WRAL-TV News Operation Goes All-HDTV With Panasonic DVCPRO HD

16-Oct-00

Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Company announced that Capitol Broadcasting Company's WRAL-TV (Raleigh, North Carolina) has made a multi-million dollar purchase of DVCPRO HD equipment to convert its field news operations to high definition. WRAL-TV and Panasonic Broadcast also announced that DVCPRO HD equipment was used to produce the world's first all-HDTV newscast on October 13, 2000. High Definition Television offers viewers greatly enhanced picture quality, a wide-screen 16:9 ratio versus the current 4:3 ratio, and CD-quality sound. WRAL broadcasted the historic all-HDTV newscast at 5pm on Friday, October 13th, from the North Carolina State Fair. News stories were acquired and played back in the DVCPRO HD format. The newscast originated live from the fair, but also previewed WRAL's new 24,000-square foot, all-digital news facility and demonstrated to viewers the benefits of high-definition television. Jim Goodmon, CEO of Capitol Broadcasting, said, ""Local news is all about putting the viewer on the scene, and nothing does that better than high-definition television. Our viewers will get a wider view, a clearer picture, more detail and CD quality sound-the only thing better is actually being there!"" While this high-definition signal can only be fully appreciated on a widescreen, high-definition television set, even the current analog sets will receive a better picture. ""Because these new HD cameras are so high resolution - over six times the definition of our current cameras - folks who watch it on a standard set will notice a difference. It's just better TV,"" said Goodmon. Warren Allgyer, President, Panasonic Broadcast, said, ""From its start as the nation's first HDTV station in 1996 to its groundbreaking HD coverage of entertainment and sports and its advanced testing of datacasting linked to local programming, WRAL has made the investment to be on the cutting edge of television's future. By investing in compact DVCPRO HD equipment to produce news in high definition, WRAL has once again assumed a leadership role in demonstrating the commercial viability of over-the-air HDTV broadcasting. ""We admire WRAL for its bold leadership and for proving that full HDTV operations can be implemented in a mid-size market. Panasonic is committed to providing WRAL and other broadcasters who are investing in HDTV with the leading-edge equipment to make them successful."" WRAL was the first station in the country to broadcast in the Federal Communication Commission's new digital television standard. It was granted the nation's first high definition television (HDTV) experimental license in 1996, which allowed the station to transmit the nation's first high definition television signal. WRAL continues to broadcast HD on a daily basis on WRAL-Digital and has accomplished a number of firsts in the industry, including a local documentary, sporting events and live news coverage. Panasonic's DVCPRO HD is the new cost-effective high definition recording format for news and production that provides an effective path for broadcasting of DTV and HDTV programming while remaining backward-compatible with all DVCPRO50, DVCPRO, DVCAM and DV digital formats. The AJ-HD150 studio VTR delivers high-density high definition recording with eight digital audio channels, and breaks the boundaries of conventional VTR design with its playback compatibility of all professional DV-based formats.For more information on Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Co., visit www.panasonic.com/broadcast.

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