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WBAL-TV switches on HD news in Baltimore, Maryland

by Darren Murph posted Jan 4th 2009 at 8:40AM


Charm City residents refusing to tune into SD news have had their sets locked on FOX 45 for months now, but 2009 is offering the city of Baltimore yet another option. Starting this weekend, WBAL-TV has flipped the high-def switch on its local news, meaning that you can now catch your favorite NBC talking heads in an all new light. So, locals -- are things much improved? Studio shot is after the break.

[Thanks, Ryan and Michael]

Continue reading WBAL-TV switches on HD news in Baltimore, Maryland

Comcast readies DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts for Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore and Ft. Wayne

by Darren Murph posted Dec 11th 2008 at 3:29PM


Comcast promised us all a few months back that it would be bringing its wicked fast DOCSIS 3.0 technology to a handful of other big markets before too long, and today the carrier has chosen to reveal the next four places where said service will be made available. The high-speed internet service, which is capable of hitting 50Mbps down / 5Mbps up, will be launched "over the next several weeks" in Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore and Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Don't see your city listed? Hang tight -- the next wave should be announced in the not-too-distant future.

MASN comes around, will launch full-time HD channel in 2009

by Darren Murph posted Sep 16th 2008 at 5:24PM

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (more affectionately known as MASN) has been a long-time HD holdout in the world of regional sports networks. After finally getting its act together and blessing viewers with some Orioles / Nationals games in high-def, the channel has announced today that it's fully ready to embrace this century. Beginning in March of 2009, it will launch a full-time HD channel and "more than double the number of HD telecasts of Nationals and Orioles games." Once live, it will air up to 200 MLB tilts next year in high-definition, and furthermore, it'll carry "Ravens preseason games, select NCAA Division I football, basketball, and lacrosse games, and ESPNews in HD." Also of note, we're already told that many of its current distributors will carry the 24/7 HD channel, including Comcast, Cox, RCN and DirecTV.

Comcast adds five new HD stations in Greater Baltimore area

by Darren Murph posted Jul 19th 2008 at 7:40AM


Comcast subscribers in the Charm City have been clamoring for a bit of HD love for what seems like eons, and thankfully, said carrier has finally obliged. Just this week, the outfit added five new high-definition channels to its Greater Baltimore lineup: ABC Family HD, Disney Channel HD, Science HD, WUTB MyNetworkTV 24 and WGN HD. A good start to the second half of 2008, Comcast, but we're pretty sure we speak for all of Baltimore when we say "we want more."

Comcast relegating some stations to digital only in Washington, D.C.

by Darren Murph posted Jun 11th 2008 at 4:57PM


Not like we haven't seen this happen a time or two already in the US, but we'd wager that Comcast's Washington, D.C. market is fairly sizable. Nevertheless, Comcast will be bumping a number of channels -- namely the D.C.-area ABC / NBC / FOX / CBS affiliates -- to digital only. In other words, those relying on analog service will have to upgrade to digital cable in order to continue viewing the affected stations. Granted, some 80% of subscribers in Annapolis and Anne Arundel already have digital cable (so says Comcast), and the changes are being made to open up space for potential HD expansion. Unfortunately, Comcast isn't following in the footsteps of certain other carriers and offering free digital adapters -- but hey, progress has to happen eventually, right?

[Image courtesy of Brent Nelson, thanks Harry]

Baltimore, MD gets local HD news courtesy of FOX 45

by Darren Murph posted Jun 2nd 2008 at 11:55PM


Welcome to the 21st century, Baltimore! Thanks to WBFF (FOX 45), you too can finally watch your local anchors in stunning high-definition. As it stands, less than one-third of the homes in the area have HD-capable TV sets, but the station is banking on that changing in the future as more individuals slowly see the light. Comically enough, special consultants were even called in to arrange "softer, more forgiving lighting" on the set -- those wrinkles and fine lines sure do stand out more in high-def, we hear. It's also noted that newscasts entirely in HD are still a couple months away, and rival stations WBAL and WJZ could take this transformation as all the encouragement they need to follow suit. So, Baltimore residents -- how's new news?

[Thanks, Rob]

DISH Network brings HD locals to three more cities

by Darren Murph posted Apr 16th 2008 at 11:31AM

While a few Baltimore, MD and Columbia, SC residents were lamenting the fact that May-bound launches such as Richmond, VA occurred before they got their own taste of HD locals, hopefully we can now put aside all that angst. Announced today, Baltimore and Columbia are joining Green Bay, WI in the HD locals parade, and seeing that there is no mention of any networks being left out, we're going to hesitantly assume that the trio of markets all have access to their respective ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX stations. Fire up the HD DVR and let us know how it goes, would you?

Comcast brings five more HD channels to Greater Baltimore area

by Darren Murph posted Apr 11th 2008 at 11:57AM

What do you know? The same five HD channels Comcast rolled out to its home crowd on April 4th are now heading south to the Greater Baltimore, Maryland region. Effective immediately, users in Charm City can forget a hard day by feasting their eyes on AMC HD, Animal Planet HD, CNN HD, History HD and TLC HD. The additions bring the grand total of high-def offerings in the area to 36, but with Verizon snaking in to steal away market share and both major satcasters edging closer towards triple-digits, we'd say it shouldn't be resting on its laurels.

[Thanks, Scott]

Comcast Spotlight to pinpoint customer desires with targeted ads

by Steven Kim posted Apr 8th 2008 at 10:40AM

Comcast Spotlight
Comcast is rolling out its Spotlight program in Baltimore in Q3 of this year. There's a scary threesome involved in the effort: Comcast, media agency Starcom MediaVest Group and technology partner Invidi. Central to the program is Invidi's Advatar technology (no, not that Advatar) to deliver ads targeted to individual users. Before you get too scared by the "Big Brother" sound of all this, consider that Comcast's initial trial of addressable placements showed 38% less ad-skipping; that's a pretty good indication that people preferred the ad flavor cooked up by Comcast. Let's face it -- in conventional broadcasting (and increasingly online as well), advertising is a proven model. So programming is going to be sprinkled with ads; wouldn't you rather have them be personally interesting? We certainly prefer this to the "run the ads louder" approach. The real tricky issue will be maintenance of anonymity; we'll see how consumers respond as TV increasingly watches them. All companies involved would be wise to keep in mind the cost of winning back violated customer trust.

MASN to offer up select Orioles / Nationals games in HD?

by Darren Murph posted Feb 8th 2008 at 6:11PM


For fans of the Baltimore Orioles and / or Washington Nationals, things could be getting an awful lot clearer when you tune in to catch their games this season. After the Kansas City Royals found a way to get its games broadcast regionally in high-definition, the O's and Nats stood as the final two MLB clubs with a dedicated channel that only beamed out its games in SD. According to an e-mail reportedly forwarded from an employee of a "local cable company," MASN is indeed planning to finally ditch its pixelated ways and go HD. More specifically, the note states that customers that receive the channel will be able to catch "at least 60 MLB games in 1080i" during the 2008 season, and that those matchups would be split evenly between the Orioles and Nationals. When a MASN publicist was questioned about the apparent leak, he casually stated that the station was working with its cable and satellite operators on "providing some games in HD in 2008," but didn't go out of his way to outright confirm or deny the whispers. Sounds like positive news, but we aren't getting our hopes up (too high) quite yet.

[Image courtesy of NastyNats, thanks Tom]

Comcast beefs up HD lineup in DC Metro area

by Darren Murph posted Dec 23rd 2007 at 11:10PM

We could certainly get used to hearing all these HD expansion stories, but the ones most excited about Comcast's latest additions are housed all around our nation's capital. According to tipster Casey, customers in and around Baltimore, Maryland and Northern Virginia are just now receiving six new high-definition channels: Discovery Channel HD, CNN HD, TLC HD, USA HD, Animal Planet HD, and yes, Sci-Fi HD, too. Interestingly, it's said that subscribers in Washington, D.C. have yet to see the newcomers, but feel free to toss a comment in below if that status changes.

[Thanks, Casey B.]




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