Summary

The HA Design Group team successfully completed the across-the-board renovation of the VOA New York City-based television and radio facilities in 2013. The new VOA broadcast facilities in lower Manhattan, near the United Nations location, provides daily television studio broadcasts supporting its multilingual, international newscasts that are distributed via satellite and internet worldwide. Collaboration with the VOA Washington DC-based engineering team produced:

• Studio A Sets: The existing Studio A set was refreshed with a new graphics treatment and an entire new set was also designed and constructed utilizing a 3 by 2 video wall to enhance the new VOA over-the-shoulder news programming anticipated. Rounding out the Studio A live production options is an automated green screen that can be lowered to insert multimedia visuals into the VOA Language Service news programming and shows.

• Skyline Studio Set: A sweeping new set was designed and constructed that incorporates 8 windows to the outside. Multiple camera angles of the attractive set visuals with New York City views will be utilized in forthcoming VOA live news.

• New Studios’ Control Room: VOA’s upgraded control room is now used for both studios’ production with live video and controls integrated with the main VOA technical plant in Washington DC for the content’s eventual distribution.

• IT and offices’ network installations: As part of the NY facility project design was the build out of new VOA IT infrastructure that included installation of office-wide Cat 6 drops and fiber links connecting the Cisco-based networking across the NY studios, technical facilities, and new office space layout. The VOA New York broadcast facilities are tightly integrated with their Washington DC-based broadcast distribution functions through Harris NetVx links.

• New Studio Lighting Systems: New lighting grids and fixtures including LED mixed with incandescent systems were added to light the new studio set visuals in preparation for numerous daily productions.