Operations at Anchorage-based television station KTVA are relocating because of damage at the station’s building at 1001 Northway Drive from the Nov. 30 earthquake, according to a news director.
As a result, KTVA will not broadcast the news Friday evening at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. or 10 p.m., said news director Janis Harper.
It’s not clear yet where the temporary facility will be, she said, and it’s not clear how long the relocation will last.
“I think that probably through the course of the weekend the possibility of us having a live newscast is questionable right now,” Harper said on Friday afternoon. “We’re going to do everything we can to get on the air, but we have to make sure everyone’s safe first. Relocating a television broadcast facility, not the easiest thing.”
There are some “pieces on the exterior of the building that need to be removed” because of the quake, Harper said.
KTVA’s news operations already moved once because of damage by the earthquake, to another spot within the station’s building. Damage at the building is still being assessed, Harper said.
More than 100 buildings in the Anchorage and Chugiak-Eagle River areas have already been deemed unsafe because of structural damage from the quake.
As of Friday afternoon, KTVA employees were working from home or coffee shops around town to do their work, Harper said.
“But we have a traffic department, sales department, creative services department, so instead of being in one location, we’re going to be split up into different GCI facilities,” she said. KTVA is owned by telecom company GCI.
General manager Jerry Bever also did not know where KTVA, which broadcasts on channel 11, would be moving to.
“Those are all plans that we’re working out this weekend,” he said Friday afternoon. “Right now we’re concerned with making sure the current facility is clear.”
KTVA will still be publishing news online while the broadcasts aren’t happening, Harper said.