EPB nominated for two Emmys for cross-country gigabit duet (with video)

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Stoic, staid power distributers aren't known for their cutting-edge music acts. But Chattanooga's city-owned utility has broken the mold, nabbing two Emmy nominations for a cross-country duet made possible by EPB's citywide gigabit Internet installation.

EPB received a regional Emmy nomination for technical achievement, and one for audio for the duet it sponsored between T-Bone Burnett and Chuck Mead. Burnett played from California, while Mead performed simultaneously from 3,000 miles away in front of a live audience of 4,000 in Chattanooga.

"We're always excited when we see smart people doing interesting things with ultra high-speed Internet connectivity like we have here in Chattanooga," said Jim Ingraham, EPB's vice president of strategic research.

The music special, called Gig City Roots, used low latancy audio visual technology developed with USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab, and aired live across the state. Latency of just .66 milliseconds of time, literally a blink of the eye, allowed the music special to get a shot at the 28th Midsouth Regional Emmy Awards, which take place Jan. 25, 2014 in Nashville.

Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.