Three TV stations owned by Media General have implemented Utah Scientific’s Dot.Box master control and routing technology to support cost-effective multichannel playout operation in HD.
Dot.Box gives the stations — WBTW in Myrtle Beach, SC; WJHL in Johnson City, TN; and WKRG in Mobile, AL — increased functionality in combing master control with a routing switcher. It handles both SD and HD content, and it’s scalable, enabling the stations to grow the system as necessary, according to Matt Heffernan, general manager of broadcast operations at Media General. The stations are also making use of the Utah Scientific MCP-GUI to interface to the company’s centralized master control system.
Media General uses a hub-and-spoke approach for centralized monitoring and control of its stations, with the hub for its ABC, CBS and CW affiliates located in Spartanburg, SC, and the hub for NBC affiliates in Columbus, OH. Utah Scientific's MCP-GUI software controllers at the hub can control the switcher in the event communication is lost with the automation system.
The Utah Scientific Dot.Box consists of a UTAH-400 HD/SD routing switcher and two MC-400 master control processor boards with MCP-400 master control panels. Both WBTW and WJHL are relying on routers in 64 x 64 configuration based on scalable architecture wired for the easy addition of I/O and master control channels.
