For more than 60 years, Austin PBS has served as a cornerstone of the Central Texas community- delivering local news, cultural programming, and iconic shows like Austin City Limits. But as the media landscape evolved, so too did the need for an updated facility to support modern UHD, HDR, and ATSC 3.0 broadcast standards. The new Austin Media Center, a multi-million-dollar state-of-the-art broadcast hub, is the result of years of planning, partnership, and perseverance. Built in collaboration with Key Code Media and co-located with Austin Community College, the new facility is designed to future-proof Austin PBS for decades of evolving production demands.
Overview of the New Building Project
The road to realizing Austin PBS’s vision was not without its challenges. From COVID-related delays to a devastating Texas freeze that flooded much of the newly installed cabling and gear, the engineering and design teams faced immense hurdles. Yet, working closely with Key Code Media, Austin PBS emerged with one of the largest 12G broadcast facilities in the country, equipped to produce, edit, and distribute UHD content at scale.
The facility spans three fully equipped studios, three flexible control rooms, a centralized machine room and rack room, and a cutting-edge post-production suite, all connected by over 100 miles of 12G, 3G, and fiber cabling. Whether producing live broadcasts, educational content, or high-end streaming material, Austin PBS is now equipped for any media landscape.
Control Rooms and Machine Room Infrastructure
At the core of Austin PBS’s operational workflow are three interchangeable production control rooms (PCR), each paired with an audio control room (ACR), giving the team unmatched flexibility. These control rooms can manage productions from any studio—allowing for simultaneous productions or special events without operational bottlenecks.
The machine room and rack room serve as the nerve center, powering all video, audio, and network routing. Designed with redundancy and scalability in mind, these spaces make it possible to route UHD signals, manage asset storage, and facilitate remote control via an advanced KVM system.
Control Room and Infrastructure Technology Highlights:
- Ross Carbonite Ultra production switchers (3x), enabling flexible 12G workflows.
- Ross XPression graphics systems for real-time visuals and lower-thirds.
- Ross Tria Express Duet media servers for playback and clip management.
- Clear-Com Eclipse HX matrix intercom with FreeSpeak II wireless for seamless communication across production teams.
- Evertz 3067VIP-X multi-viewer systems for fully customizable monitoring layouts.
- Telestream PRISM waveform monitors ensuring broadcast-ready signal integrity.
- Adder KVM matrix for system-wide access to control room and back-end machines.
- Evertz DreamCatcher for ingest and acquisition.
- Dual Evertz 12G/3G routers handling live video routing with UHD and HDR capacity.
- Over 100 miles of low-voltage cabling, including 12G, 3G, audio, fiber, and Ethernet- reinstalled with Key Code Media’s engineering team following flood damage.
TV Studio Spaces
The heart of Austin PBS’s content creation lies in its three high-tech studios, each customized for specific production needs—from large-scale music performances to intimate local programming. The studios are connected by MT Fiber, enabling rapid reconfiguration of cameras and equipment depending on the production.
Studio A is a 6,600 sq. ft. flagship space designed for audience-driven productions, concerts, and events, paying homage to Austin’s rich musical heritage. Studio B is a 2,200 sq. ft. green screen space, optimized for education and virtual sets, operated in partnership with ACC. Studio C, a 1,800 sq. ft. space, focuses on local productions like Central Texas Gardener and Austin InSight.
Each studio boasts 12G UHD HDR workflows, fully networked and easily managed from any control room.
Studio Technology Highlights:
- Sony HDC-3500 camera systems with Canon UHD lenses.
- Sony F55 cinema-style cameras in specialty studios for high-end productions.
- Sony PTZ (A-series) and Marshall lipstick cameras for flexible angles and specialty shots.
- Autoscript teleprompters and Vinten pedestals for professional studio operation.
- DiGiCo SD12 audio consoles with flexible IO for live sound (Studio A)
- Calrec Summa and Brio consoles for broadcast sound (Studios A, B and C).
- Genelec 5.1 and Bose PA systems for audio monitoring and audience experience.
- MT Fiber camera chains enabling fast swaps and reconfiguration.
Post Production
Austin PBS also took a major leap forward in post-production capabilities, creating a future-proof editorial and finishing pipeline designed for UHD and HDR workflows. With more than 1 petabyte of high-speed storage, editors can seamlessly manage multi-cam productions, remote collaborations, and archival access.
In addition to traditional editing, the post-production suite includes 5.1 audio mixing, asset management, and file-based QC, supporting both linear broadcast and OTT content pipelines.
Post Production Technology Highlights:
- Avid Pro Tools with Avid S4 console for multitrack mixing and immersive audio.
- Genelec 5.1 monitoring for surround sound accuracy.
- Adobe Premiere Pro as the primary NLE for UHD editing.
- Facilis 1PB shared storage, with SSD arrays for high-speed finishing.
- Telestream Vantage for multi-format ingest and high-quality, file-based transcoding.
- CatDV for media asset management and metadata workflows.
Thanks to Key Code Media
A project of this size and complexity required not only advanced technology but also a trusted partner with deep expertise. From design and engineering to installation and training, Key Code Media was instrumental in making the Austin Media Center a success.
Working closely with Austin PBS’s engineering team, Key Code Media helped navigate supply chain delays, overcome infrastructure setbacks, and deliver a future-ready facility on time and within budget. More than just an integrator, Key Code Media became an extension of the Austin PBS team—focused on delivering a solution that will serve Central Texas for years to come.
"Key Code Media didn’t just deliver specs; they stood side by side with us every step of the way. Without them, this facility would not be what it is today."
