When you think high tech, you don’t often think of St. Louis, MO.  But local NBC affiliate KSDK has proven itself an early adopter of mobile video app Vine.

The Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri interviewed Meaghan Anselm KSDK’s return path producer about how the station uses the abbreviated technology to communicate with viewers. You can watch the video after the jump.

Anselm told RJI she uses Vine to give viewers a behind the scenes look at the station. “I actually have a few reporters and a few photographers…they really take some great Vine videos while on the scene or if they’re out doing a shoot and they see something else really creative.” Read more

Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced it will begin broadcasting mobile capable signals from ten of its stations in nine markets.

“The pace of technology makes it imperative for broadcasters to continue to lead in serving our communities,” said Mark Aitken, vice president of Advanced Technology for Sinclair and chairman of the ATSC A/153 MobileDTV standardization activity. “Broad adoption of MobileDTV, as a part of our local broadcast television offering, is the next step. We are confident our Network partners will see the value mobile simulcasting brings in building station and Network brands, audience share, and local television relevancy.”

Mobile DTV, as the service is called, allows viewers to watch their favorite local broadcast stations, for free, on portable devices like smart phones and tablets by adding a plug-in adapter. Read more

In San Francisco this morning to cover the unveiling of Apple’s new iPad, KTLA reporter Rich DeMuro had to think fast when his crew encountered techincial difficulties with its satellite truck.  So he reached for his iPad.

As FishbowlLA reports, DeMuro reported live throughout KTLA’s morning show using his iPad 2 and Skype.

“I could get used to the whole iPad live shot thing,” DeMuro tweeted.  “It’s a pretty amazing use of technology.” Read more

National Journal has an interesting story about how the National Association of Broadcasters jumped into action this afternoon after the Virginia earthquake bragging about how while broadcasters stayed on the air during the 5.8 quake, many cellphones could not connect.

NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton tweeted, “Broadcasters as a lifeline: DC’s Emergency Mgt. Assn. advises residents: ‘Stay tuned to radio and TV news updates.’” NAB’s Zamir Ahmed tweeted, “Wireless networks overwhelmed after VA quake but radio and TV broadcasters still on the air providing lifeline info.”

Broadcasters have been fighting to make the case to policymakers about the importance of over-the-air television amid efforts to push broadcasters to give up some of their spectrum to meet the growing demand for wireless broadband. The NAB has been arguing that broadcasters’ “one to many” model of providing news and entertainment is a much more efficient use of spectrum than the “one-to-one” model of the wireless phone industry.

Sprint and Verizon say any problems were due to overusage and not caused by network breakdowns.

In what experts are attributing to both the current economic slide and the rise of alternative digital devices, ownership of television sets in the U.S. has dropped for the first time in 20 years.

According to Nielsen, 96.7 percent of American households currently own TVs, down from 98.9 percent.

Here’s The New York Times:

There are two reasons for the decline, according to Nielsen. One is poverty: some low-income households no longer own TV sets, most likely because they cannot afford new digital sets and antennas.

The other is technological wizardry: young people who have grown up with laptops in their hands instead of remote controls are opting not to buy TV sets when they graduate from college or enter the work force, at least not at first. Instead, they are subsisting on a diet of television shows and movies from the Internet.

As viewers increasingly watch web-based video on their TVs, WISC has struck a forward-thinking partnership with Roku, the maker of digital video boxes that bring web content to your living room TV.

WISC, a CBS-affiliate in Madison, WI, is becoming the first station in the country to debut a local news channel on the Roku platform, giving viewers the opportunity to watch the station’s news coverage on their TVs at any time of the day.

“For years TV stations have been posting their video on the web and now their web video is easily available on TV sets,” said Anthony Wood, Roku’s founder and CEO.

John Baisley (right), executive vice president of Panasonic Solutions Co., stood on stage before TV industry insiders at NAB this week and assured the audience  that there would be no disruptions in the availability of P2 cards and tape stock as the Tokyo-based company works to rebound from the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last month.

While Baisley said that there would be no shortage of Panasonic media, he did mention that the company is having some problems in the production of its equipment.

“Although our factories came away from the disaster relatively unscathed, we are having issues with component suppliers that were located in the affected area of Japan,” he said. “We are still working on model by model impact, but suffice to say, we will experience some product availability issues in the short term.”

Baisley indirectly underscored the significance of the P2 announcement by announcing that worldwide sales of P2 HD had recently passed 200,000 units. [Via TVTechnology]