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.

The Precis news production system is one solution for TV stations making the move to a file-based workflow and wondering how they'll cope with the huge volume of video and data. “We manage it, we play it out, we take care of your rundown information,” says Bitcentral CEO Fred Fourcher.

The "prosumer" cameras on display at the Consumer Electronics Show this year may not do everything their pro cousins can, but they can do a lot and do it at a fraction of the price.

Apple’s newest gadgets offer TV stations cheap and easy ways to begin turning mobile video into a new revenue stream.

Qualcomm's MediaFLO eight-channel mobile television service is already available is 40 markets through Verizon Wireless and the footprint will get even bigger when its other marketing partner, AT&T, comes online later this year, says Omar Javaid.

The German semiconductor manufacturer will compete with Samsung and Harris/LG in an ATSC standards battle. All three systems would allow TV stations to use a portion of their DTV channel to broadcast programming to portable and mobile devices. Meanwhile, Ion's Brandon Burgess says interest among broadcasters in technology is growing fast.

The two vendors have opened a new front in their long-running battle for supremacy in TV station news acquisition: tapeless HD. So far, Sony has captured CBS and Tribune, but Panasonic has Fox and Cox. Most of the business is still up for grabs.

The creative services chief and design director at CBS's Los Angeles O&Os explain how they keep up with stations' enormous demands for news and sports promos and sales materials with software you can buy at the local software shop or college bookstore.

Harris VP Jay Adrick describes the latest system for broadcasting TV to mobile receivers in fast-moving cars and tells why he thinks its better than the competition--Samsung's A-VSB.

In this first in a series of interviews with suppliers and users of cutting-edge broadcast technology, Grass Valley's Alex Holtz tells how the Ignite system can not only save broadcasters money in the control room, but also position them to better tackle multicasting and webcasting.