KCETLink Outsources Production Facilities

KCETLink Media Group, the independent television network in Burbank, has outsourced its broadcast origination operations and production facilities, the company announced Thursday. The Switch, a New York firm that provides video signal routing services, will take ownership of the master control, studio and remote production facilities and satellite transmission assets of KCET and Link TV, not including the transmission facilities on Mount Wilson. As part of the deal, the Switch will sublease 24,700 square feet of space from KCET in its offices at 2900 W. Alameda Ave. in Burbank. KCETLink will still use the facilities, but so will other customers. They include four control rooms, nine edit bays, a 2,500-square-foot stage and a 1,500-square-foot virtual green screen studio, according to the Switch. Also, Gordon Bell, KCETLink’s senior vice president of engineering, has joined the Switch to ensure a smooth integration. “At our core, we are storytellers for Southern California and the nation, and this partnership with the Switch will allow us to put more resources toward creating content and new digital formats, while realizing significant cost savings in our business,” Michael Riley, chief executive of the KCETLink Media Group, said in a statement. KCETLink is a viewer-supported nonprofit that distributes programming on satellites dish services, cable systems, broadcast station and the internet.