WFAA-TV/DT is currently producing daily newscasts in HD with Fujinon studio lenses from the broadcaster's recently unveiled 4,000-square-foot remote studios at Victory Park in Dallas, adjacent to the American Airlines Center.
WFAA said its new facility has no control room, but has a fiber-optic connection to the station's main broadcast campus in downtown Dallas. At both the main facility and the Victory Park studios, four Grass Valley LDK 4000 HD cameras are using Fujinon HD lenses (models HA18X5.5BERD and HA13X4.5BERD).
The station notes the entire studio at Victory Park was conceived with HD production in mind. However, the Belo outlet did not want to build another control room, so it installed fiber optics to connect its downtown control room to the new studios. Three daily HD newscasts began airing earlier this year from the remote facility.
"At the end of the day it all gets down to content," said Dave Muscari, WFAA's vice president of Product Development. However, he added, "We are all mindful of the nature of a visual medium such as television." A large HD screen above the south wall of the Victory Park studios displays WFAA-HD broadcasts for pedestrian traffic.
