BeckTV and TEGNA Media Collaborate

BeckTV and TEGNA Media Collaborate posted: 10/08/2016

Relocating Seattle Stations to New Broadcast Facilities in Popular SoDo Area

BeckTV, one of the United States premier design-build systems integrators, has completed the relocation of the TEGNA Media-owned stations KING, KONG, and 24-hour regional news channel Northwest Cable News (NWCN) to a newly remodeled building located across town in Seattles SoDo neighborhood and adjacent to the home fields of the citys Major League Baseball and National Football League teams, the Mariners and Seahawks. Collaborating with TEGNA Media on the design and build of broadcast facilities within Home Plate Center, BeckTV assisted with programming, space planning, broadcast system design, broadcast budget development, and system integration to enable a rapid transition to more robust and innovative facilities.

Working closely with BeckTV, we designed and built our robust, flexible technical TV facilities ahead of schedule and smoothly cut our broadcast channels over to the beautifully designed new SoDo space two weeks earlier than originally planned, said Dick Trumbo, technology manager at KING5. BeckTV not only aided us in negotiating the complexity of busy production schedules and in establishing a floor plan conducive to better collaboration and greater efficiency, but also saved us time and money in moving from our old building.

From its highly visible position near popular sports and social gathering venues, Home Plate Center transmits three primary master control channels including the No. 1 local news station KING5, the NBC duopoly station KONG16, and NWCN, as well as a subchannel to KING on over the air channel 5.2 and two other local commercial insert split-off channels for KING and KONG. Pedestrians walking by Home Plate Center can see into live newscasts from the street corner, where a ballistic window gives a behind-the-scenes live look into the main news studio.

News production across the three primary channels amounts to more than 18 hours of daily news content and is supported by two primary studios, as well as a free-floating third news desk studio on the second floor newsroom. The facility also boasts two identical and interchangeable production control rooms, a feed coordination console, and four flash camera positions.

BeckTV installed 65 miles worth of cabling within the new facility along with integrated equipment including an Evertz EQX router (288x252 with all HD-SDI sources) that is connected directly to multiviewing processors through high-density X-Link connections. BeckTV installed the master control air path using Grass Valley stand-alone and Densite frame components for subrouting, master control switching, monitoring, and audio processing. Crispin automation drives the five master control playlists using Grass Valley K2 Summit content playout servers. The production control room uses Sony ELC automation and a Sony MVS-6530 production switcher to produce an automated news product. Graphics are provided by Grass Valley Vertigo XGs and an Abekas Tria for clip playout. An IHSE Draco Tera KVM matrix gives production teams access from nearly every production seat.

The success of this project and of our ongoing relationship with TEGNA Media stems from our shared commitment to efficient design and technical pioneering - while staying on budget and on time, said Brendan Cline, project engineer at BeckTV. Taking advantage of cutting-edge technical solutions in an intelligent manner, the new Home Plate Center facility gives TEGNA Media the tools to create exceptional broadcast content from a hip, high-profile location that reinforces brand awareness and loyalty.

About BeckTV

BeckTV (formerly Beck Associates) is one of the United States premier design-build systems integrators. With more than 30 years of experience, BeckTV has designed and built more professional television facilities for more customers than any other systems integrator. In virtually every application from broadcast and cable networks, local TV stations, sports trucks, and stadium venues to educational institutions and houses of worship, BeckTV uses a collaborative approach to assure successful outcomes, on time and on budget. The company maintains full-service offices in Denver, New York, and Austin, Texas.

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