Infinity Prepares Final Switchover in L.A./Hollywood Project

History is in the making tonight, Friday, as news station KNX(AM) switches over to its new facility and radio leaves Hollywood.
The move is the completion of a big five-station cluster project – three FMs, two AMs – being overseen by engineering managers Paul Sakrison and Lynn Duke. Stations started moving in January, when talker KLSX(FM) switched.
The project is a big one for several vendors. SAS spokesman Howard Mullinack told Radio World Online that this is the supplier’s biggest user installation to date, with six 32KD frames, 37 Rubicon control surfaces and 55 RIOLinks, plus customization including control of delay from every console and an unusual console setup in the AM stations that provides split, duplicated operation for hosts and co-hosts.
The AM stations are integrated with new Broadcast Electronics AudioVault and NewsBoss systems, with control between those and the SAS system handled over serial interface, he said. Infinity engineering staff is doing the installation work.
The move has received local media attention. Infinity sister station KCBS(TV) is expected to cover the KNX switchover tonight live; and the historic implications were written up this week by the LA Times.
“With the planned flip of a switch at 11:05 p.m. Friday, another piece of Hollywood’s golden age will disappear forever,” the Times wrote. “Microphones at the last radio station in Hollywood will go dead as announcers and newscasters complete their final on-air shift at the historic Columbia Square broadcast center. … KNX reporter Michael Linder has produced a 55-minute retrospective of Columbia Square’s radio history scheduled to run Friday at 10:05 p.m. It will be the last time that old-fashioned reel-to-reel recorders and cart tape machines are used.”
You can read the LA Times coverage here.