BeckTV, a premier systems integrator for the broadcast media industry, has completed technical design, facility planning, and integration for the PBS News Hour studios and production facility at WETA, the flagship public media station in the nation's capital. The goal of the project was to create a modern, flexible, and scalable production facility that could support the needs of PBS News Hour, Washington Week with The Atlantic, and other shows. The new control rooms and studio launched on June 10.
PBS News Hour, public television's marquee news program, is a national nightly news show that has been broadcasting for nearly 50 years. The show moved from its old studios in an aging production building to a newly expanded part of the WETA headquarters and technical facilities a few blocks away.
WETA started working with BeckTV six years ago to build a budget plan and a high-level review of technology options, said Vince Forcier, Senior Director of Engineering at WETA. Their proposal stood out because, in every element of their response, we could tell they were listening and understood what we were trying to achieve. They continued to work with us through the design and construction process, ensuring that the facility met our technical and operational needs. From equipment evaluation and selection to facility design and final launch, working with BeckTV has been a great experience. This is our first full facility refresh in 17 years, and BeckTV was instrumental in making it such a success.
WETA hired BeckTV to build two control rooms, two audio control rooms, a comms position, a transmission room, a shading and robo room, four tape playback rooms, and 15 edit rooms, among other spaces all on a SMPTE ST 2110 backbone to enable IP networking. BeckTV planned for all technical aspects of the space, including technical furniture, power, cooling, circuitry, cabling, wiring and RF for all the studio sets, and more.
The two control rooms are identically loaded with redundant resources for resiliency. WETA operations typically uses one control room to run the weekly show out of Studio A, the main studio for PBS News Hour. The second control room is typically used to produce another nationally televised show, Washington Week, as well as the weekend PBS News Hour and other miscellaneous productions. BeckTV designed the control rooms to be redundant and interchangeable for any production at any moment. In the event of equipment failure, all or parts of the operations can move to the other room immediately and leverage its resources to continue seamlessly, even in the middle of a live show. BeckTV also made sure that the fiber infrastructure was designed for a redundant SMPTE ST 2022-7 blue/red network switch if WETA decides to implement it.
At the core of the facility is Grass Valley's GV Orbit orchestration system. Grass Valley also provided multiple cameras, two production switchers, multiviewers, gateways, and an audio router. Other major components include Lawo audio mixers, RTS intercoms, G&D KVM systems, EVS tape playback systems, Jetwave Wireless RF distribution equipment, Cisco network switches for management and Nexus 9504 media fabric, Vinten robotic camera shading, and Providius network monitoring.
Because everything is network-connected and interoperable, all audio, video, and metadata are available on the network switches, ready to be sent to tens of thousands of multicast addresses in an endless combination of video workflows. Working with such a robust system requires a good strategy so that things don't become disorganized and overwhelming, especially for broadcast engineers who aren't familiar with SMPTE ST 2110 networks. BeckTV planned every flow before it got to the configuration stage and then trained the WETA production staff so they could support the system after BeckTV s involvement ended.
An ST 2110 system is scalable in ways that an SDI system would not be. As the productions change and grow, WETA technicians have the flexibility to take audio and video from any source and send it anywhere very easily. This beautiful and robust technical facility will serve the popular PBS News Hour' show well for many years to come, said Brendan Cline, Managing Partner and Vice President of Engineering at BeckTV. Special credit goes to BeckTV VP and senior engineer Paul Kast, who was the on-site project engineer throughout the whole build.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Steinberg DAWs now boast in-depth Tonalic integration
Celemony's innovative virtual session musician plug-in has just received an update that brings ARA...
04/06/2026
Get Hands-On With Over 20 Mic Brands
GearExpo UK is fast approaching, and if you've been looking for a chance to check out some new mics, then you'r...
04/06/2026
Combos feature new Amplifier Intelligence engine
Positive Grid's latest release sees the company introduce two new combo amplifiers that promise to offe...
04/06/2026
Is Your Job Making You Work this June?
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...
04/06/2026
Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
BeckTV, a premier systems integrator for the broadcast media industry, has completed technical design, facility planning, and integration for the PBS News Hour studios and production facility at WETA, the flagship public media station in the nation's capital. The goal of the project was to create a modern, flexible, and scalable production facility that could support the needs of PBS News Hour, Washington Week with The Atlantic, and other shows. The new control rooms and studio launched on June 10.
