YES Network Hits HD Home Run With Kahuna SD/HD Multiformat Production Switcher

Snell
& Wilcox announced that its Kahuna SD/HD multiformat switcher has been
installed at the heart of newly upgraded HD studios at the YES Network, the
most-watched regional sports network in the nation the past four years, which
televises the New York Yankees and New Jersey Nets. The Kahuna is used in the
YES Network studio within Ascent Media’s
Stamford,

Conn., facility to enable seamless mixing of
SD archive material into HD production of pre-game and post-game shows, as well
as other studio-based programs aired on the YES

Network
SD
channel and on YES HD.

“We
have a lot of legacy SD material and some SD content from out-of-town games
that we need to integrate into our HD pre- and post-game shows, and the
Kahuna’s internal conversion capability provides us with a very efficient means
of working with both formats,” said Ed Delaney, vice president of
operations at YES Network.

The Kahuna
installed for the YES Network also features the Snell & Wilcox IMPAKT 3-D
DVE and Cliptrax audio options. The IMPAKT option offers a broad range of
effects and transition models, and it provides up to four twin-channel 3-D DVEs
that work in source-based or bus-based modes, allowing both background and
fill-and-key manipulation. Cliptrax simplifies airing of animated transitions
with sound effects by enabling one-button control over simultaneous playout of
audio and video clips during live production.

The YES
Network began using its Kahuna at the start of the 2007 MLB season in April and
over the course of this season is using the switcher in production of
programming for 129 regular season pre- and post-game shows wrapped around its
Yankees telecasts. The YES Network is also using the Kahuna for its
“Yankees Hot Stove” off-season original series and, during the NFL
season, it’s “This Week In Football” series. Programs are produced in
HD and broadcast on the YES Network’s new HD channel, YES HD, while a
downconverted version of network programming is delivered to YES’ SD
channel.

“Viewers
expect a great deal of HD sports programming, and the Kahuna SD/HD multiformat
production switcher offers the tools broadcasters require to deliver
high-impact television shows,” said Joe Zaller, vice president of
strategic marketing at Snell & Wilcox. “Using the Kahuna, the YES
Network has been able to make the most of SD archives, even with the network’s
shift to picture-perfect HD broadcasts, and maximize the impact of visual and
sound effects used to tie elements of the show together.”