When students returned to Newport after Winter Break, the broadcast studio suffered the devastating loss of the main video production board, a digital panel tasked with displaying background images, input from multiple sources, and the overall visuals for the daily morning announcements. This was just the latest in a series of mechanical failures that face a studio that hasn’t seen an upgrade since the 1990s.
This year alone, the studio lost two laptops and a camera light, and last year, the studio software failed. It was replaced by a PowerPoint presentation. Of the three existing modulators (think of them like separate broadcasting channels), only one remains operable. Mrs. Lisa Good, the District’s technology coordinator, rigged a low-tech system to continue the live broadcast, but the whole system pales compared to the glory of the past and the potential of available setups.
Enter, the Buffalo Foundation. The newly formed foundation tasked with providing the ‘extras’ to the District chose the studio as one of its flagship projects. A complete overhaul of the studio is currently underway. Although still in the planning stages, studio director Jacob Kolmansberger and apprentice Tova Keilman have big plans for the space.
“We want to make a high-quality output for the studio,” said Kolmansberger, “but the technology we’ve been using is heavily outdated.”
Proposals have been made to get a new equipment system for the studio. One way this may be completed is by using a “one-button studio” layout. This bundled technology, promoted by a company called FluxSpace, allows the announcements to be broadcast in a high-quality manner while staying simple for people who have less experience with cameras and computers. Additionally, revamping the lighting and furniture in the studio has been discussed with the Buffalo Foundation.
More information is coming, but it is a long process. Revamping the studio had been discussed for years and is only now coming to fruition. Until then, the announcements will remain a low-quality, bare-minimum broadcast.
