Kansas City, MO - HDTV

On one of the various threads complaining about KCTV's lack of HD, someone mentioned that there didn't appear to be an "Official" Kansas City HDTV thread. So, I've decided to create one. Feel free to use this thread to comment about any of the Kansas City area DTV stations. They are:

ADMIN EDIT: This is the latest info as of 9 oct 05

4.1 WDAF-DT 720P 34 FOX-HD 720P
5.1 KCTV-DT 1080I 24 CBS-HD 1080I
9.1 KMBC-DT 720P 7 ABC-HD 720P
19.1 KCPT-DT 720P 18 PBS-HD 1080I
19.2 KCPT-DT 480 18 PBS 480I
29.1 KCWE-DT 1080I 31 UPN-HD 1080I
38.1 KMCI-DT 1080I 36 INDEPENDENT
41.1 KSHB-DT 1080I 42 NBC-HD 1080I
50.1-4 KPXE-DT 480 51 "I" 480I
62.1 KSMO-DT 1080I 47 WB-HD 1080I

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The following is the old info that was posted when this thread was started:

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KMBC-DT ABC (Analog 9 - Digital 7)

KMBC-DT is broadcasting on VHF channel 7 at 85,000 watts. They are passing ABC's 720P programming.

KCTV-DT CBS (Analog 5 - Digital 21)

KCTV-DT is broadcast on UHF channel 21 at 225,000 watts from a temporary antenna. KCTV-DT is only passing the station's 480i signal.

KCPT-DT PBS (Analog 19 - Digital 18)

KCPT-DT is broadcast on UHF channel 18 at 48,000 watts. Currently, they are multicasting 4 480i, 4:3 channels. Occasionally, they pass new PBS HD programming in 1080i.

WDAF-DT Fox (Analog 4 - Digital 34)

WDAF-DT is broadcast on UHF channel 34 at a 1,100 watts. Eventually they will be 100,000 watts, but currently they are at 2000 watts with a test antenna. They do not expect to be at full power until KSHB moves off the WDAF tower..

Fox produces nothing in HD. The highest quality format Fox transmits is 16:9 480P. This is the format they used for the 2002 Super Bowl.

KCWE-DT UPN (Analog 29 - Digital 31)

KCWE-DT is broadcast on UHF channel 31 at 525,000 watts.

UPN does not produce any HD yet or even 480P widescreen. KCWE is currently upconverting their programming from 480i to 720P.

KSMO-DT WB (Analog 62 - Digital 47)

KSMO-DT is broadcast on UHF channel 47 at 9,000 watts.

Sadly, KSMO-DT had an HD encoder when they first went on the air, but the station owner removed it and sent it to KSMO's sister station in St. Louis. Their chief engineer is a fan of HD, and hopes to convince management to replace it soon.

Not yet on

KSHB-DT NBC (Analog 41 - Digital 42)

KSHB-DT will eventually be broadcast on UHF channel 42. Adjacent channels, like KCPT's analog 19 - digital 18, require both antennas to be at the same location. KSHB's analog transmitter is on the WDAF tower. Their application states that the WDAF tower would require "extensive strengthening" to support both a full-power WDAF-DT and KSHB-DT. Their other alternative is to build a new tower. According to reports, it is currently under construction.

Feel free to correct this information, and I'll incorporate the changes.

That's great news! An article in the paper about Everest not having enough capital to continue expanding their service area as agressively as they had been has been widely misinterpeted as "they are going out of business". I switched my brother to Everest from Time-Warner/Roadrunner and have been very impressed with their system and speed. I was dreading going back to Time-Warner just to get the HD channels.

Everest appears to have a clue about technology (as opposed to Time-Warner which continues to annoy me with their stealth war on VPNs). I'm curious if Everest would have someone in the public relations department who could post here. They are going to need beta testers for their HD service, and AVS Forum is the best source of those.

I've noticed the exact same problem on a friend's Mitsubishi setup. Hard to believe any self-respecting broadcast engineer would allow a situation like that to continue.

But on the other hand, KMBC-DT's upconverted material is rife with chroma-crawl. I've spoken with them, and the engineer insists that the connection to the upconverter is SDI. But the only actual broadcast-quality HD monitor they have is actually at the transmitter.

I've set two antennas up that are currently receiving WDAF-DT. One is on top of a 5 story building in downtown KC, with direct line of site to WDAF's backup antenna tower. The other is in Rosedale.

As far as KCTV's excuses, I know what I heard. The reception equipment was supplied by CBS. It was available in either HD or SD. KCTV specifically asked for an SD rack. The "it costs too much to add HD programming" line is utter nonsense. KMBC, KCTV's direct competitor, is passing ABC's HD signal and upconverting their local programming, as they should. But they are also digitally broadcasting KCWE-DT/UPN and are upconverting all that programming to HD, even though UPN produces no HD material.

If an HD encoder and whatever unspecified "additional staffing" costs are so great, why would KCWE possibly gain by incurring this expense? Because the truth is, the additional costs are negligable. Edward King and his staff at KMBC/KCWE are handling 4 transmitters (two analog, two digital) with no additional staff. There is no additional sales staff to sell programming for the digital channels.

KCTV is, to put it bluntly, full of it and are trying to blow smoke up our collective butts.

I suspect what Meredith and KCTV are waiting for is an 1080i time compresser.