Columbus Consolidated Government TV Builds New Control Room around Broadcast Pix

When Georgia's Columbus Consolidated Government opened its new City Service Center in June, it helped address parking issues for citizens and more than doubled the capacity of the council chambers. For Columbus Consolidated Government TV, its local government channel, relocation to the new building meant a chance to upgrade equipment that had not changed in more than a decade. The new control room is anchored by a Broadcast Pix Granite 2000 integrated production system.

Located on the second floor, the control room is positioned between the council chambers and CCG-TV studio, with large observation windows in both connecting walls. With three wired drops in different areas of the City Service Center, as well as one at a new aquatic center across the street, the station can connect a camera, have it feed into the Granite, and go live with a press conference very quickly.

CCG-TV had been using an aging NewTek system, but Michael King, CCG-TV station manager, was ready for a change. When I had the opportunity to upgrade, I immediately knew I was going to get a Broadcast Pix switcher, he said. We were behind the times, so we decided to update what we had. Broadcast Pix is the main catalyst behind everything that's going on.

The new studio includes two talk show sets, which are used for a variety of programs. CCG-TV produces about 14 shows a month, in addition to coverage of four weekly council meetings, committee meetings, press conferences, educational videos, and community event coverage. King has one part-time and one full-time employee, but sometimes borrows staff members from other departments to help produce programming. The station has multiple field cameras, two dedicated studio cameras, and two edit suites, plus an additional edit station in the control room.

To avoid bandwidth issues, CCG-TV has its own wireless network, and can use iPixPanel, Broadcast Pix's iPad-based virtual control panel, to switch a show from anywhere in the building. That is another good feature that we have with the Broadcast Pix, King added.

During meetings, four new Panasonic HD PTZ cameras provide coverage of 10 council members, as well as other city officials and the public. King said the Granite is used to control all the cameras during a meeting, and camera presets are used frequently to simplify production.

CCG-TV uses many of Granite's built-in workflow tools, including Inscriber CG and Fluent-View, its customizable multi-view. With Fluent Watch-Folders, each show has its own folder for clips, graphics, and other interstitials. You don't have to shuffle through a lot of stuff you don't need, King explained. We do nine different programs. It keeps everything simple.

About Broadcast Pix

The leader in live video production systems with end-to-end integration, Broadcast Pix was founded in 2002 and has customers in more than 110 countries. Its Video Control Centers combine an integrated switcher, clip server, CG, and external control software with patented control panels, unique touch-screens, and exceptional displays. Systems range from compact systems controlled by touch-screen or voice automation to large sophisticated control panels. Customers include leading broadcast, streaming, sports, corporate, education, religious, and government studios. Learn more at http://www.broadcastpix.com.

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