Guiding TV Engineers And IT Across The IP Transition Together

TV’s transition from hardware to software and its migration to cloud and hybrid cloud workflows will find its best innovations if traditional TV engineering managers collaborate with their colleagues in IT. Technology leaders from Fox Corp., CBS Television Stations and Hearst Television will discuss the best strategies for facilitating a cooperative working environment in a TVNewsCheck webinar, How We Work Now: Engineering, IT and Optimizing the IP Transition, on Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. ET.

As more and more IT managers come into broadcasting from outside the industry and work alongside traditional television engineers, the two groups need to work together as they collectively wend their way through the transition from hardware- to software-based infrastructrure and the shift from on-premises to the cloud. The webinar will share best practices for facilitating that work.

“IT people need engineering people to help them with creating efficient and optimal workflows as they switch to software to help enhance security and improve efficiencies,” said Kathy Haley, TVNewsCheck’s publisher and co-founder. “This webinar will address an ongoing and very significant issues for the industry, considering the different approaches to foster collaboration that have so far been effective.”

Register here.

Speakers:

Paul Capizzi

Paul Capizzi, CIO, SVP of Technology, Fox Corp. — He leads the enterprise technology teams for Fox News and Fox Television. This includes responsibility for all 29 owned-and-operated Fox Television stations.

On a daily basis, Capizzi integrates broadcast engineering to help modernize Fox technology and is responsible for networking, datacenter, cloud, telephony and tech support.

Jeff Birch

Jeff Birch, VP of Engineering, CBS Television Stations — In this job since 2004, Birch has presided over the builds of KYW Philadelphia, KCBS-KCAL Los Angeles and WBBM Chicago at a time when the industry was transitioning from an analog infrastructure of HD SDI. He oversaw the migration of electronic news gathering from analog to COFDM and the transition from analog transmission (NTSC) to digital (ATSC 1). He’s currently studying the merits of ATSC 3.0. Birch is heavily involved with studio and control room automation and most recently oversaw the transition to an outsourced, centralized master control operation.

Prior to CBS, Birch held various positions at NBC including director of field operations for sports and director of maintenance and engineering for the network and station facilities at 30 Rock.

Joe Addalia

Joe Addalia, Director of Technology Projects, Hearst Television — He’s responsible for new technology discovery and implementation surrounding television workflows including news technology and broadcast operations technology.

Addalia joined Hearst with the 2006 purchase of WKCF Orlando, Fla., and is based there. His responsibilities also include the broadcast-related technology for HTV’s Digital Media Group including live streaming ideo, mobile, interactive TV, second screen and multicasting. He is also HTV’s representative on industry technology committees.

Before joining Hearst, Addalia was corporate director of engineering technology for Emmis Communications and was responsible for researching and pinpointing technology for the company’s 16 television and 25 radio stations as well as overseeing the southeast stations.

Bob Valinski

Bob Valinski, Sales Manager, Americas, Vizrt — He specializes in news workflows and automation. His experience working within both broadcast and technology enables him to provide a pragmatic and forthcoming view towards news workflows.

While working at Parkervision, in the 90’s, Valinski helped create the news automation category, and he has since worked on automated and file-based workflows at companies such as Crispin and Omneon. On the broadcast side, Valinski started as a news photographer, working his way up to director of technical operations.

Glen Dickson, Contributing Editor, TVNewsCheck (moderator)