Leap Of Faith

By James Careless

Television broadcasting has not yet reached the point of all HD, all the time. But executives at Trinity Broadcasting Network, home of 24-hour faith-based programs like Praise the Lord, think that time is coming--and have established a new HD production facility in Costa Mesa, CA, to prepare for that eventuality. For TBN, the new facility is a leap into the future, one where the network will add an HD-only channel to its programming lineup.

"Quite honestly, TBN sees HD as an evolution, rather than a revolution," explained TBN Vice President Paul Crouch Jr. "It's akin to what happened in the 1950s, when network television began to move from black-and-white to color. One day there will be nothing on air except for HDTV. By upgrading our Costa Mesa studio now--and ensuring that everything we archive has been shot in 16:9 HD--we're getting ready for that future today.

"Besides, our Costa Mesa facility was definitely in need of an upgrade," Crouch continued. "It dated back to our early analog days and was starting to hamper our ability to stay current. Fortunately, the need to upgrade coincided with the drop in HD equipment costs. We had reached the delta curve crossover where high definition was not much more expensive than SD, so why not take the plunge?"

'PRAISE THE LORD' IN HD
Before you dismiss it simply as a religious channel, understand that TBN has become a broadcasting empire of global proportions. TBN is available to 92 percent of total U.S. households and attracts 25 million visitors to its Web site monthly. Through television and cable affiliates, as well as satellites, its programming can be seen on every major continent. Plus, the network also owns and operates a number of other channels.

California-based broadcast/AV systems integrator TV Magic was hired by TBN to transform the Costa Mesa facility. TV Magic design engineer Craig Claytor was put in charge, and told to make it happen. With the exception of a few CRT monitors and some legacy audio equipment, all the equipment in the facility is new.

In general, Claytor had a free hand to renovate the Costa Mesa facility. The only real restriction he faced was installing an HD system that would interface with the building's extensive Triax cable network. TBN had initially cabled the Costa Mesa plant so that remotes could be shot anywhere inside the building--including other smaller studios and outside on the grounds. That was a capability the network didn't want to lose or to pay to replace, if at all possible.

"As it turned out, the overall layout of Costa Mesa's technical areas were nicely laid out, so we didn't have to do any major demolition and construction," Claytor told Television Broadcast. "We did have to rebuild the audio room with acoustics appropriate for 5.1 mixing, but that was about it."

In the studio, TBN was building a brand new set for Praise the Lord, which is taped before a live audience. To play up the visual advantages of 16:9, the network created a huge backdrop of the southern California hills, with 3D models of actual Los Angeles office towers in the foreground punctuated by LCD lighting.

"It's an amazing set," said Claytor. "One that works with the widescreen properties of HD extremely well."

To shoot the set, TBN and TV Magic chose Grass Valley LDK4000 cameras. "We held a shootout for camera and switcher manufacturers at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California," recalled Claytor. "Both our company and the client preferred the look of the Thomson Grass Valley LDK HD cameras."

An added plus was the fact that the Grass Valley cameras would work with Triax. "Given the substantial Triax network already installed at Costa Mesa," Claytor noted, "it made sense to choose them."

The Costa Mesa studio is loaded with six LDK4000s, all equipped with Canon HD lenses. Three cameras are on pedestal, one is handheld, a fifth is on a mechanical track, and another is mounted on a jib. "We move the pedestal cameras around as needed to other locations, including the news set, to provide complete coverage as required," said Claytor.

For switching, the Grass Valley Kalypso 2 HD was selected. "Besides being compatible with Triax, the Kalypso 2 is a wonderfully powerful switcher well-suited for live production," Claytor said. "Since this studio is focused on live broadcast, it was an ideal choice, especially because it has an internal still store and four DVE channels built in. As well, the Kalypso 2 interfaced nicely to the new Grass Valley Encore router control system."

For recording, TBN decided to stick with tape, with all content being recorded to Panasonic DVCPRO HD AJ-HD1700 VTRs. "This ensures that all of the archived content--because TBN archives everything they shoot--is up to HD standard, even though they're currently broadcasting in SD," said Claytor.

That's right: Although the Costa Mesa facility is shooting in HD, its programming is currently going out to viewers in SD. Granted, the feed is formatted as letterboxed 16:9, but an HD alternative is not available.

"Right now, 99 percent of TBN's audience is still using NTSC 4:3 television receivers," explained Claytor. "As a result, all of the content produced at Costa Mesa is downconverted using Miranda Technology terminals into NTSC. It's somewhat disconcerting to see this wonderful HD video and surround sound audio going out as SD analog. But once the TBN Tustin facility is fully converted to HD, the viewers will be treated to the best sight and sounds available."

ALMOST READY FOR LAUNCH
In truth, that date is fast approaching, said Crouch. "We are planning to launch an HD-only channel later this year, using programming shot at Costa Mesa and supplied by other HD faith-based programmers. We will still downconvert Praise the Lord and other shows that are staples of our analog channels, but HD-equipped TBN viewers will soon start to enjoy the resolution and clarity of our HD shows as they were meant to be seen."

To view the LDK4000's HD output accurately, TBN has installed Ikegami CRT monitors. "We choose CRTs over LCDs because the latter still can't provide enough visual information to correctly calibrate the cameras," offered Claytor. "For the best accuracy, you still need CRTs." The control room uses an Evertz MVP monitor wall processor and three Clarity Bay Cat 46-inch LCD displays for monitoring.

For audio, a Solid State Logic C200 audio console was installed. "Although it handles 5.1 surround sound and is fully digital, the C200 has the look and feel of an analog mixer," Claytor said. "The audio mixers really like that feel, with all of the easily-reconfigured functions slaved to tactile knobs and faders."
Meanwhile, the entire facility has been fitted with wireless microphones, which is no easy feat given the plethora of analog and DTV stations in the Los Angeles region. The wireless transmissions are captured using Shure wireless receivers and processed with a Sennheiser eight-channel mixer.

As for graphics? That's something Coast Mesa doesn't need to handle. "Our main facility in Tustin, 10 miles away, produces all of our graphics," Crouch explained. "It then sends them to Costa Mesa via fiber. The production staff then stores the effects on the Kalypso 2 for call-up when required."

As mentioned earlier, Costa Mesa's HD feed will soon hit the airwaves. "Our goal is to supply it first to our 33 owned-and-operated stations, which already have their DTV transmitters on air," Crouch said. "We're also talking to cable and satellite companies about carrying it, and looking ahead to eventually switching our other networks in HD." When this happens, Costa Mesa will serve as the hub for TBN's digital programming distribution.

In the meantime, production staffers at Praise the Lord and other Costa Mesa-originated TBN shows are getting familiar with HD now, ensuring that the network remains at the top of its game in the battle for viewers in an increasingly HD universe. "Quite honestly, we consider HD to be an extension of what we call the 'Great Commission,' spreading the Gospel to the world," said Crouch. "HDTV will help us fulfill our mission better. That's why we're moving to it now."

http://televisionbroadcast.com/articles/article_1605.shtml

"Quite honestly, TBN sees HD as an evolution"
Best quote ever.

Does anyone else find it weird that a religious network is going HD before Survivor AND the Sci Fi Channel? Plus, who has singed up to carry the network?

That quote is unintentionally hilarious. They think HDTV is an evolution, and most of us feel it is a gift from God, and an inalienable right. ;)

Best quote ever.

Does anyone else find it weird that a religious network is going HD before Survivor AND the Sci Fi Channel? Plus, who has singed up to carry the network?
yep, good quote. :D

TBN-HD before SciFi-HD? A little weird, but there must be a lot of money in all those contributions.

Not being familiar with the network, I looked up TBN on wikipedia and they are listed as owning "twenty-three U.S. full-power television stations and 252 low-power rural stations" (they own 252 LP-TV stations?!). But the article states they have 33 O&O stations which are broadcasting digitally, so those will offer a HD sub-channel. I guess that would make them the 8th national broadcast network (or some semblance to a national network) to offer HD. Who would have guessed?

As for cable & satellite, would this be one of the national HD channels that DirecTV was talking about to get to their number of HD channels by fall of 2007? I expect the cable systems in the market area of the digital broadcast HD stations will be in no rush to add it to the local broadcast HD tier given their bandwidth problems.

TBN is very large - and one of the very active lobbyists for multicast must-carry.

I have seen the light.

And its exclusively in 1080i.

Best quote ever.

Does anyone else find it weird that a religious network is going HD before Survivor AND the Sci Fi Channel?

It won't necessarily come before those. There is no launch date yet.

But we wanted TBS HD.

Pat Robertson in HD? Oh lord no.

Does anyone else find it weird that a religious network is going HD before Survivor AND the Sci Fi Channel?

No.

Yesterday I came across some personal photos behind the scenes of Dr. No with Sean Connery and Ursala Andrews on the beach. Considering what it took to get that looking as well as it did, its no surprise that a network (almost entirely studio) would go first - as its much easier with proper lighting and equipment.

And yes, I realize that things have advanced, but lighting is still critical to HD - and you would not believe the lights they put in for the beach shots of Dr. No.

As far as I know, all of TBN's full-power O&Os are running DT facilities, including the one here - WDLI-DT/Canton, OH.

They are paying attention to their digitals. WDLI moved its digital transmitter north into suburban Akron, for the sole purpose of fully covering the entire Cleveland market. WDLI's analog stick is still down in Canton, and I'm not sure they'll ever get around to moving it with the 2009 transition.

WDLI-DT is full power, by the way...and runs the four TBN subchannels all the TBN O&Os do (the main TBN feed, Church Channel, the "Enlace" Spanish-language channel and one more I can't remember).

You'd be surprised at the number of mega churches out there that have or are making the leap toward HD. Religious programming is generally an unregulated cacophony of production values ranging from "I can't believe this is on the air" cable-access to Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church whose shows look slicker than a lot of network programming and I believe he is already HD equipped. With large churches in America becoming so multimediated these days (some of these facilities are million dollar technical powerhouses), it doesn't surprise me to start to see a shift in higher-end religious programming to HD. Of course there will undoubtedly always be the grainy, jerky, overmodulated, undersaturated, single VHS camera cable access variety, but of all the communities adopting new broadcast technologies, don't be surprised to see mega churches try and push their way to the forefront.

Pat Robertson in HD? Oh lord no.I've glanced at it from time to time, and can thankfully say I've never seen him on there. They do show that one cool LOTR-like flick once in a while. I Forget the name, but it stars Sir Richard Harris.

I wonder what OTA multicasting will be like after TBN-HD goes online. There are already four or five SD channels on these OTA stations, and don't expect any of them to be taken offline, so what would happen if they added an HD channel of any kind onto that? :eek:

I wouldn't be surprised if TBN files for duopoly status in as many markets as they can. Houston is pretty wide open, so that'll help there. But what about markets that'll have no vacancy for the full-bandwidth delivery of this channel, even after the digital transition is over? People might tear off their shirts and rip out their hair over all the macroblocking.

Each TBN affiliate that can't get a duopoly might have to purchase a Harmonic MV500 and many MV100's, and run it through a statmuxer system. The Electra 1000 might not be powerful enough to provide enough bandwidth for the HD channel. Heck, four subchannels in itself might not provide enough bandwidth for a comforting experience. I'm sure they don't want people to turn to the dark side because they can't see the face -- er, picture, behind the veil.

You'd be surprised at the number of mega churches out there that have or are making the leap toward HD. Religious programming is generally an unregulated cacophony of production values ranging from "I can't believe this is on the air" cable-access to Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church whose shows look slicker than a lot of network programming and I believe he is already HD equipped. With large churches in America becoming so multimediated these days (some of these facilities are million dollar technical powerhouses), it doesn't surprise me to start to see a shift in higher-end religious programming to HD. Of course there will undoubtedly always be the grainy, jerky, overmodulated, undersaturated, single VHS camera cable access variety, but of all the communities adopting new broadcast technologies, don't be surprised to see mega churches try and push their way to the forefront.

Indeed. I was surprised one Sunday morning to see that the local live broadcast from First Baptist here in Jacksonville was in full HD (where not even 1 station has local news in HD). The PQ is amazingly good.

As far as I know, all of TBN's full-power O&Os are running DT facilities, including the one here - WDLI-DT/Canton, OH.

They are paying attention to their digitals. WDLI moved its digital transmitter north into suburban Akron, for the sole purpose of fully covering the entire Cleveland market. WDLI's analog stick is still down in Canton, and I'm not sure they'll ever get around to moving it with the 2009 transition.

WDLI-DT is full power, by the way...and runs the four TBN subchannels all the TBN O&Os do (the main TBN feed, Church Channel, the "Enlace" Spanish-language channel and one more I can't remember).

I'm wondering how in the world they're going to carry an HD stream of any quality considering they run FOUR subchannels already. :confused:

I wouldn't be surprised if TBN files for duopoly status in as many markets as they can. Houston is pretty wide open, so that'll help there. But what about markets that'll have no vacancy for the full-bandwidth delivery of this channel, even after the digital transition is over? People might tear off their shirts and rip out their hair over all the macroblocking.

Filing for duopolies seems unlikely -- it isn't a trivial matter to put a new full-powered TV station (analog or digital) on the air. The FCC requires that a petition for rulemaking be filed to get a new channel added to the DTV table of allocations. Right now, they have a freeze on accepting any new petitions; that freeze has been in place since the middle of 2004 and will likely remain in place until the end of the digital transition in 2009 (assuming that it actually happens). Once such a petition has been filed and the FCC has actually added the new channel, it goes up for auction to the highest bidder. In most cases, the original petitioner does not end up winning the auction, and someone else ends up building the station. Somehow, I doubt that TBN will take this route.

Another route is for them to buy existing full powered stations in the markets that they are in today. Considering the number of markets that they operate in, this option would be really expensive. I think it is safe to rule out this route, as well.

That leaves the option of either building or buying digital LPTV stations. With low power comes reduced coverage area, and the lack of cable "must carry" access. However, this does cost a fraction of what adding a second full powered station in each market would run. Still, it does involve a fair amount of money for a questionable financial return...

My guess is that is that they'll just rearrange their multicast selection to make room for a new HD channel when they are ready to launch it, instead of mucking with a second channel. Keep in mind that their programming schedule is heavy on "talking head" programming, which ought not be real demanding for bandwidth. If they also invest in state of the art compression gear, they might well be able to maintain a multicast of one HD and three SD channels without compromising image quality too much.

They are paying attention to their digitals.

Not everywhere.

In my market the analog and digital are not colocated. The analog channel 61 is north of the market and the digital channel 43 is south of the market. To cut costs on a dual path STL, they use an analog receiver to pick the analog off air signal and then feed it to the digital transmitter, which is at full power of 105 kW. The distance between the two sites is about 30 miles and the analog is at 500 feet with 933 kW. The picture is usually noisy and is full of ghosts with multipath. They have the 4:3 picture stretched to 16:9. Yeah, it is a real class situation here.

My guess is that is that they'll just rearrange their multicast selection to make room for a new HD channel when they are ready to launch it, instead of mucking with a second channel. Keep in mind that their programming schedule is heavy on "talking head" programming, which ought not be real demanding for bandwidth. If they also invest in state of the art compression gear, they might well be able to maintain a multicast of one HD and three SD channels without compromising image quality too much.
Which SD channel would be removed from the OTA signals?

And read the article at the top again. They plan to upgrade more channels to HD. What to do then? Upgrade to two HD plus one SD? Will TBN proper be all-HD by then, simulcasting its HD stuff on the SD feed? If so, that'll allow the dissolving of the OTA SD channel, since the HD channel can be downrezzed to SD on OTA tuners. But, even if that's the case, what additional SD channel would be removed off the OTA channel? If TBN can't remove its SD channel at that time, what two SD channels will go off the air and on to cable & satellite only? Or will they be willing to occasionally air upconverted programming on the HD channel?

Maybe with the best Harmonic technology, one HD channel and three SD channels could fit in without too much macroblocking, but it would take an MV500 encoder and a bunch of MV100s, instead of a single Electra 1000 or two Electra 5000's. Even then, it would be a tight squeeze, and I suspect that they won't remove any SD channels... Also, is TBN-HD going to be 1080i or 720p?

Here's the point: Maybe they won't file for duopoly status, but if TBN doesn't do that, I have the impression that macroblocking will become a serious situation over time for their OTA signals.

Attention, TBN: You should get Harmonic if you want to upgrade now. In your case, Harris may work with two SD subchannels, but not three and certainly not four.

I wonder if all the lonely old folks who are the backbone of support for TBN will appreciate the HD broadcasts on their 30 year old Zeniths.

Or perhaps this will open up a whole new audience and revenue stream.

Jan Crouch in HD? Scary indeed !!!

Trinity Broadcasting Network To Lead Faith And Family Based Television Into High Definition Era

2007-05-07 -- [WDC News Post] -- Los Angeles—May 7, 2007—Trinity Broadcasting Network, America’s leader in faith and family-based television programming, has announced it will be the first faith-based television network to offer a dedicated High Definition channel beginning in the fourth quarter of 2007. The announcement comes at the National Cable Show in Las Vegas , where cable operators can discuss with TBN executives the plans to take the network into the HD era.

“The resolution and clarity of HDTV will enhance our audience’s ability to experience the gospel in ways that are not noticeable under current technology,” says Paul Crouch, Jr. Vice President of Administration for TBN. “Quite honestly, we see this as an extension of the Great Commission, of being able to deliver the highest quality programming known on earth.”

TBN's HD network, according to the network. TBN's HD channel will feature the most popular, highest rated shows and films that have made TBN America's most watched faith network. California-based TV Magic was hired by TBN to transform the network’s main production studios in Costa Mesa , CA . The decision to upgrade will help prepare the way for TBN to leap into the future by adding an HD-only channel to its programming lineup.

The power of HD on TBN will also encourage other faith-based programs to embrace the new state of the art. The “Hour of Power,” a television ministry of Crystal Cathedral’s Robert Schuller in Garden Grove , Ca., has already made the leap into HD and the ministry sees TBN’s commitment as extraordinarily positive.

“I’m thrilled that TBN is moving into the wonderful world of High Definition. Once again, Trinity Broadcasting is blazing a cutting edge trail across the airwaves of America and the world – first with their tremendous push onto U.S. cable systems, and now by delivering healthy, positive programming in High Definition,” says Jim Penner, Senior Producer for “Hour of Power.” “The Crystal Cathedral and its Hour of Power telecast are excited about being a part of this bold new opportunity. I cannot imagine a more stunning image than the Crystal Cathedral, a world renowned architectural masterpiece, presented in High Definition. Congratulations to the TBN family for making this technological leap forward.”

“TBN is already America ’s most requested and most-watched faith-based channel,” Crouch said. “Now we are making our ongoing commitment to quality programming perfectly clear by becoming the first faith-based with a 24 hour dedicated HD channel. We are planning to launch an HD-only channel later this year, using programming shot at Costa Mesa and supplied by other HD faith-based programmers. We will still down-convert Praise the Lord and other shows that are staples of our analog channels, but HD-equipped TBN viewers will soon start to enjoy the resolution and clarity of our HD shows as they were meant to be seen.”

TBN will be featuring a demonstration of its new TBN HD channel at the National Cable Convention in Las Vegas at the TBN Networks Booth # 3657. “Multichannel providers are encouraged to include TBN HD to their affiliate agreements in order to be able to add TBN’s free HD service to their HD packages later this year,” says Bob Higley, TBN’s Vice President, Affiliate Sales and Marketing.

http://www.wdcmedia.com/pressReleaseArticle.php?ID=318

They should make it a pay channel like the Baby Channel and offer together as a package...a great marketing promo could be.....Teethe and Tithe with us in HD.

Hell, I'd watch if they'd bring back Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye. There are never too many good comedies on TV. And Jimmy Swaggart, too. God I miss him. Just imagine Tammy Faye's makeup in 1080i! :D They should put Swaggart and Tammy Faye on the same show and let them see who could out cry the other one.

TBN HD Offers Clear Advantage to Faith-Based Broadcasting

2008-01-24

Trinity Broadcasting Network has a clear edge in 2008 with the January debut of TBN HD, the first faith-based channel totally dedicated to High Definition programming. The new channel, which will feature top-rated TBN shows and movies, launched Jan. 7 on Galaxy 14, transponder 1.

“TBN is already America’s most requested and most watched faith-based channel,” said Paul Crouch Jr., Vice President of Administration for TBN. “Now we’re making our ongoing commitment to quality programming perfectly clear by becoming the first faith-based network with a 24 hour dedicated HD channel.”

One of the featured programs on TBN HD will be Praise the Lord programs produced out of TBN’s flagship studio in Costa Mesa, California. The studio and production facility completed significant design and equipment upgrades in 2006 to assist in the transition to HD technology. Other featured programs will include the Hour of Power, America’s most popular one-hour church service which originates from the world-renowned Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California; the edge-of-your-seat reality show Travel the Road and Drive Thru History, a fast-paced program shot on location around the world.

“Once again, Trinity Broadcasting is blazing a cutting-edge trail across the airwaves of America and the world—first with their tremendous push onto U.S. cable systems, and now by delivering healthy, positive programming in High Definition,” said Jim Penner, Senior Producer for Hour of Power. “Congratulations to the TBN family for making this technological leap forward.”

About TBN: Launched in 1973 as a single UHF station in southern California, TBN now reaches every major continent via 65 satellites and more than 12,500 television and cable affiliates worldwide. TBN is available to 92 percent of U.S. households, and its website, www.tbn.org, hosts more than 27 million visitors every month.

http://www.tbnnetworks.org/affiliate/prArticle.php?ID=135

No OTA?

TBN-HD? That would have to be the biggest waste of bandwidth ever! Now Pat Robertson can scam people in a higher definition.

LOL @ the evolution quote!!

Ahhh, religious fanatics. (sigh)

TBN-HD? That would have to be the biggest waste of bandwidth ever! Now Pat Robertson can scam people in a higher definition.

Different organizations -- While Pat Robertson's "The 700 Club" does air on TBN, it is produced by Robertson's own company, CBN.

While I would certainly not be watching on a regular basis, I'm kind of disappointed if TBN-HD won't be offered over the air. It would be interesting to see what it would look like, and also how they'd manage to transmit HD while maintaining their multicasts.

While I would certainly not be watching on a regular basis, I'm kind of disappointed if TBN-HD won't be offered over the air. It would be interesting to see what it would look like, and also how they'd manage to transmit HD while maintaining their multicasts.

I'm not Christian, and I'd like to watch it and see how the quality of the broadcast is.

Different organizations -- While Pat Robertson's "The 700 Club" does air on TBN, it is produced by Robertson's own company, CBN.

While I would certainly not be watching on a regular basis, I'm kind of disappointed if TBN-HD won't be offered over the air. It would be interesting to see what it would look like, and also how they'd manage to transmit HD while maintaining their multicasts.


I doubt they'd ever do OTA HD since they are typically using the affiliate's subchannels to broadcast the other networks in the TBN family for the benefit of those who don't have satellite or cable.

They seem to have been preparing for this for a long time, so it is nice to see it finally happening.

BTW, the graphics on their test HD channel still say "August 2008."

Also, Pat Robertson's 700 Club is just about the only HD program currently broadcast on "ABC Family HD."

(ABC Family was originally Pat's CBN, and airing the 700 Club daily forever was part of the sale, as well as the fact that the word "Family" must always be part of the network's name.)

Wouldn't that be "higher power" definition? :D

TBN OTA has 5 subchannels (the main TBN channel, The Church Channel, Smile of a Child, JCTV, and Enlace). If they make the main channel, it will be the ultimate case of "HD-lite". Essentially widescreen SD. Then again, a static shot of a preacher behind a pulpit would have no fast motion and not need much bandwidth, so it might look HD even with all the subchannels running.

Is TBN going to convert their entire network of low power stations to digital by 2-18-09? They won't be legally required to, being low power. However the announcements about the Wilmington early switch say that the lp TBN station there wil be going digital in September. The FCC website says that they have a construction permit to switch their lp channel 21 here in Bakersfield to digital. I hope they switch it to digital. I would like to get the extra subchannels. Right now they can't have very much power because of full power analog KFTV 21 in Hanford (Fresno DMA). KFTV is staying on digital 20 post transition, so TBN could boost their power on 21 then. Then conflicting with KFTV will be KKEY-LP's problem, as they have applied for a digital LP on 20 in Bakersfield. All these LPs sure are making the airwaves very crowded.

anyone know if the Low powered TBN stations like the one in Omaha (on channel 54)

and possibly soon moving to channel 16

will have sub-channels

or is it that only full powered TBN stations will get the sub-channels

I am wondering cause other than Charles Stanley and Ed Hindson's tv show, i am not a fan of TBN

plus there are a couple of shows on the TBN sub-channel called Church Channel that I want to see

TBN OTA has 5 subchannels (the main TBN channel, The Church Channel, Smile of a Child, JCTV, and Enlace). If they make the main channel, it will be the ultimate case of "HD-lite". Essentially widescreen SD. Then again, a static shot of a preacher behind a pulpit would have no fast motion and not need much bandwidth, so it might look HD even with all the subchannels running.

Is TBN going to convert their entire network of low power stations to digital by 2-18-09? They won't be legally required to, being low power.



also not all of the TBN stations when they go digital I have heard may get the sub-channels


that is too bad if that is true


considering many PBS stations get the Create channel (great channel BTW)


and many NBC stations have a olympics channel sub-channel



I would be nice if those who get TBN on LPTV stations got a sub-channel or two at least

Despite the fact that a number of TBN's stations have been upgraded to HD, none of them are actually broadcasting HD. Only Verizon FIOS and AT&T UVerse currently have TBN in high definition. They're planning on getting TBN-HD on DirecTV and Dish Network but state there is no timetable for their broadcast stations to actually utilize the HD feed despite the fact that all of their new programming has been made in HD for several years now.

Any timetable yet on when they intend to convert their low power translators?

Since their full power stations don't carry the HD feed, I don't think it's likely that they'll be offering it on their low power stations anytime soon.

Which is a shame -- while I'm certainly not a fan of most religious programming, TBN actually does carry some pretty decent movies on occasion, and those might look good in HD.

I was just thinking of the people who now watch tv only through their digital converter boxes and are now not able to receive the analog signal at all. Yes, you can set the boxes to pass the analog signal through, but that is a hassle many won't bother to deal with.

I was just thinking of the people who now watch tv only through their digital converter boxes and are now not able to receive the analog signal at all. Yes, you can set the boxes to pass the analog signal through, but that is a hassle many won't bother to deal with.

Note the distinction between offering digital standard definition broadcasts versus digital HD. I think it is likely that we will see the former on TBN's translators and LPTV stations in the near future...at least in some markets.

For a couple of days before and after the June 12 switchover, the signal was pixelating, almost as if the signal was a weak digital signal, though it was actually analog. I guessed that the signal must have been being converted between digital and analog somewhere along the line and the converter was not able to keep up.

TBN has been off the air for a week in Dickinson. At first, I thought they were just switching to a digital signal, but a lightening strike may have taken out their analog transmitter and they can't find parts for it or can't justify spending the money to fix it.

TBN is back on again, in analog.

Only Verizon FIOS and AT&T UVerse currently have TBN in high definition.

Can anyone confirm this?

No TBN HD on FiOS in North Texas.

I noticed on the FCC's website that the construction permit for TBN's analog LP on 21 in Bakersfield is no longer listed. Does this mean that TBN has decided to keep this station analog for awhile longer, possibly until the FCC requires all LPs to do digital? Is TBN going to keep their entire LP network analog until then?
__________________

Pat Robertson in HD? Oh lord no.

Too late, he's been spotted on ABC Family Channel HD, God help us (sarcasim).

Some decent music videos on their JCTV (at least on the weekends), but they have just way too many subs...

Religious TV channels should be outlawed PERIOD for spreding lies, more lies and nothing but the lies

This isn't the forum for attacking (or defending) religious broadcasting. The issue is the availability of TBN in HD.

The translator in Morristown W61DG has a construction permit for low power DTV since 10/23/06 which has apparently expired. I read one posting on the AVS forum that said TBN has it's translators up for sale. Does anyone know if TBN will be switching it's translators to DTV or not? The current analog translator seem to have been off th air for months.

The translator in Morristown W61DG has a construction permit for low power DTV since 10/23/06 which has apparently expired. I read one posting on the AVS forum that said TBN has it's translators up for sale. Does anyone know if TBN will be switching it's translators to DTV or not? The current analog translator seem to have been off th air for months.

TBN will not be switching its translators over, most of them. The few they do will be sold.

After asking, I got this message as part of an e-mail from TBN
We regret that we must tell you that Trinity Broadcasting Network ceased operation of Channel 28 in Dickinson on December 4. After much research TBN discovered that the majority of viewers in your area subscribe to either cable or satellite. TBN evaluates each location on a case by case basis. If there are very few viewers watching the over the air broadcast signal then it is not prudent to continue broadcasting on that local station. These broadcast stations are expensive to operate and TBN considers it better stewardship of finances intrusted to us, to send the signal out over cable or satellite. I suppose this means that the entire TBN network of translators throughout North Dakota is gone also.

How expensive is it to run a low power translator? The tower is already there. The electricity shouldn't be so much since it was only 1 kw. I wonder how it would compare in cost to leasing a digital sub channel from a commercial broadcaster.

I would guess that many of the people who don't have cable or satellite are people who cant afford it so they are not a lucrative audience.

Ken,

It shows on this page that ATT U-Verse has TBN-HD

http://www.att.com/gen/sites/iptv?pid=12592

However, all I have heard is there is a placeholder for it and the channel is not there yet.

I could be wrong though. Best to ask the U-Verse folks and if they can confirm it, to let FloorMatt know so he can get it in the next chart update.