KTVB in Boise, Idaho, has launched a 24/7 NewsChannel on its DTV channel, making it one of the first stations in the country to run two separately programmed signals, one in HD and one in SD. Facilities to add the channel were built in less than 90 days by Burst, a systems integrator based in Denver, Colo.
A Belo-owned property, KTVB, began the 24/7 NewsChannel at the end of October by providing time-shifted newscasts, as well as five other programs that won’t appear on KTVB’s analog service. Eventually, KTVB plans to produce newscasts unique to 24/7 NewsChannel and explore more local programming.
“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.
"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 percent of the existing analog plant to an SDI embedded plant.
The system is comprised of a Thomson Grass Valley XP Profile server platform, a Grass Valley Group Encore-Concerto routing base and Sundance Digital Automation. Burst designed and implemented the new service in conjunction with Sundance Digital and Thomson Grass Valley Group.
For more information, visit: www.burstvideo.com.
