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Burst Awarded DTV Contract with KTVB
11/04/03 |
November 7, 2003 - Denver, CO -- Thanks to Denver-based Burst, KTVB debuted its DTV 24/7 NewsChannel at the end of October, making it one of the first stations in the country to run two separately programmed signals on their DTV channel, one in HD and one in SD.
KTVB Television, a Belo-owned property, in Boise, Idaho, added the channel to fill a need in the community for more local programming. In addition to providing greater opportunities for localism in the marketplace, 24/7 NewsChannel will serve as another promotional channel for KTVB newscasts, and as a KTVB brand extension. It also creates a new local product on a new distribution platform.
Initially, 24/7 NewsChannel will provide time-shifted newscasts for KTVB, as well as five other programs that won't appear on KTVB. Eventually, KTVB plans to produce newscasts unique to 24/7 NewsChannel and explore more hyperlocal programming.
Craig Harper, Belo’s Director of Engineering worked directly with Thomson Grass Valley Group and Sundance Digital to provide the specification guidelines for this new project.
"KTVB is ahead of the curve," said Scott Barella, vice president and chief engineer at Burst. "They're running two different signals on their DTV channel, which makes them unique in the country. Most stations are just running one channel -- a repeat of their normal broadcast -- on their DTV channel. This unique system fully leverages KTVB’s news dominance.”
"This was a massive project, and it's remarkable we were able to do it in less than 90 days," said Doug Armstrong, KTVB President/General Manager. "Burst helped by designing the entire layout and also managed the installation. They helped us work with other vendors and gave us several extra pair of hands and extra labor so we could condense the project into a 90-day window, which was necessary because we had a launch date promised in our contract with the cable company."
Richard Strack, Director of Engineering of KTVB Television was instrumental in keeping the project on time and coordinated with all the vendors involved. Under his direction, the project met all the critical milestones necessary to insure a successful launch date.
"The first thing we did was convert the existing two-channel automation system that ran both the Boise and Twin falls stations to accommodate a third completely unique channel," explained Barella. "Then we converted the sources from analog to digital so that the new channel would be purely digital based." Burst had previously converted nearly 70 per cent of the existing analog plant to an SDI embedded plant.
The system is comprised of a Thomson Grass Valley XP Profile server platform, a GVG Encore-Concerto routing base and Sundance Digital Automation. Burst Communications designed and implemented the new service in conjunction with Sundance Digital, and Thomson Grass Valley Group.
About Burst
Burst designs, engineers and installs creative, integrated systems for video, broadcast and presentation technologies. Burst specializes in bundled solutions to complex projects, from hardware and software, to installation and training. Owned and managed by Kirk Basefsky and Robin Heywood since 1991, Burst is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with satellite offices located in Arizona, California, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas and Utah.
For more information, contact scottb@burstvideo.com or call Scott Barella at 303-649-9600.
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