The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and HDNet join forces in first co-production
HDNet and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer have joined forces to co-produce international reports, beginning with a special report on the Mexican drug war.
HDNet aired the first segment of the two-part premiere last Wednesday. The second part will air on Wednesday July 3rd. The NewsHour, which is broadcast nightly on PBS, will include a separate report by correspondent Kaye.
In the reports for The NewsHour and HDNet World Report, NewsHour correspondent Jeffrey Kaye travels to Mexico to examine the Fox government’s crackdown on the country’s illegal drug trade.
Interviews with Mexico’s Secretary of Defense, Army General Gerardo Vega; the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Jeffrey Davidow; as well as a former drug dealer and police officials detail the campaign’s successes as well as the battles against pervasive corruption and poverty.
To find out more about HDNet programs go to www.hd.net.
DVS hires Sales Engineering Manager
Gerry Petraitis has joined DVS as its Sales Engineering Manager at the new East Coast office in Stamford, Conn.
Petraitis will work in the new office which covers sales, sales engineering and first line customer support in the eastern U.S.
Gerry comes to DVS from Quantel. He has nine years of experience in product management, systems integration and sales and customer support. He has also worked with a wide range of clients from TV networks to TV stations, video post, graphics and production facilities.
For more information visit www.dvsus.com.
SBE Central celebrates 30th anniversary during September convention
Chapter 22 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers will sponsor the Central New York Regional Convention on Thursday, September 26, 2002 at the Turning Stone Casino Resort Convention Center.
This will be the 30th consecutive edition of the original SBE Regional Convention!
The convention features the largest regularly scheduled display of state-of-the-art production, video, audio and editing equipment in the Northeast. Manufacturers, distributors and representatives will display the latest in broadcast and production gear, much of it digital and high-definition.
Admission to all convention activities is free.
To register visit www.sbe22.org.
SSL names new Broadcast, East Coast V.P.
Solid State Logic has appointed Steve Zaretsky to the position of Vice President Broadcast, East Coast. In this position, Zaretsky will be responsible for all broadcast customers within the region. Steve will report directly to Rick Plushner, President of SSL North America.
Zaretsky has held positions with New England Digital, Otari Corporation and Euphonix. Most recently, Zaretsky worked in the equipment finance business specializing in the professional audio and video marketplace. Zaretsky’s knowledge and experience enhances SSL’s leadership position as the broadcast industry aggressively moves to an all-digital workflow.
For more information about Solid State Logic click here.
TSL wins systems integrator TVNZ contract
Television Systems Limited (TSL) has been awarded the contract as systems integrator for a group of digital upgrade projects for Television New Zealand (TVNZ).
TSL is contracted to oversee the management of the detailed system design, pre-wiring, on-site installation, commissioning and training. The first component will be used during July 2002, covering the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, UK.
The equipment supply for the project is divided between TSL and TVNZ free-issue items.
TSL supplied Quartz routers, Vistek digital interface hardware, Trilogy talkback and JVC monitors. The systems hardware - desks, monitor stacks, audio monitoring racks, jackfields, etc. - will be supplied through TSL.
TVNZ is supplying the Sony MVS8000 vision mixer, newsroom studio cameras and accessories.
TSL is responsible for four major projects - all in SD format - Auckland TVNZ station router and master control room, news production control rooms digital upgrade and associated newsroom production area, small digital router and conversion equipment for mobile use, and a replacement station talkback system.
The station router and MCR replacement is to provide the basic digital infrastructure to link an increasing number of digital islands, the production suite upgrade is to replace legacy equipment and provide additional flexibility, and the talkback system is to improve capacity and versatility.
For more information go to www.televisionsystems.ltd.uk.
Videotek hires new V.P.
Videotek has appointed Peter Choi as Vice President of International Business. Choi's primary responsibility will be to stimulate international sales and develop new business around the globe.
Choi will manage the activities of Videotek's international Regional Sales Managers. Additionally, Choi will work directly with Videotek's South American dealer network.
Choi will be based at Videotek's Corporate Headquarters in Pottstown, PA.
For more information about Videotek go to: www.videotek.com.
Scientific-Atlanta, BarcoNet, launch new products at BroadcastAsia2002
Scientific-Atlanta and BarcoNet showcased the combined breadth of their advanced technologies with the Asian launch of digital solutions designed to maximize valuable network bandwidth at BroadcastAsia2002.
The broadcast and broadband companies featured several new products during the conference including:
- The Asian introduction of new digital broadcast solutions expanding the popular PowerVu family: a new PowerVu model D9850 Program Receiver, as well as new DVB compliant models of the PowerVu Advanced Modulator.
- The Asian introduction of a Transis rate compressor that makes network bandwidth work harder
- The Asian introduction of WebSTAR, a DPR362 cable modem gateway with broad functionality, delivering both wired and wireless home networking
- The Explorer 8000J digital interactive set-top designed for Japanese cable operators, using a native Japanese languageinteractive program guide delivered through Unicode support for Japanese and other double-byte characters
- .
The PowerVu model D9850 Program Receiver was also introduced at the show. This new delivery platform will use the latest silicon to provide high video quality and operational reliability to enable program delivery to large audiences of television viewers.
The product will support both analog and digital headend interface connections, provide Dolby Digital audio and use the proven security of PowerVu conditional access.
Scientific-Atlanta recently acquired Belgium-based BarcoNet.
For more information about Scientific-Atlanta, visit the Web site: www.scientificatlanta.com.
To find out more about BarcoNet, check out:www.barconet.com.
Did you miss BroadcastAsia2002? Click here for a recap.
NTL enjoys successful first half
NTL Asia Pacific has announced a successful first half of 2002, with a series of contract wins in territories across the region.
Prominent wins include upgrade, installation, consultancy and transmission contracts for some of the region’s key broadcast companies.
Malaysia
NTL has made significant progress in Malaysia in 2002, consistently building on past successes in the territory. Eleven radio sites and studios for IKIM, and a 7 TV transmitter build for NTV7 were built.
NTL is also providing a 10-year complete outsourcing solution for operations and maintenance service of the NTV7 transmitters.
NTL is also involved, initially through consultancy, in a number of key digital terrestrial television (DTT) and digital audio broadcasting (DAB) implementation projects with a range of Malaysian broadcasters.
Brunei
NTL is conducting a feasibility study into the implementation of DTT for Radio Television Brunei (RTB), with a contract to upgrade RTB’s radio automation system. The upgrade will involve new software as well as the installation of five on-air and five production studios with accessory equipment.
Thailand
NTL's upgrades in Thailand include SNG ‘fly-aways’ for TV9, specialized replay systems for iTV’s World Cup coverage and radio studios for Sukhothai University.
Singapore
In Singapore, NTL is working with ZeeTV to deliver a contribution feed to ZeeTV’s playout facility in London via an uplink from Singapore and downlink to NTL’s UK teleport. Mirroring a regional trend, NTL has also recently been awarded a contract with a Polytechnic in Singapore to provide state-of-the art studio facilities to ensure that students have access to the latest technologies as part of their study programs.
NTL has also been approved as an Affiliate of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.
For more information about NTL visit www.ntl.com.
Pinnacle Systems appoints new president
Pinnacle Systems has appointed J. Kim Fennell as the new President and CEO of the company, effective July 1 2002. Fennell most recently served as President and CEO of StorageWay, a storage service provider in Fremont, CA. Prior to StorageWay he was a vice president and officer of Lucent Technologies.
As vice president of Lucent Technologies, Fennell was responsible for the Communications Applications Group, a $2 billion business unit focused on Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Internet protocol applications, and their voice and unified messaging business.
Mark Sanders, the President & CEO of Pinnacle Systems for the past twelve years, assumes the role of Chairman of the Board, and will continue to be actively involved in the company.
For more information go to Pinnacle Systems' Web site: www.pinnaclesys.com.
Bow Tie buys first Calrec digital console
London Outside Broadcast specialists Bow Tie Television have purchased the first Calrec Sigma 100 digital audio console for a brand new truck.
The truck is one of the first commercial high-definition units in the UK to feature a fully digital console.
The 48 fader, 52-channel Sigma 100 is to be installed into Bow Tie’s UNIT 2, a 13.6m expanding arctic trailer custom designed for sport, music and entertainment coverage.
Bow Tie operators said they selected the Sigma 100 because they wanted a desk that looked like an existing analog desk. It was also purchased because the ratio of faders to inputs is similar and has the ability to recall standard set-ups quickly.
The introduction of UNIT 2 brings Bow Tie’s number of OB units to five.
For more information about Calrec go to www.calrec.com.
To check out Bow Tie Television go to www.bowtietv.com/index.htm.
