ABC Affiliate Readies for New $17M Studio

PEMBROKE PARK, FL-Construction will begin in the next few months on a $17-million, 71,600-sf broadcast facility for ABC South Florida television network affiliate WPLG TV. The two-story project on Hallandale Beach Boulevard will include two studios with state-of-the-art digital technology, a satellite tower, office and administrative and data storage areas.

The project is being built by Fort Lauderdale-based Miller Construction Co. on behalf of the station. WPLG is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, a division of the Washington Post. Dallas-based architecture firm REES Associates, Inc. is designing the new facility.

Miller Construction Co. project manager Chris Hannaka tells GlobeSt.com that the project is expected to be completed in December 2008. The new facility will replace an existing facility in Miami. “This new facility will house the everyday operations for Channel 10,” Hannaka says.

The studios will allow the station to meet new digital broadcast standards set by the Federal Communications Commission. To accommodate ongoing technological enhancements, the new facility will include multiple data centers as well as easy-access flooring throughout the building.

“This mission-critical project for Channel 10 includes a hardened exterior and multiple layers of redundant electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems designed to allow continued operation in the event of a hurricane or other disaster,” Miller Construction Co. CEO Tom Miller says in a released statement.