WMHT

Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM

Located in New York, WMHT operates three TV stations, plus two radio stations and a radio reading service for the visually impaired and print disabled.

To meet the challenges of the new digital age, the station purchased a 42,000sq ft office building and added 10,500sq ft of studio space for its new production and broadcast center.

The facility hired systems integrator Communications Engineering (CEI) to provide a turnkey design and integration solution. A major requirement was to move the station's production and on-air operations 22mi with no disruptions.

CEI engineers coordinated every aspect of the buildout and transition, including new satellite downlink antennas, tower construction for television and radio STLs, a multichannel master control room, two television studios, a production control room, a 5.1 audio control room, three nonlinear edit systems with shared storage, an FM on-air studio, an FM production studio, audio editing, three audio live and record control rooms, tape and DVD duplication systems, and media-capable conference rooms.

A primary goal for all new systems was efficient operations with digital file-based content flow.

KNTV and Telemundo

Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM

KNTV and Telemundo are individual stations that share resources to transmit simultaneously from the same building. The stations share a 100,000sq ft space in San Jose, CA.

Ascent Media served as the system integrator for the turnkey move and digital upgrade, including the satellite facilities that took approximately one year from design to launch. The firm worked with the NBC team and Gensler, an architectural firm, to design an infrastructure based on SDI signal distribution with two-channel non-embedded AES audio.

A central equipment room contains 140 racks of core gear, including routing switchers, the NBC hub racks, distribution equipment, MATV, networking equipment, patching, audio equipment, intercom, clock, and reference and studio gear. One Grass Valley Trinix switcher accomplishes routing for both stations.

Two separate, but nearly identical, production control rooms have a fully loaded 64-input Sony MVS-8000 production switcher system, Calrec audio consoles and Pinnacle EFX Dekos.

Technology at work: Beck Associates custom consoles; Evertz 5600 MSC master sync generator; Grass Valley Concerto/Encore digital router, 8900 Series terminal equipment and Kayak DD-2 production switcher; Leitch LogoMotion II channel branding, Panacea 16×2 MC switching; Omneon Spectrum media server; NVerzion NControl automation; Pinnacle Deko 1000 CG; Sony DSR-2000 DVCAM VTRs; Telex/RTS Zeus intercom system; Videotek VTM-200 T&M; Wohler audio monitors.

Discovery Communications

Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM

The new Discovery Television and Technology Center in Sterling, VA, features a glass-enclosed, circular master control area surrounded by 10 transmission pods. Its control system is capable of transparently reassigning networks to any number of master control rooms. The facility was built to handle distribution for Discovery Communications' current U.S. networks and designed to seamlessly accommodate growth.

Ascent Media provided the technical integration services for the 53,000sq ft showcase that serves as the network origination for 13 of Discovery's U.S. networks plus BBC America — comprising 17 network feeds. The facility can support any mixture of 64 channels of HD or SD programming and currently provides West Coast feeds for three networks.

Each of the 10 transmission pods is easily configured by the push of a button and the click of a mouse to control up to six networks in any combination. These pods are monitored by three centrally located supervisory positions, each of which can take full control of any network. This design, resulting in significant cost savings, also allows the networks to be moved from pod to pod with all their associated audio and video monitoring and control, error reporting, graphic control and automation.

Three tightly integrated applications provide the key to this operational scenario. A custom-engineered Evertz MVP 3000 system with integrated packet routers serves as the core A/V controller for the entire facility. Each of the pods' MVP 3000s are responsible for all the audio and video monitoring, error display and logging and tallies, while also displaying all VBI information relating to a signal, such as closed captioning. The system takes full advantage of the extreme flexibility of the facility by reassigning any audio or video sources to any pod. With 20 images associated with each network, it supports and manages in excess of 640 inputs along with the connected audio, regardless of format. It also supports all the routing and control required to move formats between pods.

The other critical elements are a Miranda Presmaster multichannel HD/SD master control panel and the OmniBus Colossus automated transmission suite.

Discovery has its eye on the future with specialized technology that comprises a blended infrastructure of both broadcast and IT solutions.

Technology at work: Clear-Com 128×128 intercom matrix; Evertz MVP monitor walls; Florical automation; Leitch Newsflash and NLE systems; Miranda Presmaster MC system with four streams; Quartz 256 × 256 SDI/AES with control and time code routing switcher; Ross Synergy production switchers; Wheatstone consoles.

ESPN

Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM

ESPN's 120,000sq ft, all-digital HD digital center in Bristol, CN, is the future of broadcast production. Networking and automating many of the labor-intensive processes has led to reduced errors and continued system reliability. If there is such a thing, this is HD heaven.

A signal distribution and processing system design has been implemented to support nine different TV networks that originate from Bristol. These include all U.S.-based ESPN-distributed channels and are supported by the facility's massive signal routing architecture that feeds more than 19 nonlinear edit rooms, four master control suites and a large sports content ingest screening area. Signal paths can be changed quickly to accommodate new channels and future internal growth.

The facility features resilient, physically dispersed HD SDI and AES signal paths throughout the building, requiring more than 7 million ft of coax and fiber-optic cable to handle a mixture of SD and HD signals.

ESPN distributes its highest-rated programs, including “SportsCenter,” in the 720p HD format. These widescreen telecasts, with multichannel AES audio, are supported by a variety of multiformat broadcast equipment to produce more than 6000 hours of originally produced HD programming annually.

The requirements of ESPN's production infrastructure are handled by multiple racks of HD routing switchers and a dense AES router for audio routing. The video router can handle both SD and HD signals in the same frame. Routers are controlled through a centralized facility control system.

To support its signal distribution paths, the facility has installed hundreds of modular equipment products to route digital audio and video signals to routers, production switchers, audio mixers and other destinations.

There's a large complement of nonlinear editing and media server equipment, including 25 edit systems tied to 68 main media servers to distribute media on and off the SAN that currently includes a capacity of more than 3500 hours (in SD mode).

The facility houses three HD studios, which are home to all ESPN Bristol-based studio shows, including “SportsCenter.” To capture its live shows in widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio) 720p, ESPN uses 20 multiformat HD cameras. Fiber-optic transmitters and receivers, in tandem with air-blown fiber between buildings on the Bristol campus, have enabled the facility to network seven studios via more than 1000 fiber-optic circuits.

Technology at work: Barco OverView DLP projectors; Calrec Alpha 100 console; Digidesign Pro Tools; Enco Digital audio workstations; Euphonix System 5 console; Evertz 5600MSC reference generator and MVP multi-image viewer; Grass Valley Trinix router and Encore control system; Miranda Densité distribution, Imaging series format conversion, XVP-801 crossconverter; RTS/Telex Adam Intercom Matrix; Sony MVS-8000 HD switcher, HDC-950 cameras and BVM-D monitors; Ward Beck 8200 AES distribution.

Louisiana State University

Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM

Louisiana State University (LSU) recently launched a 150,000sq-ft Football Operations Center. The $15 million facility includes offices, a locker room, an equipment room, an indoor football field for game preparation and an elaborate video operations center with an extensive technology package to drive training efforts to the highest possible level.

A heavy investment in legacy component and composite gear prevented LSU from immediately reaching its goal of a total SDI infrastructure. Working with Technical Services Group (TSG), a full-service electronic systems contractor, the university implemented a phased approach to take full advantage of its current equipment as it transitions to SDI. TSG designed and built the complete technology layer of the center.

Price point and flexibility played equal roles in equipment selection, particularly router choices. LSU went with a robust Network Electronics routing system to bridge the gap between component and composite gear and an SDI format. The university established a virtual SDI domain within the existing SDI and non-HD SDI infrastructure using the modular and compact routing system's ability to transparently route component signals through transcoders and into the facility's new VikinX VD3232S SDI router. The configuration allows for an easy migration to SDI and HD SDI as legacy gear is replaced and formats move forward.

The university also took advantage of Network Electronics' new CP-MDP router control panel, which provides a live video preview of both sources and destinations via a QVGA high-resolution color graphics display. The CP-MDP capabilities allowed operational setups to be programmed as opposed to mere source selections. The capability greatly enhances efficiency as well as streamlines workflow more than the traditional method of manually selecting multiple devices during a rigorous time-sensitive daily routine.

Total migration to SDI will become a reality in phase two, slated to commence in another year. The extensive audio and video system, which touches every part of the building, will route HD SDI signals to all displays within the facility via Network Electronics' VD3232S. The 32 × 32 router will be expanded to 64 × 64 to meet the demands of the tasks that include support of the Exos Sports online storage system as it converts to SDI. The complex setup also includes extensive HD capabilities integrated into its AV presentation solutions, plasma and video displays and playback.

Technology at work: Dell dual CPU edit workstation; Electro-Voice RE-20 AT mic; ISDN phone patch; JVC DVD hard disk recorder; M Audio studio monitors; Media 3 BureauCam 3 BCSO-2500; Rane EQ; Sharp DVD recorder; Sony DXC-990 camera, BCS-500 robotic tilt head, ECM-77B mics, PVM production monitor and DSR 11 DVCAM VTR; Telos Zephyr; XStream ISDN encoder/decoder.

Bay News 9

Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM

Bay News 9 of Tampa, FL, has shifted its broadcast operations to a new 23,000sq ft facility that houses automated server-based production and playout for the 24-hour local news channel, as well as the network's weather, on-demand and Spanish channels.

More space was needed to accommodate the joint broadcast operations of the network's different channels. The engineering and design team also sought to put playout under the umbrella of a single flexible and scalable automation system that could adapt to the company's future growth. Shared and easy access to media in standardized formats for streamlined production and playout was another key element in the facility design.

Ascent Media was chosen to integrate and install the facility's broadcast systems. The facility features integrated control and studio spaces. Two control rooms and one master control room, separated by glass walls, allow staff to make visual contact and voice contact over the intercom. The facility boasts four studios that can be used interchangeably and run simultaneously in English or Spanish to facilitate regular production as well as breaking news and weather coverage.

Under the umbrella of OmniBus Systems' Columbus automation, the four news channels share media via centralized storage on a Pinnacle Systems Vortex media server with 1000 hours of storage at 25Mb/s. An archive storage solution from ASACA is integrated into the system to allow any user at any desktop to pull video from archives.

The automation system serves as the facility's central interface for controlling devices, getting feedback and relaying playout messages. OmniBus' Desktop Control (ODC) interface gives the station's reporters and other staff the ability to search and browse archived material, create graphics, put production elements for studio events into the script and control a variety of other functions from a single desktop. The ODC user interface is installed at all edit stations in the newsroom, at all workstations within the facility and, through a dedicated WAN, at each of the network's remote bureaus.

The real challenge proved to be moving all four channels and the station's online news source to the new studios, control room and newsroom.

Four hurricanes forced the network into a short timeframe for systems planning and building. However, the network launched broadcasts from its new facility on June 27, 2005, without taking programming off air.

Technology at work: 360 Digicart/E audio server; Omneon Spectrum media server system; NVISION NV5128-MC MC switchers and NV8256 digital routing system; Sundance Digital Titan automation, Intelli-Sat broadcast manager and Digital Delivery Management System (DDMS); Telestream FlipFactory.

TV Guide Channel

Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM

TV Guide Channel provides nearly 80 million homes in 27,000 different localities with comprehensive program listings and original programming. With its rapid growth, the channel has expanded its programming services, adding more live content and highlighting VOD and HD programming in its program listings.

To accommodate its increasingly sophisticated production and playout needs, the network selected Omneon Spectrum media servers and Pro-Bel automation for a more flexible transmission infrastructure for its transmission center in Tulsa, OK. The first phase in this project, completed successfully in May 2005, involved installation of a new automation and master control facility.

In overhauling its transmission operations, TV Guide Channel sought to move towards a dynamic and flexible output. To this end, the network integrated Pro-Bel's Aurora control system, Sirius multiformat routing for audio and video, TX Series master control and Morpheus automation with Omneon Spectrum media servers, as well as existing Pinnacle DekoCast graphics and branding systems.

Morpheus gives operators at the facility's transmission center the ability to schedule down into the details of playout. The automation solution allows operators to discretely schedule individual graphics without pre-authoring, which offers greater flexibility in presentation styles.

The Sirius and Morpheus systems respond to and react along with the operator, providing cut-in capabilities within master control and allowing users to switch, brand and change content as necessary.

In addition to updating transmission operations, the facility also streamlined the workflow between production and playout. The facility's production center is located in Los Angeles. Material is produced there using nonlinear edit systems. Finished sequences are then transferred to the Omneon media servers in the Oklahoma transmission center over fiber, transcoded by Telestream's FlipFactory software. This IP transfer allows TV Guide Channel to maximize the use of both facilities while enabling the greatest flexibility.

As the facility delivers a growing amount of media to more consumers via television and other platforms, network staff will have the tools to efficiently move content around the primary pictures and sound. In addition to simplifying presentation of clever graphics, the new playout system also supports transmission of additional digital data for digital broadcast. As content is distributed to such platforms as mobile phone networks and IPTV, the automated master control will simplify many playout operations too complex and unwieldy to be handled manually.

Technology at work: Inscriber AutoCG SD and HD systems; Grass Valley automation; Leitch Digital Das and closed-captioning equipment; Sony routing switcher.

SBT

Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM

When Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão (SBT), Brazil's national television network, set out to design a news production facility, the network's goal was straightforward: build a facility that would facilitate the integration of content acquisition, contribution and newsroom technologies; create an end-to-end digital infrastructure; and provide journalists and operators with a wide gamut of tools for their workflow requirements.

The new Leitch system at SBT replaces an existing Digital S tape environment. The system design consists of a NEXIO server newsroom system that includes five NEXIO transmission servers; six NEXIO NewsFlash FX editing systems with approximately 300 hours (at 50Mb/s I-Frame) of high-res storage in a fully mirrored configuration; and two VelocityQ multi-stream NLEs. The low-res portion of the system consists of 10 NewsFlash Preditor viewing and editing client seats, along with 120 AP/ENPS client seats. The new facility features a central ingest point, six edit suites, a newsroom complex and a production control room for news play-to-air.

Systems integrator Brasvideo was charged with the system design and installation of the facility. The installation was a major upgrade — a complete transition to digital — and involved a total transformation of the operations that had been in place for many years.

On a typical day in the new facility, as material is being ingested from satellite or remote feeds into the server system via Leitch's Ingest Control Manager, a low-res frame-accurate proxy is created simultaneously. The proxy copy can be viewed and edited by journalists; voiceovers can be recorded and inserted; stories approved and inserted into a MOS-active rundown; and high-res, edited originals can automatically be conformed. Proxy-based, edited content is created faster than real time for rapid playout on the high-res server, or the content can be sent on for further editing, including the addition of dissolves, wipes, and 2-D and 3-D effects by the NewsFlash. All of this is done directly on the journalists' desktop workstations. In addition, Leitch's Rundown Manager provides active MOS status and connectivity to the MOS-enabled AP/ENPS newsroom computer for play-to-air.

SBT also uses AP's SnapFeed for content contribution from international correspondence. The material is sent via the Internet, converted by the VelocityQ NLEs and sent to the NEXIO server system via LAN FTP.

The news production facility also includes Leitch CCS Navigator and Pilot control software, NEXIO Remote and Pilot applications, 6800 plus modular series products, an X75 SD multiple-path converter/synchronizer for video processing, an Integrator 32×32 serial digital video routing switcher and a SuiteView multi-image display processor; and Videotek serial digital/analog multiformat on-screen monitors and signal monitors.

Technology at work: Avid iNEWS Instinct, NewsCutter Adrenaline XP editors and Unity for News media network; Panasonic P2 cameras; Sony HDV cameras.

Food Network

Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM

Food Network's corporate and production facility represents a leap forward from its previous locations.

With the move to its new facility, Food Network consolidated what had been separate office and production sites. The two primary objectives: to build a facility that would allow the network's continued growth of successful new programs, such as “Iron Chef America” and “Food Network Star,” and to upgrade to a fully digital facility that could seamlessly transition to HD.

The design and installation was a joint effort by Ascent Media, HLW and Scripps Productions. The initial challenge was to create a contemporary production environment within the raw space of a century-old building, including two production studios; two production control rooms; edit, graphics and audio post rooms; and technical support facilities. Steel girders had to be tied between the walls on each side of the building and elevated above the existing flooring. The infrastructure had to be deemed structurally sound and safe before the project began.

Another objective for the new facility was to build a kitchen that would showcase the network to visitors while also serving as a fully functioning studio. The kitchen was fully wired for audio and video and lighting was tied into the dimmer system. As a result, the kitchen/broadcast facility supplements the 7000sq ft main studio for a myriad of productions.

Nine Grass Valley LDK5000 HD upgradeable cameras — four mounted on pedestals, three mounted on jibs and two handheld — support the complex, which also includes a smaller 2000sq ft studio. Significant attention was paid to the microphone distribution system due to the number of shows with live audiences and multiple band mixes. Last summer, the “Food Network Star” finale was shot live in the kitchen.

The audio control room is based on a Solid State Logic C100 digital broadcast console. It replaces the analog console at the Food Network's previous facility and allows vastly enhanced flexibility and speed. It addresses all of the production department's needs, including the ability to create and store recallable setups and to allow different EQ settings and dynamics processing for individual actors to be quickly called and recalled.

The facility's production team also liked the C100 for its ability to route virtually any signal through the entire console and, importantly, the 5.1-channel surround-sound mixing capabilities it provided.

The heart of the production control room is a Grass Valley Kalypso digital production switcher supported by a Pinnacle Deko character generator.

Technology at work: Apple Final Cut Pro NLEs and XSAN; Ardendo ARDOME MAM, ARDCAP, DART and ArdUpload ingest and PreCut and EasyCut proxy editing solutions; Avid Unity; Front Porch Digital DIVArchive; InfiniteStorage TP9300S; Pinnacle Liquid Edition NLEs; SGI Altix 350 server; Sony PetaSite tape archive.

KNTV-TV

Mar 1, 2006 12:00 PM

KNTV served the Salinas and Monterey, CA, markets for 45 years from Loma Prieta Mountain. In 2001, KNTV switched to cover the San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland DMA. In order to improve coverage, the station decided to move the transmitter location to San Bruno Mountain.

Although KNTV's tower site was an existing facility on a mountaintop near the San Francisco airport, there were both FAA and environmental concerns due to the fact that the tower height was being increased by 57ft. It took three and a half years of planning, petitions, hearings and legal motions that added challenge, time and cost to this project.

Besides monitoring, there is only 30ft of analog signal path between the DA converters and the transmitter inputs. KNTV's new transmitter site was designed to be as reliable as possible, with all systems configured as dual and most as hot standby. The Thales OPTIMUM solid-state VHF NTSC and DTV parallel transmitters satisfied this need. Liquid cooling offered the station two important benefits. The transmitter cabinets are physically smaller because there are no air plenums. They also help reduce operating expenses because heat energy is transferred outside the building, minimizing the requirement for building cooling systems.

The transmitter facility was remodeled to the extreme with construction and project management services provided by McCormick Construction. The existing 35ft × 35ft cement block building was completely stripped before the new construction proceeded. A new roof, new electrical, new flooring, new HVAC, new security system and water storage systems completed the building upgrade. A total upgrade to current seismic code for both the building and the tower were completed. In addition, the existing tower was stripped, and the top 110ft was replaced with new steel before the new Dielectric antennas and transmission line were installed. A new grounding system was required to protect all the solid-state hardware from lightning strikes. SAE designed and installed a special grounding system that provides 5Ω to ground from anywhere on the site.

Emergency power for the site's entire load was installed, including a new UPS, automatic transfer switch, diesel generator and fuel storage system. GE provided a kinetic energy UPS system with sufficient capacity to keep KNTV on-air during any momentary power bumps or surges. The emergency power system is fully automatic with adequate fuel storage to keep the site on-air at full power for up to seven days.

Technology at work: Axcera Visionary HP80DAW NTSC transmitter and Innovator DT-LDU2A-8 DTV transmitter; Dielectric filters and combiners, transmission line and antenna; MYAT filters and combiners.