KABC-TV ready for Glendale

Claudia Peschiutta

GLENDALE -- Move over Santa Claus, KABC-TV Channel 7 is coming to

town.

The station is moving out of its longtime home in Hollywood to an

approximately 142,000-square-foot facility next to the Grand Central

Creative Campus, owned by its parent company, Walt Disney Co.

Built near the intersection of the Golden State (5) and Ventura (134)

freeways, the three-story building at 500 Circle Seven Drive is part of

the growing entertainment industry hub city officials hope will bring new

life to the San Fernando Road Corridor.

“Not only is it a boost to the area and will kick-start ...

revitalization, but it’s a good match for what Disney has proposed for

the Grand Central Creative Campus,” said Philip Lanzafame, assistant

director of development services for Glendale.

KABC has been looking to move out of its current facility since 1994,

said Arnold Kleiner, the station’s president and general manager.

“It’s a very old lot and the station is housed in seven different

buildings, which makes synergy very difficult,” he said.

More than 60 sites in the Los Angeles area were considered.

Station officials had settled upon another location, just outside of

Glendale, but the spot was so close to the Southern Pacific Railroad

tracks that the vibrations of passing trains would have disrupted

operations, Kleiner said.

The Circle Seven site was their second choice.

“The only negative is that it’s just outside of our city of license

[Los Angeles],” Kleiner said.

KABC plans to begin broadcasting from its new home next week. The news

crew, however, won’t start broadcasting until later in the month.

Though its pastel colors and art deco accents give the building a

retro feel, the facility is anything but old-fashioned.

The station will be giving up its analog equipment and switching over

to an almost completely digital operation, said Mike Englehaupt, director

of engineering for KABC.

The move is comparable to switching from records and video cassettes

to compact discs and DVDs and will allow the station to provide a better

signal, he said.

The “Eyewitness News” operation will move from what Kleiner described

as a “very old, shabby room” to a modern, spacious facility.

The new location will bring together the newsroom, assignment desk,

editing facilities and the promotions department.

“We tried to design it so that contiguous departments can work

together,” Kleiner said.

The nearby freeway access will also help improve the news operation,

he said.

The station will have two studios in Glendale, one for “Eyewitness

News.” The second will be available for other locally produced programs.

The building will also house the station’s finance, programming and

sales departments and a KABC helicopter.

Kleiner said the building is state-of-the-art and made to keep up with

technological advances.

“We built this TV station for the next 50 years,” he said.

Kleiner would not disclose the cost of the move or the facility.

A lack of prime locations in Burbank is attracting entertainment firms

to Glendale, said Doug Marlow, senior vice president of the local CB

Richard Ellis, which tracks office space in the area.

“Glendale has been embraced by the entertainment industry, which is a

good thing,” he said. “It diversifies the economy. It provides more jobs

to the market. It brings more customer to the retailers.”

Marlow said the arrival of KABC could encourage other entertainment

firms to follow.

“It definitely substantiates the location for other entertainment

uses,” he said.