valuable resource that the first order for this new edition was from a college in Australia, where the book will be used as a textbook. With more than 1,000 photos and graphics, the 2013 edition is more than twice as long as the first, reflecting the tremendous advances in technology during the years since the book was first published.

“Although the creative aspects of remote production are essentially the same, the technology has made quantum leaps in the past 11 years,” Hoover said. “One of the biggest changes we’ve seen is the invasion of microprocessors and embedded computers that have replaced the built-for-purpose, dedicated hardware that was prevalent in 2002. Everything is bigger and more sophisticated — a 144 x 144 router was considered big then, but today it’s common to see routers that are 10 times larger.” 

Based on the success of the first edition in the education market, Hoover and Boston anticipate that a large percentage of the new book’s sales will be to college and university broadcasting technology departments. To that end, “TV on Wheels” has been redesigned with a more academic focus and an expanded glossary and index. The book is also now available as an e-book. 

“In addition to its academic use, we designed the book to be more of a teaching tool for broadcasting professionals at large and also to appeal to a broad universe of potential readers,” said Boston. “Since the majority of locally produced TV is news, we’ve devoted a fairly large section to DENG and DSNG. We can also see the book’s value as a resource manual in the field, especially with the e-book version that engineers can easily access on their tablets, to learn about a specific technology.”

A percentage of the proceeds from sales of “TV on Wheels” will go to the Sports Video Group’s Sports Broadcasting Fund, established in early 2012, which offers financial assistance to those in the sports broadcast production community and their families who face illness, death, or disaster. 

More information on “TV on Wheels: The Story of Remote Television Production” is available at remotetruckbook.com. Visitors may also order the e-book or the hardcover version from the site.