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CBS 3, The CW Philly 57 to Unveil New State-of-the-Art Philadelphia Studios With Premiere Broadcast April 2

Facility Is One of the First Fully High Definition Television Stations in U.S.

CBS 3 (KYW-TV) and The CW Philly 57 (WPSG-TV) will make their official broadcast debut from their new HD Broadcast Center in Philadelphia this Monday, April 2nd following the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game. The late edition of Eyewitness News, anchored by Larry Mendte and Alycia Lane, will be the first program to originate from the stations' just-completed new headquarters at 1500 Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia.

Continuing both Philadelphia's -- and CBS 3's -- historic tradition of firsts, the 120,000-square-foot facility will be one of the first entirely HD news operations in the country and will house more than 300 employees of the two television stations owned by CBS. The Broadcast Center includes two television studios, each with its own control room to allow for simultaneous broadcasts; a state-of-the-art Master Control room; an Operations Center capable of receiving hundreds of satellite feeds each day; and a sixth-floor weather deck for live outdoor weather reports. Outside of its broadcast capabilities, the new home of CBS 3 and The CW Philly 57 also includes a number of amenities -- a green room for broadcast guests, make-up and dressing rooms, a Grand Hall for community gatherings, and a café for staff.

Complete with a spectacular skyline view of Philadelphia, the new facility was designed to be a "television studio without walls," according to President and General Manager Michael Colleran. "The broadcast center was designed for flexibility and to provide an unlimited number of locations to shoot in addition to the studios. Over and above the Weather Deck with its stunning City views, there are numerous broadcast positions throughout the Newsroom, the Operations Center, in the Control Rooms themselves and in the public spaces," Colleran explains. "We wanted to create something unique that would bring the viewer into the television experience. The space has a personality of its own, one that will bring its own energy to our broadcasts."

The network-caliber Newsroom, designed by Janson Design Group in New York, will be the first newsroom in the market to be completely tapeless and high definition both in-studio and in the field. Built from the ground up in HD, the operation includes all new high definition cameras, editing equipment and a technical operations center. "We will be shooting all of our stories in high definition giving the viewer a more complete sense of literally 'being there,'" says Vice President and News Director Susan Schiller. "This is the next generation of electronic news -- the biggest leap in technology since the 1970s when reporters first began reporting live on location from the field."

The selection of the 1500 Spring Garden site was the result of a three-year search both inside and outside the City of Philadelphia. "When it came time to make the final choice," Colleran says, "we chose to keep our commitment to the City of Philadelphia which we believe is the heart of our region. From the Main Line to the Lehigh Valley, so many of us have our roots here -- from the teams we cheer to the arts and culture we enjoy. It seemed only natural to make this our home base."

The new facility is the fifth home of CBS 3 in the station's 75-year history. The first television station in the market, CBS 3 was originally operated out of the Philco plant at C & Tioga Streets in Philadelphia. Most recently, the station had been broadcasting from its Independence Mall studios since 1972. Sister station Philly 57 joined the station there in 2000 when it became part of the CBS family.

CBS 3 (KYW-TV) and The CW Philly 57 (WPSG-TV) are part of CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation.