BURBANK, Calif.—As the largest privately held, minority-owned Spanish-language broadcaster in the United States, LBI Media Inc. produces more than 50 hours of original television programming at our Burbank Television Studios each week. Our Estrella TV programming catalog consists of more than 7,500 hours of original, Spanish-language television programming available nationally in genres such as talk, drama, comedy, variety, reality, music and more.
As a professional broadcasting company, with facilities nationwide and production studios in California and Texas, one of our main goals is to easily produce creative and engrossing broadcast audio as cost-effectively as possible. Our news studios’ fast-paced environments must be adaptable, quick to set up, easy to operate and able to shift focus as rapidly as the news itself. To accomplish this, we rely on Calrec Audio’s Brio 36 and Summa digital audio consoles, which enable us to work smarter (not harder) without compromising audio quality.
NEWS STUDIO UPGRADES AND BUILD-OUTS
We chose Calrec based on the company’s reputation within the industry and also to serve as a complement to the rental trucks we use, the majority of which come standard with Calrec consoles.
We purchased the Brio 36 earlier this year for LBI’s newly launched news operation in our Dallas office, while the Summa was acquired last year as part of the much-needed upgrade at our Burbank facility. When we replaced the existing console in the video control room in our Burbank facility, the audio engineers there immediately noticed a difference in the quality of the audio. Calrec delivers a pristine sound, which we were unable to attain with our previous console.
During the initial installation, Calrec also delivered top-notch technical support and training, which brought our team up to speed quickly and without interruption. I haven’t needed to speak to anybody at Calrec since; and, in all honesty, that says a lot about a company in my mind.
FAST-PACED PRODUCTIONS REQUIRE QUALITY EQUIPMENT
Smooth workflow is incredibly important to the successful operation of any broadcast operation, especially when going live. At LBI, we continually rely on both consoles for live programming for our local and national news shows, which include “Alarma TV,” “El Mameluco,” “iTestigo,” “Noticiero Cierra de Edicion,” “Noticiero Estrella TV” and “En Vivo.”
With the fast-paced nature of a live news broadcast, having Brio’s dedicated broadcast capabilities—such as scalable and managed I/O, comprehensive monitoring, surround sound and high-bus quantities—greatly improves workflow. This, in turn, ensures that LBI and its affiliate stations are producing top-notch content for viewers around the country.
SMALL SIZE, BIG (AUDIO) PUNCH
As with any studio, real estate is important in our production spaces. The compact form-factor of the Calrec Brio makes it an ideal general-purpose workhorse that can be used when needed; its connectivity with the company’s Hydra2-compatible equipment makes it even more versatile. Brio 36 even provides analog and digital I/O and GPIO, which are built into the surface, making the console ideally suited for the broadcast environment.
Both Calrec consoles have proven to be powerful, with great networking capabilities and the ability to scale to a large number of inputs and outputs. They are easy to drive, flexible and full of assistive features that allow us to concentrate on what’s coming up next.
Chris Buchanan has spent more than 30 years in television broadcast engineering. He was hired as the assistant chief engineer for KRCATV television in 1991 and was later promoted to chief engineer. When Liberman Broadcasting purchased the station, Buchanan remained on as the chief engineer and was promoted to vice president of engineering in 2005. He can be contacted atLBIinfo@lbimedia.com.
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