Salem Community Television of Salem, N.H., has deployed Echolab’s Overture2 video production switcher to handle the production needs of three community cable TV channels as well as to support video production training for high school students and community volunteers.
Salem Community Television’s studio and main production facility are located in Salem High School’s multi-use area, where the school’s television production class is also taught. The cable broadcaster also has multiple remote cameras including four robotic cameras in the high school gym and three in the auditorium, all of them feeding the Overture switcher and controlled from the main facility. The switcher also receives feeds from cameras located in the town hall across the street and from a webcam on the roof of the high school.
The cable channel was launched in the 1970s; subsequently a separate educational channel and later a government channel were added to the mix—all sharing the same production facility. As a result, the range of programming encompasses town and school deliberative sessions, an in-house studio show produced by high school students, sports and musical performances.
“The Overture digital switcher fits perfectly into our current operation, enabling us to continue to use legacy analog equipment while also providing an easy upgrade path to high-definition,” said Tom Giarosso, Salem Community Television executive director. “We have high-quality SD cameras, and we can now run their SDI signals directly to the board for better image quality. We also appreciate that the Overture has built-in conversion, which eliminated the need for additional equipment, thus saving us money and streamlining the system as a whole.
