Laredo, TX - HDTV

I'm moving to Laredo in a few months and wanted to start a discussion about HDTV in the local market (both in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo). My understanding is that there is some digital TV in the market already, and at least one Mexican station is broadcasting HDTV part-time; with the digital transition fast approaching, do the locals plan to introduce HDTV broadcasts at the same time, and will Time-Warner bring in KSAT's HD feed for ABC viewers?

My understanding of the current situation over the air (full-power analog stations only):

KGNS-DT 15: simulcasting KGNS-TV (8) on 15.1 and "CW Plus" on 15.2
KLDO-DT 19: simulcasting KLDO-TV (27) on 19.1, KETF-CA (25) on 19.2, KXOF-CA (39) on 19.3, and "LATV" on 19.4
KVTV-DT 31: simulcasting KVTV-TV (13) on 31.1

Mexican stations broadcasting in digital:

XHBR-DT 25: simulcasting XHBR-TV 11/XEW-TV 2 (Mexico City)
XHLNA-DT 50: simulcasting XHLNA-TV 21/XHWX-TV 4 (Monterrey)/XHDF-TV 13 (Mexico City)
XHLAT-DT 51 (HDTV): simulcasting XHLAT-TV (33)/XHFN-TV 7 (Monterrey)/XHIMT-TV 7 (Mexico City)

When I was in Laredo a month ago, the only channels I picked up with a cheesy indoor antenna (Bob Bullock Loop @ Jacaman) were KVTV-DT and XHLAT-DT.

Presumably KLDO will continue to simulcast KETF and KXOF until they flash-cut to digital whenever the FCC orders such things to happen. Until then I think any HDTV on KLDO or its fellow channel occupants would be painful (although Fox being 720p might work better multiplexed with 3 subchannels than a 1080i network would). KVTV and KGNS are more likely prospects for HD.

Time-Warner Cable: HD offerings (according to their website) are:

890 HD Theater
893 TNT HD
894 FSN Southwest
895 ESPN HD
896 ESPN2 HD (not available with CableCARDs)
897 MOJO
899 HDNet
900 HDNet Movies
901 Universal HD

Subscription channels

706 HBO HD E
736 Showtime HD E

No locals (not even KSAT-DT and KLRN-DT) are apparently available in HD.

Corrections, updates, etc. are welcome!

Not yet; well, I had some Spanish in elementary school and high school, but I can't do much except ask for directions to the library these days. Hopefully the US stations will get with the program sooner rather than later.

Given the local channel situation in Laredo if you're going with satellite (Dish or DirecTV) I'd recommend "moving" your service address to San Antonio or thereabouts for your HDTV needs.

Good news on KGNS, hopefully that will be the kick in the behind KVTV and KXOF (and Time-Warner, to bring Laredo KSAT and KLRN in HD) need.

I wouldn't hold your breath on ABC or PBS or MyNetworkTV locally in Laredo, although you should be able to get ABC today as a "distant network" station (probably WABC New York) since nobody in Laredo can get ABC over-the-air. Same deal for PBS. Not sure if Dish offers a national MNTV. I'm surprised Dish doesn't provide KSAT (San Antonio ABC) like DirecTV does.

My guess is that they're not doing Fox/KXOF because it's a low-power channel, at least until the digital transition is over. Since they're already broadcasting KLDO (owned by the same company), KXOF should be easy though... again, DirecTV has it, and you'd think Dish would want to be competitive with DirecTV. You probably won't be able to get distant Fox.

As far as HD and the subchannels go, your guess is as good as mine. Neither satellite service seems to carry subchannels, so CW and Telemundo are unlikely to happen, but HD is somewhat more likely since they (DISH) are going to have to upgrade their equipment in every market to receive digital channels anyway.

25.1 is already on the list in the first post. All of the Mexican stations really need to stop running in stretch-o-vision when they don't have a HD signal. But yeah "embarrassing" is the right word.

KGNS has been running a few short promos the past couple of weeks that don't mention HD directly but the same two sponsors show up at http://www.pro8news.com/about in a box that says "HD is Coming Soon Laredo!" Probably too much to hope "soon" is next Thursday for the first NFL game. Probably also too much to hope they increase their signal output; it's by far the weakest signal I get in NE Laredo with an indoor antenna. In terms of existing picture quality, I'd rate 8-1 a little better than 10 analog on Time Warner, but that's not saying much.

As for KVTV, considering they can't even scrape together the talent for a local newscast (and let's be honest, KGNS isn't setting the bar so high that KVTV couldn't be successful) I'm not going to hold my breath on HD. KXOF seems a little more promising since Entravision apparently already does Fox in HD down in McAllen (plus having the NFC & Cowboys is a bit more incentive).

KLRN and KSAT are up to Time-Warner, whose apparent total disinterest in HD in Laredo is evident; maybe analog shutdown will force the issue, but my guess is we're more likely to *lose* KLRN and KSAT than get them in HD.

Not directly HD related, but apparently Time-Warner and KSAT are in a snit over renegotiating their extension. Since TWC can probably get ABC programming from stations in Corpus or the lower valley, who'd probably jump to add another 100k+ viewers, if KSAT holds out, I'd imagine KSAT will cave sooner rather than later.

Hopefully when they do the deal they'll also bring HD along for the ride, but we'll see.

KGNS-8 (NBC) is broadcasting in HD this evening and the SD subchannels (8.2 CW and 8.3 Telemundo) are now live over-the-air, although there is no announcement on the pro8news.com website as of this moment. Some older receivers may need a rescan to understand the format change.

KGNS is currently broadcasting upconverted SDTV at 1080i on 15.1 (virtual 8.1); for about a week in October, they were broadcasting true HD and upconverted SD content such as local ads were very zoomed (not quite full zoom, but tiny pillarboxes and clear image loss at the top and bottom). Since they've already broadcast some HD clearly they have the equipment.

I suppose since KVTV and KXOF are in no hurry to go HD, nobody's putting much pressure on KGNS to get the bugs worked out.

As I write this, KGNS is broadcasting the NBC Nightly News in HD. Hopefully I haven't jinxed it and HD is back for good.

In other news, KVTV (CBS 13) has gone all-digital after its analog transmitter was damaged by a power surge. The FCC filing is here.

One small bit of news: KVTV-DT will be moving from RF channel 31 to its final allotment, RF 13, on Thursday May 7th, per a promo I saw Friday night.

It's already been settled, probably because TWC also covers San Antonio and several other markets around here; however, Laredo isn't in San Antonio's DMA so I'm not sure the DMA rules would apply in this case.

Not sure what happened, but I can confirm that I can only get the NBC signal (in SD) here in NE Laredo despite good signal strength on UHF 15. Nothing will be on UHF 15 after June 12 unless someone applies to start a new channel there.

From the About page at KVTV: "If you have any questions about your reception of any of our digital signals, please contact us at hd@pro8news.com." Worth an email I suppose.

By the way, KVTV still is on UHF 31 and I haven't seen any promos on KVTV saying when they're switching to VHF 13 recently, although they have to do it by June 12. Their last FCC filing said they were doing it in May 7, which has come and gone.