Broadcast Pix has shipped its 200th Slate HD unit (and 1000th overall Broadcast Pix system) to WRAL-TV, a CBS affiliate serving the Raleigh-Durham, NC, market. The pioneering digital TV broadcaster has purchased two Broadcast Pix Slate 5000 HD live production systems for its WRAL NewsChannel, a 24-hour channel offering news, sports and weather. The systems will be installed in new chroma key studios built specifically for preproduction of WRAL NewsChannel HD programming, and will go live in December.
The new Slate 5000 HD systems will also be used for preproduction of WRAL news over wireless programming. The station has been a Broadcast Pix customer for three years, using its Slate SD platform for WRAL NewsChannel SD programming.
According to Pete Sockett, chief engineer for WRAL-TV, cost savings and the single-operator approach of the Broadcast Pix product line prompted the decision to purchase the latest Slate 5000 HD systems for the new studios. Sockett said that compared with building legacy HD control rooms, the Slate 5000 HD reduces equipment costs by as much as $100,000 per studio because it integrates a variety of production elements (switcher, multiviewer, stillstore, aspect/format converter, and CG) into a single unit.
For more information, visit www.broadcastpix.com.
