'All My Children' To Go HD In 2010

ABC signs long-term deal with Andrita for HD studios

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/18/2009 6:16:41 PM

ABC’s long-running soap opera All My Children will make the move to 720p HD production next year, after ABC Daytime reached a long-term deal with Broadcast Facilities, Inc (BFI). for studio facilities at Andrita Media Center, BFI's 106,000 sq. ft. network origination, satellite transmission, production and post-production media facility in Los Angeles.

Under the agreement, Andrita Media Center will provide ABC with Andrita Stage 1 (18,000 square feet), Andrita Stage 2 (10,000 square feet), multi-camera HD production facilities and associated production offices. The All My Children production will begin relocating to Andrita in December and will begin shooting episodes in HD in January 2010. The first HD episodes of All My Children will air in February 2010.

All My Children would be the second ABC Daytime soap to transition to HD, following the April HD launch of General Hospital. That show is produced at ABC’s Prospect Studios facility. Andrita had previously provided production services for the second season of the General Hospital spin-off show, General Hospital: Night Shift.

"To be the new production facility for this iconic daytime television classic and to shoot it in HD is an honor," said Bill Tillson, BFI's President and COO, in a statement. "The Andrita Media Center takes great pride in becoming the new home of All My Children and we look forward to continuing our relationship with ABC which started with the shooting of General Hospital: Night Shift at Andrita in 2008."