Laying the smackdown has never looked so good.
Stamford sports-entertainment giant World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. is putting the finishing touches on a $20 million conversion to high-definition television, including renovating sections of its production facilities on Hamilton Avenue in Stamford.
WWE SPENDS $20 MILLION ON HDTV PRODUCTION FACILITY
- 02/10/2008 (6:18:47 pm)
- Mike Informer
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WWE spends $20 million on HDTV production facility
Staff WriterPublished February 10 2008
WWE began broadcasting its "Monday Night Raw," "Friday Night Smackdown" and "ECW Extreme Championship" wrestling brands in HD last month, including its first-ever HD pay-per-view, the "Royal Rumble."
"This involves a whole new level of technology," Michael Grossman, senior vice president of television operations for WWE, said during a recent interview at its studios. "We find our product translates wonderfully to HD. It's a live product that is a visual show with colors, special effects and pyrotechnics. It's very vivid in HD."
The WWE has been working for the past year on an "aggressive schedule" to get its on-air product in HD and is pleased that the benchmarks it set for broadcast and pay-per-views were met, Grossman said.
While the WWE transforms its permanent Stamford studios, the company is using its new HD technology for broadcasts out of a temporary location on Harbor Drive in Stamford, he added.
The company also built new sets and two new state-of-the-art production trucks and will lease a custom transmission truck designed for HD transmission that will be stationed at live events, Grossman said.
By fall, WWE expects the Hamilton Avenue location to be fully converted with top-of-the-line editing and sound-mixing equipment that will enable the company to take even further advantage of its new leap.
Currently, parts the Hamilton Avenue location, where about 180 WWE employees work, look like a construction site. The smell of fresh paint could be found in empty rooms that will be converted into studios. Plastic protection sheets lined some walls, while temporary stairs lead to some rooms.
Grossman warned that the studios were a work in progress.
One of the empty rooms promises to be a technological godsend for WWE - a digital archive center that will contain thousands of hours of easily accessible wrestling content.
If WWE wants to grab a specific Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant match from the 1980s, it can input the information with the new equipment, and the match will be there for viewing, rather than digging out the videotape, Grossman said.
As for the television product, the WWE is still in its infancy with HD, but the results already have been eye-opening, Grossman said.
"Typical camera angles we've looked at for years have taken a whole new meaning," Grossman said. "We're watching shows unfold and people are saying, 'Oh my God! Look at that.' "
While working on promotion graphics for an upcoming WWE event, Chris Siciliano, creative director for graphics, said the conversion has been worth it.
"I think for months, we were very concerned about how things would work and what we would see on air," Siciliano said. "Now, it's very rewarding."
The move to HD is something broadcasters and media companies have been making with increasing ferocity in the past two or three years, said Kristopher Jones of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Broadcasters.
Cable news and sports channels have made the conversion, as have all of the major networks, Jones added. Some of the local affiliates should change soon.
"HD is definitely the future," Jones said. "We've found that people with HD (televisions) watch programs broadcasting in high-definition more often than" programs in standard definition.
Because of its rising popularity, and the WWE's reputation as a technologically savvy company, HD is a move it had to make, financial and industry observers said.
"This involves a whole new level of technology," Michael Grossman, senior vice president of television operations for WWE, said during a recent interview at its studios. "We find our product translates wonderfully to HD. It's a live product that is a visual show with colors, special effects and pyrotechnics. It's very vivid in HD."
The WWE has been working for the past year on an "aggressive schedule" to get its on-air product in HD and is pleased that the benchmarks it set for broadcast and pay-per-views were met, Grossman said.
While the WWE transforms its permanent Stamford studios, the company is using its new HD technology for broadcasts out of a temporary location on Harbor Drive in Stamford, he added.
The company also built new sets and two new state-of-the-art production trucks and will lease a custom transmission truck designed for HD transmission that will be stationed at live events, Grossman said.
By fall, WWE expects the Hamilton Avenue location to be fully converted with top-of-the-line editing and sound-mixing equipment that will enable the company to take even further advantage of its new leap.
Currently, parts the Hamilton Avenue location, where about 180 WWE employees work, look like a construction site. The smell of fresh paint could be found in empty rooms that will be converted into studios. Plastic protection sheets lined some walls, while temporary stairs lead to some rooms.
Grossman warned that the studios were a work in progress.
One of the empty rooms promises to be a technological godsend for WWE - a digital archive center that will contain thousands of hours of easily accessible wrestling content.
If WWE wants to grab a specific Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant match from the 1980s, it can input the information with the new equipment, and the match will be there for viewing, rather than digging out the videotape, Grossman said.
As for the television product, the WWE is still in its infancy with HD, but the results already have been eye-opening, Grossman said.
"Typical camera angles we've looked at for years have taken a whole new meaning," Grossman said. "We're watching shows unfold and people are saying, 'Oh my God! Look at that.' "
While working on promotion graphics for an upcoming WWE event, Chris Siciliano, creative director for graphics, said the conversion has been worth it.
"I think for months, we were very concerned about how things would work and what we would see on air," Siciliano said. "Now, it's very rewarding."
The move to HD is something broadcasters and media companies have been making with increasing ferocity in the past two or three years, said Kristopher Jones of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Broadcasters.
Cable news and sports channels have made the conversion, as have all of the major networks, Jones added. Some of the local affiliates should change soon.
"HD is definitely the future," Jones said. "We've found that people with HD (televisions) watch programs broadcasting in high-definition more often than" programs in standard definition.
Because of its rising popularity, and the WWE's reputation as a technologically savvy company, HD is a move it had to make, financial and industry observers said.
"I think it's certainly important for WWE to make their products as compelling as possible as HD becomes more widespread," said Michael White, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles.
The HD-move may not boost ratings, but "you almost need this investment to keep your core fan base excited," White said. "It's the nebulous world of building your brand."
The HD-move may not boost ratings, but "you almost need this investment to keep your core fan base excited," White said. "It's the nebulous world of building your brand."
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