Kurt Rao

Tech executives from Tegna, Sinclair and CBS Owned Stations are looking to the cloud for major changes to their processes that offer new flexibility and scalability for their businesses. A single, cloud-based control room is near top of their wish list. Above (l-r): Tegna’s Kurt Rao, Sinclair’s Mike Kralec, Vizrt’s Jon Raidel and CBS Owned Stations’ Jeff Birch (Alyssa Wesley photo).

Executives from Fox Corp., Tegna, Sinclair and Bitcentral at least week’s NewsTECHForum said the cloud has become an increasingly important tool for business recovery, even with the caveat that the public cloud can be subject to its own outages.

Executives from Fox Corp., Sinclair, Tegna and Bitcentral will chart the trajectory of more and more news operations into the cloud or a hybrid cloud environment at TVNewsCheck’s NewsTECHForum on Dec. 14, presented in-person at the New York Hilton and virtually as well. Register here.

Executives from Tegna, E.W. Scripps, Hearst and Gray told a TVNewsCheck webinar last week that the cloud’s impact on master control operations is still years off, with those who have adopted hubbing still depending on traditional equipment.

Executives from Tegna, E.W. Scripps, Hearst Television, Gray Television and Bitcentral will explore the possibilities for hubbing some or all TV station group operations — and how much of a role the private or public cloud may play in those future designs — during an Aug. 5 TVNewsCheck webinar. Speakers are (clockwise from upper left): Dave Burke, SVP and CTO, Gray Television; Kurt Rao, SVP-CTO, Tegna; Ray Thurber, VP engineering, E.W. Scripps; Stefan Hadl, VP engineering, Hearst Television; Sam Peterson, GM, core business unit, Bitcentral. Glen Dickson, TVNewsCheck contributing editor, will moderate. Register here.

Executives from NBCUniversal Local (Frank Comerford, above), Tegna, Sinclair and Hearst told a TVNewsCheck webinar they’re bedeviled by persistent gaps in the available buying/selling pipeline, which have bogged down the transaction process and added to their expenses. Those woes are leading some broadcasters to bring more of their automated functions in house.

Executives from Tegna, Sinclair, NBCU stations and Hearst will evaluate the industry’s progress towards automating key elements of the spot TV buying and selling process in a TVNewsCheck Working Lunch webinar on May 19. Register here.

The pandemic has accelerated the TV industry’s transition to IP and the cloud. A panel at TVNewsCheck’s virtual TV2025: Monetizing the Future event in October will tackle how the new technologies can impact how broadcasters will generate revenue and cash flow in the coming years. Register here.

While the move from SDI to IP continues to pick up speed, more development — and better cooperation among key stakeholders — is still needed to improve advertising technology and deliver better measurement in order to complete with digital competitors like Google and Facebook.