PBS member station WHYY, in Philadelphia, has installed two fully integrated production systems from Broadcast Pix, one Granite system (model 5000, 2M/E channels) in its content production center (CPC) for live production and another Granite (model 1000, 1M/E) for training within its Dorrance H. Hamilton Public Media Commons — an 8000sq-ft interactive learning environment that opened last summer.
In the CPC, WHYY produces a number of original programs, including “First,” a 30-minute newsmagazine on Delaware.
In the Commons, which includes classrooms, field equipment and multistation editing rooms, a large, flexible multimedia studio space can host community and membership events, interactive seminars, or accommodate a live audience of up to 300 people.
A Granite system is the heart of the Visual Image Pod, which is located near the monitor wall and serves as the technical director’s station. A small audio mixer is positioned next to the production switcher control panel, although the station added a separate audio room with a multifunction audio processing system for more complicated projects. Other pods in the control room are tasked for ingest and library management, graphics and producers.
WHYY is also developing a Web Pod to support the creation and streaming of a second program that is different from the broadcast production, plus provide a direct workflow to social networking tools and additional resources to improve its online presence.
The control rooms in both areas, along with various other systems within the Commons, were designed by RJC Designs, a technology-consulting firm in Maryland.
