Fisher Communications Upgrades HD News Control Room with Sony

Fisher Communications has implemented Sony broadcast and production technology as the core of its newly upgraded high-definition news control room and studio environment. The group’s KOMO–TV (ABC) and KUNS-TV (Univision) in Seattle went on the air in HD recently, with Sony HD studio cameras and an MVS-7000X production switcher with Enhanced Live-production Control (ELC) automation in order to tackle the increasing complexity of news production and to streamline the stations’ workflow operations.

According to Brian McHale, Vice President of Technology for Fisher Communications, “We made a thorough evaluation before choosing this direction.  Sony’s ELC newsroom integration delivers in terms of sophistication, ease-of-use and flexibility.  Also, the MVS-7000X positions us for the future, since it incorporates the latest advances. Most traditional switchers really can’t compare.”

Fisher Vice President of News and KOMO-TV News Director Holly Gauntt commented, “The Sony ELC/MVS-7000X combination allows us to leverage automation without changing the pace of our newscast.  Our goal was to simplify workflow and not compromise on creative flexibility when dealing with breaking news.  When you produce over 40 hours of news per week, newsroom automation is absolutely essential to streamline our workflow.  The Sony system allows us to do more with less.”

The Seattle station is also producing regular newscasts for Univision, in addition to its KOMO news programming, so the ability to use all resources more effectively and efficiently is a significant benefit.

Adding to the workflow efficiencies realized by the Sony switcher and software, the station has also seen a noticeable improvement in its image quality through the use of the Sony HDC-P1 cameras.

According to McHale, Fisher plans to expand its use of Sony HD cameras across the group in early 2012.