Kurt
Heitmann and the good people at CP Communications have established a
memorial trust fund in honor of ESPN and sports industry audio
legend Ron Scalise that will be used for the college education of his
three children: Rosario, 16, RJ, 11, and his daughter Brenna, 10. At
the request of the family this will be the only fund established to
limit confusion. For more information on donating to the fund please
click on this story.
All donations should be made out to the fund and should be sent to:
Kurt G. Heitmann
CP Communications, Inc.
200 Clearbrook Road
Elmsford, NY 10523
Third Annual Sports & Technology Research Study
The Sports Video Group and the Consumer Electronics Association has released the
third-annual “Sports & Technology Research Survey, highlighting the power
that sports content has as both a driver of HD set sales as well as other new
technologies. The survey includes our exclusive 2008 Super Bowl Briefing as
well as new data about consumer online sports viewing behavior.
Scripps Howard Broadcasting Company has purchased an extensive complement of Fujinon HTs18X4.2 BERM lenses with 2X extenders. More than 100 lenses are being used to outfit Scripps 10 broadcast TV stations, including six ABC-affiliated stations, three NBC affiliates and one independent. The lenses were designed for use with JVC GY-HD250 cameras.
According to Michael Doback, vice president, Engineering, The Scripps Station Group, the acquisition of such a large number of Fujinon lens began when the company sought out a new HD field format for ENG. “We approached several manufacturers around the time of NAB in 2006 asking them to consider creating a high-quality lens for the JVC camera,” says Doback. “By the fall of ’06 Fujinon provided us with a working prototype. We were so impressed by the speed with which they responded as well as with the quality of the lens, after testing we made the commitment to equip all our ENG cameras and some of the studio cameras with Fujinon glass.”
In addition to upgrading stations to HD, Doback says Scripps was looking to seamlessly integrate their tapeless workflow: “The combination of Fujinon’s HTs18X4.2 and JVC’s GY-HD250U offered an ideal fit. High quality glass is imperative for the smaller 1/3-inch imager to perform at its optimum and our pictures are superb.”
“We made no concessions in terms of image quality,” he explains. “In fact, in most cases it outperforms packages costing twice the amount. We managed to upgrade our workflow and be entirely digital – by storing video on Focus Enhancement FireStore disk drives and editing on Mac laptops running Apple Final Cut Pro software.”
Doback adds, “This camera and lens combination is an excellent next-generation solution for news field acquisition. During our initial rollout, we were viewed with some skepticism. Now, it’s proven to be the right product, at the right time, and at the right price.”
