Ocean Shores, Washington
Some people retire to slow down. Darrell Prowse retired and started running a television station.
Behind North Beach TV — a 24/7 community stream with video-on-demand serving the small coastal town of Ocean Shores, Washington — is a broadcaster whose career stretches back to the reel-to-reel era. And today, the entire operation runs on a single YoloBox Ultra.
A lifetime behind the switcher
Darrell’s story with television started in high school, on a reel-to-reel black-and-white video recorder. He loved it so much he studied Communications in college and earned a degree in Broadcast Communications — graduating, as he likes to put it, in “the last class at WSU in black and white.” The very next year, the school got its color cameras.
What followed was a full career in the industry: broadcast radio and TV, seven years in Instructional Media at the University of Washington, and then Boeing, where he retired as Senior Video Producer. Along the way he worked as a video replay operator at the Olympics, and spent 20 years of nights and weekends directing TV to the big screen at Seattle’s Kingdome.
His Boeing work took him around the world. One trip brought him to Xiamen, China, for two weeks to produce a presentation for a worldwide airline maintenance organization — a sophisticated setup that moved from PowerPoint to pre-recorded video and then to a live incoming video-conference feed. “It was very effective,” he recalls. “Got me two weeks in Xiamen for a half-hour presentation!”
A volunteer retirement — that turned into a broadcast
When Darrell moved to Ocean Shores to retire, he got involved with the local community TV studio. Cable-only, back then. “So, it’s a volunteer retirement thing,” he says.
That volunteer thing grew into North Beach TV: a 24/7 channel and streaming service that covers the life of an entire community — and Darrell is, by his own account, the only crew member with any real TV experience. “We’re all pretty much volunteers.”
From a Boeing-surplus switcher to YoloBox
For years, the productions ran on a Sony Anycast that Darrell had picked up from Boeing Surplus. It was capable, but it only did NTSC 4×3 — and the team wanted to move up to 16×9.
Like many broadcast veterans, Darrell was skeptical of a device like YoloBox at first. “I also was a bit hesitant,” he admits. So he did his research, and liked what he saw. What really won him over was the tactile control: as a self-described “tactile switcher person,” he found the remote keypad felt like home.
“I find it much easier to use my fingers on the YoloDeck to switch sources instead of having to look down and select on the screen.”
One box, a whole town’s worth of productions
Today the YoloBox Ultra is the backbone of North Beach TV, and the list of what it covers reads like a full-service broadcast operation:
- High school 8-man football, complete with instant replay
- City Council meetings
- The local Flag Day parade
- Graduation ceremonies
The high school coverage is especially close to his heart. The school is small — only 32 seniors graduated last year — too small to field a 12-man team, so they play in an 8-man league. Being able to bring INSTANT replay to those Friday nights, Darrell says, “is such a treat for the team.” And the ability to go live from the field to the local cable channel and stream out live anywhere at the same time is “a real treat to parents.”
For a one-person broadcast crew, the impact is hard to overstate:
“This unit has replaced remote trucks and satellite uplinks.”
Offline mode, tested under pressure
Not long ago, Darrell downloaded a software update that added a new offline mode — and he put it straight to work.
Earlier, during an important dedication ceremony with no internet on site, the recording had carried a “no connection” warning graphic (fortunately, the team had also rolled in-camera backups). After the update, he ran a Saturday professional wrestling event with the new offline mode on. The result?
“I was relieved that the warning graphic didn’t come on again!”
For a community station that often produces in venues without reliable connectivity, being able to capture a clean recording regardless of internet is exactly the kind of thing that keeps a broadcast on the air.
Good tools, good people
Ask Darrell what makes it all possible, and he keeps it simple: “All possible because of the Yolo switcher.” He uses the YoloLiv graphics across everything — from the Flag Day parade to City Council meetings to graduation day — and he’s watched the new graphics keep getting better.
But he’s also the first to point out that great gear is only half the story. A career that started on black-and-white reel-to-reel and ran through the Olympics, the Kingdome, and Boeing now powers Friday night football and civic life in a small coastal town — carried by a crew of volunteers and one very experienced hand.
“It’s been a fun ride,” he says. And to the team building the tools he now relies on: “I am a real fan of your product!”
Thanks to Darrell Prowse and North Beach TV for sharing their story. Running your own community broadcast with YoloBox? We’d love to hear about it.
569 total views, 15 views today
a Marketing Specialist at YoloLiv，passionate about creating content that helps users explore the full potential of live streaming.
