KTVN, a Christian broadcast station in Little Rock, Ark., that is the flagship station for the Victory Television Network (VTN), has purchased the Broadcast Pix Slate 1000 integrated production system to replace older equipment and prepare for an eventual transition to HD production.
With coverage on more than 200 cable systems, plus local coverage from DirecTV, Dish Network, and AT&T U-verse, VTN can be viewed by most of Arkansas, as well as some communities in Missouri and Tennessee. The nonprofit organization also supports KVTH in Hot Springs, Ark., and KVTJ in Jonesboro, Ark., which serve as repeater stations for KVTN.
Located on the same campus as Agape Church, KVTN produces six Christian weekly teaching programs and coverage of quarterly fund-raisers, in addition to programming for another ministry. Sunday services from Agape Church are recorded for broadcast as well using a volunteer crew. Weekly programs are produced using limited staff, who take advantage of the Slate’s built-in Fluent workflow tools.
The control room upgrade was prompted by a digital conversion of the station’s master control. Purchased through Roscor Michigan in Farmington Hills, the Slate 1000 replaced an aging Echolab analog switcher and Inscriber CG. Dan Vukmirovich, KVTN Production Director, said he would have spent more than twice his budget for a separate digital switcher and CG, but was able to stay on budget with the Slate 1000.
KVTN did not make the move to HD when it upgraded its facilities. However, station officials are hoping to transition to HD within two years – and plan to take advantage of the Slate 1000’s easy HD upgrade path. “That’s one of the reasons we chose Broadcast Pix,” Vukmirovich said. Plus, using Fluent Multi-View, KVTN can use its existing 63-inch plasma monitor in the control room instead of investing in a bank of new HD monitors.
After KVTN installed its new Slate 1000 last month, station personnel quickly began taking advantage of its file-based infrastructure. The station is storing clips on the system and plans to use Fluent Macros to automate show opens and closes.
“Broadcast Pix was a natural fit into our integrated system. The Slate 1000 is intuitive and we like the versatility. PixPad is marvelous. We really like the DVE capabilities and Fluent Macros,” Vukmirovich added. “For the money, you just can’t beat Broadcast Pix.”
