Waterman Broadcasting Studio Gets a PTZ Makeover
Waterman Broadcasting in Fort Myers Florida is home to WBBH (NBC) and WZVN (ABC). Waterman Broadcasting was founded in 1978 with the aim of providing the community with the best news and weather programs – they have delivered on that objective for over 40 years and show no signs of slowing down.
The 12-year-old ABC studio needed a fresh face for local viewers, who have come to regard the station as their news and weather information fountain. Bob Hannon, Senior Production Engineer, was tasked with making it happen.
The challenge was to upgrade production quality on a tight budget so equipment selection was key:
Functional capabilities had to please the audience
Reliability, fault tolerance, and vendor support had to be top-notch
Total cost of ownership, including purchase price and yearly costs, had to meet the target
Automation was a must. Hannon knew the latest PTZ camera offerings could provide functionality and video quality for reasonable capital costs, but the lightweight PTZs didn’t integrate nicely with on-camera devices such as prompters.
“You’ve got to ensure the talent is able to maintain viewer eye contact while being assisted with scripts, timers, tally lights, and aux displays - intimate, confident communication is absolutely critical.”
Bob’s found a solution at NAB 2019 - Panasonic was featuring an integration of their broadcast-quality PTZ camera with an automated Tekskil camera platform that provided elevation and directional positioning along with on-camera prompting, timing, tally, camera ID, messaging, and auxiliary display. “The Tekskil/Panasonic solution meets our needs. It’s the ideal setup all the way around.”
Tekskil’s platform works hand in glove with Panasonic’s PTZ camera – the Tekskil UI can control Panasonic’s PTZ and Panasonic’s controller can direct the Tekskil equipment. The platform also has built-in local control, another way to keep the show going if the control room has hiccups.
Both Panasonic and Tekskil had lots of long-term customers and solid reputations for reliability and support.
The capital cost of the solution was much less than other offerings and annual support fees a fraction of the 15-20% of the purchase price typically charged.
The selection of these fixed position robotics allowed the FX Group to undertake the design of the striking new set. The set required a custom ceiling-mounted camera system – Tekskil was able to build an automated platform and customized firmware to meet requirements in less than a month.
The pandemic presented challenges for the set build and equipment installation; stringent safety procedures allowed the project to move ahead at a modified pace.
One of Hannon’s core goals was to make the transition to the new set seamless for the operators. “There can’t be a single point of failure. The best technology in the world isn’t worth a cent if the operators can’t use it. That’s what I like best about Tekskil/Panasonic system; if the control computer goes down, I can still drive the Panasonic cameras, I have memory control on the pedestals, and I can get them where I need them and still do a newscast.”
The new set has gotten rave reviews from Waterman’s viewers and the station talent and crew are pleased with the operation and product quality. Success!
Meet the Authors
Written by John Veenstra, President of Tekskil, and Bob Hannon, Senior Production Engineer at Waterman Broadcasting.