Is your local news in HD? - Page 65

Just in time for the start of the new TV season, these stations have begun HD newscasts:

• Springfield, MA - WGGB (ABC), WGGB-DT2 (Fox, HD on cable only)
• Nashville, TN - WZTV (Fox)
• Quad Cities, IA-IL - WQAD (ABC), KLJB (Fox)
• Utica, NY - WUTR (ABC), WFXV (Fox)

Additionally KHBS (ABC) in the Ft. Smith-Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR market has started broadcasting widescreen SD newscasts. This makes #117 Fargo-Valley City, ND the largest TV market in the United States without HD or widescreen SD newscasts.

WLNE (ABC in Providence, RI) doing HD news as of today. I don't see an article about it or something on their website, but I'm watching it right now.

And wow, a Springfield, MA station doing news in HD? Never thought I'd see the day.

Something I missed when I saw WGGB had gone to HD news is that the upgrade also covers the cable-only HD feed of WGGB-DT2, according to this article published last month before the transition took place.

WKPT-TV / 19 / ABC in Kingsport, TN is airing their "newscasts" in HD - the newscasts use a virtual set and is mostly "rip and read" 5 minute (6:25pm) and 10 minute (11:00pm) with HD graphics using a single camera. But they're promoted as being in HD...

Jim

Also, add two Allbritton stations to the list of stations that air newscasts in HD:

1) KTUL (ABC) in Tulsa, OK has been airing newscasts in HD since August 22. KTUL's upgrade to HD makes kotv and kqcw (both owned by the same company and operated from the same facility) the only two stations in the Tulsa market that still broadcast in SD widescreen rather than true HD.

2) KATV (ABC) in Little Rock, AR became the last "Big Four" network-affiliated station in that market to upgrade to HD newscasts (having made the upgrade on September 10).

WGGB in Springfield, MA officially went to HD at noon today.

Some more recent HD debuts:

• The ABC affiliate in Birmingham, AL (officially WBMA is the market affiliate, but in reality satellites WCFT in Tuscaloosa and WJSU in Anniston are). There are some examples of the new look here on YouTube.
• Roanoke-Lynchburg, VA - WSET (ABC)

WRIC (ABC) in Richmond, VA was to begin HD newscasts today, but according to a post on the station's Facebook page the launch was postponed indefinitely in order to "fix a few technical snags."

Additionally, I discovered that independent station WMNN-LD in the Traverse City-Cadillac, MI market has been doing HD newscasts since the station signed on in February. So far this is the only station in the market with HD or widescreen news.

Grrr...

I'm in Richmond now and was hoping to catch WRIC, but will have to wait...

J

Do they have WBMA-LD up yet?

Yes they do, according to the Wikipedia entry for the station and records in the FCC database. The license to cover the construction permit for WBMA-LD on channel 40 was granted June 6.

WPRI (CBS out of Providence, RI) began doing HD newscasts today. Their newscasts on WNAC (FOX) are also in HD too.

In the matter of 4 months this year (from May to September), Providence went from a DMA without any HD newscasts to a DMA where all of its newscasts are in HD. Also confirmed on Wikipedia.

Also, there is another affiliation change. WSBK (Independent out of Boston) is now a MyNetworkTV affiliate.

WJZ is doing live remotes and reports in HD.

Well, DC got a double whammy of local news OTA in HD.

WZDC-LD (Telemundo 25) is on the air in HD (originally when they converted to digital, they went 480i SD), but are now 1080i. The station had been doing HD news, but only on cable in DC (no suburbs). News is now OTA HD

WFDC (Univision 14) has also made the jump to HD - I'm guessing WZDC going HD OTA may have pushed them... It's new this week - may even be today. Still a few things to work out - wide shot looks out of focus (1 shots look nice and sharp); weather graphics are 4x3 SD & black bars on the side; had some cases of SD video being stretched to 16x9. The station also has the capability of HD local ad inserts.

Jim

News is in HD now.

That distinction will disappear soon (unless KERO-TV (ABC) in Bakersfield, CA upgrades its newscasts to HD soon): Scripps is buying up McGraw-Hill's entire TV stations group for $212M. The three other ABC affiliates in the McGraw-Hill group are (in order of descending market rank): KMGH-TV Denver, WRTV Indianapolis and KGTV San Diego. McGraw-Hill also owns several low-power Azteca América affiliates, which are included in the sale to Scripps.

WFFT (ex-Fox independent) in Fort Wayne went HD with a new set last week.

I've found two stations upgrading to SD or HD news in recent times:

KSBY (NBC, San Luis Obispo, CA) going 16:9 SD in late September, thanks to this post in the SLO HD thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...postcount=1124

WKRN (ABC, Nashville, TN) going HD with their news on Tuesday, thanks to this report from tvpredictions.com:

http://www.tvpredictions.com/localhd101311.htm

WATE in Knoxville (finally) started HD newscasts today. Last station in town to do so and PQ looks better than the others.

They also do a 10 p.m. newscast on WBXX-TV 20 (CW) which will be in HD as well.

Also yesterday, WPBN (NBC, Traverse City, MI) and WTOM (NBC, Cheboygan, MI) went 16:9 SD widescreen, according to their Facebook wall.

http://www.facebook.com/UpNorthLive?sk=wall

I am amazed at how many stations are still just turning HD and some even just going to 16/9 SD!

With it taking several million dollars to upgrade not counting master control, in this economy, it is surprising to me the number of stations that are converting in these smaller markets.

Got an update from the Harrisburg market thread and a poster from the area noticed WHTM broadcasting their local news in HD. According to the WHTM wiki page, the station began broadcasting newscasts in HD on 10/14/11.

It is now. KELO in Sioux Falls South Dakota is now 100% HD News.

WOOD-TV (NBC, Grand Rapids, MI) went to HD news on Saturday night.

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/entertainm...ws-8-now-in-HD

WJRT-TV (ABC, Flint, MI) went to HD news this morning.

Combined with WCSH (NBC) in Portland, ME going to HD on Sunday, this means that all of the top 100 markets now have at least one station broadcasting HD newscasts.

Maybe that's what you saw. Unfortunately, I cannot confirm this because I could not find an actual professionally published source about it (Wikipedia had this stated, but was removed for the very same reason I stated above). It seems as though certain Wikipedia "bureaucrats" (moderators) have tightened their criteria for what goes into the articles in question.

The news anchors announced this several times during the 5:00 and 6:00am broadcasts. They were using a totally new graphics package, and their weather report is now "12 First Alert HD."

Well it's on their Facebook page.
From Monday 4:06am - Hope you noticed this morning that ABC12 is now broadcasting in High Definition. Our new HD look should bring you a better, clearer picture than any other station in Mid-Michigan. Our weather graphics are top notch! Check it out, we think the new technology will make your viewing much better. Thanks for watching ABC12 News.