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Owned by News-Press & Gazette and Gulf California Broadcasting, KESQ-TV serves Southern California’s Coachella Valley, covering the cities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Spring and many more high desert communities. Its studios also house sister stations CBS Local 2, KDFX-TV (Fox), KUNA-TV (Telemundo), KUNA-FM (La Poderosa 96.7 FM), and KESQ-AM 1400.

The Goal

Relocate & Consolidate

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The acquisition by NPG of CBS Local2 in Palm Springs drove consideration for how best to integrate its five existing KESQ-operated TV and radio channels with its new sister station.
 
With the CBS station occupying a nearly new Thousand Palms facility, but its technical systems sharing the same End of Life condition as the KESQ channels, the goal to refresh all technologies and collocate all technical operations and business functions into the newer building became the clear choice.
 
It was also important that this migration include Master Control monitoring & control integration with NPG’s newly-constructed Broadcast Operations Center in Colorado Springs.

This project had a very aggressive timeline from the start. The ZTransform team did a great job working through the complex technical and logistical challenges.

Jim Dechant
Corporate Director, Broadcast Operations - News, Press & Gazette

The Challenge

Sharing Resources Responsibly

This refresh and consolidation effort meant the design and construction of an entirely new technical core, a news room, Electronic News Gathering control center, microwave, fiber, and satellite acquisition and transmission paths, 2 TV studios, 2 production control rooms, a post-production suite, 6 channels of master control, and an AM/FM radio studio.
 
In addition to the scale of the effort, an additional challenge was to design an agile system that allowed multiple television brands to share common resources, while protecting each channel’s branded content. All this while not preventing any broadcast from airing in its desired time slot or compromising the quality of the productions.
 
It was also critical for the BOC, as a key monitoring and control location, to acknowledge, understand, and manage the sensitivities of a multi-channel, multi-brand broadcast operation over 700 miles away.
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The Solution

Focus on Agility, Creativity, and Security

To fulfill NPG’s goals, ZTransform developed an agile technical platform that accommodated the dynamic scheduling and secure content needs of the KESQ Television and Radio operations.

The solution leveraged various IP-based technologies and platforms including file-based workflows with proxy editing from acquisition to edit, and release to air. A rich metadata authoring process and shared storage platform meant personnel across the newsroom, production and craft editing could contribute to – and leverage – the various brands of content. Strict user and channel permissions kept product secure.
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For the various brands, the evening newscasts were offset and allowed staff and systems optimization. As such, the two studios shared a common control room. So the system was designed to allow graphics, music, switcher sources, audio sources, Teleprompter scripts and Newsroom system run-downs to be recalled specific to each branded show – all within a minute or so. For simultaneous morning newscasts across the disparate brands, the control rooms would need to operate identically, but in parallel, each with their own branded elements from the secure content share.
 
Finally, all channel broadcast monitoring and control was managed by the Colorado Springs BOC, with the ability for KESQ staff to take control if it became necessary.

The Result

Sharing Success

Upon completion, the refreshed KESQ operation afforded the staff the opportunity to produce top quality content, for multiple brands, in a common environment, without the need to compromise their broadcast schedule or their creativity.

Producing 11 hours of television per day for 6 channels, plus radio, is a major undertaking. But a comprehensive, functional, and secure technical solution meant this was all possible for KESQ in a business-as-usual fashion day after day.

ZTransform provided architectural interface designs and documentation over the 13 months of site work to ensure tight coordination between the Architect, GC, and all the involved trades to achieve the broadcast-specific facility requirements.

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The quality of design and integration allows us to sustain our long term goals.

Jim Dechant
Corporate Director, Broadcast Operations - News, Press & Gazette

Key Technologies

The key systems involved in the facility refresh include:
  • Master control automation: Harris ADC
  • Media Asset Management and storage: Harris Invenio
  • Work-flow automation: Harris Motion
  • Baseband ingest/playout and storage: Harris Nexio
  • Routing and multi-viewers: Miranda Kaleido-X
  • Streaming IRD’s: Miranda
  • Modular Distribution: Miranda Densite
  • Modular Processing: Ross Open Gear
  • Control, signal probing and alarming: Miranda iControl
  • Encoding / transcoding: Elemental Technologies
  • MPEG mux and media conversion: RGB
  • Networks
  • Network: Brocade Networks, Cisco
  • Blade center / PC Desktops: HP
  • Cameras: Panasonic robotics, Grass Valley LDK
  • Production Switcher: Grass Valley Karerra
  • Graphics: Chyron
  • Audio: Wheatstone Wheatnet IP
  • NRCS: ENPS
  • Intercom: RTS ADAM

HD Channels with Branding

5.1 Sound Processing

File-based Workflows

Key Services

Planning & Development

Discovery sessions analyzed KESQ's business goals, cemented the technical requirements, and ensured the solutions were in line with budget and schedule

Engineering & Design

ZTransform provided conceptual design and detailed build-to documentation. We coordinated manufacturer demonstrations and qualified all solutions prior to final product selection

Systems Integration

ZTransform provided all fabrication, Installation, commissioning, testing and launch support services

The ability to run a show in either studio from either control room provides us the flexibility necessary to produce 11 hours of news for six channels in one building.

Jim Dechant
Corporate Director, Broadcast Operations - News, Press & Gazette

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