Local news stations switching to HDTV before the Super Bowl
Marty Lee
dropped us a tip that KARE-11 in Minneapolis/St. Paul is going to switch their
news broadcasts to high definition in late April, but they're not the only ones. Apparently it's not just consumers and
advertisers who are hyped up over
Super Bowl Sunday, as NBC affiliate WXIA-11 in
Atlanta switched to HD last night, and ABC affiliate KIFI-8
in Idaho will make the switch Sunday.In the Detroit area, I believe the Fox affiliate broadcasts local news in high definition, but that is it. With the rapidly dropping equipment costs and coming conversion to DTV, has your local news team made the change yet?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
duanekeys @ Feb 3rd 2006 1:16PM
We've only got one local major network broadcasting at all in HD in Springfield, MO and that's KY3. I asked about the local news and KY3 in HD and never got a response.
Details on blog post on the subject at http://duanekeys.blogspot.com/2006/01/i-e-mailed-local-tv-stations-this.html
Brian Hoyt @ Feb 3rd 2006 2:05PM
Washington DC WUSA 9 switched over 6 months ago. I think they are the only ones still in DC or Baltimore.
k @ Feb 3rd 2006 2:21PM
it would be nice to have other news stations in the area broadcast in HD, but at least WRAL has been broadcasting in HD for as far back as I can remember..
AR @ Feb 3rd 2006 3:01PM
WXIA in atlanta said the only their in studio stuff will be HD, and not the video shot in the field:
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/high_tech/cable_tv_radio/2006/01/23/atlanta_daily50.html
Will @ Feb 3rd 2006 4:42PM
I truly think that 2006 will be the true year of HD at this rate. Aren't all or most of the CBS Owned and Operated stations going HD this year? (http://www.hdbeat.com/2006/01/18/cbs-news-in-hd-coming-soon/) I know that Austin's local CBS is O&O and here's to hoping that they make the switch. Also, shouldn't these cameras allow shows like Survivor and Amazing Race to make the switch too? Can anyone in the biz tell me why not!! Having these shows in HD would be a huge help in encouraging me to keep watching instead of switching to some non-HD crap. I bet that Atlanta station quickly uses these cameras to capture HD in the Field. I am guessing that wired HD live cams can be used for the live shots, as the wireless HD cams seem to be the biggest hinderance for many programs going HD.
denverhd @ Feb 3rd 2006 6:24PM
Shows like Survivor and Amazing Race are a huge undertaking when it comes to camera gear. When you have a project that is "out in the middle of nowhere" say Panama or Gutamala, you need to have gear that's proven to work and can take a beating.
Surviror is shot on Digital BetaCam and has been from the beginning. It works, it's reliable and it's the old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Survivor in HD. Something to think about. RockStar: INXS (another Burrnet production) used Sony's XDCAM format. Keep in mind that the show was in LA, so if any technical problems arose it was a non issue. So what I'm saying is, if they are testing out these newer formats in controlled enviroments now, who's to say that maybe on a future season of Survivor they'll move to HD aquisition.
My .02
Al Scagnetti @ Feb 4th 2006 10:07AM
If it ain't broke don't fix it? Are you kidding? It is broke. When we talk about Survivor we're talking about CBS' flagship. It's ridiculous they haven't switched over to HD yet. We all know that a lot of viewere will base their decision to watch a program on whether or not it's offered in HD. If I'm an advertiser I'm thinking long and hard about how much I spend on non-HD programs.
Mark Rezyka @ Feb 6th 2006 2:49AM
KABC, here in Los Angeles, started broadcasting their local news in HD today.