Three stations transition to Précis digital news workflow on same day

Three midsized TV stations transformed their news operations to an end-to-end digital production workflow on the same day using the same technology solution.

On Dec. 14, KSEE, the Granite Broadcasting station in Fresno, CA; KMTV, the Journal Broadcast Group station in Omaha, NE; and KTVM, the Eagle Communications station in Bozeman, MT; kicked off tapeless, digital news workflows using the Bitcentral Précis file-based newsroom solution.

The three-week marathon effort to launch each station into digital news production on the same day involved training news personnel, installing the system, handling logistics and the actual conversion to the new tapeless workflow. Each station scheduled the move for the same time — a small window of opportunity between the November ratings and the end of the year holidays. That required Bitcentral to compress what typically takes six to eight weeks into the abbreviated schedule.

KSEE senior broadcast engineer Dave Bukowski likened the scope of the project to the preparations for the Y2K bug. According to Bukowski, the scrambling to prepare paid off in the form of a “smooth” transition that “was virtually flawless and within budget.”

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