BeckTV integrates new KWTV broadcast facility in downtown Oklahoma City

When KWTV in Oklahoma City decided to move from its existing broadcast facility to a new one in the Century Center building located in the heart of downtown, the station turned to its broadcast systems integration partner of over 30 years, BeckTV, to assist with the new facility design, engineering, and installation services.

The new broadcast systems went live on Sunday, Nov. 13. KWTV is one of two broadcast facilities owned by Griffin Media in Oklahoma.

“What a year, starting from a blank slate to now operating in a world-class media center — Griffin Media,” said Trevor Wiseman, VP of technology, KWTV. “From project management, design, procurement, logistics, and to integration the BeckTV team provided their world-class expertise across multiple disciplines and navigated us through many challenges smoothly without disrupting on-air operations. Thank you to all on the BeckTV team that made our move to downtown OKC — 100 W. Main — a big success. We look forward to working with you again on future projects.”

KWTV broadcasted from its original facility for over 60 years and decided a move to a new facility in downtown Oklahoma City, upgrading its, in some cases, decades-old broadcast systems, while also upgrading to a new state-of-the-art studio set design. In addition to hosting the station’s many technical operations as well as sales and administrative support, the building now serves as Griffin Media’s headquarters. The new KWTV news production went live four days after BeckTV had launched the master control transmission. Daily broadcasting operations started immediately, and over the next several days some of the existing equipment in the old facility was fully shut down and transitioned to the new facility.

BeckTV is an active systems integration partner with Griffin Media, sharing a long history of projects not only for KWTV but also for KSBI in Oklahoma City and KOTV in Tulsa. The KWTV engineering and design work by Beck TV started in 2021, with onsite integration work starting in June 2022.

KWTV selected new broadcast systems including Evertz routing with an integrated enterprise multiviewer and TDM audio router; Evertz master control switcher and airpath; Clear-Com intercom, G&D KVM, Avid video production servers, Ross camera robotics, Sony production switcher and ELC automation systems; a Calrec Audio console; Imagine Communications master control playout and automation systems; and custom BeckTV consoles.

Going live from a new facility while an existing one is on the air is complicated and involves hours of strategic planning, coordination, installation, testing, training, and show rehearsals. To ensure a smooth transition, BeckTV maintained a crew of two engineers and six technicians on site to install, commission, and support all new and repurposed systems.

The project team, led by Project Engineer Abel Sassehagen, Systems Engineer Christian Ramirez, Lead Technician Travis Peterson, and with management assistance from TJ Beardsmore, met with Griffin Media and KWTV on a weekly basis to review and discuss the project schedule, focusing on BeckTV and KWTV deliverables and goals.

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“Moving from an existing broadcast facility across town to a new station with brand new technology is always a challenge,” said Brendan Cline, director of engineering for BeckTV. “Ongoing, productive, focused communications are key to executing a successful project, especially on such a massive scale. So naturally, the most valuable part of our partnership with Griffin Media is the ease of working with such a fantastic longtime partner of ours. With this project at KWTV, we continue our track record of being one of the best broadcast integrators in the country and executing successfully on launching greenfield television broadcast facility projects continues, adding to our long list of satisfied clients.”

Stay tuned for a deeper look at the new KWTV facility and studio in the coming weeks.