HSTV splits focus on programming, video production
Fayette County’s only TV studio has broadened its focus. HSTV (Herald-Standard Television) at 56 Beeson Ave., a division of Uniontown Newspapers Inc., has split into two divisions to better serve the market.
Wes Ellis, HSTV station manager, explained the operation is now known as HSTV Channel 19 and HSTV Studios Productions.
“We felt we had the expertise to branch out from our viewership and we wanted to reach a wider audience,’ Ellis said. “We felt there has always been a demand here for custom-made video productions and knew there was a lot of work to be had. We felt we needed to market ourselves in those areas.’
Channel 19 is a 24-hour independent station on the Atlantic Broadband cable system that reaches Fayette, Greene and Washington counties.
HSTV Studios is a full-service video production facility that produces high-quality custom-made video products, with the goal being to pursue an aggressive expansion strategy to unleash the potential of its video production with personalized service and commitment to its clients, with particular focus on customer care, working with them from conception to completion.
“What we feel our strength is we have had to produce so much content for Channel 19 that one of our marketing advantages is we will be able to provide high-quality video at a reasonable cost and do it very quickly. Very few TV stations have to do this much production because they get most of their content from other sources,’ Ellis said.
Cutting edge techniques are used to maximize the effectiveness of the video productions HSTV Studios create, Ellis said. The staff uses different methods to relate dramatic and informational content to the viewer. Part of the investment to launch the division included acquiring a video truck to be used in production.
“Production will market custom video productions to the corporate world. With business going to the Internet, we want to be part of that trend,’ Ellis said.
“We will start marketing ourselves to do weddings and smaller events such as birthdays, anniversary parties and others that a local video production company would do,’ he said.
Ellis explained also that the HSTV airing of the Midnight Monster Hop, “one of our shows that has such a wide footprint,’ is part of its marketing and a way “to get our name out to the greater Pittsburgh region.’ The HSTV Midnight Monster Hop is now being aired over the Retro TV Network. Ellis said part of that project may be to do a commercial about HSTV Studios “to get the word out to people outside Fayette County.’
“We really hope to grow,’ he added.
Ellis said much of what HSTV Studios will do will be on a job-by-job basis, which won’t require immediately adding new staff. “We will be using some freelance video and audio people,’ he said.
Ellis, HSTV station manager, who joined HSTV in May 2005, has guided the television operation through other changes, one of the first that occurred when it was separated from the Herald-Standard’s New Media department.
“With my arrival, the units were separated,’ Ellis said. “Since separating, the two divisions have created their own identity with the Web products such as “SpinIt.”
“Since I arrived, we’ve concentrated on improving the overall quality of the HSTV viewing experience, which we’ve done by adding more cameras, animated graphics and faster turnaround times for taped events.
“We used to air basketball games a week after they were played, now they air the same night. We also moved from a daily news program to a weekly one (News 19 Magazine). The daily news program was too expensive and we felt a reallocation of resources was necessary.
“Uniontown wasn’t quite big enough for the type of daily TV news that we wanted to produce so we felt we should concentrate on other aspects of the station, for instance production,’ for instance, production,’ Ellis explained.
HSTV began more than a decade ago as a one-person operation and evolved into its present form, employing a half-dozen people and a “bunch of contractors,’ Ellis said.
For more information, call HSTV Studios at 724-434-1610, fax 724-439-1505 or visit www.hstvstudios.com.