Cutting Edge

PBS station WFME(TV) Orlando, Fla., has awarded a $3.2 million contract to systems integrator Professional Communications Systems. The deal includes the design, equipment and installation of a seven-channel SD/HD master-control and digital-infrastructure system. Built around video and audio file servers, the system will handle six SD channels and one HD channel. Installation is scheduled to begin in June with the system online in SD by late fall.

Nexstar and Entravision have signed deals with Avid for installation of Avid's iNews newsroom computer system in their respective stations. Entravision will finish the installs at its five stations in three years, beginning with a 10-seat system at KLDO-TV Laredo, Texas. Nexstar, which has 24 stations, will complete its transition in two years. No word on which Nexstar station will be the first to install the system, and financial details were unavailable.

A.F. Associates has been selected by Herring Broadcasting to design and build facilities for a new HD network called Wealth TV. The San Diego-based facility will comprise HD studios, post-production suites, digital content management and network origination. Equipment includes Sony HDC930 cameras, a Sony MVS-8000 production switcher, Pinnacle video servers, Harris automation and Apple Final Cut Pro editing systems.

Harris Corp. has been awarded a one-year $96 million for development of the Iraqi Media Network. The contract was given by the Defense Contracting Command–Washington on behalf of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) currently governing Iraq. The contract covers equipment, operation, training and programming for Iraqi national radio and television networks and a national newspaper with operating locations in Baghdad and more than 30 other sites throughout the country.