Playout

Less than a week after letting its CEO go, Harris Broadcast has a new leader. The Denver-based broadcasting giant named Charlie Vogt CEO effective today. Vogt brings 25 years of IT and telecom experience to Harris. He formerly served as president and CEO of GENBAND, a maker of IP-based software and infrastructure products for mobile and cable network service providers.

WWSB photographer Charlie Yeagley didn’t have to pack much gear in order to go live to his station in Sarasota, Fla., while covering local legend Nik Wallenda’s historic tightrope walk across the Little Colorado River Gorge near the Garnd Canyon last month. The ABC affiliate used the JVC GY-HM650’s live streaming capability to air live press conferences before and after the walk.

You won’t have to go far to find extensive coverage from the NAB Show. With our new blog Playout taking the lead on tech news, TVNewsCheck and NetNewsCheck will report all that happens that’s important to you.

A recent TVNewsCheck/Playout survey shows chief engineers are heading to the NAB Show to shop for encoders, video storage, ENG cameras and more.

According to a TVNewsCheck/Playout survey, nearly 60% of TV station chief engineers at Big Four network O&Os and affiliates plan on attending this year’s NAB Show in Las Vegas.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, a founding member of the Mobile500 Alliance, is bringing mobile DTV to 12 stations across nine markets. The group’s Fox affiliates will also air in the Dyle mobile TV environment.

A recent TVNewsCheck/Playout survey shows that most chief engineers expect their operating and capital budgets and engineering staff levels to remain about the same in 2013.

Gray Television is rolling out TVU Grid, a cloud-based, real-time IP video distribution, switching and routing solution that lets networks and station groups share live content from multiple remote locations.

In February survey of station techs, more than 80% say are pessimistic or ambivalent about mobile DTV becoming a consumer success.

With Major League Baseball officially kicking off this week, let’s take a look at baseball’s first HD broadcast. In September 1997, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said HD makes the viewer feel like they’re right at the park. Can you imagine what a 4K or 8K broadcast would feel like?

A TVNewsCheck/Playout survey shows chief engineers are optimistic about the prospects of local TV broadcasting over the next five years. They also had positive things to say about their station and management groups.

The blog NewscastStudio.com is currently hosting the second round of its “Set Madness” tournament that lets readers decide which set has the best design.

A TVNewsCheck survey shows that when it comes to ATSC 3.0 — the next-generation television standard — chief engineers by a nine to one margin say delivering broadcasts to mobile devices is more important than broadcasting in 4K or 3D.

Four days after lightning hit its tower, the NBC-ABC affiliate in Sherman, Texas, is still scrambling to restore full service. GM Anthony Maisel wasn’t ready to put a number on the damages. “It’s a lot of money — at lot.”

Rumor has it that Apple plans on releasing a 4K “ultra HD” television set in late 2013 or early 2014. The smart TV would feature a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 and include voice and motion control functions.

At this year’s NAB Show, executives from Germany-based Riedel Communications will explain everything that went into the broadcast production of the Red Bull Stratos Jump, where daredevil Felix Baumgartner took a supersonic free fall from the edge of space — 128,000 feet in the air.

Vizrt plans to show off the 4K rendering capabilities of its flagship Viz Engine 3D compositing system at this year’s NAB Show. Petter Ole Jakobsen, the company’s chief technology officer, talks about what broadcasters can expect to see from Vizrt at this year’s show.