WPLG-TV

Location: Miami, Florida

Approximate square footage: 65,000

The project for WPLG-TV included a new ground-up broadcast facility and a renovation of an existing transmitter facility.

A 65,000 square foot, two-story building, the broadcast facility housed a production and a broadcast studio. The facility was designed to have backup generators and redundant mechanical units. Because of the hurricane-ridden location, all of the mechanical units had to reside inside the building rather than on the rooftop, thus requiring extra coordination of interior space. Additionally, loss of city water for cooling tower make-up had to be considered. Because of this, the design included a water source from a nearby lake.

As for the existing transmitter facility, the existing facility’s power service was re-routed underground with a new transformer to serve WPLG, WSVN, and the existing radio station transmitter building. The renovated WPLG facility will house a new digital transmitter with provisions for a backup transmitter.