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CBS to Centralize Master Control for O&O Stations


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There is a story on FTVLive this morning saying the master control operators at KYW in Philadelphia have been informed their jobs are going to be eliminated and that CBS plans to hub the master control for their network-owned stations Q2 2018. AFAIK, CBS was the last of the Big Four O&O station groups to not hub their MC.

 

This begs the question, will their new MC hub

like KYW's?
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Wonder if they could have timed this a little better so it didn't get announced a week before Thanksgiving. That's gonna make for some fun family dinners next week.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=TQXuazYI_YU;t=46

 

As for the bulletproof glass, these facilities are usually pretty secure. The inside of a TV station is really a semi-public area where guests come and go frequently. These centralized master control facilities? They don't really have random guests...

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In some markets they did for some of the CW stations and some CBS O&Os. Under CBS, KEYE/Austin had it's master control come from WTOG/Tampa until KEYE was sold in 2008. WTOG and WUPA/Atlanta both came from WGNT/Norfolk until 2012 when GNT got sold to Local.

 

 

Meanwhile, KSTW/Seattle currently has it's master control coming out of San Francisco. I think they've been doing that since 06? IIRC.

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I’m guessing KCBS/KCAL may be the hub for all of the O&O’s since they have massive property and have room to expand or build.

 

Does NBC hub all of its Master Control for the O&O’s? Or is it only for the California Stations that hub out of Burbank for KNSD, KNBC and KNTV?

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Does NBC hub all of its Master Control for the O&O’s? Or is it only for the California Stations that hub out of Burbank for KNSD, KNBC and KNTV?

The hubs have been re-hubbed over the years, but yes, since the early 2000s.

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Does NBC hub all of its Master Control for the O&O’s? Or is it only for the California Stations that hub out of Burbank for KNSD, KNBC and KNTV?

 

When NBC operated their own master control (they were a pioneer this started in 2001) they had regional ones - like the California cluster you mentioned. Miami and New York were the other two.

 

A few years they shifted to Encompass (may have a new name) but appears they have since moved “in house” to the Comcast Media Center in Centennial. The CMC already handles playout for other non NBCU channels so I guess it made sense to do it there.

 

When NBC was using Encompass six of their Telemundo stations were ran out of there as well. The rest may have been run locally or possibly from other stations. The latter wouldn’t surprise me because at that time NBCU had several of their Telemundo stations in larger markets produce separate newscasts for other stations. Plus with the language differences it may be easier to do in house than have cost of Encompass hiring a Spanish speaking employee. I imagine the six that were at Encompass were non news producing stations with very limited local content where the operator just had to make sure the ads were played in the right slots. Based on the job postings it appears the all Telemundo stations moved to Comcast Media Center as well.

 

I believe when ABC hubbed they went with Encompass as well. Fox is out of a facility in Las Vegas.

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When NBC operated their own master control (they were a pioneer this started in 2001) they had regional ones - like the California cluster you mentioned. Miami and New York were the other two.

 

I believe when ABC hubbed they went with Encompass as well. Fox is out of a facility in Las Vegas.

 

You don't want to hub out of NYC,LA, SF or any other major city or else you are paying unions and higher labor rates.

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NBC’s first master control was at 30 Rock and opened in 2000. It included many of the east coast O&Os in Columbus, Providence, Chicago, Philadelphia, Hartford, New York, and Raleigh. The stations bought by Media General in Columbus, Providence, and Raleigh were still hubbed out of 30 Rock until 2008-ish. WTVJ hubbed themselves and Birmingham, while KNBC hubbed themselves, San Diego and San Francisco.

 

 

Will CBS' master control be at the Broadcast Center or Television City?

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What about 1 (or 2) of the O/O's? If the west coast is picked as a hub, would it be TV City or the Studio Center?

 

If they're planning on building the hub in house and in the Los Angeles area, I'd suspect they may opt for the Studio Center since there has been speculation that Television City is up for sale.

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cbs-television-city-20170928-story.html

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When NBC operated their own master control (they were a pioneer this started in 2001) they had regional ones - like the California cluster you mentioned. Miami and New York were the other two.

 

A few years they shifted to Encompass (may have a new name) but appears they have since moved “in house” to the Comcast Media Center in Centennial. The CMC already handles playout for other non NBCU channels so I guess it made sense to do it there.

 

When NBC was using Encompass six of their Telemundo stations were ran out of there as well. The rest may have been run locally or possibly from other stations. The latter wouldn’t surprise me because at that time NBCU had several of their Telemundo stations in larger markets produce separate newscasts for other stations. Plus with the language differences it may be easier to do in house than have cost of Encompass hiring a Spanish speaking employee. I imagine the six that were at Encompass were non news producing stations with very limited local content where the operator just had to make sure the ads were played in the right slots. Based on the job postings it appears the all Telemundo stations moved to Comcast Media Center as well.

 

I believe when ABC hubbed they went with Encompass as well. Fox is out of a facility in Las Vegas.

Correct, the NBC and Telemundo O&Os are hubbed from Centennial. Any jobs posted prefer candidates that are bilingual. With regards to the Fox facility, is it owned by Fox or do they outsource?

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Correct, the NBC and Telemundo O&Os are hubbed from Centennial. Any jobs posted prefer candidates that are bilingual. With regards to the Fox facility, is it owned by Fox or do they outsource?

 

My understanding is that Fox owns their facility in Vegas.

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This is quite sad indeed. When I went through the KYW Newstudies program (same place as CBS3) a few years ago I met those who were working in master control on a Saturday morning. They all were nice people who loved what they had been doing for many years. I asked them a bunch of question, which they all answered. In particular I learned from them how they get the signal from the network. I didn't know at the time that there were certain times of the day that they expected they would lose the satellite signal and that they were in face affected by weather. I assumed these issues went away years before. They also told me there were some commercials that really got on thier nerves becuase of their low quality. Something that I'm wondering about is the CWphilly master control. Are they also being centralized. This is more interesting especially as CWPhilly is technically the CW's flagship station, something that those in the master control said didn't effect them.

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Something that I'm wondering about is the CWphilly master control. Are they also being centralized. This is more interesting especially as CWPhilly is technically the CW's flagship station, something that those in the master control said didn't effect them.

 

All of the CBS-owned stations are being centralized, including the CW ones.

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In particular I learned from them how they get the signal from the network. I didn't know at the time that there were certain times of the day that they expected they would lose the satellite signal and that they were in face affected by weather. I assumed these issues went away years before.

 

Indeed rain fade still occurs a couple of times a year, and stations can lose their network signal during heavy rain or snow, just as your home DirecTV system would. In snow-prone areas of the country station engineers still need to keep dishes clear of snow and ice.

 

And having previously worked in master control, I too can speak to being annoyed at bad quality commercial spots running over and over again. I learned to not get too annoyed because those local businesses pay for time on the station which "pays the rent" so to speak for local TV.

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  • 1 month later...
NBC’s first master control was at 30 Rock and opened in 2000. It included many of the east coast O&Os in Columbus, Providence, Chicago, Philadelphia, Hartford, New York, and Raleigh. The stations bought by Media General in Columbus, Providence, and Raleigh were still hubbed out of 30 Rock until 2008-ish. WTVJ hubbed themselves and Birmingham, while KNBC hubbed themselves, San Diego and San Francisco.

 

Which hub had KXAS?

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Which hub had KXAS?

 

I want to say Miami.

 

Edit: Here’s a list from Broadcasting & Cable of all the hubs, their “spokes” and how things worked.

 

New York:

  • WNBC - New York City
  • WCAU - Philadelphia
  • WCMH - Columbus
  • WJAR - Providence
  • WRC - Washington
  • WVIT - Hartford

Miami

  • WTVJ - Miami
  • WNCN - Raleigh
  • KXAS - Dallas - Fort Worth
  • WVTM - Birmingham

Los Angeles

  • KNBC - Los Angeles
  • KNSD - San Diego
  • KNTV - San Francisco

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I want to say Miami.

 

Edit: Here’s a list from Broadcasting & Cable of all the hubs, their “spokes” and how things worked.

 

New York:

  • WNBC - New York City
  • WCAU - Philadelphia
  • WCMH - Columbus
  • WJAR - Providence
  • WRC - Washington
  • WVIT - Hartford

Miami

  • WTVJ - Miami
  • WNCN - Raleigh
  • KXAS - Dallas - Fort Worth
  • WVTM - Birmingham

Los Angeles

  • KNBC - Los Angeles
  • KNSD - San Diego
  • KNTV - San Francisco

Thanks for the article, however, its list is missing WMAQ. Either at that date its MC was still in-house or I'm guessing it was part of the NY HUB and they forgot to mention it. WCMH and WNCN should still use the same Florical automation mentioned in the article. The one Sinclair shop I worked at used Avid automation, but who knows what WJAR would use now. When Hearst picked up WVTM I would guess they switched them to Harris to bring them in-line with the other Herast stations.

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