NBC Nightly news to go HD in March
NBC may have gotten off to slow start in the world of HD, well not as slow as Fox, but they are certianly moving along now. At this point they have as many studio shows as anyone in HD and now it appears they are going to be the first with a nightly news broadcast in HD. We have been wondering when this was going to happen for some time and while we are expecting to see many SD clips as well as SD segments like we do on Good Morning America and Today, we are always happy when we get more HD. At the same time we are not sure what to expect in regards to quality between out of focus shots and Weather Plus sub-channels you never know what you're going to get with NBC.
Filed under: NBC
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Hague @ Feb 8th 2007 7:55PM
NBC shows look great in HD, but their promos are still 4 x 3.
At least FOX has moved to full 16x9 (center extract safe).
I'm sure we'll be the first to mix promos in 5.1 as well...
Wataru Tenga @ Feb 8th 2007 10:42PM
Japan's news broadcasts have been HD for years. Congrats on finally starting to catch up.
Gabe @ Feb 9th 2007 1:18AM
I find it fascinating (and kind of ridiculous) that so many of NBC's affiliates began broadcasting their LOCAL news in HD before the network. I guess the same can be said for all the networks though.
Ben @ Feb 9th 2007 7:17AM
Not really Gabe, the nightly news is only on for a half hour, most local news is on for at least 2-4 hours a day.
Gabe @ Feb 9th 2007 9:15AM
Ben - not sure I understand what you are saying... All I meant was that many affiliates, who usually have lower news budgets than the network, were able to begin broadcasting their news in HD first, which seems counterintuitive based on those budgets.
junger @ Feb 9th 2007 8:47AM
The biggest reason I watch ABC instead of NBC for the big news events is because ABC is in HD.
riverside_guy @ Feb 9th 2007 9:08AM
One interesting thing to watch for... when NBC local NYC announced an "official" date to shift to HD, about a week plus prior to that I IMMEDIATELY noticed a big change in the quality of their 4:3 picture. On the day of the official launch, all that happened was the picture got opened to 16:9. Seems they started using the HD studio cameras before the launch date, BUT added the side pillars as most people still confuse HD and widescreen. Network MAY do the same thing, it does make sense they get used to the new camera before the official switch-over.
Ben @ Feb 9th 2007 9:18AM
Gabe,
A national news show like "NBC Nightly News" is only on for 30 mins a day. Local news stations have morning news 5am-7am (sometimes longer) midday 12-1, and evening 5-6 and nightly news 11-11:30.
This means they produce about 4 hours of programming per day. So their investment goes much further since they produce 8 times as many hours of content.
bob cobb @ Feb 9th 2007 10:46AM
I hope ABC news goes HD soon, since thats the one I watch. I think I'll catch myself watching NBC more now though :)
Reggie @ Feb 9th 2007 1:41PM
Ben/Gabe:
In addition to local affiliates broadcasting more hours per day, you should also consider that network news typically gets footage from news bureaus from all over the world, which may or may not be shooting in HD. So I think it's actually a much costlier transition to HD for the networks, not the affiliates.
With the affiliates, chances are that most of their content is homegrown, and so they can deliver a full HD broadcast.
Jeff N. @ Feb 9th 2007 5:23PM
When I first got an HD TV back in 2002 CBS was way ahead in HD content. It seems they are no longer the top provider of the HD content. They don't do any of their news shows in HD(Like ABC's Good Morning American or NBC's Today show, They do none of their reality shows in HD, (Fox does American Idol ABC does Dancing with the Stars). Hard to understand why a big money maker like CBS's Survivor is not HD !! Also Conan O'Brien is in HD but CBS's Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is still SD. Why is it that CBS has slowed down in adapting more HD content? Does anyone know?