KSPR debuts new set, high-definition newscast

Viewers who were watching KSPR-TV's 10 p.m. newscast on Nov. 1 saw something brand new to the Springfield viewing area. Sunday was the first night the station broadcast the news from its new headquarters at 999 W. Sunshine St. And it was the first night television viewers in the Ozarks watched a local newscast in high-definition.

In June, television stations nationwide transitioned from analog to digital signals. It has only been in the past few weeks, however, that KSPR crews started gathering HD video throughout southwest Missouri.

"Because we have the first high-def cameras in the market, we're really using this as a chance to show viewers the Ozarks in a way they've never seen it before," KSPR News Director Brad Belote said.

The transition to HD, he said, required all new equipment, including field cameras, studio cameras and editing systems. Equipment upgrades also allowed the station to take advantage of technology that minimizes the number of production staff members needed to put the newscast on air. What was once a five-person job now only requires one person. Cameras are robotically operated, audio levels and graphics are computer-controlled, and a director oversees it all, Belote said.

That doesn't mean production staff will be eliminated, however. Belote said those employees were reallocated to understaffed areas at the station.

Even though KSPR will now be sharing a building with managing station KY3, there are no plans to share studios or newsrooms, Belote said. In the future, both stations may find working together can be more efficient, he said, in areas such as gathering election results and local sports scores.

For now, KSPR viewers can expect to see a news staff and set that "pops off the screen", Belote said.

[[In-content Ad]]Find out when other stations in the area are planning on making the transition to HD in SBJ's Nov. 9 print edition.