While any established news channel looks for a teleprompter with a number of high-end features, the regional news broadcasters tend to look for lower-priced models, which can fulfill their primary requirement but may not offer facilities of automation and variety of controls. The teleprompter technology is easily available all over the world.

Teleprompting is a crucial element to any production workflow, from news and sports to live entertainment shows, late-night award shows, and soap operas. From live broadcast news to late night award shows and soap operas, the scrolling words of the teleprompter have helped decades of TV personalities, including news readers, deliver their lines to at-home audiences.

The biggest market drivers for teleprompters are the increasing number of news channels, particularly regional news channels, as they are the primary users of teleprompters. While any established news channel looks for a teleprompter with a number of high-end features, the regional news broadcasters tend to look for lower-priced models, which can fulfill their primary requirement but may not offer facilities of automation and variety of controls. The teleprompter technology is easily available all over the world. The increase in demand has increased the business of the product. With a growing focus on quality production, more and more facilities are shifting to the use of teleprompter with a complete feature set and offering media object server (MOS) integration with the newsroom systems. Products that deliver language-independent functionality will find customer acceptance in this country of varied languages and scripts.

As with much of the best technology, some of the greatest ingenuity goes into making the prompting operation both simple and extremely reliable. Seamless interoperability is a significant requirement, and it is essential for prompting systems to develop close relationships with all of the leading newsroom companies. Key to this interoperability is not simply the downloading of scripts from the newsroom system to the prompter, but the ability to faithfully mirror last-minute additions and changes in real time.

The prompter is an important part of the complex control system through which the newsroom system, sometimes in partnership with an external automation system, coordinates the timely, live playout of all elements of a program ' video, audio, and graphics. It is the presenter who ties all of the contrasting elements of a broadcast together into a single integrated experience for the user, and the prompter is the tool that delivers the words to the presenter and, as a result, much of the meaning to the audience.

Prompting is not confined to the studio, and the combination of a laptop computer and a small lightweight on-camera monitor make prompting available to presenters in all ENG situations with the same functionality as if they were in the studio.

One technological change that revolutionized prompting in 2000 was the development of flat-screen monitors. Today, LED screens are replacing fluorescent-based screens. Modern teleprompters employed by most video production facilities work by reflecting the text on a partially silvered mirror placed directly in front of the camera lens. This avoids the need for the speaker to look anywhere else but toward the camera. Gone are the days of having to break eye contact to look at notes or copy written on cue cards or somewhere else other than the camera. This gives viewers the illusion of the speaker having memorized everything they are saying, when, in fact, the speaker is merely reading to the camera.

On-camera prompters provide an excellent prompting solution as they are designed to provide reliable performance. In addition, the systems are lightweight and portable, making them perfect for on-location shoots. Quick prompt teleprompters are of the more standard configuration, and are used for recording a speaker facing straight, talking into the camera.

How teleprompters revolutionized the TV industry. Teleprompters allow television presenters to combine reading their lines with looking directly into a camera, creating a powerful and winning combination that has revolutionized the moving picture industry. It has combined relaxed, controlled presenters with spontaneous, intelligent presenters. Before teleprompters, in order to remember all their lines, newscasters, and other performers would hold a sheet of paper in their hands containing all the relevant information that they were supposed to communicate to the camera. Depending on the proficiency of presenters and the size of their memory, they would usually be found somewhere between occasionally glancing away from the camera to focus on the paper in their hands and practically never looking at the camera while they furiously read the text from the paper. With constantly changing channels the ante had to be upped.

The main customers of teleprompters are TV channels, Doordarshan, and educational institutes. Teleprompter market is captured mainly by three types of manufacturers - high-end, low-end, and Indian. High-end manufacturers include Autocue, represented by Sun Broadcast, and Autoscript, represented by Cinecita. Low-end manufacturers include Mirror Image, also represented by Sun Broadcast, Telescript, and Chinese manufacturers. In 2010-11, around 1,00,000 Chinese teleprompters worth `1.5 lakh each were sold in India. Comcon and C-DAC are the indigenious manufacturers in India.

Major Players

AGIV India Private Ltd. offers broadcast world equipment from some of the renowned companies. The company offers teleprompters and speech prompters from Telescript.

Comcon is a leading solution provider to the broadcast and media industry in India. It has completed several system integration projects since its inception in 1984. The company offers latest range of Samvad teleprompters. It carries the latest innovative product using off-the-shelf hardware, rewriting the design rules for teleprompting industry. The teleprompter easily integrates with ENPS and Octopus newsroom systems. The prime customers include Doordarshan, Sadhana News, Total TV, Kashish News, and R Plus.

Cinecita offers teleprompters CountPlus and CuePlus by Autoscript. CuePlus is a tally accessory that caters to those with color vision impairments, providing both a selectable color range and multiple color states. CountPlus is a timecode generator, timecode inserter, and up/down count generator designed for use in conjunction with Autoscript's ClockPlus timecode display. These teleprompters are used throughout the world in studios and newsrooms, for conferences and presentations.

Digital Broadcast India has mastered in the discipline of business advisory, designing the channel infrastructure, project engineering and management, system integration, installation, commissioning, testing, training, and excellent service support. DBI offers teleprompters from Telescript. Its prime customers include CNN-IBN, CNBC TV18, India TV, NDTV, and Zee TV.

Kit Digital is a cloud-based software solutions provider for multiscreen video delivery. The company's cloud-based video asset management system enables enterprise, media, and entertainment; and network operator clients to produce, manage, and deliver video experiences to audiences. The company provides various integrated newsroom solutions including teleprompters. Major customers of Kit Digital include Maasranga TV, Janasri TV, CNN Jamuna TV, Mahaa TV, and P7 News.

Setron India Pvt. Ltd. offers Ikan teleprompters that were launched in October, 2010. It is a reliable equipment known for its simplicity and ease of operation. The first unit was demonstrated at Janta TV (New Delhi). Their major customers include Rajya Sabha TV, Gujarat News, Hindustan Broadcasting Corporation, and CNEB. The unique feature of Ikan teleprompter is that it is compatible to the third party software as well. Ikan provides media professionals with simplicity, affordability, and unmatched value. With a range of products including on-camera HD monitors, LED and fluorescent studio lighting, teleprompters and a wide range of camera support equipment, Ikan stands at the forefront of every aspect of video equipment industry.

Sun Broadcast offers a range of teleprompters from Autocue. In the year 2010-11, Sun Broadcast sold 31 numbers of Autocue teleprompters worth `50 lakh to Doordarshan. Sun Broadcast has been short listed this year to supply 40 Nos. standalone teleprompters worth `1 crore. Its other major customers include TV Today, Zee Group, Star News, and Sony Entertainment Ltd.

This article is based on research conducted by Broadcast & Cablesat in October, 2011

On key growth driver

India is an expanding market for teleprompters and the demand is constantly growing, with newer channels mushrooming over the country. The market consists of aware customers, who are specific in their requirements. More and more customers are particular about the accessories available with the prompter as that is where the difference lies. Even a low-end product with great accessories can deliver better than a high-end product with obsolete accessories. The game today is on adapting the technology fast. With technical advancement, more and more channels are shifting the control from operators to anchors. Not only news channels, but educational channels, religious channels, and other such institutes are adopting the teleprompters, as it not only means smoother operations, but also permanent reduction in man-power costs. It is no longer the case where there are only a few manufacturers. Today, the customer has a host of options to meet the requirement of his/her studio, within his budget.

On sales trends

2011 was a great year for Comcon in terms of sales of Samvad Teleprompters. Our sales has multiplied three times last year. A rather significant development for us is our recognition as an MOS protocol partner with the biggest newsroom systems across the world. This definitely puts us in league of the best teleprompters in the market today.

On major customers

The customers for Samvad are spread across the country, and across functions. While upcoming studios have always looked at Samvad favorably, we have interest from established players to integrate Samvad into their setups. Feature rich and flexible configuration of Samvad is driving interest from education, health, religious and a host of other channels.

On USP of your products

Teleprompter division at Comcon consists of a team of young and innovative individuals who are on the look out to add practical features without increasing the costs and complexity of the system. We feel that a major disadvantage with most of today's teleprompters is user interface. They have carelessly bundled a host of features in an untidy interface, and most users are either unaware or incapable of using these features. While planning for Samvad we always keep our focus on the fact that teleprompter is a device created for convenience and it should remain so. The system is so user friendly that support and training are practically not even asked for by the customers.