The April 17th & 24th Channel Six Tours were fun and informative.

On April 17, 2014, a group of 17 CITGO Alumni and spouses met at the new Channel 6 Building at 303 North Boston in Tulsa’s Brady district and were given a VIP tour of the facility. Jonathan Ferrante, the Statewide Marketing Services Coordinator conducted the tour and did an excellent job.

The entire staff at Channel 6 were so nice and friendly to all of us. Jonathan explained how they program newscasts, schedule commercials and supply teleprompts for the news cast. We got to see the facility’s safe room and we even got to see the brand new storm chaser truck they have acquired. Jonathan opened the vehicle so we could view all the equipment inside - very impressive!

We viewed the stage where they conduct cooking shows and another stage where they interview guests. It was amazing how up-to-date the facility is with thermal heating and cooling, incredible LED lighting. All of us who wanted to could pretend to be Travis Meyers the weather man by standing in front of the “green screen” and point to the computer graphics on the screen.

We also saw where news stories are drafted. We learned that when there is a local disaster or newsworthy event that one of the newscasters along with a camera person are dispatched to the scene. They are able to stream video back to the station and the crew at the station inserts the streamed video into the current program.

There are almost 200 employees in the Tulsa building. On the second floor of the building there is a spectacular view of downtown Tulsa. Jonathan said that sometimes they use the balcony with the view as the set for filming and photographs.

One thing I did not know is that Channel 9 in Oklahoma City and Channel 6 in Tulsa are both owned by a private corporation, Griffin Communications. It was a truly amazing tour of a remarkable facility.