Summary

Tribune Broadcasting Company has contracted Harris Corporation to provide digital and analog television transmitters for its owned stations covering roughly one-third of U.S. homes. The agreement expands Harris's growing DTV transmitter business, which already includes deals with ABC, Cox Broadcasting, PBS, and WRAL, the first commercial DTV station in the U.S.

Source document circa 1996 preserved as-is
HDTV Newsletter

Tribune Broadcasting Selects Harris Corporation To Provide Transmitters For Digital And Analog Television
Source: PR Newswire

CHICAGO and MELBOURNE, Fla., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ via Individual Inc. -- Tribune Broadcasting Company, one of the nation's largest television broadcasting companies, has signed an agreement for Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) to provide digital and analog television transmitters for its owned stations throughout the U.S. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Tribune Broadcasting owns stations in most of the nation's largest markets, including WPIX, New York; KTLA, Los Angeles; WGN, Chicago; WPHL, Philadelphia; WLVI, Boston; WGNX, Atlanta; KHTV, Houston; KWGN, Denver; KSWB, San Diego; and WGNO, New Orleans. Additionally, Tribune Broadcasting's acquisition of Renaissance Communications Group Corp. is pending. Renaissance television stations include KDAF, Dallas; WDZL, Miami; KTXL, Sacramento; WXIN, Indianapolis; WTIC, Hartford, and WPMT, Harrisburg. Together these stations provide over-the-air coverage to about a third of all U.S. homes. Tribune Broadcasting also has a management agreement with WBDC, Washington, DC.

DTV systems enable broadcasters to provide a signal with about twice the visual detail of current systems and compact disc-quality sound -- all within today's television channel. In the future, the digital signals will allow broadcasters to provide additional services as well.

In July, a Harris transmitter became the first in the United States to broadcast commercial digital television signals. Harris also recently announced plans to establish a digital television research and development center near Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1990, the company developed the RF Test Bed for the Advanced Television Test Center in Alexandria, Virginia, which was used to evaluate all digital television systems proposed for the U.S. market.

The company also recently signed agreements to provide DTV transmitter equipment to a number of television groups, including The Walt Disney Company's Capital Cities/ABC, Cox Broadcasting, Inc., PBS station WETA in Washington, DC, and WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina, the first commercial DTV station in the U.S. In addition, Harris recently announced plans to establish a digital television research and development center near Cincinnati, Ohio.

Tribune is a leading information and entertainment company. It owns and operates 10 television and five radio stations, publishes four daily newspapers, produces and syndicates programming and information, and provides educational products and services for the school and consumer markets. In July, Tribune agreed to acquire Renaissance Communications Corp., a publicly traded company owning six television stations.

Harris Corporation, with worldwide sales of more than $3.6 billion, is an international communications and electronics company that provides a wide range of products and services such as wireless and personal communications, digital television (HDTV), health care information, multi-media communications, automotive electronics, transportation, business information, defense communications and information, and Lanier office products.

SOURCE Harris Corporation

/CONTACT: Neal Stein, 407-727-9608, email, [email protected], or Martha Rapp, 217-221-7577, email, [email protected]. Or via Internet through the World Wide Web address: http://www.harris.com/ (HRS)

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