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KMBC-TV, KCWE-TV offer HD local news from new studios

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Jerry Agresti

Contributing to the openness of the 52,000sq-ft, all-digital facility is a second-floor balcony that overlooks the studio and newsroom.

Sometimes an organization needs a nudge before it can make progress. That was the case with our stations, KMBC-TV and KCWE-TV, located in Kansas City, MO, owned and operated by Hearst-Argyle. The nudge that caused us to design and build a new technical and studio facility was the expiration of our lease on the Lyric Opera House, the historic structure in which KMBC, the local ABC affiliate, had been located since it began broadcasting more than 60 years ago. It was also where KCWE-TV, a CW network affiliate, joined us in 1996.

Although the Lyric was home for all those years, it was not the ideal location for a television station. Our studio was beneath the opera stage, which is still used for performances, and the technical and business functions were situated on various other fragmented floors in the building, as well as in office spaces in a building across the street. It was not only the facilities' layout that was less than optimal, but also our equipment over time had naturally become outdated. We recognized that the equipment and systems needed to be upgraded to support our transition to high definition.

New digs

The 841sq-ft technical core contains 40 36-in deep racks, with expansion space for an additional eight racks.

In 2002, our team at KMBC/KCWE began working with architects Rees Associates of Oklahoma City, OK, to identify a new location and design a facility that would improve efficiency, provide us a better platform from which to seize opportunities such as those afforded by the Web, and position us for HD operation. Broadcast Building Company handled construction management, and Beck Associates performed the systems integration. Our new purpose-built facility, located in an office park in southeast Kansas City, went on the air in August 2007.

From the new building, KMBC/KCWE now broadcasts three television and two Web channels, including five-and-a-half hours of locally produced HD news each day along with a 24-hour weather channel, quickcasts and other content for the Web sites. All programming is simulcast in SD and HD. We are proud that KMBC was the first to broadcast its news in HD in Kansas City, which is the No. 31 U.S. television market.

Physically, the layout is approximately 52,000sq ft comprised of two stories. One unusual feature that visitors remember is that the second floor is a mezzanine that overlooks the studio and newsroom. This floor houses the sales, traffic, programming, community affairs, business and executive offices.

The departments directly involved with producing local programming — news, engineering and creative services — are efficiently located on the first floor, where our 4500sq-ft studio flows into the 9000sq-ft newsroom. About 90 percent of the newsroom and all of the technical areas sit on an 18in raised computer floor. The technical core is 841sq ft and currently contains 40 36in-deep racks, with expansion space for an additional eight racks. Production control and audio take up a total of 865 sq ft, and master control and live ops require about the same amount of space, 861sq ft.

Technical infrastructure

About 90 percent of the newsroom and all of the technical areas sit on an 18in raised computer floor.

The technical infrastructure of KMBC/KCWE's broadcast facility is built around routing switchers from Utah Scientific — a UTAH-400 (V-288 frame, loaded 3G, HD 176 × 144) and a UTAH-200 (VAA-16 frame analog video and stereo audio 16 × 16). The routers are wrapped with ADC patch panels and Harris DAs. IP connectivity throughout the facility is certified 1Gb/s and is carried over Cat 6E cable. The 10Gb/s backbone connecting the Cisco routers in various IDF rooms is carried over fiber.

Harris ADC automation manages program and interstitial playout through two Utah Scientific MC-2020 master control processors. Both stations are run from a single master control room; program streams are switched using Utah Scientific MC-400 master control panels and electronics. In the course of the design process, chief engineer Ed King and I recognized it would be advantageous to have a master control panel that would optimize flexibility for the operator during breaking news stories. In response, Utah developed the MC-400 panel, which makes it easy for a user to bypass automation control when necessary. Because it's so flexible, we use an MC-400 master control panel as a low-cost emergency backup for our production switcher.

Syndicated programming is received via satellite either directly from the syndicator, through Pathfire or from HATSAT, which is Hearst Argyle's program feed center in Orlando, FL. We have a dish farm installed at the station by EASi, consisting of two 7.3m, six 4.5m and four 3.8m dishes. All feeds from the dishes come into the building via Evertz fiber equipment and then are routed to the receivers using an Evertz L-Band router under CompuSat control.