HEARST-ARGYLE TELEVISION TO LAUNCH NATION'S FIRST ALL DIGITAL TELEVISION
STATION WITH
JVC'S D-9 FORMAT
Wayne, NJ (September 8, 1997) - ABC affiliate KITV-TV in
Honolulu, which just received the first DTV construction permit from the
FCC, will launch the nation's first all digital television station using
JVC's D-9 as its station-wide format.
A Hearst-Argyle Television station, KITV has made a major
investment of more than one-half million dollars in JVC's D-9 with
the purchase of 22 BR-D85 D-9 edit recorders, 11 BR-D40 D-9
dockable recorders, 19 BR-D750 edit recorders and 22 SA-D80 digital I/O
boards.
Formerly Argyle Television, Hearst-Argyle Television, based in New
York City, was the result of a merger August 29, 1997, between Argyle
and The Hearst Corporation's Broadcast Division. The FCC granted the
first DTV construction permit September 3 to KITV's satellite station,
KHVO-TV in Hilo, Hawaii, while permits for KITV and its other satellite,
KMAU-TV, are expected to be granted within days. KITV has been in its
present location since 1954 but will move into a new 33,000-square-foot
location within the city of Honolulu. The new station is among the
first in the country to be designed and built as an entirely digital
station. The debut broadcast from the new facility is scheduled for
December 1, 1997.
The station will use D-9 for recording and airing its
syndicated programming, for acquiring and airing news and for commercial
production. In addition, KITV will use D-9 for archiving. The
station will acquire news in the field in 4:2:2 digital using the BR-
D40s docked to JVC KY-27C cameras. News acquired in the field will be
transferred into Avid Newscutters for editing and then back into
D-9 to air. Avid Air Play and Philips Media Pool will also
alternately be used as needed for airing news and syndicated
programming.
According to Mike Rosenberg, general manager of the station, KITV
Channel 4, along with its satellite stations, KMAU-TV and KHVO-TV, will
be the first in Hawaii to achieve digital transmission and among the
first in the United States. The stations will offer digital high-
definition television (HDTV) as soon as the ABC network can deliver a
high-definition signal.
"We are very excited about becoming an all digital station and
being awarded the first construction permit for a digital
transmitter," said Rosenberg. "We are very pleased with our
decision to install D-9 as our house format. We are
confidant that this high quality digital format will serve us well
and allow us to operate efficiently within the new digital
standards."
Rosenberg and Greg Johnson, Director of Engineering, examined other
digital formats and found D-9 to be the most cost effective, high
quality digital format offering a 50 megabit per second data rate.
"We absolutely needed a true 4:2:2 format because our entire plant
is designed for that specification," Johnson said.
KITV's digital television transmitters will be capable of
delivering four or more quality programs to its viewers simultaneously,
according to Rosenberg. The station may
also offer high-speed Internet and other data services during most of
the broadcast day and a superb, theater-quality picture during prime
time. All viewers who receive KITV's ATV signal over the air will enjoy
an interference-free, highly detailed picture.
"We congratulate Hearst-Argyle and KITV on receiving the first DTV
construction permit issued by the FCC," said Mike Yoshida, President of
JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY. "Their choice of D-9 confirms
our position that this new era of digital television will require a
cost effective, high quality 4:2:2 digital tape format. It proves
that D-9 is a natural fit for DTV."
The Hearst-Argyle Television stations reach approximately
11.6 percent of U.S. TV households and comprise the third-largest
non-network-owned television station group in the United States in
terms of its audience. Its stations include WCVB-TV, the ABC
affiliate in Boston; WTAE-TV, the ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh;
WBAL-TV, the NBC affiliate in Baltimore; WLMT-TV, the NBC affiliate
in Cincinnati; WISN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Milwaukee; KMBC-TV,
the ABC affiliate in Kansas City, Missouri; KOCO-TV, the ABC
affiliate in Oklahoma City; WNAC-TV, the FOX affiliate in
Providence, Rhode Island; WDTN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Dayton,
Ohio; WAPT-TV, the ABC affiliate in Jackson, Mississippi; and KHBS-
TV, the ABC affiliate in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and its satellite
KHOG-TV, the ABC affiliate in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, located in Wayne, New
Jersey, distributes a complete line of broadcast and professional
equipment. For more information about JVC's D-9, contact
David Walton, or visit JVC's web site at www.jvc.com/pro. For more
information on KITV-TV, contact Mike Rosenberg at (808) 593-6206.
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