As KAET/Channel 8 begins its move to the Downtown campus, station officials are working out plans to remain on the air while in transition.
ASU Vice President of Public Affairs Virgil Renzulli said the switch will be complicated, and the station’s biggest challenge will be continuing to broadcast during the moving process.
“Think of it as if you’re moving from one house to another,” Renzulli said. “You have to place your furniture into a U-Haul.”
Channel 8’s marketing, financial and management departments have already made the move to Phoenix, he said.
The total estimated amount that the move will cost is about $5 million. Channel 8 will pay this over time, Renzulli said.
General Manager of KAET/ Channel 8 Kelly McCullough said the company’s usual pledge drive will take place the first week of December and will be conducted from the Tempe studio.
Scott Singer, a broadcast junior and production crewmember for Channel 8, said he prefers working at the Tempe studio for the drive because he is familiar with the equipment there, while the downtown facilities and equipment are brand new.
“The pledge drive is aired live and so we are waiting until after [the drive] because [Phoenix has] all new equipment,” Singer said. “If something goes wrong we may not know how to fix it.”
Renzulli said the move to Phoenix is expected to bring Channel 8 more student interns. Most of the station’s current interns are students at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The location may also be more convenient as it is closer to the state Capitol, which is where many interviews are conducted and packages are put together, Renzulli said.
He said the new facility will place Channel 8 “in the heart of things.”
ASU Director of Planning Studies Anne Gazzaniga said the future of the Stauffer B building, KAET/Channel 8’s current location, is under review.
No final decisions about what the building will be used for after the move have been made, she added. And plans can change anytime.
“We evaluate the University’s needs and mend the matter with what the building can accommodate,” Gazzaniga said.
The Channel 8 studio will make its move to the Downtown campus as it approaches its 50th anniversary in January 2010.
Reach reporter at dlsalaza@asu.edu.
