Alabama’s WIAT-TV Supports Growth With Utah Scientific

WIAT-TV Birmingham, AL,
has deployed a new UTAH-400 HD router and two MC-2020 master controls to enable
the launch of two digital channels and institute HD broadcast of its
flagship channel, CBS 42. The new channels, both broadcasting in SD, are WIAT
42-2, which debuted in February and is devoted to locally produced sports and
weather programming, and WIAT 42-3, which is scheduled to launch in April and
will feature round-the-clock weather radar.

WIAT, which
is owned by New Vision Television LLC, selected the UTAH-400 88×88 router
because it is easily expandable and, unlike competing devices, accommodates
both SD and HD sources. As designed, the system makes it possible for a single
master-control operator to run all three channels. WIAT’s master control also
incorporates Utah Scientific’s EAS crawl feature (EAS-2020) for cost-effective,
seamless, and easy-to-use input of the Emergency Alert System signal into
multiple channels.
“We are growing by leaps and bounds,” says Scott Sarkisian, WIAT-TV chief engineer. “When I got here five years ago, this was an all-analog facility. Now it’s all-digital, and the plant is going all-HD. With the UTAH-400 router, we can grow master control and the router just by plugging in new cards. The equipment’s versatility and flexibility has enabled us to implement a simple, streamlined, and cost-effective system and will enable us to maintain it long-term.”

“New Vision saw an opportunity to better serve the Birmingham community by launching more locally produced programming like weather and high school sports,” says Tom Harmon, president/CEO of Utah Scientific. “Utah Scientific leverages innovative technology to make multichannel routing and master control cost-effective to implement, maintain, expand, and use. In this way, we enable broadcasters like WIAT to jump on opportunities and reap advantages that might otherwise pass them by.”

Additional
information can be found at www.utahscientific.com.