6ABC has another eye in the sky thanks to a collaboration with Temple University to install a high-definition camera on top of the 27-story Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan Hall.
Bernie Prazenica, SMC 79, president and general manager of WPVI-TV/6ABC, came up with the idea for a Temple-based Sky 6 camera as soon as he heard that the university was constructing the residence hall and dining complex, which opened in 2013.
Prazenica is a proud alumnus, to be sure, but it was Morgan Hall s vantage point unparalleled in North Philadelphia that drove him to mention the idea to Provost Hai-Lung Dai. Discussions with Vice President for Strategic Marketing and Communications Karen Clarke solidified the joint effort, and the Temple camera went live in July.
To me, this was a vision that said here s a fantastic location, and something I always discuss with our folks is that one out of seven graduates in the Philadelphia region is from Temple. So it s our audience. It s our people, Prazenica said. To have a camera there, not only is it a great view, it s an affiliation with Temple University, which works. And of course, I wanted it before anybody else.
Other Sky 6 cameras can be found at the Philadelphia International Airport, the city s Society Hill section and the La Mer Beachfront Inn in Cape May, New Jersey. Temple s location offers 6ABC viewers another perspective on the Center City skyline, and like other Sky 6 cameras, it can record time-lapse footage of storms crossing the region or zoom into locations throughout the city. Both the news and weather departments are using the camera.
During a recent visit to 6ABC headquarters on City Avenue, meteorologists Adam Joseph and Cecily Tynan described the latest addition to the Sky 6 collection.
The light that this shows, especially down Broad Street, it pops, Joseph said of the Temple cam.
Tynan said 6ABC s powerful storm-tracking tools, aerial camera angles and reporting teams are complemented by viewer-submitted photos and comments, especially via social media, about storms as they happen.
I think our viewers really enjoy now that they can almost help produce the newscast, Tynan said. They can be a part of it, which is great.
Now, so can Temple. The iconic Temple T accompanies each use of the Temple camera on the air.
We re happy to be a part of this collaboration, Clarke said. One of the things Temple has been trying to do, certainly under President Theobald, is to demonstrate our deep connections to the city. There s no better partner than 6ABC, which has a storied history of being embedded in the city and serving this region so well.
