LiveU’s are not a new idea.

Starting in the 1950s, NBC and CBS respectively experimented with “portable” minicams that could transmit live video wirelessly instead of running cables across the floors in busy venues.

The example on the left is a version of RCA’s “Walkie-Lookie” that the company introduced for NBC’s use at the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco’s Cow Palace.

NBC officially referred to this camera as a “walking TV station” in its promotional material. The crews who actually had to use the gear called it by a rather vaguely naughty name instead – a “creepie peepie” camera.