KitPlus | Articles

Big rush with little fuss at new Birmingham broadcaster

by Neil Hutchins Issue 99 - March 2015 Big Centre TV is the latest of the new wave of UK Local TV stations, having launched on 28th February. But behind the calm and successful appearance was a frenzied period of activity, as Ofcom had only confirmed their licence just three months earlier. To get from nothing to on-air in such a short timescale wa...

Submitted by Neil Hutchins#

Published 01 April 2015

Now that is how you do a newsroom

by Neil Hutchins Issue 97 - January 2015 "That\'s TV\" is a brand new TV network for the UK that first launched in the South of England in the fourth quarter of 2014. That\'s TV is designed to emulate the most popular local TV news format in the US and bring it to the UK in the form of live sports, phone-ins and entertainment. Every That\'s TV affi...

Submitted by Neil Hutchins#

Published 01 February 2015

Eye to Eye: Video Post-production

Video post-production has long been one of the fastest developing subsets of the broadcast business. It was among the first to lead the shift from hardware into software, bringing huge advantages in terms of affordability and ease of use. I can still remember the high cost, heavy weight and low quality of the early analogue tape to tape video editi...

Submitted by Bob Pank#

Published 01 January 2015

High Resolution graphics for 4k and beyond

by Jesper Gawell Issue 96 - December 2014 It seems like 4K is everywhere these days - it\'s the dominant topic at broadcasting trade shows. Is there substance behind the hype? Will it transform television the way HD broadcasting did? Clearly, one of the "next big things\" in the media and entertainment world is higher resolutions and 4K delivery o...

Submitted by Jesper Gawell

Published 01 January 2015

News - A New Beginning

by Kieron Seth Issue 96 - December 2014 As voting ended, political analysts eagerly awaited the result from the Rochester and Stroud by-election. Commentators expected a dramatic shift in the Westminster landscape and with it the overturning of the political status quo stretching back 100 years. Yet the headlines that evening were nothing to do wit...

Submitted by Kieron Seth#

Published 01 January 2015

Capture and Produce

Issue 94 - October 2014One of the hot topics at this year’s IBC was undoubtedly the growing adoption of end-to-end IP production and the imminent death of SDI. During a panel session, hosted by Mediasmiths and Cognizant, and including representatives from BBC, Sony and more, the key point made was that the adoption of IP production technology and w...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 November 2014

Manage and Monitor

Issue 94 - October 2014In the month that digital files become the preferred method of delivery for television programmes in the UK, it will come as a blessed relief to many in both post and production that one of the biggest bugbears of file-based delivery – how to deal with insert editing - may have been solved, just in the nick of time. It didn’t...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 November 2014

Manipulate and Edit

Issue 93 - September 2014 Company mergers can be no fun. Staff panic about ‘efficiencies’ and therefore their jobs. The press speculates about ‘what really happened?’ And there are always lawyers involved. And no one likes that. When DiGiCo revealed that it would merge with fellow audio console manufacturers Calrec and Allen & Heath, following a bu...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 October 2014

Manage and Monitor

Issue 93 - September 2014 In less than a month’s time, British television producers will be asked to deliver their programmes to broadcasters as files rather than tape. Some have been doing it for years. For others, it’s a whole new world. Fundamentally, the change is just replacing physical items like tapes, labels and VT reports with their zeros...

Submitted by Will Strauss#

Published 01 October 2014

In the Field

by Robin Brown Issue 93 - September 2014 Traditionally teleprompters were seen solely as a studio staple, but for more than two decades they have been consistently supporting talent in the field in a variety of locations around the globe. The numerous step changes in technology, which have had such a dramatic impact on all types of television equip...

Submitted by Robin Brown

Published 01 October 2014

Making the invisible visible

by Charlie Watts Issue 92 - August 2014 September 2014 will see a brand new communication and televisual experience unleashed for University of Portsmouth students within the newly opened Eldon Building. Catherine Harper, Professor and Dean of the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) Faculty, and Gary Bown, Principal lecturer, have both made it t...

Submitted by Charlie Watts

Published 01 September 2014

Launching the Local Newsroom

by Neil Hutchins Issue 92 - August 2014 We recently collaborated with Mustard TV, the Norwich-based television division of the Archant newspaper group, for their launch of the UK’s second Local TV channel. With just three weeks to go before the on-air date, we installed our QNews newsroom computer system, including the database server that it runs...

Submitted by Neil Hutchins#

Published 01 September 2014

A new age of teleprompting?

by Jon Hilton Issue 92 - August 2014 Whilst it may not be the first thing on the production agenda, one could argue it is an essential production tool today delivering at least two fundamental production values. Firstly it can save you money by reducing the time required to get that perfect take and secondly it means that your presenter will be wor...

Submitted by Jon Hilton#

Published 01 September 2014

Israels i24news

by Jason Danielston Issue 92 - August 2014 Israeli international news channel i24news went on air in July 2013. Broadcasting from Jaffa port, Tel Aviv, it airs international news on three channels in three languages: English, French, and Arabic. The channel provides news content and magazine pieces to 800 million households around the world on cabl...

Submitted by Jason Danielson#

Published 01 September 2014

Information Control and Automation but not as you know it

by Sandra Squire Issue 90 - June 2014 Cameras, branding, lighting and timers all at the touch of a button. Accurate clocks, timing and cue information are essential components of any broadcasting environment directors, production teams and presenters have always depended on them for the delivery of broadcast critical operations. This is still the c...

Submitted by Sandra Squire

Published 01 July 2014