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Production
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Glendale 11 government channel invests in HD
Oct 11, 2007
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by James Careless
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Glendale 11 is not your typical government channel. In fact, when it comes to presentation, style, and technology, the city-operated channel of Glendale, AZ, is as aggressive and forward-thinking as any network affiliate -- which explains why Glendale 11 is building a new media center equipped with HD cameras and production equipment.
Located across the street from University of Phoenix Stadium -- home to the 2008 Super Bowl -- Glendale 11's new facilities will provide visiting journalists with rentable state-of-the-art facilities, including a 60x48-foot studio space. However, Glendale 11's real goal in going HD is to keep up with technological change.
"Just because we are a local government channel, doesn't mean we can afford not to look as good as any commercial affiliate on the dial," said Laurie Berg Sapp, network TV affiliate news veteran and Glendale's cable media administrator. "When people are clicking through their channels, we don't want them to hit Glendale 11 and dismiss us as being second-rate. We want them to see us as being as good, if not better, than everything else they can choose from. That's absolutely vital, if we are to get our messages across."
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| With its new location across the street from the University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale 11 hopes to rent its facilities during Super Bowl XLII. |
Live And Local
Glendale 11 started humbly in the early 1980s, cablecasting on channel 104 from a vacated commercial property. Initially, it had a couple of staff members and a mandate to produce eight hours of content a week.
Over the years, Glendale 11 grew up. It moved to channel 11 in the VHF band. It bought its own mobile truck in 1988, then upgraded it in 1995. And in 2002, Glendale 11 started broadcasting 24/7.
At present, Glendale 11 is housed in the basement of Glendale City Hall, a DVCPRO50 operation with feeds are accessible to Cox and Qwest Cable subscribers. According to station research, its programming reaches 140,000 viewers, which is more than half of the city's population.
"Today, our eight staff members produce about 30 hours of original programming every month," Sapp told GV. "These include city council meetings live, plus shows about local news, arts, and city departments such as fire and police. We also have programming for teens, pet lovers, and small business owners. Overall, we strive to be the source for local information for Glendale's residents."
When its new media center is ready this fall, Glendale 11's technological world will change radically. Oh, it will still field three DVCPRO50 ENG crews, but tape-based studio production will be banished forever. In its place, Glendale 11 will have five Thomson Grass Valley LDK 8000 HD cameras, a Kayak HD production switcher, and a Concerto HD routing system. Only the ENG units will continue to use conventional tape, and then only until a planned upgrade to tapeless HD acquisition is implemented.
In the new media center, Glendale 11 will have two studios. "We will actually be leaving our largest space, Studio A, open for use as leasing clients see fit," explained Dave Rainey, Glendale's chief broadcast engineer. The smaller Studio B, a 40x30-foot space, will house the five LDK 8000 cameras and be connected to a dedicated control room equipped with the Kayak HD switcher, Concerto router, and Calrec audio board. "It will be the heart of the new Glendale 11."
Ready For Revenue
With Glendale 11's HD conversion now underway, one has to ask: When will the station be dropping SD broadcasts in favor of HD? "It all depends on when Cox and Qwest upgrade their systems to HD," Sapp explained. "For now, we will downconvert our HD signals to SD 4:3, and feed them those signals. This will serve their customers, while allowing us to work in HD. We want to become familiar with HD so that we're ready to shine in this format when the cable companies are equipped to provide this service."
Another issue for the channel is revenue: Although the city of Glendale and cable companies provide operating resources, money is always an issue for any government channel. That's why Glendale 11 is capitalizing on its new facilities to attract paying broadcast customers.
"We are located across from both the University of Phoenix Stadium and the Jobing.com Arena, home of the Phoenix Coyotes' NHL team," said Sapp. "The new media center is also connected to a four-star hotel and 80,000-square-foot convention center. We are ideally located to cover everything that is happening in Glendale." The Media Center is also wired with fiber to connect its production center with live shot locations around the arena, hotel, and stadium areas, plus it offers satellite uplink capabilities.
With the Super Bowl only months away, the building is near completion and Sapp is confident that the new Glendale 11 facility will provide a one-of-a kind experience for media that travel to Glendale to cover its international sporting events. "We are really focused on taking this channel to the next level," she said. "Granted, we will never be able to compete with American Idol and other primetime shows. But when it comes to local production, the city is determined to provide Glendale citizens with the highest quality product possible. With our people and this new facility, we will have all the pieces in place to produce top-quality content."
MORE INFO
Calrec calrec.com
Glendale 11 glendaleaz.com
Grass Valley thomsongrassvalley.com
Panasonic panasonic.com/broadcast
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