WEIU-TV will start new changes to digitalize equipment that will modernize the station and give employees a head start in broadcasting careers.

The digital conversion project is part of the Federal Communications Commission’s plan requiring all public broadcasters to expand and convert analog equipment, master controls and production facilities to digital broadcasting technology by May 2003, said Rick Sailors, director of the radio and television center.

The project, which has been contracted to Duncan Video, has been separated into two parts: an internal integration phase and a broadcast integration phase. Sailors said he hopes the project will be completed in March 2003 before the FCC’s deadline of May 2003.

Sailors said students that work at WEIU-TV will benefit greatly from the digital changeover.

Because most larger stations already use the updated equipment or soon will, Sailors said, students will be more prepared and better qualified to find jobs.

“Students need to be trained in a digital environment,” he said.

The state legislator awarded WEIU-TV and all other public television stations $2.4 million dollars to pay for the cost of digital conversion by May 2003, said Sailors. The internal integration will cost $1.4 million and the balance will be used to fund the broadcast integration.

The internal integration, which will start in May and be completed by August, includes replacing almost all the equipment in the master control room of WEIU-TV and installing miles of new cables and wires throughout the station, Sailors said.

“The equipment list is into dozens of pieces of equipment,” he said.

Items set to be replaced include the router, switcher, video server, monitors and automation equipment.

The second phase of the project entails will start next fall semester. The broadcast transition will includes adding a new digital production control center, the center used to produce the local programs including the nightly news, and adding a new digital transmitter antenna. The new equipment will allow WEIU-TV to broadcast four channels simultaneously, but Sailors said the station did not have any immediate plans to add new stations.

The new broadcast equipment will cater to both digital and analog equipment through 2006, as mandated by the FCC, said Sailors.

After 2006, if at least 85 percent of the community has digital access at home, WEIU-TV can convert to an all digital format.