Hawk TV now broadcasts in high definition (HD) for the first time in sixteen years.
Since its beginning in 1998, Monmouth University’s television station, Hawk TV, has broadcasted in standard definition (480p); however, since the introduction of high definition (1080p), which is now the industry standard, it took a long process to bring Hawk TV to meet that television standard. This past summer, the process was finally completed.
“The transition to high definition has had to be done in stages; it’s expensive,” said Donna Dolphin, communication professor, founder and advisor for Hawk TV.
“I don’t know the exact amount because it’s part of the Communication [department] budget and part Hawk TV budget,” said Dolphin.
Dr. Chad Dell, Chair of the Communication Department said he did not know how much the total was either.
Eric Reisher, Broadcast Technical Assistant, was also involved in the process of Hawk TV’s transformation to HD. He described his role in the process as having to plan, implement and recommend the equipment that needed to be purchased for the actual system.
The conclusion for what needed to be bought was a play out server. “It’s capable of play out and record and we’re using it in the play out capacity,” said Reisher.
Reisher explained how he and Steve Mervine, Director of Media Operations, designed how this piece of equipment was going to work with their current infrastructure.
“The actual installation took about a day and a half but the process of getting it up and running and trying to figure out how to get the files off the editing software into the play out server took a week,” said Reisher
The new play out server is what allows the shows to be seen in HD when the episodes are aired onto television networks on the channel 12-1.
Nash Weiner, Production Director of Hawk TV, explained how the new sever does not change the process of creating episodes for Hawk TV.
“We already recorded in HD, we edited in HD, we even made the actual file in HD, but we were never able to actually broadcast in HD until now,” Weiner said about the process.
“It’s awesome because now everyone who watches Hawk TV can see what we have to offer,” said Weiner.
Rachel Gramuglia, a senior communication student said that Hawk TV being in HD will bring in more viewers.
“I feel more inclined to watch because HD is more aesthetically pleasing, so if I’m flipping through channels and I see that Hawk TV is in HD, the same quality as other stations, I’ll probably stay tuned in to watch what’s on,” said Gramuglia.
Dolphin said this change is bringing Hawk TV closer to what she envisioned for the organization when she first started it.
“My students found an interview of me back when we first started Hawk TV, when we were first launching, like ‘here we are.’ I had completely forgot about it, but they asked me, ‘Where do you think that this is going? What do you envision?’ and I said, ‘Well, I fully expect that we’ll be a large and thriving organization on campus where we’ll have several hours of regular original programming each week; where we’ll have a busy well equipped studio and we’ll be winning awards and it’ll be fun and active’ and it’s like, Oh my goodness it came true!”
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth University
