WCYB-TV, WEMT-TV first in market with local news in HD

Bonten Media Group’s WCYB-TV (NBC) and Esteem Broadcasting’s WEMT-TV (FOX) became the first television stations in the Tri-Cities VA/TN market to broadcast local news in HD at 5PM 6/17.

“This new technology is a big step forward in the digital television evolution and means that we will now be airing a minimum of 104 hours of HD programming per week, including 28 hours of local news on WCYB-TV.  FOX Tri-Cities News at 10 coupled with FOX Prime and FOX Sports form the backbone of that station’s HD offerings,” says Vice President and General Manager Jim McKernan.

For the upgrade to HD local news, the station chose Panasonic P2 HD cameras and the Bitcentral news editing system, which is widely used by television companies, such as NBC, FOX and CNN.  Grass Valley provided the production switcher and studio cameras.  Grass Valley’s HD equipment was used extensively in the recent Winter Olympics on NBC.  “Our equipment vendors met the requirements we established for the HD build out and have been strong partners in the process,” according to Bonten’s Vice President of Engineering Tom Cupp.

“Our substantial investment in being the first to bring local HD news to the Tri-Cities market is tangible evidence of Bonten’s commitment to leadership and to meeting the needs of Tri-Cities viewers,” says Bonten Media Group President and CEO Randy Bongarten.

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