VELOCITY Broadcasting

VELOCITY Broadcasting claims to be the United States' largest private broadcasting network. From the WQED Multimedia studios and its corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Velocity produces interactive private TV programming in SD-standard definition or HD-high definition formats and utilizes a fully encrypted signal to deliver the programming live via EchoStar Satellite to invitation-only audiences. Those audiences gather at the VELOCITY HD Digital Suites, which are located in more than 100 private dining rooms in Morton’s The Steakhouse and Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurants across the continent.

The Concept

VELOCITY Broadcasting is a subsidiary company of Elias/Savion Advertising, Inc., an advertising/public relations agency in Pittsburgh, PA.

VELOCITY provides business, industry, government and the nonprofit sector with a way to reach highly qualified audiences through high-definition, immersion viewing environments and private dining. Organizations are able to produce a television broadcast with a singular message and deliver it to a nationwide audience of decision-makers at one time, synchronized across time zones.

Since its founding in 2005, VELOCITY Broadcasting has partnered with companies in technology, finance, and pharmacology to deliver company announcements, educational programming and product roll-outs. The concept has also garnered the attention of industry analysts such as Laura Ramos, vice president of Forrester Research, who has called private broadcasting "a really good fit for B2B marketers. Using this type of interactivity that we’re talking about, with the concept of precision marketing today, makes it so that B2B marketers can better target their messages to the right audience, bring their audience into a venue where they’re going to be captivated and want to hear the story.”

VELOCITY HD Digital Suites

The VELOCITY HD Digital Suites are designed to provide guests with an experience similar to one found in a theater. Each includes surround sound, a large drop-down screen, a high-definition projection system, and satellite reception in HD format.

Interactive Capabilities

Guests for a VELOCITY broadcast can participate in the presentation through an interactive platform. Prior to a broadcast, each guest across the continent receives a remote keypad. Guests may utilize the keypad to register their answers to specific questions posed by the show hosts or moderators during the broadcast. The system automatically tabulates and collates the responses to questions, and then show hosts share the results live on the air with the guests.

Guests that wish to pose a question to show hosts may do so by calling in and asking their question live on the air. They may also pose their question via e-mail or text message. The show host then shares the question with panelists, who answer the question live on the air.

Private Dining Partners

VELOCITY Broadcasting’s private dining partners include all worldwide locations of Morton’s The Steakhouse and all locations of Maggiano’s Little Italy. Other partners include independent private clubs and restaurants.

Private Entertainment

In 2006, VELOCITY Broadcasting hosted the first live 7.2 Cinema Surround-Sound satellite concert with the “In Higher Definition” Private Performance Series. On October 7, 2006, guests gathered in Morton’s The Steakhouse VELOCITY HD Digital Suites nationwide for a concert featuring jazz legend Wynton Marsalis, a performance in collaboration with DownBeat magazine. Attendees also had the opportunity to ask Marsalis questions live on the air following the performance.

Notes and References

Further reading

• Morton's steakhouse outfits meeting space with telecast system, St. Louis Business Journal, 6-22-2007.
• White Linen Marketing, planyourmeetings.com, 6-7-2007.
• A grade A partnership complete with beef, Westchester County Business Journal, 4-23-2007.
• Morton’s private boardrooms now featuring digital theater, San Antonio Business Journal, 11-3-2006.
• Marsalis trumpets technology for exclusive crowds at Morton's, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10-7-2006.

External links

• VELOCITY Broadcasting
• VELOCITY Box Office
• Elias/Savion Advertising, Inc.