O’Reilly/Colmes studio at Fox News
Jan 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Allen Singer
Bill O’Reilly enjoys benefits like a refrigerator and coffee maker in the Fox News studio he shares with talk show host Alan Colmes. They each have their own dedicated � but not identical � mic positions for their separate shows. The hands-on Colmes prefers to operate his own computer, his Enco workstation and the Telos interface. The hosts and guests use a mix of Shure SM7B and EV RE-20 mics. Engineers have found the RE-20s work better for the hosts and can handle more transient spikes before distortion.
The O’Reilly Radio Factor originates from 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan in the Fox News building. Harris built the studios on the eighth floor for the O’Reilly show in 2002, and the show went live May 8 that year. Inside, the engineer, research assistant, executive producer, call screener and nearly all the equipment are in his control room. Down an adjacent hall is the main studio. It is unique with its 240 square-foot size and its four guest positions of which only two are usually used. A studio-quality camera also has been recently installed so live television shots can be produced with Fox News Channel.
O’Reilly’s show is on an eight-second delay and the audio, including bumpers and liners, are sent via 15kHz phone loops to Westwood One at CBS on 57 Street. Twenty-five hertz tones trigger the network commercials, and the finished program is uplinked to the satellite and beamed to the 408 affiliates nationwide.
Equipment list:
Harris Pacific Legacy
Enco DadPro32
360 Systems Digicart II Plus
360 Systems Instant Replay
Denon DN-C630 CD player
Tascam CD-RW2000
Tascam 122MKIII cassette deck
Sony PCM-R500 DAT
Telos 2�12 phone hybrid + 3 desktop control surfaces
Macintosh G4 with Digidesign Pro Tools Digi001 system
DBX 1046 Quad Compressor
Telos Xstream
Philips audio router
Kanguru CD stand-alone CD duplicator
Eventide BD500 broadcast delay
Rane equalizer
Telex Matrix Intercom system
Conex 25Hz/35Hz/combo tone generator
ELO Touch System monitors
Fostex powered speakers
Tannoy System 800 monitors
Leitch clock
Leitch Distribution amps
Bryston Headphone amps
