CitrusTV upgrades to new, HD-ready equipment

CitrusTV has bid its old, outdated equipment farewell. “With the help of donations from alumni, parents, local businesses and friends, and with the financial support of the Student Association, we were able to make great strides this year,” says Ryan Balton, CitrusTV’s General Manager. During the summer, Albany, NY-based Audio-Video Corporation installed brand-new control room equipment, marking just one of the technology upgrades at the studio. Audio-Visual is a leading broadcast systems provider, with clients such as HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY and Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY.

The new, state-of-the-art switcher, a Grass Valley Kayak 200C, is the broadcast industry standard. The Kayak 200C is also high definition-ready, allowing for a completely HD production facility in the future. Avid Unity MediaNetwork, a professional-grade,network-based media storage system, was also installed.

The new equipment makes CitrusTV one of the nation’s most technologically advanced student-run television studios. Nearly every major network, local TV station, and feature film production company uses Avid editing software and servers, or a similar server-based workflow. Balton, who interned this summer at ESPN in Bristol, CT indicated that their digital center is fully powered by Grass Valley switchers and routers, much like those now at CitrusTV.

For years, CitrusTV has provided a hands-on, experiential learning environment to Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF students. Many studio members who graduated last year now have full time jobs as reporters and producers (less than five months after graduating). Their employers include ABC, NBC, CNBC, ESPN, Time Warner Cable Sports, Fox Sports Network, ESPN Deportes, as well as local affiliates in Montana, Texas, New York, Massachusetts, Maine and Pennsylvania.

CitrusTV is the student-run television studio of Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF. They produce award-winning news, sports and entertainment content. For more information on CitrusTV, visit http://www.CitrusTV.net, or email Evan Davis, CitrusTV Promotions Director, at edavis@citrustv.net.