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Posts with tag cbs

CBS Evening News preps HD control room for debut

by Steven Kim, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 2:29PM

CBS Evening NewsCBS has finished renovations on its HD control room, dubbed CR47HD, for the CBS Evening News' transition to HD in a few weeks. This is the same control room that 2008 election coverage has been hinging on, and the linked article gives a behind the scenes look at some of the HD gadget-wizardry involved. The control room was last updated in 1985, and as we all know, a lot has changed since then. If our own look behind the scenes of an HD newscast got your attention, you'll want to hit that read link for the same sort of gear-porn writ large. Things like a plasma and LCD video wall, an 80-input Sony production switcher with access to 22 feeds, and eight Sony HDC-1400 studio cameras with Canon glass quicken our pulses, for sure.

All NFL games on CBS will be in HD this season, Finally!

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted May 22nd 2008 at 5:14PM Breaking News

CBS NFLWow, how long have we been waiting for this? The Tiffany Network that practically invented football in HD, has been making way too many HD fans who follow the lower ranked teams in the NFL -- poor Browns' fans -- suffer through SD football just about every Sunday for as long as we can remember. Meanwhile the last broadcast network to go HD, would deliver almost every game in HD, every week. Well enough is enough, and the very credible Ken H from the AVS Forum has brought out his Magic 8 Ball -- which has a much track record then the one on our desk -- and confirmed that CBS is going to live up to its promise that for the 2008-2009 season every single NFL game on CBS will be presented in HD. All we can say is, about time.

CBS College Sports Network goes HD, now showing on DirecTV

by Darren Murph, posted May 7th 2008 at 9:04PM

What goes with a fantastic earnings report like a new national HD channel? Nothing, that's what. Starting today, CBS College Sports Network -- formerly known as CSTV -- is making a high-definition flavor available to all of its cable, satellite and video distributors. Currently, the channel is already live on DirecTV (slot 610), though you'll only notice an MPEG-4 simulcast feed should you flip over right now. In the future, however, the station plans on airing a number of live NCAA football matchups as well as encore presentations of SEC football games and the 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship. To be honest, we've never cared much for the typically second-rate material available on this network, but now that it's gone HD, we see no reason that it can't break out and score some really great events in the near future.

[Via Multichannel News]

Virginia's WDBJ7 hops on HD news bandwagon

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 23rd 2008 at 8:08PM


Let's keep the trend alive, shall we? Following in the footsteps of Salt Lake City's 2NEWS, Detroit's WJBK and Denver's CBS4, Virginia's own WDBJ7 has also made the transition to air its local newscasts in high-definition. The CBS affiliate serves the Roanoke-Lynchburg area, and suffice to say quite a bit of work went on behind the scenes to pull it all together. Thankfully, the network journaled the process for us in pictures, so be sure to hit the read link for a gallery of off-camera shots.

[Thanks, Dariusz]

Salt Lake City's 2NEWS makes the switch to HD

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 22nd 2008 at 5:50PM

Just weeks after Comcast users in the greater Salt Lake City, Utah area were gifted with five new HD channels, residents of SLC now have one more reason to flip on the evening news. This past Saturday, the city's 2NEWS (KUTV, a local CBS affiliate) made the leap to high-definition, as its 5:30PM newscast was shown for the first time in HD. Additionally, HD cameras were used to capture clips from the Salt Lake City Marathon, and an all new HD-ready control room is being used to make the magic happen. Another news channels gets with the times -- can't complain with that.

Election '08 coverage to include more HD

by Richard Lawler, posted Apr 18th 2008 at 9:33PM

Even though this week's Democratic debate was unfortunately-SD on ABC, we can expect more reasons to pay attention to the potential candidates in the days to come. CNN's Election Express has already deployed an HD news truck to cover the campaign trail, but CBS is close behind. The Eye plans to hit the conventions in HD, but it will take a while to move the newscast beyond upconverted standard definition video. NBC and ABC will also have the conventions in HD, but while NBC says its field equipment is HD ready, ABC doesn't plan to move beyond 4x3 newsgathering until the end of the year. Check out the rest of the details on TV Technology, we can't tell you who to vote for, but we wouldn't make a decision based on anything said in 480i.

Survivor meets HDTV for the first time this summer

by Richard Lawler, posted Apr 13th 2008 at 8:21PM Breaking News

That's right, one of the biggest shows still stuck in 480i is making the switch when it begins shooting this summer, as announced by Sony and CBS at NAB2008. Coming into its 17th season (to air in early 2009), it's the first CBS reality show to make the HD jump, via Sony's XDCAM production system. Executive producer Mark Burnett is calling it a "new era" for the show, we're calling it "about time". It's just a bit embarrassing that the Miss USA pageant made the jump first, but we won't complain about more HD footage from the beautiful locales Survivor tends to visit. No word on how much that extra resolution will cost CBS, but with more people buying HDTVs everyday we don't see how they could afford not to.

Adobe Media Player & Adobe TV officially launched

by Richard Lawler, posted Apr 9th 2008 at 7:28AM

Since everyone else is launching a Flash-based video portal, Adobe itself is mixing things up with the AIR-powered Adobe TV. Via the new Adobe Media Player (AMP) 1.0 standalone app, users browse through assorted content from partners like CBS, Universal Music Group, Viacom, PBS or RSS feeds of video podcasts, while the Adobe TV channel itself focuses on how-to content for the company's various tools like Photoshop and Flash. AMP supports up to 1080p, however while ad-support TV content like The Hills and CSI: NY is disappointingly low-res, there are some HD online shows, but the bitrate's so low it's tough to tell if we're getting all the promised pixels. It's a lightweight download, check it out and see how it measures up to Hulu and the rest of the internet challengers.

Read - Adobe TV press release
Read - Adobe Media Player press release

FSN Prime Ticket, KCAL to deliver 150 Dodgers games in HD

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 1st 2008 at 11:59AM


Looks like the Padres and Diamondbacks aren't the only MLB clubs out west with lots of HD comin' up, as the Joe Torre-led Los Angeles Dodgers will be seen quite clearly in nearly every single game this season, too. Apparently 100 of the team's games will be broadcast in HD on FSN Prime Ticket, while 50 more will be aired in high-definition on KCAL 9 (CBS). And just think -- we figured the Blue Jays were doing something special.

[Image courtesy of Frederic J. Brown / ESPN, thanks Pete]

CBS.com tests out 480p "HD" video

by Richard Lawler, posted Mar 29th 2008 at 8:00PM


CBS.com is jumping into the online HD race...sort of. An "HD" flash player has been spotted in the labs area of its site, although all that's available at the moment is 480p. A quick check of the competition shows Hulu is still only demoing HD with movie trailers, ABC.com's streaming player has plenty of HD but is still technically in beta, Fox claims HD in its player but seems to be similarly low-rezzed, while NBC lags behind. In the race to pump pixels through our browser windows, CBS hasn't made it quite to the front yet, but keep trying. Of course a DRM-free download or two certainly wouldn't hurt, but we're not holding our collective breath.

[Via CNet]

Read - CBS Testing HD Streaming
Read - CBS Labs

Topeka, Kansas CBS affiliate and Cox finally come to terms

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 14th 2008 at 1:17PM


It sure seems like we've been watching this war between Topeka, Kansas' CBS affiliate (WIBW-TV) and Cox Communication wage for an awful lot longer than half a month, but just over a fortnight after this tiff came to a head, everything is seemingly back to normal. As of last night, the station and the carrier have reached an agreement that will enable CBS to remain on Cox's lineup, and just as expected, the terms of the deal are being kept under wraps. Now, if only Topeka could just get those six HD channels that are already available in many other parts of Kansas, all really would be well.

[Thanks, Kevin O.]

Philadelphia's KYW-TV enjoys all new HD facility

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 11th 2008 at 7:01PM


Barely a month after we heard that the WWE was pouring $20 million into upgrades for an HD production facility, Philadelphia's KYW-TV just may have 'em one-upped. The all new 120,000-square foot building reportedly houses two full television studios, "each with its own control room to allow for simultaneous broadcasts, a state-of-the-art master control room" and operations center. Both CBS 3 and The CW Philly 57 call the place home, and it's said that the "news operation is completely tapeless and high-definition both in-studio and in the field." Talk about getting with the times.

Topeka, Kansas CBS affiliate dumped from Cox

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 8th 2008 at 11:12AM

About this time last week, we had hopes that WIBW-TV and Cox Communications could come to terms and put this spat behind, but unfortunately, things didn't exactly work out. As of right now, Topeka, Kansas' CBS affiliate is being dumped from Cox's lineup, and while talks are reportedly continuing, TV viewers in the area now have to turn to alternative methods to catch CBS programming. On an update on the station's website, it actually recommends that consumers call up DISH Network and DirecTV to see what kind of deals they can nab should they be too far away to pull in the signal via OTA. Here's to hoping this situation sees an amicable resolution, and fast.

Update: The deadline has been extended until March 13th, so Cox users can still receive WIBW for a few more days at least.

[Thanks, James H.]

Pac-10, Big Ten and Big East to cut down the nets in HD

by Steven Kim, posted Mar 3rd 2008 at 7:57AM

Big Ten, Pac 10, Big East NCAA tournaments in HD
Oh yeah, more good news for college hoops fans. Fans of Pac-10, Big Ten and Big East NCAA men's basketball will not take a backseat to the ACC, and will be treated to their conference tournaments in HD as well. The Big East tournament will be covered by ESPN HD. The Big Ten series gets help from, The Big Ten Network (naturally), ESPN2 and ESPN. And the tournament for this year's critic-favorite, the Pac 10, will be on Comcast SportsNet (with the championship on CBS). Check the schedule listings below and start lining up your multi-tuner setup plan!

Continue reading Pac-10, Big Ten and Big East to cut down the nets in HD

Topeka, Kansas CBS affiliate stays on Cox while negotiations continue

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 1st 2008 at 11:21AM

Well, it's Saturday folks, and for Cox customers in Topeka, Kansas, WIBW-TV is still going strong. According to an updated article on the station's website, Topeka's CBS affiliate is going to remain on Cox Communications' lineup for just a few more days (at least), as "substantial progress" has reportedly been made in determining how much Cox should pay WIBW. As of now, the deadline has been pushed to March 8th, but at this point, we've no reason to believe the bigwigs at Cox won't come to their senses and pony up.

[Thanks, Kevin O.]




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