TV Tech 511 - July 2025

Welcome to the July 2025 issue of

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AI TO WORK

Broadcasters advance with cautious optimism

equipment guide master control/ routing & KVM switches

Bruce Aleksander

Can Public Broadcasting Survive?

My favorite TV show of all time is the original “Cosmos” series broadcast on PBS in 1980-81. Over 13 episodes, the late Carl Sagan blended history, science and culture in eloquent prose that—combined with Vangelis’ soaring soundtrack and special effects that were advanced for its time—made for an unforgettable TV-watching experience that one New York Times writer described as “a watershed moment for science-themed television programming.”

Carl Sagan’s attitude would probably be considered too “woke” for today’s critics of public broadcasting, who are, once again, gunning for the elimination of funding for PBS and NPR. As I write this, the status of such funding is very much up in the air. While Congress has approved funding for the networks through 2027, opponents are hell-bent on ending federal funding once and for all, chipping away at things like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s “Ready to Learn” grant, whose funding was terminated by the U.S. Department of Education in May.

Around that same time, the Trump administration issued an executive order that called for the CPB to defund public broadcasting, saying “unlike in 1967, when the CPB was established, today the media landscape is filled with abundant, diverse and innovative news options. Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence.”

These are the same tired tropes that have been brought forth by (mostly) conservative critics for years. Talk to any longtime public broadcaster and you can almost see their battle scars; these worn-out criticisms come with the territory.

And it’s not hard to argue with some of their points; yes, the media environment has drastically changed and the idea of using government funding to increase diverse choices may seem outdated.

But have you taken a look at what most kids are watching today? In a media environment where YouTube has the most influence on kids’ television, having choices like PBS and NPR doesn’t seem so outmoded.

Public broadcasting has also been at the forefront of broadcast technology over its more than five decades of existence. Public broadcasting brought closed captioning to viewers long before it became mandatory for its commercial counterparts. Public broadcasting was also responsible for advances in satellite television and interactivity. Today, public broadcasters are finding new ways to advance features for NextGen TV that range from emergency alerting to distance learning.

In 1969, just as public broadcasting in the U.S. was in its infancy, Fred Rogers of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” appeared before Congress to advocate for funding. Many of us are familiar with his testimony on children’s education, which was so moving that a skeptical Democratic senator from Rhode Island, Sen. John Pastore, was won over in a scant 15 minutes, saying: “I think it’s wonderful. I think it’s wonderful. Looks like you just earned the 20 million dollars.”

Alas, we don’t have a Fred Rogers-type figure to defend it today, but the idea that public broadcasting—which has provided an oasis of culture, news and entertainment for American consumers at just pennies on the dollar—could be eliminated by the stroke of a pen should concern us all.

Tom Butts Content Director tom.butts@futurenet.com

Vol. 43 No. 7 | July 2025

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Fred Rogers speaks before a U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications hearing in support of public broadcasting, May 1, 1969.

FCC Seeks Public Comments On Changing Broadcast Ownership Rules

The Federal Communications Commission has issued a public notice seeking comments on national broadcast ownership caps, a move immediately applauded by the National Association of Broadcasters as an “important step towards modernizing a decades-old rule that limits television broadcasters’ ability to compete in today’s media marketplace.”

As previously reported, FCC Chair Brendan Carr has been increasingly vocal about his willingness to deregulate broadcast ownership rules as a way to help station owners better compete against big tech

companies and strengthen the market position of local stations versus the national broadcast networks.

The notice seeking public comment on ownership caps was issued one day after the U.S. Senate confirmed Olivia Trusty as the second Republican FCC member. Trusty, who was sworn in on June 23, gives Carr a 2-1 GOP majority on the commission. In May, Carr said: “We have these arcane, artificial limits on how many TV stations any one company can own. But, of course, that doesn’t apply to Big Tech. So you have, you know, relatively small TV-station groups

that are competing with Google and Facebook and others in the advertising part. So I want to ultimately empower those local stations and, frankly, constrain some of the power of those national programmers.”

In the public notice, the Media Bureau reopened comments on a 2017 notice of proposed rulemaking on national ownership caps that limit station groups from owning or controlling broadcast television stations reaching more than 39% of all U.S. television households. The National Cap NPRM also sought comment on a component of the rule that provides a 50% discount to UHF stations for purposes of calculating compliance with the 39% audience-reach cap, often referred to as the “UHF discount.”

ATSC Honors Aldo Cugnini, Clarence Hau

ATSC, The Broadcast Standards Association, honored veteran technologist Aldo Cugnini and Clarence Hau, NBCUniversal senior vice president of standards, policy and advanced engineering, at its annual meeting last month.

Cugnini is recipient of the 2025 Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award, which is bestowed once a year to an ATSC member whose technical and leadership contributions have been invaluable and exemplary. The Lechner Award recognizes its first recipient, the late Bernard Lechner, for his outstanding service to ATSC. Lechner was the retired staff vice president, advanced video systems for RCA Laboratories. His 30-year career at RCA covered all aspects of television and display research.

“Aldo Cugnini’s long-standing dedication to ATSC and his pivotal work in ITU-R have been instrumental in positioning ATSC 3.0 as a truly international broadcast standard,”

ATSC President Madeleine Noland said.

“His technical expertise, collaborative spirit, and international leadership make him richly deserving of the 2025 Lechner Award.”

The ATSC also recognized NBCU’s Hau as the 2025 recipient of the prestigious Mark Richer Industry Leadership Medal.

“Clarence’s passion, determination, and deep technical insight have made a lasting

impact,” Noland said. “His efforts are not only helping to shape the future of television but are also directly enhancing the viewing experience for audiences everywhere, including me. With this honor, we’re recognizing Clarence’s bold, forward-looking leadership and also NBCUniversal’s key role in the NextGen TV rollout.”

The award honors individuals or teams who demonstrate exemplary leadership in advancing ATSC’s mission and embody the vision, tenacity and commitment that defined the legacy of former longtime ATSC president Mark Richer.

The ATSC board of directors is recognizing Hau for his outstanding contribu-

tions to the progress and implementation of NextGen TV. His leadership within NBCUniversal and across the industry has played a pivotal role in advancing ATSC 3.0, the committee said.

“I’m very appreciative of our longstanding partnership with ATSC, and proud of NBCUniversal’s role in bringing enhanced and innovative experiences to local audiences through NextGen TV,” Hau said. “This is a tremendous honor, and one that was made possible due to the ingenuity and collaboration of my NBCU colleagues and our partners, who’ve dedicated themselves to delivering on the great potential of the new broadcast standard.”

Brendan Carr

L to R: ATSC President Madeleine Noland, Aldo Cugnini and ATSC Board President John Taylor.

L to R: ATSC President Madeleine Noland, former ATSC President Mark Richer and Clarence Hau.

OPINION

‘Toothpick’ to Titan

Who knew that former FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington could be so quotable? But he let some doozies fly June 12 at the 2025 ATSC Meeting and NextGen Broadcast Conference in Washington, D.C., that one can only hope reflects the future direction of the reconstituted commission.

Looking down the road at the broadcast business, Simington said he sees datacasting as a means for broadcasters to get into the business of connectivity in a big way.

Phil Kurz

“You’ve got three legs of the stool right now: You’ve got connectivity, which is more like a toothpick than a leg; you’ve got ad sales; and you’ve got retrans,” he said. “With the pressure on others, the connectivity business is the only one that has a clear engineering advantage over any plausible entrant.”

Highlight, underscore and boldface that critical clause: “the connectivity business is the only one that has a clear engineering advantage over any plausible entrant.”

Whether that’s connectivity to back up GPS data from vulnerable satellites, connectivity to reach internet of things (IoT) devices simultaneously with a single transmission or connectivity to offload certain traffic from unicast wireless networks, broadcasters have a technical advantage upon which they must capitalize.

to allow datacasting to flourish.”

All of this should be music to the ears of Conrad Clemson, the new CEO of EdgeBeam Wireless, the datacasting joint venture of four major broadcast groups. It should be the same for any broadcaster who recognizes the competition for ad spend only gets stiffer with each passing quarter or wonders how long the retrans gravy train can continue as cord-cutters chip away at MVPD subscriptions.

As this is being written, Olivia Trusty, a Republican, has been sworn in as FCC commissioner, joining FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump nominee confirmed in 2017 and named chair with the incoming administration, and Democrat Anna Gomez.

Even with Trusty now on board, the agency is still two commissioners short—and perhaps most importantly, one shy of a quorum—one can only hope that eventually it will be constituted of members who see things a bit more like Simington and a bit less like former Chair Jessica Rosenworcel.

What makes the (now) former commissioner’s ATSC keynote even more powerful is that elsewhere he demonstrates a clear understanding of what connectivity and datacasting can mean to the health of the broadcast business.

“Long-term, I look at datacasting as enabling broadcasters to switch their primary source of revenue from connectivity and away from ad sales,” he said. And elsewhere in the speech, he said, “There’s really no option but

Three short years ago, Rosenworcel told an NAB Show audience that ATSC 3.0 was “the right framework for right now” and that the “voluntary market-based” transition—with no new channel assignments for simulcasting as was done during the analog-to-digital transition—gives “broadcasters the opportunity to experiment with this technology [3.0], develop use cases and try to figure out what use cases work at scale.”

Even if one were to accept that ATSC 3.0 at that time was enabling broadcasters to experiment—something that would have surprised major TV manufacturers committed to NextGen TV—it’s clear that the use case testing phase is over, and it’s time to clear the way to let that toothpick grow into a titan.

Analysts: Netflix’s Plan

to Offer Broadcast Feed in France Won’t Spread to U.S.

Netflix last month signaled its willingness to notably expand its livestreaming efforts with a surprise deal to stream the large French commercial broadcaster TF1 in France.

While Netflix has been expanding its offerings of live sports and events, the deal to offer TF1 marks the first time Netflix has committed to a 24/7 live feed, LightShed Partners analysts Richard Greenfield, Brandon Ross and Mark Kelley explained in a note to investors.

“Consider TF1 a French experiment,” they wrote. “We’ll learn for the first time if a meaningful number of consumers want to watch live TV beyond sports and news on streaming.”

TF1 won’t launch until the summer of 2026, they stress, adding that investors should not “expect TF1 to be a template for other markets anytime soon. If it does work for Netflix, it would likely be replicated in international markets,” but not the U.S.

“France (and other European countries) is also quite different from the U.S. broadcast TV market, as there are no affiliate TV stations,” they wrote. “TF1 is a singular TV station that operates throughout France. Netflix’s TF1 deal cannot be replicated in the U.S., where Netflix would need agreements with all of a broadcast network’s local station groups to incorporate local programming such as news and sports. That would be torture and hard to imagine ever happening.”

That said, the LightShed analysts think the launch could be a win for both parties. “TF1’s scale in France is akin to aggregating ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC together [and] TF1 dwarfs everyone else on linear TV in France,” they argue. “Given that TF1 and TF1+ are free to all consumers in France, and the fact that Netflix will help meaningfully drive viewership of TF1 linear and on-demand programming in France, boosting ad sales, we suspect the cost of the deal is quite reasonable.”

Former FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington

Broadcasters Push AI to New Levels

Stations are overcoming early doubts to recognize its competitive edge

By Fred Dawson

As TV broadcasters shift from wary tire-kicking to increasingly enthusiastic adoption of AI technology, new ways of doing things are taking hold at lightning speed in news production and myriad other aspects of station operations across the country.

At the same time, getting AI right no matter what it’s used for is top of mind everywhere. “We have to be really sharp about what we do with the efficiencies we find,” Sinclair Chief Innovation Officer Scott Ehrlich says. “It’s not just about the availability of functionality; it’s about how people actually use it. So it’s one step at a time.”

PRAGMATIC RECOGNITION

Still, the overarching question now is, where will a growing stampede toward cutting costs in a competitive marketplace lead? As worries about the downsides—including the impact on jobs—give way to pragmatic recognition of the risks that come with being left behind, the likelihood grows that once an AI application lends a competitive edge to its users, other station groups will jump on board.

“AI represents a massive shift in culture and technology that we’ve only tapped the

surface of,” Jeff Zellmer, executive vice president of digital operations at Fox Television Stations, says. Acknowledging that he, like everyone else, has “no idea where it’s going,” Zellmer voices the widely held perspective that “this is an area of growth we need to understand and be involved in.”

Preserving jobs remains a top priority for Fox Television and every other station group we talked to for this article, but the long view casts a different light on the issue. “Honestly, if we aren’t working on learning how to use AI every day, we won’t be ready to use it for something that’s absolutely critical for us,” Zellmer says. “Not taking advantage of that could have a big impact on jobs and our company’s fortunes over time.”

Lee Zurik

Station owners across the country say they’re taking cautious, responsible approaches to making AI an essential element in the operational toolbox, freeing people to do more things rather than replacing them. In growing numbers, they are implementing internal expertise and positions on the org chart aimed at vetting solutions and coming

up with new ways to use the technology.

Gray Media’s approach typifies the current state of mind. “We’ve been very cautious with AI as a company, because viewer trust is our North Star,” Lee Zurik, senior vice president of news strategy and innovation at Gray Media, says. “We’ve been smart and methodical in how we’ve looked at AI, and now we’re ready to roll out some applications.”

Where things go from here and how fast largely depends on where the rubber meets the road as stations find reliable suppliers of whatever they’re looking for. AI “is an extremely exciting opportunity,” Zurik says, but the viability of products touting AI support “is all over the lot.” Talking with “dozens and dozens of vendors,” Zurik’s team is finding “some products are really good and can help us, but others still have work to do on accuracy and other issues,” he says.

MULTILINGUAL AUDIO

Not surprisingly at this early stage of exploration, there’s a wide gap among station

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Content Personalization Gets a Makeover

AI, cloud-based solutions, streaming platforms and FAST are opening up new opportunities

By George Winslow

Content personalization has been a hot topic ever since the emergence of niche cable networks and the VCR in the 1980s allowed consumers to access content geared to their particular interests and control how and when they watched it. But in the last several years, the importance of finding better ways to tap into consumer preferences has become the key to surviving and thriving in an increasingly complex media landscape.

“Personalization really has to be top of mind,” says Preston Smalley, vice president of product management at Roku, which is working hard to maintain its position as the most popular streaming platform in the U.S. by improving the user experience with customized user interfaces, new content destination zones, better search and other efforts to personalize streaming.

KEEPING VIEWERS INTERESTED

As personalization has become more important, Smalley and others stress, the scope of those efforts has also expanded from its traditional focus on content discovery and on-demand offerings into a host of newer areas like live programming, live sports, free-ad supported streaming TV (FAST) channels and even broadcast TV, where ATSC 3.0 (aka NextGen TV) can deliver much more personalized content.

The wider scope of content personalization efforts also comes as consumers complain about the cost and complexity of streaming.

A 2025 survey from Deloitte found 41% of respondents said the content available on SVOD isn’t worth the price—up 5 percentage points from 2024—and nearly half (47%) said they pay too much for the streaming services they use. Large numbers of respondents (39%) also say they have canceled at least one SVOD service in the last six months, and churn rates are much higher above 50% for Gen Zs and millennials. That raises marketing and retention costs for streaming services and makes it harder to monetize the hefty investments in programming and sports rights. A 2024 Hub Entertainment Research survey found, for example, that 59% say it’s gotten more difficult to find the sports they want to watch.

“Personalization is clearly where the puck is going right now in terms of being able to deliver content to people on their terms and the way they want to consume it,” explains Julie Souza, global head of sports, AWS. “It’s really an important part of how you engage not only segments of your existing audience and fan base, but also how you attract and entice new fans for a sport or the content you’re producing.”

METADATA MILESTONES

Achieving those goals starts with metadata, Souza and others stress. “Metadata quality is crucial; if the metadata is insufficient or inconsistent, the recommendation system can’t make precise matches, leading to poor suggestions,”

Roku has made major changes to its user interface to make it easier for sports fans to find content for their favorite teams.

says Maria Bakirtzaki, lead product manager, Synamedia. “The quality of user interactions is also a key challenge. Inaccurate, incomplete, or siloed data about how users engage with content make it harder to accurately understand their preferences and personalize their experience.”

Gabriel Mandelbaum, vice president of content strategy and management at Mediagenix, agrees. “When embracing the personalization topic, broadcasters or streaming platforms often discover they need a metadata strategy to clean and normalize it,” Mandelbaum adds.

To address those issues, Mediagenix acquired Spideo, a search and recommendation specialist, and is now positioning personalization as a key element of its platform.

Souza of AWS stresses that several tech trends, including improvements in AI solutions and the move to cloud-based technol-

ogies, are helping companies clean up and better use their data. “More and more you’re seeing content in the cloud and being able to be indexed in a way that is searchable and more efficient,” she says

For example, AWS worked with the NFL to “rationalize their fan data and create a unified view of their fans” that overcame problems with partial data records, duplicate data and multiple sources of data. “This yielded real results in their marketing campaigns,” she says.

IMPACT OF AI

AWS has also been using generative AI to create customized content for sports leagues. “That results in more articles read by fans [who] increased their app utilization and average time spent,” she says. “There is a lot of opportunity there and we’re just scratching the surface.”

Balinder O’Neil, vice president of solution engineering at Quickplay, adds that his company is using AI to create custom short videos for clients that can be monetized with ads and used to drive users back to longer-form content.

Others agree. “We can now use AI to generate the right data and give us a nice customized, personalized highlight reel from different bits of video that already exist,” explains Paul O’Donovan, senior director MK.IO product manager, MediaKind. “This is very, very beneficial for the content owners because you are actually creating new content that can be monetized.”

These AI tools can also be used to create more personalized ads and help companies find better ways to package them. “We can also analyze the content with AI and figure out the best places to place ads,” which further improves the viewing experience, O’Donovan explains

The importance of personalization for monetizing content also extends to subscriptions and customer retention, ThinkAnalytics Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder Peter Docherty says.

“If you want your viewers to come back more often, if you want them to keep paying you, if you want to reduce churn, then you have to engage them in the best possible way,” he says, which means personalization is fundamental to success in a variety of areas,

including addressable advertising, contextual advertising and even FAST channels.

That is making AI not only important in creating better content search engines and customized content experiences. It also affects operations by providing editorial and programming teams with tools to improve how they program their services and develop better, more personalized content, Dockerty says

MAKING THE GAME YOUR OWN

The push for personalization has been particularly important in sports, where the migration of rights from linear TV to streaming made accessing games more confusing while also opening up opportunities to personalize the fan experience.

“Personalization in live sports is now a baseline expectation—from targeted ads and tailored audio to local language commentary, custom graphics and on-screen data,” explains Rick Young, senior vice president of global products, LTN. “The era of ‘one-to-many’ broadcasting in live sports is over.”

“Live sports has become more fractured and it has become harder to find and follow your favorite team,” says Smalley. Roku has made ma-

jor changes to its user interface to make it easier for consumers to find sports content. “That is a real problem for sports fans so we’ve put together these destinations for each of the leagues to make it easier for fans ”

Sports isn’t the only type of live content companies are pushing to personalize. Zeam, for example, has been helping many broadcasters and FAST channel providers to customize and create FAST channels that offer localized content and more personalized hyperlocal experiences. “We give them tools to build FAST channels and FAST on-demand channels,” says Jack Perry, CEO of Zeam Media, which has also launched Zeamcast, a marketplace where streaming services can easily acquire broadcast content to customize and localize their programming

Quickplay is using AI to create custom short videos for clients that can be monetized with ads and used to drive users back to longer-form content.

Such efforts will become even more important for broadcasters as NextGen TV

becomes more widely available. Built on an IP standard, it has all the capabilities to target and customize ads and content that streaming services offer.

“With ATSC 3.0, you are basically combining the benefits of over-the-air broadcast with the ability to collect data instantaneously through the feedback loop so that you can personalize for all over the broadcast channels,” Naveen Narayanan, vice president of product management at Quickplay, says. “It will mean you can start personalizing more and more of the broadcasts as well.”

“Today, early adopters we partner with are experiencing real value through addressable ads, shoppable content, interactive overlays, and intelligent emergency alerts with enhanced accessibility features,” LTN’s Young adds. “These aren’t future concepts, they’re live, monetizable opportunities, powered by infrastructure that’s in place right now.” ●

When the Glow Starts to Go: When to Change Your LED Lights

Slow fade-out makes knowing when it’s replacement time a challenge

We tend to think LED lights will last forever—they don’t, although 50,000 hours, plus or minus, is a very long time compared to legacy light sources. Assuming some driver component doesn’t suddenly fail, LED lights die more subtly; they slowly fade away. The challenge is knowing at what point they need to be replaced. LEDs don’t burn out the way incandescents do. Instead, they tend to degrade gradually like fluorescents, but without the telltale tube-end blackening. At some point, following many hours of service, they will wear out and need to be replaced. That point is now being approached by the earliest adopters of LED lighting.

because their light-emitting layer is some distance from the LED chip’s most intense energy. The trade-off is that remote phosphor lights are limited to a single color temperature.

As phosphors wear unevenly, the color changes. Those “white” presets no longer work as intended, and color fidelity drifts. Some manufacturers (like ETC) already compensate for LED “droop” (or reduced output) caused by heat by adjusting individual LEDs in response to fixture temperatures in order to maintain proper color balance. A similar approach might one day address phosphor aging as well.

Sawtooth gaps in their spectrum profile can make flesh tones look splotchy and unnatural. More “full-spectrum” lights put their energy into higher color quality at the expense of brightness. In the early days of LED lights, the efficiency was too low to do a decent job of both. That problem’s been solved.

TOO MANY METRICS?

The lighting industry’s benchmark for the end of service life is defined as when LED output drops to 70% of its initial brightness. This is called the “L70” standard, where the “L” stands for lumens, and the 70 is the remaining percentage of its original brightness. Once output drops to that level, they’re declared “burned out.”

That brightness criteria only tells part of the story about how LEDs die, however. LEDs don’t just fade away; their color balance and fidelity can change over time.

TUNING INTO COLORS

Bicolor and full-color LED fixtures produce their intended shades of light by mixing several spectrum-tuned LEDs in combination. The mechanism for generating usable light from an LED is this: High-frequency (blue and UV) light stimulates the phosphors to emit a lower frequency of light. Think of it as changing largely invisible energy into colors we can see. The various phosphor “recipes” are “tuned” to produce different colors. Ah, science!

The resulting blend of light can remain correct for a very long time, but not forever. That’s because the phosphors slowly break down from heat and material fatigue. This is less of an issue with remote phosphor lights

First-generation LED studio lights were fairly primitive compared to what’s available today.

Early LED fixtures strained to meet our industry’s high standards for color quality. A major hurdle is that LED lights are discontinuous spectrum sources, much like fluorescent.

As color quality has become more important, so has our need to evaluate it. In fact, there are so many different metrics that it can be confusing. Of the many competing scales for color fidelity, including TLCI (Television Lighting Consistency Index), SSI (Spectral Similarity Index) and TM-30 (my current favorite), it’s CRI (Color Rending Index) that’s probably most familiar. We’ll use that as we discuss standards.

Every respectable LED studio light sold today has an excellent CRI score in the mid to upper 90s on a scale of 100. Excellence is now so common that you can find 90 CRI “bulbs” for your table lamp at the grocery store. Our studio lights should be at least that good. So, how do we ensure our lights measure up?

While an illuminance light meter can measure intensity, you’ll need something like the Sekonic C-800-U Spectrometer to know if the color fidelity is up to snuff.

Consider it a pass/fail test—anything less than 90 CRI is a “fail,” particularly for the important R9, R13 and R15 chips, which impact flesh tones.

Few LED lights from 10 or 15 years ago will clear this hurdle because the bar has been raised. LEDs are brighter, more efficient and have better color quality than ever. Improvements in LED design mirror the early days of computer chips: Each new generation outperforms the last.

“Close enough for TV,” like “state of the art,” is a moving target.

BETTER RESOLUTION NEEDS BETTER LIGHTING

The urgency to upgrade your lights will be influenced by what’s considered “good enough.” Nothing’s entirely obsolete if it can still provide some service. After all, when

BRUCE ALEKSANDER

EXPERTISE

lighting technology

fluorescent studio fixtures were first introduced, 80 CRI was considered “fine.” Today, what defines “close enough” when your audience is watching on 4K OLED monitors?

Can I just upgrade my old fixtures?

From an end-user perspective, it would be great if you could upgrade light engines as they fail. Unfortunately, the industry doesn’t work that way. With few exceptions, such as some Brightline, Kino Flo or Rosco fixtures, there’s often no way to repair, let alone upgrade, the light engine.

That inability to upgrade, or even repair, is a neglected issue in the broader lighting industry. Sadly, most fixtures are destined to be trashed when they reach the end of their useful service. Manufacturers should be encouraged to do better by our willingness to pay the price for fixtures that can be repaired or upgraded.

correction gels can help extend their usefulness. But remember that 10-year-old fixtures are unlikely to make it to 20 unscathed. Should your lights fail the test today, it’s time to plan and budget for their replacement tomorrow.

Educating your management team on the predictable life cycle of LED lights can help dispel the notion that they last forever. People less involved with lighting may not yet understand how much the technology has transformed. It’s no longer just replacing a burnedout lamp; it’s replacing the entire light fixture—at least for now. That may change over time, but the reality today is that LED lights don’t simply die—they fade away. ●

If your older fixtures are still working, perhaps they can fill secondary roles on your next studio set—if not the more critical task of lighting talent. Using “old school” color-

Bruce Aleksander invites comments from others interested in lighting at TVLightingguy@hotmail.com.

Extended CRI reading tracks 16 different chips for color accuracy, where 100 is perfect. This example (the Furiosa bicolor light by Maxima) scores extremely well.

NAB Show Pt. II: Focus Shifts To Supporting ATSC 3.0

Tech innovators turn to tweaking products to ease the rollout of NextGen TV

Typically after an NAB Show, I’d be writing about new transmitter innovations, new antenna designs and new RF test equipment. This year, I didn’t find many. Existing products saw some improvements, but nothing like I saw at past shows, as transmission technology evolved from klystrons to IOTs to solid-state amplifiers, which in turn evolved to LDMOS transistors and Doherty amplifiers. DTV modulators evolved from card frames filled with circuit boards to a few chips taking up less than a postcard’s space on a circuit board.

and RIST. Papers in Broadcast Engineering and IT (BEIT) sessions from One Media Technologies and Amazon Web Services (AWS) described cloud-native ATSC 3.0 distribution systems.

See the AWS presentation “ATSC 3.0 and TV 3.0 in the Cloud,” available in the BEIT Proceedings, for an excellent description of the problems encountered in delivering reliable ATSC 3.0/TV 3.0 STLTP streams over the internet and how they were solved.

devices on display in the ATSC booth in the West Hall, but there remains a long way to go until all TV receivers have ATSC 3.0 capability.

I was happy to see that MediaProxy—which uses the Silicon Dust HDHomerun tuner—was able to get A3SA approval for decrypting ATSC 3.0 content in its server. Ideally, other professional equipment vendors, such as Airwavz, will be able to add decryption to their software. Handling decryption in an approved app or web browser should make it easier for device manufacturers such as Silicon Dust or GTMedia to support decryption.

While I didn’t see many new products, I did see existing products and software that had been improved to better support ATSC 3.0 and make conversion to ATSC 3.0 easier.

UDP OVER IP ISSUES

Stations and station groups have started relying on internet connections and cloud-based encoding, and converting these distribution platforms will be more complicated. Fortunately, the ATSC STLTP (Studio-to-Transmitter Link Transport Protocol) standard works great for point-to-point distribution, but use of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) over the internet can cause problems.

With ATSC 1.0, if an ASI or UDP packet is lost, the viewer may experience a brief freeze in the picture or a short audio interruption. With ATSC 3.0, if an STLTP UDP packet is lost and STLTP’s forward error correction can’t fix it, transmitters today will kill the RF, which can take several seconds to return to full power when the next good packet is received.

Packet loss and latency variations on internet links require the use of additional protocols such as SRT

It was encouraging to see more real-world ATSC 3.0 issues being discussed at the show—we may not have much time to work out the bugs before ATSC 1.0 is shut down! There was a wide range of applications and

5G BROADCAST MAKES GAINS

Like year, 5G Broadcast equipment was on display with OMB and Televes showing 5G Broadcast systems. At the Televes booth, I saw a demo using phones from One Plus and Samsung with the Qualcomm chip. I’ve written about 5G Broadcast in the past, and while it has been shown that it is inferior to ATSC 3.0 in efficiency and coverage, proponents argue it will be easier to include in smartphones.

An OMB rep said they were finding interest in 5G Broadcast from Eastern European countries and in smaller countries where smartphones were the primary device for watching video and broadcast TV was still analog.

There was also discussion of improvements to 5G Broadcast, which is based on LTE technology, to incorporate some of the tools, such as interleaving, that make ATSC 3.0 more robust in upcoming 3GPP releases.

Before NAB Show, HC2 Broadcasting requested permission from the FCC to use 5G Broadcast on its LPTV stations. “SuperFrank” Copsidas recently received a construction permit to move his LPTV in San Diego from VHF to a UHF channel. Considering Qualcomm’s location in San Diego, I would

Using the GTMedia HDTV Mate ATSC 3.0 USB tuner to watch a NextGen TV signal on an Android phone.

DOUG LUNG

EXPERTISE

expect him to request approval to use 5G Broadcast on that station after the move.

We will likely see more 5G Broadcasts on the air before next year’s NAB Show. The question, of course, is how many phones will be able to receive it and when will they be available? I’m using a $59 ATSC 3.0 USB tuner from eBay with my Samsung S24 now. While not yet available in the U.S., One Media has shown dongles and phones with ATSC 3.0 reception for a few years now.

NEW NEXTGEN TV TUNER TESTED

Back to my ATSC 3.0 phone: It is the GTMedia HDTV Mate ATSC 3.0 USB tuner (check Amazon, eBay and Aliexpress; price and availability may have changed since tariffs were imposed; I currently see unit prices from $40-$70). I had good results with it at the NAB Show and was able to pick up the Black Mountain ATSC 3.0 transmission in both the West Hall Food Court and behind the ATSC booth in the West Hall.

The device worked fine on my Samsung S24; the tuner was able to receive both ATSC

It was encouraging to see more real-world ATSC 3.0 issues being discussed at the show.

3.0 stations in Washington, D.C., WIAV-CD and WHUT-TV. The device uses the Sony tuner/ demodulator chip; ATSC 1.0 performance is excellent. The HDTV Player app is the best Android tuner app I’ve seen, allowing tuning directly to a specific channel. Signal level in dBm and SNR in dB are displayed numerically and on bar graphs.

At present, the app only works on Android devices. It does not support content protection, although after tuning to a protected stream it displays a message indicating “DRM channels will work with a further version on DRM-certificated devices.”

In my next column, I’ll return to a popular topic—TV receive antennas. Like many of you, I often get asked to recommend an antenna. However, instead of focusing on specific antenna makes and models, I’ll show you how to use physics to evaluate a receive antenna not by its miles of coverage, but by its looks. ●

As always, your comments and questions are welcome! Email me at dlung@transmitter.com.

The GTMedia HDTV Mate ATSC 3.0 USB tuner displays program guide information on a cellphone screen.

An ATSC 3.0 chip within the GT Media HDTV Mate tuner.

Microphones: There’s More To It Than Just Point and Play

Capturing broadcast sound relies on a sophisticated grasp of mic technology’s nuances

Broadcast sound is crafted from a variety of microphones so that the final/composite sound field replicates what your ears really hear and the information your brain processes as the sound environment. It is amazing that your brain, along with some directional head-pointing, creates and mixes the soundtrack of life, everything around you, with all of its glorious sonic details. Plus, the brain remembers what you think it all sounds like and what you like.

Basic microphone physics begins with a single transducer/ diaphragm capturing the entire sound field. In theory, a single omnidirectional microphone should be able to capture the sound field like your ear however, there are significant diminishing returns the further you move away from the microphone diaphragm. An analogy a camera lens can focus in on an object for a “close-up” while a microphone cannot.

capture must be above this base layer of noise.

Early sports sound depended on just a few microphones that often blended a pleasant holistic representation of the sound field. Shotgun microphones inherently overreach their targeted sound and detect background clutter, like spectators. Often, this resulted in a good balance of sport and spectator sound from a single microphone. It was not until surround and immersive sound that the audio mix needed more defined spectator zones, which required the spectator atmosphere and ambiance to be captured separately from the event-specific sounds.

A sound field is a composite of all the acoustic environment’s sounds with all the different intensities, moshed with direct and reflected sound waves that all blend and interfere with each other to create an “acoustic gumbo.” This is the simple reason why it is impossible to capture all the details of a soundscape with a single microphone.

SEPARATING THE NOISE

Typical sound environments are full of noise, which attenuates the clarity and fidelity of a sound source. Go into a venue and just listen—there is a base level of sound from HVAC systems and ice coolers, but mostly from the diffusion and decay of many complex sound waves. The problem is that your audio

Mono transducers inherently have “full omnidirectional pickup” and are crafted for separation by physical characteristics like housing, porting and mounting. For example, a directional microphone is designed to reject directions and frequencies either physically by construction and design or electronically. Construction and porting creates cancellation of certain frequencies in the sound field that may not be desired, while electronics are also used to shape aspects of a sound field through cancellation, equalization and electronic manipulation.

Further, with fast computers, there has been success with multicapsule microphones that are capable of specific pattern isolation known as “beam forming.” The beams are electronically mapped and able to track the focused microphone beam pattern on a moving object such as an athlete or a ball.

Additionally, combinations of microphone capsules are used to create the illusion of stereo, surround and even immersive sound.

There is no doubt that the materials and technology of modern microphones are capable of a close-to-perfect representation of a sound field; however, capture still seems to be a mystery. A mediocre microphone can sound decent if it is properly mounted Unfortunately, I am surprised that I still see shotgun microphones flat on camera lenses check out baseball.

HOW TO AIM A SHOTGUN

A shotgun microphone is designed and constructed to have focused-forward reach

A shotgun microphone flat on a camera lens.

DENNIS BAXTER

EXPERTISE

where the microphone is pointed ; however , this requires full 360 - degree free-field sound, not reflective sound from the camera lens. When the shotgun microphone is placed flat on the camera lens there is a “boundary” boost, but there is also frequency alteration.

Microphones benefit from accurate and proper axis and direction orientation. When stereo shotgun microphones were introduced , there was some carelessness with the left/right and even the up/down orientation of the microphone, so the sound didn’t match the picture . In a quiet setup , this may be difficult to detect, but it is obvious when the microphone is mounted on a handheld camera.

Television sound is about presenting an appropriate enhancement to the picture subject to interpretation, taste and the technology of the day. Most sound mixers work hard to get those singular microsonics that are unmistakably the event, but the

great sound mixers have clean capture and a knack for that proper sonic blend.

Even though the entire broadcasting signal chain is digital, the beginning and the end are still analog. We live in an analog world and we ingest analog sound and visuals and convert frequencies to brain waves. So when the A1 sound mixer asks for some more microphone, humor them, because you know why. ●

Dennis Baxter is the author of “A Practical Guide to Television Sound Engineering” and the publication “Immersive Sound Production A Practical Guide” on Focal Press. He can be reached at dbaxter@dennisbaxtersound.com or at dennisbaxtersound.com.

A shotgun microphone mounted on a fish pole.

eye on tech | products and services

Telestream Telestream Qualify

Telestream has introduced new capabilities to Telestream Qualify, a cloud-native quality control (QC) solution. Qualify uses advanced AI and machine learning to automatically identify languages, including English, Spanish, Mandarin and more. This ensures accuracy even with complex situations involving accents, regional dialects and noisy audio environments. The automation eliminates manual errors and accelerates global distribution pipelines. Qualify seamlessly integrates with platforms like Vantage and media asset-management systems such as Iconik, creating a robust end-to-end workflow.

It features extensive QC tests, ranging from general validations like duration and bit-rate checks to advanced video and audio analysis. The inclusion of AI-enabled profanity detection ensures compliance with evolving content regulations and moderation standards.

❚ www.telestream.net

Avid/Amazon MGM Studios

Avid Media Composer, NEXIS on AWS

Avid has announced an extended agreement with Amazon MGM Studios to integrate Avid’s Media Composer and Avid NEXIS on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The new integration enables the studio’s customers to deploy Avid’s editing and storage solutions via the cloud to fit their specific production needs, Avid said. Amazon MGM Studios and Avid began a strategic collaboration three years ago that will continue as the companies explore ways to integrate other Avid tools via the cloud. The launch of the Amazon MGM Studios integrations follows the unveiling of the Avid on AWS production framework at the 2025 NAB Show.

Alfalite SKYPIX RGBW & IM LED Panels

Alfalite’s new SKYPIX RGBW & IM ceiling-mounted LED panels are designed specifically for virtual production (VP XR) environments. This new solution combines RGB video playback with an integrated white-lighting channel, delivering more natural, coherent and adaptable scenes from above. FOR-A America is the exclusive U.S. business partner of Alfalite.

The SKYPIX series is aimed at film, TV, advertising, live event and broadcast productions working within VP XR environments. With a 3.9mm pixel pitch, up to 9,000 nits of RGB brightness and a 7,680-hertz refresh rate, SKYPIX offers precise light control, a color temperature range from 3,200 to 6,504 kelvins and a TM-30 color rendering index (Ra) of 90. Its average power consumption of just 35W (90W max) makes it an energy-efficient option for long studio sessions..

❚ www.for-a.com

Verbit Captivate ASR

AI voice transcription and captioning platform Verbit has added a feature to its Captivate ASR solution—the ability to identify specific features in automated captioning—that the company is billing as an industry first. The new feature dramatically improves the quality and clarity of automated captions during live broadcasts by identifying not just speaker changes, but the speakers themselves. Launching with Verbit’s media customers across news, weather and live sports, the speaker ID feature delivers a clearer understanding of fast, overlapping and multispeaker dialogue as well as a more accessible experience for millions who rely on captions, the company said.

The deployment of Avid tools in AWS empowers distributed creative teams, accelerating turnaround times while cutting complexity through flexible, software-defined workflows, the companies said.

❚ www.avid.com

Synamedia

ATSC 3.0 Media Edge Gateway

Synamedia’s new Media Edge Gateway (MEG), is an ATSC 3.0 software-based integrated receiver/decoder (IRD), with support for device-security requirements specified by the ATSC 3.0 Security Authority (A3SA). With MEG as a front-end device gateway, users can achieve cost savings of up to 80% when compared to a full system upgrade. It enables large broadcasters and station groups to take in over-the-air signals in one format, such as ATSC 3.0 or 1.0, and output in the other. Cable operators can use MEG to input ATSC 3.0 and output ATSC 1.0 in an existing facility. For remote monitoring needs, users can input over-the-air (OTA) signals and output IP. A3SA develops protocols for securing ATSC 3.0 services using IP-based encryption protocols, device certificates and rights management technology conforming to the ATSC 3.0 Security Standard. Synamedia purpose-built MEG as an all-in-one OTA, satellite and IP receiver.

❚ www.synamedia.com

Verbit’s professional Global Prep Team captures voice profiles, or “voice signatures,” from designated speakers, such as anchors, reporters or sportscasters, before a program goes to air. These signatures are labeled, added to Verbit’s trained acoustic and language models and activated during live broadcasts to accurately and clearly tag speakers in real time.

❚ https://verbit.ai

ARRI Network Interface Adapter NIA-1

ARRI’s new Network Interface Adapter

NIA-1 offers camera and lens control via Ethernet, designed to bridge modern internet-protocol workflows and traditional LBUS-based camera and lens control systems. By adding Ethernet connectivity to the ARRI Electronic Control System (ECS), NIA-1 enables seamless integration, advanced remote control and scalable multidevice configurations. ECS tools such as the Hi-5 hand unit can now function with negligible latency over an IP network, expanding third-party camera compatibility and benefiting both cine and live productions.

The compact NIA-1 features LBUS, Ethernet, and USB-C connectors. The status of each connector is displayed on the touchscreen, which provides an intuitive user interface. The NIA-1 can also be controlled from any device in the same network via a web interface.

❚ www.arri.com

Live Stream King Delivers High-Quality Projects With Blackmagic Videohub

USER REPORT

Ajeet Siewnarine Founder The Live Stream King

TORONTO—In 2019, I founded The Live Stream King, a Torontobased livestreaming and audiovisual solutions provider. With more than 600 live streams under our belt, The Live Stream King has produced and streamed a range of events for clients such as Walmart, TD Bank and more.

many reasons why we launched an OB truck to achieve seamless setups and flexibility to meet our clients’ needs. Because many of the projects we work on require in-venue configurations, we opted for a modular approach that can be easily adjusted and allows us to use only what’s necessary for each project, no matter how small or big.

DESIGNED TO STREAM

Our OB truck is equipped with Blackmagic Design products that allow us to deliver each

ISO live production switcher.

We also use an URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 as well as a Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio for editing. Recently, we started using the DaVinci Resolve Replay Editor for multicamera editing and replays for sports.

At the heart of our workflow, a Blackmagic Videohub 40x40 6G router is paired with the ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K, which is primarily used for large gigs where we need a lot of inputs/ outputs. We also use a Video-

In 2025, we introduced a modular OB truck to expand the company’s offerings even further. Over the past several years, I’ve seen the company grow exponentially, allowing us to service customers in diverse industries ranging from weddings to concerts and sports to religious gatherings. Our success in North America has been one of the

project with precision. For large events, we usually use an ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K live production switcher paired with an ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel 10. For events that need a more mobile and compact setup, we use an ATEM Television Studio HD8 ISO live production switcher and for smaller productions, we rely on an ATEM SDI Extreme

hub 20x20 with the ATEM SDI Extreme ISO to feed projectors, confidence monitors, screens and internal routing to our system, eliminating the need for multiple SDI splitters and resetting cables. Signal flows are managed through our main Videohub 40x40 6G. By having a networked interface and app control in our iPads, every team member can

make changes to their tasks and preferences as needed. The small preview screen on the Videohub 40x40 6G ensures that the appropriate signal is coming in when assigning it. For the truck setup, each person can use their iPad or the Videohub Smart Control Pro, allowing them to make changes to their own screens or inputs/ outputs without having to be physically next to the switcher.

VIDEOHUB SETUP

The Blackmagic Videohubs allow inputs to be assigned to any output very quickly, eliminating the need to manually unplug and plug cables. Sometimes we may want to send different feeds to different devices for display, recording, monitoring or GFX purposes, so having the Blackmagic Videohubs as our central component rather than tons of cables smooths out our workflow.

Looking back at some of the projects we worked on recently, like the Badminton and Racquetball Association winter competition, snocross racing events and plenty of conferences, I am amazed at how we were able to rely on the Blackmagic Videohubs to manage all of our SDI workflows so efficiently. Having input all cameras and media sources to the Blackmagic Videohub, then outputting them back into the ATEMs, monitors and the rest of the gear, was extremely easy and allowed us to deliver each project with superior quality. ●

Ajeet Siewnarine is the founder of The Live Stream King. He can be contacted at admin@thelivestreamking.com.

For additional information, contact Blackmagic Design at 408-954-0500 or visit www.blackmagicdesign.com.

To expand our livestreaming operations, we deployed a new OB truck with Blackmagic solutions with a modular design.

equipment guide | master control/routing & kvm switches

Crispin Upgrade Enhances Continuity For Wisconsin Public Media Outlets

USER REPORT

Al Ritchie Operations Center Manager Wisconsin Educational Communications Board

MADISON, Wis. The Wisconsin Educational Communications Board (ECB), the public media hub in Wisconsin, partners with the University of Wisconsin to deliver television and radio content statewide through six TV stations, six TV translators and 39 radio stations, reaching audiences through PBS Wisconsin, Wisconsin Public Radio and our most recent partner, Milwaukee PBS.

We manage TV master control operations with the primary goal of ensuring that content is delivered to all stations with uninterrupted service. Automation plays a key role in making that happen, and we rely on Crispin’s RapidPlayX 2000 and CORE master control automation systems with the webRPX playlist tool to keep us on the air.

OUT WITH THE OLD

Our previous aging automation was no longer supported by its manufacturer, prompting our search for a new, reliable system. Crispin’s technology stood out from the field.

We started running the Crispin automation in shadowcasting mode alongside our existing software to let the system prove itself and within a few weeks, we were confident about cutting over to Crispin exclusively. Maybe an hour after that cutover, I remember our executive di-

rector walking down to see how things were going. I said, “Great, we’re all going out to lunch!”

The new system has increased our broadcast reliability and reduced user errors significantly. We’re comfortable knowing that the system is running and just works.

The Crispin system’s scalability is a benefit as we add more coverage for viewers statewide. In 2023, Milwaukee PBS approached ECB about expanding our Crispin system to include managing their master-control needs. We started by running similar shadow-casting tests and even before we cut over, we got our first big test.

Wisconsin’s governor was delivering a speech to be broadcast statewide. Milwaukee PBS was planning to use their previous master control, but soon realized they were more comfortable with ECB’s service. Even

though it was still early in the test phase, they asked if they could take our Crispin playout on-air for the speech, and the broadcast was seamless with no issues. That was the historic day we went on the air in Milwaukee for the first time.

DISASTER RECOVERY

Like all stations, we are always preparing for a natural disaster or event that takes us off the air. With Crispin’s support, we’ve established an off-site disaster recovery (DR) location on the University of Wisconsin campus. Our initial DR goals were to just survive and stay on air with whatever we could pass through, starting from scratch and building up. We soon decided we’d rather immediately continue broadcasting media previously scheduled for air from our DR facility.

Crispin developed a new ap-

plication for its AssetBase peer synchronization technology to create a separate, fully synced off-site database that ensures we can continue media acquisition and playout of our full programming schedule in a seamless cutover. Other than sending data from A to B, our primary and DR Crispin systems operate separately and really don’t know about each other.

It doesn’t need to be a fullblown emergency for this DR system to serve our broadcasting needs—if our primary location is doing maintenance work or there’s any situation where we would otherwise need to shut down, we can easily switch over to our alternate site and maintain on-air continuity.

Most broadcast errors are userrelated and Crispin’s intuitive software interfaces have significantly reduced those instances. If we ever do experience any issue— system or user-related—we know Crispin’s support will provide the peace of mind and reliability essential for public media. ●

Al Ritchie, operations center manager at the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board,is a 25-year veteran at ECB and PBS Wisconsin, having worked as an engineer and operator in both master control and production environments. He has seen and overseen the implementation of several iterations of broadcast technology and is committed to public media’s service-oriented mission. He can be reached at al.ritchie@ecb.org.

More information is available at crispincorp.com.

equipment guide | master control/routing &

PTN Transforms Operations With Take One Productions, Imagine Versio

USER REPORT

Kevin Martorana President Take One Productions

LANCASTER, Pa —At Take One Productions, we’ve been producing professional video content from Lancaster since 1984. What started as a corporate video company has grown into something bigger, especially in our work creating long-form commercial spots for the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau (PMVB), and in 2023, when we took over full broadcast operations for the Pocono Television Network (PTN).

PTN is a 24/7 television network available on streaming, over-the-air and cable. Designed to promote the Pocono Mountains region, PTN presents original segments like “Pocono Perspectives” and “Pocono Mountains Magazine,” local weather, live webcams and features on small businesses and regional events. Since its inception in 2017, the network has gained significant traction, quickly outgrowing the capabilities of its original distribution provider.

MORE THAN PLAYOUT

To support this growth, we needed a platform built for demanding broadcast television operations. Our checklist included a playout system that managed ingest, media storage, graphics and master control, all while delivering scalability and rock-solid reliability. And because our studio is in Lancaster and PMVB is two hours north in Stroudsburg, it had to be cloud-based.

All these requirements led us to Imagine Communications’ Versio fully integrated on-prem and cloud playout system with

the Versio Control configurable master control dashboard.

We reviewed a lot of playout systems and most felt bare-bones. But when we saw Versio in action, we immediately knew it was different—providing a fully integrated, cloud-capable playout system that could do everything we needed and more. We didn’t want a system we’d outgrow in a year; we wanted something we could build on, and Versio has proven to be exactly that.

Today, Versio is the engine behind PTN’s master control. We’re using the Versio Control dashboard to switch between live production, clip-based feedback and live weather from the Poconos area. In addition, the dashboard plays a critical role in our workflow. Before we go live, we check the interface to confirm that everything is properly synced and running as it should. That final verification step is essential—and Versio has be-

come our go-to tool for ensuring broadcast continuity.

NO DOWNTIME

Not only has Versio been incredibly easy to operate, its reliability has been exceptional. In more than two years of continuous 24/7 broadcasting, we haven’t experienced a single minute of downtime due to a system failure—that’s virtually unheard of in this industry. On the rare occasions when we’ve had a question or issue, Imagine’s support has been outstanding. We open a ticket and within minutes, we’re on a live call with a team that resolves the issue right then and there.

With the Versio platform’s scalability and cloud capabilities, we’ve extended PTN’s reach far beyond what was possible just a few years ago. We’ve expanded from a handful of local cable systems to nearly a dozen across Pennsylvania. We stream live

and on-demand content to major streaming platforms, and we’ve also added over-the-air broadcasting in six markets—with more on the way.

For a regional tourism network, that kind of reach is a major step forward. And as we look at future possibilities such as launching a second PTN channel, we know we have a platform that’s ready to grow with us. ●

Kevin Martorana is an Emmy Award-winning producer and director with more than 40 years of industry experience. Always on the cutting edge of the industry’s evolving technology, Kevin combines new formats with creativity and tech know-how to create top-quality video content for Take One clients. He can be reached at kevin.martorana@takeoneprod. com.

More information is available at imaginecommunications.com.

For PTN, we’re using the Versio Control dashboard to switch between live production, clip-based feedback and live weather from the Poconos area.

equipment guide

Lawo Workspaces

Lawo Workspaces are a mobile approach to working with Lawo’s platform-agnostic HOME Apps.

These remotely accessible user interfaces, wrapped around modular container and microservice-based HOME Apps, provide mission-specific production functionality on the go. With their HTML5-native architecture, Lawo Workspace-ready HOME Apps can be controlled from any desktop, laptop, tablet or phone, providing low-latency audio, video and control via a browser-based user interface. Workspaces automatically adapt to different screen sizes, aspect ratios and orientations. Taking advantage of modern browser media capabilities, they can be used full-screen or picture-in-picture right out of the box. They also support resizable text, responsive reflow and selectable highcontrast variants for light and dark themes. They are also AR-ready for goggle-based workflows. lawo.com

Riedel StageLink

Grass Valley GV Orbit

Grass Valley’s GV Orbit orchestration platform is designed to configure, control, and monitor broadcast media networks across SDI, IP, and hybrid workflows within a single, unified platform. Built on open standards, GV Orbit unifies production elements under a single control interface, allowing real-time adjustments and seamless integration. With Dynamic Orchestration, broadcasters can instantly optimize resources and adapt systems to meet any production scenario.

This orchestration simplifies operations across complex environments, centralizing control and real-time monitoring for greater efficiency. With support for Grass Valley and third-party devices, GV Orbit provides flexibility and interoperability, empowering broadcasters to streamline their workflows without costly upgrades. The Dynamic Orchestration feature also allows broadcasters to reconfigure setups instantly, adding or removing devices and making adjustments on the fly.

www.grassvalley.com

Riedel’s StageLink is a high-performance audioover-IP interface designed for real-time, lowlatency audio transport in demanding live event and production environments. With StageLink, users can interface anything from audio to General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO). Unlike traditional setups that rely on expensive and inflexible specialized cabling for each signal type, StageLink edge devices use standard network components to establish a decentralized network.

Built on open standards including AES67, ST 2110-30 and ST 2022-7 for seamless redundancy, StageLink enables synchronized, multichannel audio distribution over IP networks. With dual-redundant SFP ports, flexible I/O configurations, and advanced diagnostics, StageLink delivers rugged and robust, scalable connectivity. Whether for touring, broadcast, or fixed installations, www.riedel.net

Guntermann & Drunck PersonalWorkplace-Controller

G&D’s new multiviewing tool combines flexibility and usability by enabling users to display, arrange, and operate multiple sources on a single monitor. The PersonalWorkplace-Controller allows operators to configure their workstations with different computer sources, improving workplace ergonomics by offering unlimited flexibility and high image quality up to 4K60.

The tool comes in different variants, catering to various applications. It supports virtual sources via streaming protocols, enabling content to be accessed on different external devices. With this powerful system, G&D caters to the growing complexity of control rooms by providing an adaptable solution for designing individual and ergonomic workplaces. The PersonalWorkplace Controller comes in a variety of different configurations, including the PersonalWorkplace-Controller

Professional VO4 (4 RU) with 18 video inputs (including 2 x UHD@60 Hz, 6 x UHD@30 Hz) and four video outputs (5K@60 Hz). www.gdsys.com/en

FOR-A MFR-3100EX

The MFR-3100EX all-in-one production center can serve as a routing switcher, video switcher, multiviewer and downstream keyer in a single four-rackunit enclosure. Other features include: PTZ camera control, NDI High Bandwidth/NDI HX I/O and RTMP/SRT video streaming. This highly versatile unit is also an ideal choice for compact system-building. Beyond the essential roles it fulfills in any production environment, this comprehensive unit offers four additional features with the addition of an MFR-31VP video processing card: Add an MFR-31VP card to expand the unit with 1 M/E and 20 inputs/14 outputs video switcher function and take advantage of NDI High Bandwidth and NDI HX I/O and 4 keyers for P-in-P or downstream keying. Frame synchronization, 12G-SDI, audio muxing/ demuxing and other expansion are supported with other options. With the MFR-CTSP software control panel, all video switcher functions can be controlled with touch-panel operations. www.for-a.com/products/mfr3100ex

IHSE Draco vario XS

The IHSE Draco vario XS is the first of a new family of extenders based on the JPEG XS video codec, enabling the transmission of fullydigital video signals with resolutions of up to 5K/4K@60 via 1G network bandwidth. The DisplayPort 1.2 extender supports all established digital audio standards and the Draco vario XS extender is fully compatible with all Draco tera KVM matrix switches, which further increases its versatility and application possibilities.

Other key features include: operation of CPUs from a remote workstation with a DisplayPort monitor and USB HID devices (keyboard, mouse); no frame drops, lossless video codec (visually), full-color depth (10 bit per color, 4:4:4); transmission of monitor EDID information by hotkey; including permanent storage in CPU unit; embedded mode for lower video resolutions allows instant switching via Draco tera. www.ihse.com

equipment guide | master control/routing

Kentucky’s WPSD-TV Turns to Bitcentral To Modernize Local News Operations

USER

REPORT

Bill Evans President West Kentucky Media Group at Paxton Media Group LLC

PADUCAH, Ky.—It’s no secret the world of TV news is changing faster than a June storm. Folks don’t just wait for the 6 o’clock news anymore—they want content on every screen, anytime. At WPSD-TV, a leading television station in Kentucky owned by Paxton Media Group (PMG), that put us at a crossroads: We had to modernize how we work or risk falling behind the very people we serve.

WPSD-TV has always prioritized delivering community-focused news and information. To maintain this standard, we’re always looking for ways to continuously improve our operations by modernizing workflows, positioning ourselves as a next-generation regional media hub equipped with cutting-edge technology. This led us recently to turn to our longstanding partner Bitcentral to enhance efficiency while minimizing costs.

MULTIPLATFORM CHALLENGES

vironment. We knew that modernizing our workflows was no longer optional; it was essential.

For that, we needed tools that were not only reliable and cost-effective; they also needed to streamline operations across departments, help us archive and access years of valuable media assets more efficiently, support our digital transformation and create a technology foundation that will remain strong well into the future.

lets us get more mileage out of every story over every platform.

We also adopted Bitcentral’s Fusion Hybrid Storage (FHS) for our media library. This smart, scalable storage solution enables us to support our high-res video, metadata and proxies without overwhelming our infrastructure. And because we wanted to overhaul and future-proof our master control operations ahead of our move to a new facility, we installed Bitcentral’s

fast-moving multiplatform media world—and we’re in a strong position to explore new ways to grow and monetize our content.

Bitcentral’s technology has helped us streamline operations across the board. From simplifying maintenance to reducing day-to-day costs, their solutions have freed our team to focus on what matters most: delivering outstanding local news and storytelling to our community. Most importantly, working with Bitcentral has given us something invaluable: peace of mind. We know we can rely on their systems and support, not just today, but for many years to come. With that kind of confidence, we’re able to stay ahead of the curve, innovate with purpose, and unlock new opportunities as our industry continues to evolve. ●

Whether it’s travel and lifestyle stories, high school sports, breaking news or weather coverage, WPSD-TV keeps our community informed and safe. But with viewer habits rapidly evolving, we found ourselves at a crossroads. We needed to rethink how we operated to keep up with the demands of today’s multiplatform media en-

To meet our goals, we chose several Bitcentral solutions, including ViewNexa Channels to launch and manage FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) channels, efficiently distributing both live and on-demand content. We also deployed Core News Suite, which completely reimagined how we produce news by allowing our team to adopt a “produce once, publish many” workflow. This

Central Control system, which offers automated feed recording, traffic system integration, and real-time monitoring.

SOMETHING INVALUABLE

Partnering with Bitcentral has ushered in a new era for us at WPSD-TV. We’ve been able to bring innovation and efficiency to the forefront of everything we do. Today, we’re better-equipped to meet the demands of a

Bill Evans is president, West Kentucky Media Group at Paxton Media Group LLC. With a career spanning reporting, producing and newsroom leadership, he oversees a regional group that includes six newspapers and one television station.

Bill has reported internationally, earning industry recognition for his journalism. He has also shared his expertise as an instructor at Murray State University and as a guest lecturer at the University of Missouri and Arkansas State University. He can be reached at Bevans@WPSDLocal6.com

More information is available at bitcentral.com.

WPSD-TV deployed a variety of solutions from Bitcentral to help us improve the way we create and deliver news to multiple platforms.

equipment guide | master control/routing & kvm switches

Addis Media Networks Taps Apantac For Scalable KVM System

USER

REPORT

Jody Dresner Systems Consultant & Project Manager

SI Media SRL Assaf Hasson CEO of I/O Systems A.H. Ltd.

ADDIS ABADA,

Ethiopia

When Addis Media Networks (AMN) upgraded its broadcast facility in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a key part of the project involved implementing a flexible and scalable KVM system. As a government-owned broadcaster operating Addis TV, FM 96.3, a digital platform and a print newspaper, AMN needed a reliable infrastructure that would support a growing range of content and workflows.

The upgrade project was awarded to SI Media srl. (Treviso, Italy), with design and infrastructure support from I/O Systems A.H. Ltd. (Beit Shemesh, Israel) and Britt Broadcast (Nairobi, Kenya). The upgrade included the installation of a new master control room, audio systems and facility-wide IT infrastructure, all built around SI Media’s YES! workflow platform. The goal was not only to modernize AMN’s capabilities but also to future-proof the facility for continued growth and multiplatform production.

KVM OVER IP

age. For this part of the upgrade, the team selected Apantac’s KVM over IP system.

We chose Apantac because we needed a KVM solution that would link users and systems across a range of operational zones. Those included three master control suites (one per channel), production control rooms and the central apparatus room. The goal was to allow operators to access any connected system from any authorized

Gigabit Ethernet network. The system enables keyboard, video and mouse signals to be routed facility-wide without requiring additional switching hardware or complex cabling. Its modular IPbased design allowed us to scale gradually, accommodate different formats and easily adapt to changes in workflow.

Several key considerations guided the project—two were cost and value. Given AMN’s status as a publicly funded

For control room operators, the ability to switch sources quickly and without perceptible delay has improved efficiency and reduced friction.

FUTURE PLANS

The KVM system now supports daily operations across all AMN’s main production and transmission zones. Staff can access remote systems from any authorized console, improving flexibility, minimizing downtime, and reducing the need for physical movement between rooms.

With a growing slate of programming and increasing reliance on digital platforms, AMN is well-positioned to expand operations without a full infrastructure overhaul. Additional KVM transmitters and receivers can be integrated as needed, with minimal disruption.

One of the early decisions was selecting a KVM solution that could support operations across multiple rooms while remaining cost-effective and easy to man-

workstation with minimal latency or complexity.

To meet those requirements, the chosen KVM system included: 12 KVM-IP-Tx transmitters, compatible with HDMI, DVI, and legacy VGA sources; 28 KVM-IPTx-PL transmitters, with PoE (no external power supply), HDMI loop-through and support for resolutions up to 4K30; and 40 KVM-IP-Rx-P receivers, also PoE-enabled, with built-in scalers to normalize output resolutions for consistent display and clean switching.

This configuration allowed the team to create a distributed matrix over the facility’s managed

broadcaster, cost-effectiveness was critical. The Apantac system offered a balance of performance and price, delivering an enterprise-class solution within budget constraints.

In addition, the system was scalable and easy to use. The IP-based architecture supports phased deployment and future growth and is designed to accommodate additional studios, production areas and new formats without requiring major structural changes. System configuration and endpoint mapping are handled through a user-friendly interface, making it manageable for technical staff.

The success of the installation also highlights the value of modular, IP-based infrastructure in broadcast environments—particularly in regions where budgets are constrained but expectations are high. ●

Jody Dresner is systems consultant & project manager at SI Media SRL in Treviso, Italy, where he manages international broadcast installations. He can be reached at jody.dresner@si-media.tv

Assaf Hasson is CEO of I/O Systems A.H. Ltd. in Beit Shemesh, Israel, specializing in the design and integration of broadcast infrastructure. Hasson can be reached at assaf@iosystems.co.il

More information is available at www.apantac.com.

As part of a major upgrade project, AMN selected Apantac’s KVM over IP system to tie together multiple operations.

Matrox Avio IP KVM

Matrox Avio IP KVM extenders provide unparalleled image quality and performance with support for up to 4K resolution. Avio 2 ensures secure, real-time performance for mission-critical applications that require remote access to computing equipment. Leveraging open standards like IPMX, SMPTE ST 2110 and NMOS, Avio 2 offers scalable and flexible connectivity. Avio 2’s AES 128-bit encryption protects audio, video and USB signals, with access managed via Microsoft Active Directory.

Ross Video Carbonite Hypermax

Carbonite HyperMax supercharges

Ross Video’s most popular mid-sized switcher with big-mix powers. It offers users massive I/O optionality—over 200 I/Os with 4 MEs, or 8 MEs with 144 x 144 I/Os—all in a compact, software-defined frame. It is also designed to be easily customized for each production workflow, whether that’s SDI, 2110, NDI, DP or fiber, making it ideal for hybrid and IP environments of all sizes.

Avio 2 accommodates fiber or copper cabling, with field-configurable transmitter/receiver options. Supporting single-head setups, audio, and KM configurations, Avio 2 offers options like 1GbE or 10GbE connectivity and codec flexibility. Avio 2 features power redundancy for uninterrupted operation, a fanless design for silent reliability, and fast KVM matrix switching for efficient workflows. Avio 2 is ideal for control rooms, medical applications, broadcast studios, and live events. video.matrox.com/en

AJA Video Systems KUMO 6464-12G

AJA Video Systems’ KUMO 646412G is a high-capacity 12G-SDI router that features 64x 12G-SDI inputs and 64x 12G-SDI outputs for high-bandwidth, cost-effective signal routing. Targeted for a range of broadcast, production, post and Pro AV environments, KUMO 6464-12G offers powerful scalability, workflow security and increased bandwidth via 12G-SDI. Like all KUMO routers, KUMO 6464-12G provides the highest density 12G-SDI router in a compact, fanless design, with absolute silence for noise-sensitive environments, such as studio control rooms, audio booths and critical medical installations.

Redesigned for maximum reliability and performance, KUMO 646412G offers increased capacity for larger configurations while maintaining a compact 4RU height and slim profile, with support for 12G-SDI/6GSDI/3G-SDI/1.5G-SDI/270Mb and DVB ASI, 64x 12G-SDI inputs, and 64x 12G-SDI outputs. www.aja.com

Utah Scientific 400 Series Routers

The 400 Series Routers provide a single platform for all signal formats, including those used in IP networks. Robust tools for switching and processing signals drive a complete, integrated and flexible system for current and future facilities. Various configurations include the The UTAH-400 72R Router, UT400 144R Router, the UTAH400 288R Router, the UTAH-400 528R, and the UTAH400 1056XL Router.

Utah Scientific has introduced a family of advanced modules that greatly simplifies system design, delivering a wide range of router functionality in a single frame that otherwise would require the addition of external equipment. Modules enable SDI management, IP decoding and multiplexing of SMPTE ST-2022-6/8, synchronizing incoming signals to a common reference, clean-quiet switching on specific outputs, audio shuffling, de-embedding and embedding, AES, MADI and support for fiber and analog formats. https://utahscientific.com

Carbonite HyperMax’s flexibility and dramatically smaller size, weight and power consumption make it perfect for remote productions, live events and sports producers with ever-changing production requirements. It is also an ideal fit for news studios and other uses. Carbonite HyperMax provides news studios with dynamic licensing, allowing users to quickly expand or modify functionality to meet the demands of local, regional or global events and scenarios without additional hardware investment.

www.rossvideo.com

RGB Spectrum XtendPoint

RGB Spectrum’s XtendPoint KVMover-IP system delivers powerful, low-latency control that’s ideal for any environment, including master control and routing operations. Designed to streamline workflows and reduce operator fatigue, XtendPoint enables real-time control of multiple systems from a single keyboard and mouse—supporting up to eight video sources on dual 4K multiwindow displays. It operates over standard 1 Gigabit Ethernet using plug-and-play transmitters and receivers, requiring no software installation.

With its scalable architecture, XtendPoint supports both point-topoint and matrixed configurations across studios, control rooms and remote sites. By centralizing computing resources and reducing on-set clutter, heat and noise, XtendPoint enhances both performance and ergonomics—making it an essential solution for managing complex, highuptime operations.

www.rgb.com

people on the move

For possible inclusion, send information to tvtech@futurenet.com with People News in the subject line.

NEXSTAR

Nexstar Media Group has tapped Bill Nardi as vice president of station operations, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day broadcast operations of its more than 200 owned and partner local television stations across the country. He succeeds the retiring Mark Turner. Nardi comes from Tegna, where he was vice president, station operations, overseeing operations and engineering for that company’s 64 television stations and streaming platforms.

NAB

Colin Jones, executive vice president of corporate strategy and development, Cumulus Media, and president, Westwood One, has been elected chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters Joint Board of Directors. Jones takes over for Nexstar Media Group chairman and CEO Perry Sook, who becomes immediate past board chair. Elected as Television Board chair was Nick Radziul, executive vice president of Hearst Television.

WNET GROUP

The WNET Group, parent company of public television stations WNET New York; WLIW Garden City, New York; and NJ PBS, has hired Randall T. Decker as senior director, technology. In the new role, he will oversee infrastructure and production technology, as well as engineering and broadcast services. Decker had been a consultant for The WNET Group for the past 10 years. In 2011, Decker co-founded ZionMason Inc., a consulting and software development company.

EDGEBEAM WIRELESS

ATSC 3.0-based datacasting joint venture EdgeBeam Wireless has hired Conrad Clemson as CEO after a months-long search. A veteran leader in broadcast, media, telecommunications and techology, he most recently was CEO of EditShare and earlier had been the founder and CEO of BNI Video, a pioneer in service management platforms for pay TV. Clemson later held senior leadership positions at Cisco Systems, which acquired BNI.