Webcast News Facility
1 AT&T Way
Bedminster, NJ 07921
Awarded: March 2007
Completed: May 2007
Organization
AT&T is the largest local and long distance telephone provider and second largest cellular service provider in the United States with more than 150 million total subscribers nationwide. AT&T employs almost 300,000 workers in offices across the US.
Challenge
VCA was chosen by AT&T to build a facility for daily subscriber-based internet news generation. The studio needed to meet all of AT&T's creation and distribution needs within their Bedminster, NJ facility and provide an efficient workflow for production, post-production and distribution. VCA was tasked with designing, engineering, building, and installing the complete system in a narrow 2.5 month timeframe. Fabrication of the system took place at VCA's Somerset location with all aspects of the job handled by VCA's staff.
Project
The Webcast News Facility at AT&T's New Jersey headquarters was designed and engineered by VCA personnel to maximize the production output and efficiency of AT&T's daily internet news broadcasts. Four Hitachi cameras on Vinten pedestals serve as the main capture inputs of the studio, feeding SDI back to the master control room. Teleprompters mounted on the camera setups allow presentations and speakers to be recorded with ease while lighting from Shadowstone ensures proper illumination of the set and presenters. Inside the master control room, a Ross video production switcher, connected to Ross routers and servers, handles the distribution of the video signals throughout the facility. AT&T decided to use a combination of Sony DVCam and Panasonic DVCPro VTR's to handle the recording and archiving for the studio while also adding DVD recorders and legacy VHS decks for older footage use. An AVID ISYS/iNews system, tied to AVID Newscutter systems, provides the post-production workflow for AT&T editing and distribution. Telestream products complete the functionality of the studio, providing the encoding and streaming of the internet news produced by AT&T.
Results
The Webcast News Facility at AT&T's New Jersey headquarters has been a success for both VCA and AT&T. Produciton started soon after VCA's installation was complete and the first internet news programs were distributed shortly thereafter. The facility has enabled AT&T to meet the demand of their subscriber-based internet news customers and has enabled an easier access to information than available before. AT&T now routinely creates content on a daily basis and is able to deliver that content more efficiently and economically than was available in the past.