Starting up a new TV station!?

S

sunriseseagull

Active member
Hi everyone,
Last month, my producer talked to me about the ideas of starting up a new TV station that has a production unit in house. It will just be a small local station where we do news, talk shows, and events, etc...He asked me to do some research about how to set up a control room to switch news and talk shows. I don't really know where to start. Please advice on how, where, and who I can contact or please point me to the right direction. BTW, it's not gonna be live feed. We're just gonna feed the program using a DVCam or BetaCam tape. Thank you very much!
 
sunriseseagull said:
Thanks Chucks. But I'm talking about equipments to get. Money is not my problem :) . Anyone has anythoughts? Thanks.
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If your serious about starting a TV station then money is always a problem. But money aside you might want to contact the Grass Valley Group http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/ -- they can certainly help you spend the money your not worried about...
 
Are you in the USA? And are you talking about a broadcast station, cable, or Internet? If it's broadcast, the FCC application fee alone is $3,300. I hope whoever's problem the money is has lots of it. If that person has so enough money to start a broadcast station, he/she can probably afford to pay a consultant to get it done right. Don't forget that by 2/2009 it has to be a digital transmitter, so buying analog equipment now doesn't seem wise.
 
Yeah, what's your budget?
How bgi is your team? High power or Low Power.
I presume you will be starting straight off with Digital Transmission (if so drop me a line (seriously))
Commercial I presume?
24/7 r lited TX hours only. I recomend gettign an affiliation if possible, running just your own programming will be hella hard.
Or is this jsut a really small local cable only thing? then it will be much easier and cheaper.
Lets us know a little more and we can help you out.


- Mikko ... has co-built 1 national, 3 school, and co-maintains one regional station.
 
Hi everyone, thanks a lot for your replies.Let's me try to answer everyone questions.

We're building the station from scratch.

We're just trying to build a SMALL LOCAL channel station.

We're not really a broadcast station, if I understand it correctly. We just produce news, talk shows, commercials, and lay the orders of the programs onto tape. Then we send the tape somewhere else to broadcast it.

We're just trying to build the station with the lowest cost possible. Meaning, very low budget comparing with all the cable network station.

Yes, we're located in California, USA.

One more thing, the only thing, or at least that's what I think, that we're concerned the most is how we can build a CONTROL ROOM so we can live switch news, talk shows, and lay it to tape ready to go.

Please advice. Thank you very much!
 
Ok, so you arn't dealing with transmission at all, just production? (Then it's a production studio, not a station, FYI)

The very first thing you will need: A good broadcast engineer. Without that you are SOL.

What other specks? HD? SD - HD later? Digital? Analog? do you have some gear allready that you hope to use?

There's "low cost" and there's "low cost" It *can* be done for around 20k(gear only) if you are super super cheap (and no, this isn't what I'd recomed) or you can do it cheap for only $200k and be getting somewhere.

If it's SD you can go on e-bay and buy up a old Grass valley switcher and a couple of old betacams and an audio mixer and "make TV". But to do it properly will cost much more.


- Mikko
 
Hi mikkowilson, thanks again.

Yes, we're not doing tranmission at all at this time, although that's something we're planning to do later on. If you can please give me some info on this matter. I'd really appreciate it.

Yes, pretty much just production.

Formats? We're planning to do just SD now, but leaving room for upgrade to HD later.

What doea a good broadcast engineer do? Are they to maintaining and trouble shooting the equipments? How much does it cost to have one? And any reconmendations on that matter?

Budget? Not super super cheap neither. We want to be able to "be getting somewhere"

Any directions? Thanks.
 
A broadcast engineer is the guy (or gal) who builds, runs, maintains, broadcast systems and gear. They are the Techies that run TV stations. I'd sugest running ads in local papers etc - standard hiring procedure to find one.

A Broadcast Engineer will probabaly work with a systems integrator to design and implement the production system working with the many various equipment vendors.

There are a million ways to build a station, and there really isn't that much "general advice" that can be given. It's easier to answer more specific questions.

- Mikko
 
Hi Mikko, thanks again for your patience.

Here's the workflow I'm trying to approach. Please advice on if it's upgradable, affordable, and flawless.

We'll setup a 4 cameras shoot (4 HVX200s) with firewire outputs into a switcher (whichever accept firewire inputs). Then directly output from the switcher onto a computer (using editing software like Avid, Final Cut or Premiere Pro) AND a DVCam or BetaCam deck. After that, we'll just add events, talk shows, and commercials into the timeline on the editing system. Finally, we'll just output it out to AVI file or to tape.

Another thing is that HD is around the corner. We want to be able to upgrade in the near future.


Please share your expertise. Thanks.
 
Firewire SUCKs for live switching, there's lag in the signal, the cables can't be very long, there's no proper studio control over the cameras, no tally, etc etc.. It's jsut not designed for live switching - it's a data transfer protocal that's good for editing.
And the switchers that have firewire inputs on them are a joke.
There is also no HD upgrade path here (untill somone makes a HD firewire switcher (not too soon I don't think)


Now I know what sort of thing you are shooting for I can make a simple recomendation, at least for the video side. (I'm not so strong on audio)

The best cheap camera for this is actually the XL-H1 - those pro jacks on the side make a WOLRD of difference in your application.
I'd sugest 4 XL-H1s. - With appropriate lens controls, maybe using Canon's manual lenses and mechanical drive controls.

Make special 'umbilical' cables to each camera with:
> Sync from a Sync-generator. - into the Genlock input on each camera.
> HD/SD-SDI from each camera to the switcher.
> Composite video for camera monitoring.
> 2 return video feeds for Program and Prompter.
> XLR cable for com system (get a basic clearcom system, you won't regret it)
> Mains power, for camera and other gear.
> An adition XLR cable for driving a tally light from teh switcher. (don't skip this one!)
> A long Firewire cable from the camera to the control room to a computer(s) running the camera's remote console software.

For the switcher I'd recomend a Ross Synergy-100 SD
(http://www.rossvideo.com/synergy/synergy100sd_overview.html) It's a great little switcher with 10 SDI inputs (from the Canon's) and has 2 regular and one downstream keyers along with stnadard profesional transitions and preview etc. - It's a pro switcher thats based off the Grass Valley -100, the most successfull switcher ever. And the best part is that Ross also has a HD version/upgrade available so when the time comes just get the upgrade (the panel will even stay the same!) The basic S-100 SD is about $16k.
It also has a router built in so you can use it as a virtual patch panel so send signals elsewhere (monitors etc..)

For recording I'd sugest a pro deck that accepts SDI in the format of your choice, all Digital formats have decks availabel with this. Or then a SDI-DV converter and a lower DV deck and then of course your computer (this is a good idea anyway) - But dont' ever rely on your computer soley for recording.

For now I'd sugest an analog audio consol as you will eb workgin mostly with mics, thoguh digital ones are very well and optoin too. - Then just convert the output and embed it into the SDI output of the switcher for recording.

Monitoring depends hugly on your physical space. But you can get away with basic composite monitors for your cameras (even after you upgrade to HD thanks to the downconverters built into the cameras) Then you jsut need a couple of good HD (ready at least) monitors for program, preview, recording and of course a ncie one for the colorist station wher teh remote software for the cameras is running - along with a proper scope here. You can use the router in the S-100 switcher to get the monitoring signals here. :)

Total package cost would start somewhere around $80k-$90k depending on your decks and monitors. That's without hardware, lighting and camera support (Look at the Cartoni P-20 [http://www.cartoni.com/eng/p20.html] for a simple affordable pedestal.)


- Mikko ... got techie?
 
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Thanks Mikko. It's very informative. With that package cost, it seems very affordable. Sorry if this is so basic for you, but what is tally? What does it do? Also, let's say we're going for that kind of equipments, will the vendor be able to set it up for us? Or we still have to find a Production Manager? One last thing, can you recommend a one stop shop for all that equipments (or at least the most important ones)? Thank you very much!
 
sunriseseagull said:
Thanks Mikko. It's very informative. With that package cost, it seems very affordable. Sorry if this is so basic for you, but what is tally? What does it do? Also, let's say we're going for that kind of equipments, will the vendor be able to set it up for us? Or we still have to find a Production Manager? One last thing, can you recommend a one stop shop for all that equipments (or at least the most important ones)? Thank you very much!
Click to expand...
If you are serious about this and you have a someone with a LOT of money who wants you to research this, I STRONGLY recommend that you hire a consultant that will work with you to determine what your needs are today and what they will be in the near future to develop a comprehensive strategy for building the type of facility you THINK you need.

You will save a lot of money and the probability of building something that might actually work increases significantly. If you think you can ask questions on forums like this to get from your seemingly rudimentary understanding of video to building a post production/TV/Production studio, well I think your in for an very big and very expensive surprise. :badputer:

Everyone starts from the beginning, so I'm not criticizing you for being ambitious, in fact good for you that someone believes in you enough to invest a lot of money for this kind of venture. But I think you would be much better off asking questions about how to find the right kind of professional that you can trust to help you sort this out.
 
Hey Chucks, thanks for your advice.

My job is just to research it. That doesn't really mean my producer will listen to whatever I say. I just take this opportunity to learn more about it so at least I get to know what's around if I ever work for him in the studio :)

Anyways, any thoughts on my questions? Can you recommend a one stop shop for all that equipments? Will the vendor be able to set it up for us? Or we still have to find a Production Manager? Thanks in advance.
 
I don't know about a Production Manager, but you'll definitely need an Engineer.

What's more, I agree with Chuck that you need to find a consultant. Your shotgun approach to building a TV studio is likely to lead to many problems.
 
sunriseseagull,

I mentioned this in an earlier reply, contact this company http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/ -- not only do they manufacture a wide assortment of the type of equipment you are looking for they are also owned by Thomson who builds the kinds of facilities you are researching.

Beware though, they will quickly try to determine if your for real. If you ask them what a tally light is they will probably offer to send you a brochure. Agian, hire a conultant that can help you with this. You can pay as you go and they can open a lot of doors that you aren't even aware exist.

Good luck
 
Hi everyone, thanks again for your replies. I talked to my producer about hire professional. What he's doing in next is totally up to him.

Chucks, I already called the guys from Thomson and left a message, but didn't get a call back from him. I'm gonna give it another try.

Also, beside putting an ad in newspapers, is there another way to find a consultant or an engineer? Thanks.
 
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