The faltering economy is causing many stations to consider outsourcing master control and other technical back-office jobs. Among those that may provide such services are third-party firms as well as LIN, Media General, Raycom and other station groups that have already began centralcasting or hubbing.

Thousands are complaining loudly that they can no longer find stations that switched from UHF to VHF channels last Friday as part the final transition to DTV. Nobody knows why for sure, but the speculation blames everything from UHF-only rabbit ears to improperly retrofitted transmitters to inadequate broadcast power.

Cellular Terrestrial Broadband is a new company that wants to organize LPTV broadcasters into a consortium that would digitize stations and improve their coverage so that they could offer a host of new services including wireless cable and Internet downloading.

After making the transition to digital broadcasting on Jan. 15, Honlulu TV stations are facing the fact that some viewers have lost over-the-air service, in many cases because they need a better antenna. Secondary transmitters on some other islands are also causing problems since they're not as high as their analog counterparts.

When it became clear that upgrading Meredith's Phoenix CBS affiliate for digital couldn't be done by working around the facility's limitations, it opted to construct a separate 2,000-square-foot room to house the new technical core comprising Harris and Grass Valley equipment.

The syndicated show and companion Web site are aided in their never-ending quest for celebrities at their worst by a file-based workflow that speeds production and allows for continual changes. "We can be flexible in a way you could only dream of in a typical TV show," said creator/executive producer/on-air personality Harvey Levin (pictured).

A studio-ready PMW-EX3 HD camcorder at $30,000 is one-half and one-third of the asking prices for Sony's top-of-the-line HDC1400 and HDC1500 studio cameras, respectively. It's aimed at stations in smaller markets that feel the need to make the move to HD to keep pace with their rival stations, even though their revenue, margins and budgets are shrinking

KYW Philadelphia Chief Engineer Rich Paleski uncovered a potential problem for the nation's TV stations when he tracked down the likely source of interference to his C-band downlink. He believes it's coming from WiMax equipment in the 3650-3700 MHz band that abuts the lower end of the satellite C-band frequencies.

A fire destroyed Hoak Media's KREX Grand Junction, Colo., last January, knocking the CBS affiliate off the air as well as the Fox and MNT affiliates it operates under a local marketing agreement. But with the help of Harris, it restored full service within two months and laid the technical groundwork for a new facility that should be ready for occupancy next summer.

As CTOs at stations and groups are under pressure to reduce capital expenditures for 2009 in light of the worsening financial crisis, technology manufacturers are responding. Some believe they can convince broadcasters to spend on products that improve efficiency and show a clear return on investment. And they believe they can entice them with financing and other incentives.

Just as stations are finding ways of monetizing old footage, those potential profits are falling apart on dusty shelves. Fortunately, expert help is available to rescue and restore those aging videotapes.

The 23-station group is moving to improve efficiency and quality by centralizing major graphics production and deploying Chyron's AXIS, a system that empowers just about everybody in the newsroom to produce everyday graphics.

Loudness spikes and "intractable" lip sync troubles are bedeviling the Dolby-based audio standard and keeping engineers busy looking for remedies. Dolby says some of the problem would go away if everybody would read the instructions and follow them faithfully.

Some stations are ready to go with their full-power digital service, but others with "unique technical challenges" have obtained extensions from the FCC that will allow them to keep working on their transmission facilities after the Feb. 17, 2009, deadline.

The new SMPTE standard is bringing another dimension of automation to TV stations, allowing data to flow back and forth between traffic and master control and promising money-saving spot management.

Some enterprising reporters are capturing big news with an ultra-small consumer camera at an ultra-small price. Pure Digital's "fun tool' is less than 2-by-4 inches, weighs less than 3 ounces and costs just $180.

The broadcast vendor best known for its camcorders and monitors is developing a system for automating the news control room that it claims will be "more intuitive" and "less restrictive" than the Ignite and OverDrive systems that now dominate the market.

With multicasting and repurposing for the Web becoming commonplace, TV stations are heading to NAB looking for technologies that will help them manage the new demands and the operational expenses.

Richard Chernock, CTO of Triveni Digital, is leading the effort at the ATSC to develop a standard for "non-real-time services" that will allow broadcasters to offer near-on-demand news and weather, to target ads and to download TV shows, movies and music.

Smaller market stations are finding that the quality and features of many cameras designed for field use—added to their lower cost—make them ideal for studio use.