KMH Integration Keeps News 12 Relocation Project on Track
Challenge
- Manage and complete phased relocation of two separate facilities into one central location
- Ensure no disruptions to day-to-day operations, especially to the on-air programming
- Design a flexible infrastructure to accommodate a mix of legacy technology with new equipment.
Solution
- KMH supported News 12 with the full range of its system integration, design and consulting services.
- KMH led an expansive system migration: all production systems, studios, master control rooms operator positions, a monitor wall, graphics, edit suites and newsrooms, and a technical operations center
Results
- Expanded newsroom, studios and control rooms
- Enhanced workflow efficiency, improved on-air quality and greater production flexibility
Relocating a broadcast facility is always challenging. The sheer amount of equipment that needs to be moved and reinstalled is daunting enough. More important is the fact there can be no disruptions to day-to-day operations, especially to the on-air programming.
News 12 Networks partnered with KMH Integration on a phased relocation of two separate facilities into one central Bethpage, N.Y., location. The multi-year project is currently in progress and, when complete, the new facility will deliver significant upgrades in workflow efficiency, on-air quality and production flexibility.
KMH consulted with News 12 management, engineers and IT teams since the early design phases to ensure the new facility is scalable enough to accommodate future growth, while deploying the right technologies to meet current production needs.
“A project of this scale has a lot of moving parts to manage, from reviewing workflows to making sure construction schedules are followed,” said Kevin Henneman, president of KMH. “The new facility will mix current and new equipment, so close coordination with News 12 from day one was essential to build up and test all new systems before migrating over the existing systems, channel by channel.”
The project’s first phase involved moving master control systems, including four operator positions and a monitor wall. Also moving to Bethpage is a central equipment room with 100 racks supporting both master control and News 12 production systems.
The relocation project will also involve migrating all production systems, a technical operations center, studios, control rooms, graphics, edit suites and newsrooms, as well as internal functions such as sales and marketing offices.
During the project, KMH supported News 12 with the full range of its system integration, design and consulting services. Using its nearby Hauppauge, N.Y. facility, the KMH team handled off-site fabrication and staging for select racks to expedite on-site installation. These included: a 576×576 MCR router and I/O jackfield racks, a 576×576 production router and I/O jackfield racks, distribution frames and jackfield racks.
New Auditorium for News 12
KMH Integration also designed and integrated a 100-seat theater at the Altice USA headquarters.
The new theater is fully connected to the News 12 core broadcast infrastructure, a state-of-the-art 40,000 square-foot facility including expanded newsrooms, studios, control rooms and production spaces – also located at the Bethpage site and designed, built, and integrated by the KMH team.
The auditorium is designed for remote and on-site production and presentation capabilities, supported by an all new, fully Dante and NDI compliant network that also includes a new digital audio Dante based steerable line array front-of-house speaker system. The Dante audio network, which runs on new Netgear switches, is integrated with wireless microphone and IFB systems.
Panasonic PTZ-style NDI-based cameras are installed throughout the auditorium, controllable by a NewTek Tricaster production system in the projection booth/control room.
The theater’s audio/video system can be fully controlled from the presenter podium, or from the control room/projector booth for more complex events. KMH replaced the AV control system with a new Aurora touch panel system that interacts with all audio, video, and projection sources, including presenter laptop and/or remote guest laptops via Microsoft Teams. The theater’s two main operator positions were also upgraded with new furniture and more ergonomically friendly layouts.
With the new facility on the air and the connected presentation theater regularly in use, KMH Integration project teams remain on-site to provide ongoing post-installation support, system training and maintenance.
The KMH team also provided architectural consulting to coordinate cable paths and wall-mount device locations and is managing the on-site installation of all new equipment and the migration of existing systems, according to the project schedule.