CBS announced this week that its 17 owned and operated stations have adopted the Sony XDCAM HD format for their newsgathering operations.
The CBS O&Os in Boston (WBZ) and Chicago (WBBM) will be the first to take delivery of the new cameras in March, followed by the other 15 stations over the next two years. The XDCAM Professional Disc system is based on the Blu-ray standard.
The deployment follows CBS announcement in 2004 that the news operations at its owned and operated stations would adopt the XDCAM system in a deal that was valued at $20 million. CBS News began acquiring and accepting XDCAM content in October 2005.
The announcement this week is further evidence of broadcasters' move to providing news in high-definition, at a time when broadcasters are also transitioning to digital ENG, according to the network.
"HD News is a hot topic on the minds of many in our industry, and it's critical to have the right technology in place when it's time to make the switch," said Bob Ross, senior vice president, East Coast operations, CBS Television. "For the CBS stations, Sony's XDCAM technology provides a strong foundation for future-proofing our newsgathering and production workflows, so our stations can migrate to high definition production at a pace that makes the most sense for them."
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