Chicago's CBS 2 News Ramps Up HD Remotes

WBBM CBS 2 in Chicago has begun setting up the infrastructure for its HD remote newsgathering by investing in more than two dozen Sony XDCAM HD cameras and Canon HD lenses. Over the next two months, CBS 2 said it will begin to deploy the new equipment and convert each of its news trucks and remote crews to laptop/d

Author:: TVTechnology
Publish date:: Jul 19, 2006

WBBM CBS 2 in Chicago has begun setting up the infrastructure for its HD remote newsgathering by investing in more than two dozen Sony XDCAM HD cameras and Canon HD lenses. Over the next two months, CBS 2 said it will begin to deploy the new equipment and convert each of its news trucks and remote crews to laptop/desktop computer editing. (The new gear also provides editing capability on the cams, as well.)

Projecting that HD will soon be "the new standard in broadcasting," the CBS O&O said it wants to be ready for the future by starting now to archive HD material for future news purposes. WBBM-TV maintains three fulltime news bureaus serving the Chicago region.

CBS announced this week that its 17 owned and operated stations have adopted the Sony XDCAM HD format for their newsgathering operations. The CBS O&Os in Boston (WBZ) and Chicago (WBBM) will be the first to take delivery of the new cameras in March, followed by the other 15 stations over the next two years. The XD

CBS2 Chicago/WBBM-TV broke ground Nov. 15 on a new broadcast center. The station will locate its entire broadcast operation at the 2 West Washington location. The 2,800 square foot broadcast center will be all digital and HD-ready. An 80-by-20-foot video wall will feature CBS news, special events, sports and enter

CBS is purchasing the Accom ProServ MX.8 HD/SD video production server as part of its efforts in converting one of its production rooms to HD. The purchase includes the ProServ MX.8 with Accom EasyClip software and is configured with four symmetrical HD video channels and eight tracks of uncompressed audio per vid

NBC13 (WVTM) in Birmingham, Ala., will transition its local news to 1080i on Oct. 17, starting with its 10 p.m. newscast, initiating what the broadcaster said is Alabama’s first local HD programming.

CBS stations move to high-definition news promo image

News crews already use Sony XDCAM SD camcorders. As those units are replaced, the network will upgrade to XDCAM HD

At the Sony pre-NAB press conference yesterday, Bob Seidel, CBS's vice president of engineering and advanced technology announced that the network would convert all 17 O&O stations to Sony's XDCAM HD format, upgrading from its current XDCAM format. WBZ in Boston and WBBM in Chicago will be the first stations to receive

Along with all its local newscasts, the station will air all of its specially produced local programming in HD, starting this Saturday, Feb. 9, with its special coverage of Chicago Auto Show, according to published reports.

Cox Communications has begun offering an initial serving of HD movie titles as part of its on-demand library.