Greensboro, NC - HDTV - Page 16

I'm not sure why they responded to my note. I just went to their website and used their "feedback" page. They responded in less than 24 hours and then they responded to my follow up email within an hour.

Hey, guys - hope you don't mind a triangle resident crashing the party. Can someone give me a list of HD capable channels in Greensboro?

I've got a channel master on my roof that is picking up some Greenboro stations (even though it's not oriented that way) and I'm curious as to what I might be able to get.

Thanks.

14 WGPX-DT (PAX) (analog 16) - Not on the air yet

19 WTWB-DT (WB) (analog 20) - No HD yet. Low power with antenna pointed W/NW

29 WXLV-DT (ABC) (analog 45) - No HD yet.

31 WXII-DT (NBC) (analog 12) - HD during prime time. Only on from 12 noon to 12:35 AM.

32 WUNL-DT (PBS) (analog 26) - HD channel -2 is only on from 8pm to 11 pm

33 WUPN-DT (UPN) (analog 48) - No HD yet. Their PSIP isn't correct so you may see signal but no picture

35 WGHP-DT (FOX) (analog 8) - FOX Widescreen. Low power with antenna pointed north with wide pattern from west to east

43 WLXI-DT (Rel) (analog 61) - No HD. Lower power with normal antenna

51 - WFMY-DT (CBS) (analog 2) - HD during prime time only and the only CBS HD soap opera. Only on from 12 noon to 12:35AM

Anyone been watching the INHD previews on Channel 551?

not yet, but I'll go check it out right now

Scheduled to begin 15 Sept., Ch. 501 is variously listed as "USAHD" or "INHD"... If it turns out to be INHD, here's their Web site so you can read about their offerings.

http://www.inhd.com/about.html

Currently they're showing promos, but they say there will be a "preview tonight" 7-11 PM (Sunday). They call themselves "the Hi-Def Experience."

The pictures look sharp and pretty. Let's hope they get rid of the bug.

Here is the INHD announcement (TWC Ch. 501):

NEW YORK, April 28, 2003 - iN DEMAND is preparing to launch as many as three high-definition television channels featuring a variety of movies, sports and general entertainment, the first of those to be named INHD and to be unveiled on September 1, 2003, announced Steve Brenner, president & chief executive officer.

While iN DEMAND's core business will continue to exploit the traditional models currently being used for both pay-per-view and video-on demand, the model for the new HD channels will be 24/7, linear-programming, not PPV or VOD. However, both will share equally from advantageous economies of scale, making iN DEMAND uniquely positioned to supply additional sources for HD content to distributors as lower-priced digital televisions become more widely adopted.

By exploiting our existing infrastructure, we were able to devise an expeditious solution for HDTV on behalf of our distribution partners, said Rob Jacobson, executive vice president & chief operating officer. Those economies of scale also provide a solution that is highly cost effective and bandwidth efficient. In the end, the big winner will be the customer, because we can deliver more HD value quicker than they would get otherwise.

INHD will feature several hundred hours of movies, professional and college sports, and general interest programming that maximizes the HD experience. At launch, there will be 12 hours of unique programming daily that will be recycled twice a day. Following the launch of INHD in September, iN DEMAND plans to launch additional HD networks later in the year with more of a focus on movies and sports. INHD will have a separate and distinct brand strategy from iN DEMAND.

The content will be available in wide screen, high-resolution format and will also feature Dolby Digital 5.1 audio when available. While the audio is equivalent to most DVDs, the picture quality is superior. iN DEMAND is working with major digital file-server vendors and set-top manufacturers to deliver its HD content in the 1080i format.

Adding new linear channels to our product line in some respects marks a major transformation of iN DEMAND from a business model focused narrowly on transactional content to one more broadly focused on both transactional and linear programming, said Brenner. With the aggressive rollout of VOD still underway, both models will continue to play significantly important roles and remain vitally important to the overall product mix and success of our affiliates.

iN DEMAND's foray into the HD space began earlier this year when it delivered a live HD broadcast of the 2003 NBA All Star Game, which was broadcast in standard definition on TNT.

iN DEMAND also became the nation's first VOD provider to adopt the HD format commencing with My Big Fat Greek Wedding in April, and Friday After Next, About Schmidt, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Ring, and Catch Me If You Can scheduled for upcoming months.

According to a recent CTAM survey, digital cable subscribers have the highest unaided awareness of HDTV among multi-channel TV consumers at 79%. Ninety-two percent of adults who have seen HDTV or are broadband users have unaided awareness of the technology. HDTV's picture quality, which is five times sharper than standard definition TV, is cited by 66 % of consumers as the most appealing attribute of HDTV.

Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable operator, is aggressively moving forward with plans to make HD programming readily available to customers, while a large percentage of Time Warner's digital customers who are equipped with HD-ready set-tops also have access to HD content.

The launch of INHD becomes the latest milestone for iN DEMAND whose origin as the industry's leading distributor of PPV and VOD began over a decade ago as Viewer's Choice. Previous milestones were made when the company introduced the 35-channel PPV multiplex with 30-minute start times; sports packages from the NBA, NHL, MLB and NASCAR; VOD license agreements from Hollywood's biggest studios, free-on-demand content and, more recently, HD movies on demand.

iN DEMAND delivers new releases and library titles for cable's VOD platform from Hollywood's top studios, including Artisan Entertainment, DreamWorks SKG, MGM, New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. The output from these agreements give the company access to over 85 percent of the new films released by Hollywood, positioning iN DEMAND as the nation's largest provider of major motion pictures in the VOD space.

In addition to recent releases and library titles, iN DEMAND delivers hundreds of hours of VOD content licensed from entertainment companies such as BBC AMERICA, Comedy Central, Court TV, ESPN, Fox News, and Sesame Workshop.

iN DEMAND, the world's leading PPV and VOD provider, delivers television premieres of the best movies, championship boxing, mega-event wrestling, professional and college sports, plus original entertainment. iN DEMAND's 60-channel digital lineup also offers MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass, WNBA Season Pass, NHL Center Ice, ESPN Full Court and NASCAR IN CAR on iN DEMAND. The company's shareholders are Comcast iN DEMAND Holdings, Inc., Cox Communications, Inc. and Time Warner Entertainment - Advance/Newhouse Partnership. Further information about the company can be found on the Internet at www.indemand.com.

This afternoon on Ch. 550, the Discovery channel was showing the movie Christopher Columbus, but all the native women's tops were blurred. I've never seen this done. It was rather endearing, like the way that some countries used to take a felt pen and mark out parts of magazines that were "objectionable."

I think if Discovery wants to show a movie, it should just choose one that fits in with its demographic, rather than mangle more mature movies to make them "suitable."

era,

I haven't seen the "censorship", but I did see the previews of the INHD station over the weekend. Now it's gone! I hope all is up and running like they said by Sept. 15th. I was watching Andy Roddick beat up on some poor Spaniard at the US Open...

Such growth over one year! Now if TWC would only advertise that they have these channels!

Pam

Yes, the INHD testing was all too brief.

I too hope that INHD will appear 15 Sept. (Next Mon.). However, their use of a logo bug is quite annoying.[font=times new roman]

Did anyone catch and see if WFMY had the SEC game on Saturday in HD? I saw WRAL did, but I forgot to check WFMY. I think WFMY forgot to switch, but I didn't check it to see.

I didn't see the announcement until it was Sunday so I missed it. Anyone happen to catch it?

Not me. Sorry!

I can't find any INHD channels either. I thought they were supposed to start yesterday.

INHD was sceduled to start yesterday (Mon. 15 Sept.) but it didn't appear on TWC. Who knows why? For some reason, they don't want to keep us abreast of their plans.

No news until after the fact. Discovery was up an running before they sent an email about it.

I hope they get it working and also that they lift the blackout on TWC HDTV news. Even if TWC has to announce changes of plans, it's better I think to let us know what those plans are rather than keeping us in the dark all the time.

I put in an email just a second ago to see if they can tell me the status of INHD. I'll let you know what I hear.

foxeng,
Do you have a contact over at WFMY/CBS? It was about a half hour into the NFL game on Sunday before they threw the switch on the HD. And the Georgia/LSU game is supposed to be in HD on Saturday, but the WFMY website is still showing it as SDTV. I'm going to try to call them and make sure they know it's in HD. I want to have some friends over to see what I keep preaching about, but I don't want to look like a moron when they don't throw the switch.

The only person I know well is Lee Wimbs in the Engineering department. He is a good guy. Give him a call. Tell him I said hi!

Got a nice response this am from WFMY:

"Thanks for e-mailing WFMY News2.

You are right, Georgia @ LSU will be in HDTV and I have corrected that on the website.

Last Sunday, CBS was having some HDTV problems with the New England @ Philadelphia game. Hopefully that won't happen this weekend.

Also this Sunday the 4:15pm game Cleveland @ San Francisco will be in HDTV.

David Briscoe
WFMY News2
Program Director"

Has anyone with OTA picked up WSET-DT 34, the ABC out of Lynchburg yet?

I'll say this: their signal, even though only 17.9 kW, it's an absolute POWERHOUSE. Strongest signal I've got over here.

So if you get some good tropo from this direction, give it a shot.

- Trip

I was talking to an engineer friend of mine today and we got on WXLV-DT and he was telling me they are working on revamping their master control room and HD will happen when that is completed. He didn't have a schedule of when that will happen, but they are in the middle of building it now.

Thanks for the info, foxeng!

Good info, foxeng. I've been holding my breath for WXLV to finally get some ABC HD out to us.

BTW, WGHP is looking & sounding great these days!

Don't tell anyone but I bumped up the res to 720p about 2 months ago to see what would happen and we have been upconverting 480 to 720 ever since and I have added a second subchannel that is just the analog signal converted to 4:3 480i. TWC is getting ready to have the stations send them their analog and digital signals via fiber optics instead of taking them off the air and we had to buy a second encoder for the analog signal (the digital is already in the proper format for them) to be able to send the analog to TWC. TWC hasn't dropped the fiber yet, so I connected the SD encoder as 8-2 on the DTV to be sure it would work so those with OTA setups, you will see 8-2. Those on cable will not have access to it.

I also hear that WXLV is working on their digital microwave now for HD so it must not bee too far away.

Yea!!!!

Thanks foxeng!

anyone here on W-S TWC? Their website soesn't list UPN48 or WTWB20 in their "HDTV lineup". Is this just old info, or is TWC only carrying the big four & PBS? Because as I recall, the "regular" channels on digital cable looked horrible.

haven't heard of TWC carrying the UPN or WB broadcasts yet. I don't even know if those locals are broadcasting in HD yet.

I know UPN isn't--the network doesn't do HD yet and they're owned by Sinclair. Plus I can't tune them when I've got tons of signal on either of my tuners because of that PSIP problem they refuse to fix.

I don't know about WB.

- Trip

PS--Nobody's been able to tune WSET yet? I tuned WFMY and WXII and almost WLXI about two weeks ago.

WTWB-DT WB20 nor WUPN-DT UPN48 are transmitting anything more than upconverting their SD signal. TWC only has WFMY-DT, WGHP-DT, WXII-DT, WXLV-DT and WUNL-DT on their systems in the Triad. Best I can tell, TWC has no timetable on when or if they will add the other stations.

The WB does have a few hours a week in HD, but WTWB-DT has no way to broadcast it and UPN does not transmit any HD at this time, even though several of their shows are shot in HD (such as Enterprise).