KMBC-TV will begin airing its 5 p.m. newscasts out of a new facility this week (Aug. 23) in Kansas City that will prominently feature a larger news set built expressly for HD. The local HD newscast will be the first for Kansas City (Nielsen DMA no. 31), according to the station.
The new downtown home of the Hearst-Argyle broadcaster (along with sister station KCWE-TV) will provide a “flexible set” where a movable anchor desk and various camera angles will provide an array of vantage points of the open newsroom for viewers.
As is often the case with newly built or renovated news sets in the digital age, an expanded weather center has been prominently added to the mix at the ABC affiliate’s new studios, according to the Kansas City Star.
According to KMBC-KCWE General Manager Wayne Godsey, the newsroom is the heart of the station’s new facility. The newsroom surrounds a large circular assignment desk that is on wheels, and which will be shared side-by-side with the station’s Internet editors for its Web site. The assignment desk will be situated in various locations from one broadcast to another (and sometimes perhaps within the same cast), in order to show different aspects of the working newsroom.
Also, Cincinnati viewers got their first taste of local news last weekend (Aug. 19) when WCPO-TV began airing local HD news. The Scripps station, an ABC Affiliate, had a few first-night glitches involving graphics displays for both 4:3 and 16:9 aspects ratios, but the station reported no big problems, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
