Local news in high def!

It's been a crazy, but fun and exciting week to work at WBIR.

After weeks of preparation, we're broadcasting in HD!

The past few months have been a busy and sometimes stressful, but exciting season. WBIR's managers reached an agreement a few months ago with the local FOX station (WTNZ--FOX 43) to power their local newscasts. We started out just doing the half-hour 10 p.m. newscast, but that agreement expanded to a one-hour 10 p.m. newscast and a brand-new morning show from 7 a.m. - 9 a.m. along with our HD launch. The new shows necessitated the need for more people, so we've also added several new reporters, producers and photographers to the team. After experiencing the layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts of 2008 and 2009, it feels great to experience the excitement of expansion and lots of positive developments, even though all of the adjustments that come along with that have sometimes been crazy.

So needless to say, Wednesday, June 1 was a very big day at WBIR! We even had a a brief station-wide champagne toast before the first HD show. It's not often one gets to do that at work! We launched in HD, unveiled a new set, expanded a recently acquired newscast, added a completely new newscast (well, technically that was this morning not yesterday) and launched some new graphics. Any one of those changes is enough to be a big deal, but doing them all at once is almost enough to make one's head spin. But everything went about as well as could possibly be expected.

I *love* the newly-renovated set. It looks awesome! Especially in HD. (We have a standard definition TV at home and HD ones at work, so I get to experience it from both worlds.) The old set had needed an upgrade for a long time, particularly the weather center, interview set and kitchen. Our production crews, directors and managers put in *tons* of hours to get everything ready to go and their hard work paid off!

Here's a video tour our promotions crew made that includes some behind-the-scenes looks at the 5 p.m. newscast (our first in HD). See if you can find anyone you recognize. ;)

Speaking of the 5 p.m. newscast, guess who got to produce it? Yours truly!

It made the most sense to launch in HD from our new set on 10 News at Five and I'm producing that show for the next few weeks while our new producer gets settled in. My permanent home will eventually be the 6 p.m. newscast. I felt excited and humbled to be a part of the first full-length HD newscast, even though I know things ended up that way simply because of our current schedule.

I always want the newscasts I produce to look great on air, but I've never wanted a flawless show as badly as I did yesterday! I was super excited, but a little nervous. It reminded me of the way I felt the first time I produced the 5 p.m. or the 6 p.m. newscasts. Thankfully it all went well and God definitely gets all the glory for that! We were all on our A game, but any number of things still could have gone wrong that didn't. 

My news director took a moment as the day got started to encourage everyone to soak up the excitement and enjoy the day, even as we dealt with all the craziness. Huge moments like this don't happen often in a journalist's career, but they are very memorable. And even now, only one day removed from the big event, I have to agree. Years from now, I think I will definitely look back on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 as one of the highlights of my time as a journalist. I already feel that way about it!

Anyway, here are a few behind-the-scenes shots, from a producer's perspective:

Our directors getting everything ready to go

And here we go! 4:57:40 p.m. began a new era for WBIR!

Michelle (our future 5 p.m. producer) and me -- the new early evening newscasts power producing pair ;)

Thanks for sharing in my excitement!