Broadcast Pix Switchers Anchor TVW Control Room Rebuilds

Washington Public Affairs Network Converts to HD, Adds Granite, Five Mica Integrated Production Switchers

Broadcast Pix recently announced TVW, the Washington Public Affairs Network, has converted its entire plant to HD-SDI. The project included upgrading its three existing control rooms with Mica 1000 integrated production switchers, adding a fourth control room with a Granite 5000 switcher, and building two new mobile production units anchored by Mica 500 switchers.

“Most of our equipment dated back to TVW’s inception in 1995,” explained Renee Radcliff Sinclair, president of TVW. “We simply couldn’t upgrade our SD equipment anymore.”

Based in Olympia, about a half-mile away from the state’s Capitol Campus, TVW offers gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Washington State legislature, as well as coverage of commission and agency meetings, public policy events, and more. The channel is carried across the state by every cable company, plus TVW provides streaming access to all its coverage on the Web and three closed-circuit channels throughout the Capitol Campus.

Designed to minimize personnel requirements during productions, the three control rooms are each built around the Mica 1000 and feature identical equipment. Advanced Broadcast Solutions, based in SeaTac, Wash., handled the HD upgrade design and four-month installation, which was completed in January. Mark Siegel, president of ABS, said Broadcast Pix was the best choice for the facility because of the functionality of the switchers, including the built-in CG and external device control.

The Granite switcher was installed in the fourth control room, which is used with the facility’s production studio, as well as for additional legislative activities. Beyond meeting coverage, TVW produces original programming including a daily Legislative Review program, Capitol Headlines news briefs that are updated twice a day, and weekly series. Some productions use Broadcast Pix’s ClearKey advanced chromakey technology.

Sinclair is excited to have the new systems in place in time to handle the additional production requirements of this year’s election coverage. “The quality of the product is so much better,” she said, “and viewers are very positive about the changes.”

Operated by two-person crews, the mobile units feature the Mica 500, which control the Panasonic AW-HE130 PTZ cameras. The systems are contained in consolidated rolling racks and used to cover meetings of state agencies and other committees away from the Capitol Campus.

Marc Gerchak, director of engineering for TVW, said the Broadcast Pix systems were a great value because of the integrated toolset, and the built-in CG has also improved field productions. In the past, crews would have to return to the main facility and add graphics in post in real time. Now, graphics are inserted live during the production. “That alone saves us a lot of manpower,” Gerchak added.