[troymc]

I'm pretty sure they could send the live video signal up to a communications satellite in geostationary orbit. That satellite would relay the signal to a base station which would then broadcast it however they normally do.

There are lots of comsats in GEO; no doubt some of them are open to doing a deal, but I don't know the cost. Maybe an international TV news network would be willing to do it "for free" so long as they get exclusive access?

[JshWright]

Or they could just use an airplane to relay to signal. The technology isn't really the issue. The issue is they don't want to release a video of a rocket crashing into a barge (or the ocean next to a barge). They know such a video would be replayed in mainstream media without the "this was just a test that only had a 50/50 shot of working in the first place" context. Especially after F9R-Dev, an Antares, and SS2 all RUD'd in the past couple months.

That being said, they have announced that there will be cameras on the barge. The fact that they have announced that ahead of time makes it very likely we will see at least some footage in the days or weeks after the attempt (they'll just want to do it in a PR controlled way).