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Information about Master Control

For the Cartoon Network programming block, see Cartoon Network#Master Control.
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One of ESPN's new digital master control rooms, MCR-D1, in Bristol, Connecticut.
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and networks. It is distinct from production control rooms in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated.

Master control is the final point before a signal is transmitted over-the-air or sent on to a cable television operator or satellite provider for broadcast. Television master control rooms include banks of video monitors, satellite receivers, videotape machines, transmission equipment, and, more recently, computer broadcast automation equipment for recording and playback of on-air programming.

Master control is generally staffed with one or two operators around-the-clock, everyday to ensure continuous operation. Master control operators are responsible for monitoring the quality and accuracy of the on-air product, ensuring the transmission meets government regulations, troubleshooting equipment malfunctions, and preparing programming for future playback. Regulations include both technical ones (such as those against over-modulation and dead air), as well as content ones (such as indecency and station ID).

Many television and radio station groups have consolidated facilities and now operate multiple stations from one centralized, regional master control center. As an example of this centralized system on a large scale, NBC's "hub-spoke project" enables "hub" cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, California, and Miami, Florida to originate TV commercial breaks and programming for many of its smaller individual stations, thus reducing or eliminating some responsibilities of the local master control, particularly at network-owned affiliates.

Outside of the United States, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation manages four radio networks, two broadcast television networks, and several more cable/satellite radio and television services out of just two master control points (English-language services at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre and French at Maison Radio-Canada). Many other national broadcasters have taken a similar approach (although the CBC's operation is arguably more complicated than most, with local breakways on radio and local advertisements on television).

See also

Cartoon Network is a cable television network created by Turner Broadcasting which primarily shows animated programming. The original American channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 with the Bugs Bunny short Rhapsody Rabbit being its first-ever aired program.
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Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults.
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television station is a type of broadcast station that broadcasts both audio and video to television receivers in a particular area. Traditionally, TV stations made their broadcasts by sending specially-encoded radio signals over the air, called terrestrial television.
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A television network is a distribution for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small number of broadcast networks.
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For the documentary film, see .


A control room is a room serving as an operations centre where a facility or service can be monitored and controlled.
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A television studio is an installation in which television or video productions take place, either for live television, for recording live to tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for postproduction.
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In telecommunication, signalling (UK spelling) or signaling (US spelling) has the following meanings:
  • The use of signals for controlling communications.

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In telecommunications, transmission is the forwarding of signal traffic over distances that are too great to be simply connected by a twisted pair wires. Techniques available now may be microwave link, satellite link, coaxial cable or fibre optic cable.
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cable television into the house.]]

Cable television is a system of providing cocoy television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional
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satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon.
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Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults.
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A video monitor is a device similar to a television, used to monitor the output of a video generating device, such as a video camera, VCR, or DVD player. It may or may not have audio monitoring capability.
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A radio receiver is an electronic circuit that receives its input from an antenna, uses electronic filters to separate a wanted radio signal from all other signals picked up by this antenna, amplifies it to a level suitable for further processing, and finally converts through
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Videotape is a means of recording images and sound onto magnetic tape as opposed to movie film. In most cases, a helical scan video head rotates against the moving tape to record the data in two dimensions, because video signals have a very high bandwidth, and static heads would
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In broadcast engineering, broadcast automation is the use of technology to automate broadcasting operations. Used either at a station or a network, it is used to run a facility in the absence of a human operator.
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operator is a function, that operates on (or modifies) another function. Often, an "operator" is a function that acts on functions to produce other functions (the sense in which Oliver Heaviside used the term); or it may be a generalization of such a function, as in linear algebra,
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In telecommunications, transmission is the forwarding of signal traffic over distances that are too great to be simply connected by a twisted pair wires. Techniques available now may be microwave link, satellite link, coaxial cable or fibre optic cable.
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Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving. It is the systematic search for the source of a problem so that it can be solved. Troubleshooting is often a process of elimination - eliminating potential causes of a problem.
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Playback could mean:
  • The re-playing of recorded media.
  • Gapless playback, the seamless playback of digital audio formats (i. e. ipods, mp3 players)
  • Playback singer, a practice in Bollywood musicals.

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For the musical use of "modulation" as a change of key, see modulation (music).
In telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying a periodic waveform, i.e.
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Dead air is a phenomenon whereby a broadcast which normally carries audio or video unintentionally becomes silent or blank (also known as unmodulated carrier). The term is most often used in cases where programme material comes to an unexpected halt, either through
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Decency is conformity to sociocultural standards of conduct and speech.

Standards of decency vary greatly depending on the cultural context. Most nations have laws against indecency which regulate certain sexual acts, and restrict one's ability to display certain parts of
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worldwide view.
Station identification (sometimes called a sounder or stinger) is the practice of any type of radio or television station or network identifying itself, typically with a call sign or brand name.
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Consolidation may refer to the following:
  • Consolidation (business), the mergers or acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones
  • Consolidation (soil), a geological process whereby a soil decreases in volume

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Centralization (or centralisation) is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding decision-making, become concentrated within a particular location and/or group.
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National Broadcasting Company

Type Broadcast television network
Country  United States
Availability    United States, also distributed in Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean
Founder David Sarnoff
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City of New York
New York City at sunset

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Nickname: The Big Apple, Gotham, The City that Never Sleeps
Location in the state of New York
Coordinates:
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City of Los Angeles

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Nickname: The City of Angels, L.A.
Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California
Coordinates:
State
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Miami, Florida
Miami's downtown skyline

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Nickname: The Magic City
Location in Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida
Coordinates:
Country
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