Well, I see a few mentions of Madison and Milwaukee but nothing about Green Bay so why not start something? Anybody that can provide additional information, please do! Also correct me if I'm wrong.
WBAY (ABC) 2/DT23 - On the air 18 hours a day. Goes off from 11PM-5AM. Doing a decent job in my opinion. ABC-provided programming is all 720p and the rest of the 18 hours is upconverted HD. I don't know how much ABC is taking advantage of DD5.1 but I don't think I've seen any show on WBAY that is utilizing DD5.1 at this time. The engineer that I spoke with seemed very optimistic and excited about HD and gung-ho about other DTV perks such as multicasting, etc. Was even willing to talk about doing local events/news in HD but he said that its such an expensive process that it could take some time.
WFRV (CBS) 5/DT56 - On the air 24 hours a day. The other station that is doing a good job with both providing a digital signal *AND* HD content. This station is owned by CBS/Viacom and the full slate of CBS programming is 1080i and they are also upconverting the rest of their schedule. Once again I'm ignorant about what CBS provides in DD5.1 but I don't see anything on WFRV that is DD5.1.
WLUK (FOX) 11/DT51 - On the air 18 hours a day. Goes off from 9AM-3PM. Much like the Fox network itself, WLUK doesn't seem all that enthused about either HD or even the ED version that Fox is piping out. WLUK does not provide the ED 16x9 versions of the Fox programming offerings. I'm glad to see they are at least offering DTV 75% of the day but its all SD and the PQ compared to CBS & ABC isn't as good. Of course the sound is not DD5.1 either. I talked to an engineer and he said that even after Fox offers HD programming WLUK will likely not have it. "Could be 2 years before we switch over" was the response I got. Not very enthusiastic about it.
WIWB (WB) 14/DT21 - Not on the air yet. Scheduled to go live in January '04. Neither the programming director or the engineer knew much about their schedule as of yet. Will they be 24/7? Will they be SD all of the time? WB now has some HD content and I'd like to see it but until this station goes on the air either nobody knows or its all a big secret for now.
WGBA (NBC) 26/DT41 - Perhaps the biggest disappointment when you think about how NBC has been making strides to provide HD content. According to the station it may be 1+ year before they provide anything else besides SD programming. The DTV signal is available 24/7 however...even if it is just SD. This station is owned by a smaller company (also owns the UPN station) I believe and according to them its all a matter of equipment arriving and getting installed. Much like Fox SD there is less picture quality compared to the Green Bay HD leaders (ABC,CBS,PBS).
WACY (UPN) 32/DT59 - Operating at such low power I cannot receive it where I am. Apparently on the same tower as NBC26 but I can't pick up a strong enough signal (with an indoor antenna 12 miles from the tower) most of the time to see it. UPN of course is only offering a couple of shows in HD but when I have seen DT59 (they must occasionally fiddle with the antenna because sometimes I can get it and I see the signal strength swinging dramatically up and down) its a lot like its sister-station 26/DT41. SD 24/7. Needs improvement but at least thanks for the DTV station which is on the air--even if I can't get it where I am!
WPNE (PBS) 38/DT42-1, 42-2 - Well much like the rest of the country I see the constant PBS HD loop on 42-1 but the PQ is excellent and this is the only station that is utilizing DD5.1 most of the time. Its on 24/7 and if you ever want to demo HD to someone if they are in your home during mid-afternoon this is going to be the station to show them.....but its like this in most of the country, no? 42-2 is a 24/7 (I believe) SD DTV version of analog channel 38.
Well that is the report on Green Bay, WI as of 12/3/03. If anyone knows anything else please let me know. I'll also follow up once WB14/21 goes on the air which will hopefully be in the next month or so.
WBAY (ABC) 2/DT23 - On the air 18 hours a day. Goes off from 11PM-5AM. Doing a decent job in my opinion. ABC-provided programming is all 720p and the rest of the 18 hours is upconverted HD. I don't know how much ABC is taking advantage of DD5.1 but I don't think I've seen any show on WBAY that is utilizing DD5.1 at this time. The engineer that I spoke with seemed very optimistic and excited about HD and gung-ho about other DTV perks such as multicasting, etc. Was even willing to talk about doing local events/news in HD but he said that its such an expensive process that it could take some time.
WFRV (CBS) 5/DT56 - On the air 24 hours a day. The other station that is doing a good job with both providing a digital signal *AND* HD content. This station is owned by CBS/Viacom and the full slate of CBS programming is 1080i and they are also upconverting the rest of their schedule. Once again I'm ignorant about what CBS provides in DD5.1 but I don't see anything on WFRV that is DD5.1.
WLUK (FOX) 11/DT51 - On the air 18 hours a day. Goes off from 9AM-3PM. Much like the Fox network itself, WLUK doesn't seem all that enthused about either HD or even the ED version that Fox is piping out. WLUK does not provide the ED 16x9 versions of the Fox programming offerings. I'm glad to see they are at least offering DTV 75% of the day but its all SD and the PQ compared to CBS & ABC isn't as good. Of course the sound is not DD5.1 either. I talked to an engineer and he said that even after Fox offers HD programming WLUK will likely not have it. "Could be 2 years before we switch over" was the response I got. Not very enthusiastic about it.
WIWB (WB) 14/DT21 - Not on the air yet. Scheduled to go live in January '04. Neither the programming director or the engineer knew much about their schedule as of yet. Will they be 24/7? Will they be SD all of the time? WB now has some HD content and I'd like to see it but until this station goes on the air either nobody knows or its all a big secret for now.
WGBA (NBC) 26/DT41 - Perhaps the biggest disappointment when you think about how NBC has been making strides to provide HD content. According to the station it may be 1+ year before they provide anything else besides SD programming. The DTV signal is available 24/7 however...even if it is just SD. This station is owned by a smaller company (also owns the UPN station) I believe and according to them its all a matter of equipment arriving and getting installed. Much like Fox SD there is less picture quality compared to the Green Bay HD leaders (ABC,CBS,PBS).
WACY (UPN) 32/DT59 - Operating at such low power I cannot receive it where I am. Apparently on the same tower as NBC26 but I can't pick up a strong enough signal (with an indoor antenna 12 miles from the tower) most of the time to see it. UPN of course is only offering a couple of shows in HD but when I have seen DT59 (they must occasionally fiddle with the antenna because sometimes I can get it and I see the signal strength swinging dramatically up and down) its a lot like its sister-station 26/DT41. SD 24/7. Needs improvement but at least thanks for the DTV station which is on the air--even if I can't get it where I am!
WPNE (PBS) 38/DT42-1, 42-2 - Well much like the rest of the country I see the constant PBS HD loop on 42-1 but the PQ is excellent and this is the only station that is utilizing DD5.1 most of the time. Its on 24/7 and if you ever want to demo HD to someone if they are in your home during mid-afternoon this is going to be the station to show them.....but its like this in most of the country, no? 42-2 is a 24/7 (I believe) SD DTV version of analog channel 38.
Well that is the report on Green Bay, WI as of 12/3/03. If anyone knows anything else please let me know. I'll also follow up once WB14/21 goes on the air which will hopefully be in the next month or so.
