[frizzo]

Has anyone else except me and some other fellow twin cities people experienced this? CBS keeps changing the format from HD to 4:3 SD RIGHT AT THE END OF THE STINKIN MOVIE!!! Why do they do this? It happened with Swordfish. It happened last night with ALI. What the hell is the point of showing HD if you are going to finish the movie in SD? Is this a thing that is happening with our local affiliate? I haven't heard about it in the forums, so maybe that's the case. Anybody else experiencing this? Thanks!


|..frizzo..|

 

[maharg18]

My guess would be it's your local station switching back over to prepare to go to local news. I'd call 'em up and complain!

 

[TonyW79SFV]

I believe that the local station ends with SD so that they can add they news teasers on one side. You should also note that the movies on networks don't have the regular credits, usually the credits are re-generated by the network and made to look like a regular network ending, which also means that it's mostly 4:3 anyways. The WB tends to just smash the regular movie credits and puts ads for their shows on the opposite side - still 4:3.

 

[DrDon]

For a lot of stations, the whole DT rack isn't accessable from the master control position. The op has to make whatever switch is necessary to get back into non-HD "mode" and return to his MC position before the credits (and the usual news teaser wipe) roll. If you frequently see the "it's all here" CBS-HD promo instead of local commercials during HD programming, then that could very well be the case. Even if you don't, a lot of HD switching is done outside of the master control position.


Doc

 

[ENDContra]

When a movie airs, usually the credits are still pretty long, even if the local news squeezes their preshow tease into the credits. Is this still not enough time?

Here in Raleigh, we dont have the problem with the end of the movie, but the local news does run an "eyeliner" near the end of the last program every night to promote the news. When this happens, the HD channel goes to 4:3 for about 30 seconds. I find it somewhat annoying, considering that CBS doesnt even run their eyeliners on their HD feed, and considering WRAL is the "HD leader" in North Carolina.

 

[Matt L]

One of my local CBS outlets (WLNS Lansing MI) invariably cuts off the HD at exactly 10:56 PM, I always get the last minute or two of "With out a Trace" in sd, and when I can tolerate it "CSI Miami" but that's not very often...



It's been speculated that the control room guy has to clock out at 11:00 pm and to avoid overtime he flips the switch on his way out. It's as good a theory as any other.

 

[maharg18]

Some stations (like the one I used to work at) have their automation set to hand control over to the production control room at a predefined time everynight, we would do it at 10:58:30, maybe WLNS does it at 10:56.. My guess would be that the automation is also triggering the switch from HD to SD.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

It did it tonight in the last segment of James Bond on CBS in Tampa.


Strange


Someone in another thread is reporting that for 15 minutes in Omaha it was in 4:3 as well - don't know if it was the last 15 minutes.

 

[DrDon]

Quote:

Originally posted by HDTVFanAtic It did it tonight in the last segment of James Bond on CBS in Tampa.

Sounds like another case of manual switching. WKRC (the CBS affiliate in Cincinnati) has a routing switcher and a tiny monitor for the DT transmitter right in front of the Master Control switcher. Two of its inputs are the CBS HD feed and the output from the Master Control switcher. In order to get local commercials onto the DT transmitter, the op has to manually switch from the CBS-HD feed to the output of the MC switcher before every local commercial/news break. This also means they have to switch it BACK at the end of the commercial break. If they forget to do that, the next segment of network programming will be fed from the MC Switcher and, therefore, in SD.


There are a ton of stations wired this way. Astonishingly, some have those routing switchers in completely different rooms. As magarg18 mentioned, some are computer controlled. If the breaks aren't logged in properly, nothing happens (our NBC affiliate is that way and almost NEVER misses an HD show). Still others have integrated master control switchers that autoswitch the DT transmitter whenever the MC op does ANYthing. Unfortunately for us, that means we lose HD whenever our ABC affiliate puts up a weather bug, since the integrated switcher senses ANY activity as "local break."


When you see a whole segment of an HD show come up in SD, call the station's newsroom and ask them to notify the control room. In most cases, you'll have your HD back within seconds. After a while, they'll get in the habit.


Ours has gotten really good at it. The last time I had to call the station, I began the call with "Your normal master control operator is on vacation, isn't he?" A couple of stunned seconds of silence was followed by "How did you know that?"


Doc

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

Quote:

Originally posted by DrDon Sounds like another case of manual switching. WKRC (the CBS affiliate in Cincinnati) has a routing switcher and a tiny monitor for the DT transmitter right in front of the Master Control switcher. Two of its inputs are the CBS HD feed and the output from the Master Control switcher. In order to get local commercials onto the DT transmitter, the op has to manually switch from the CBS-HD feed to the output of the MC switcher before every local commercial/news break. This also means they have to switch it BACK at the end of the commercial break. If they forget to do that, the next segment of network programming will be fed from the MC Switcher and, therefore, in SD.

What do you expect from Clear Channel? I'm surprised they even answered the phone.

 

[DrDon]

Quote:

Originally posted by HDTVFanAtic What do you expect from Clear Channel? I'm surprised they even answered the phone.

Too funny. But I have to give them some props. WKRC was carrying CBS-HD long before I got into the arena (3 years ago) and have operated 24/7 at full power. They pass the HD-One movie package. They pick up the early round Masters HD coverage and the Monday rain-delay rounds. The engineering staff responds to e-mails and monitors AVS threads.


And I can't say too much... CC is one of my biggest clients! Not sure if that's a prop or not .


Doc

 

[Allan Wells]

Actually, it's done at the network level. They produce the closing "split" credit packages (NBC calls them "NBC2000" credits) in SD only. They incorporate the last segment of a show or movie and edit to the split credits along with that night's Leno/Letterman promo which is often covered by the local news tease.

The network then sends that SD composite to the digital feed as well as the analog. I have sometimes seen full HD credits at the end of some shows, but never at 11p.

 

[hd1972]

does anyone notice there are a big different between The Masters and the others PGA tour that CBS has broadcasted lately in hd. THE MASTERS was the was way better.

 

[DrDon]

Quote:

Originally posted by hd1972 does anyone notice there are a big different between The Masters and the others PGA tour that CBS has broadcasted lately in hd. THE MASTERS was the was way better.

You might want to start a new thread for this. However, Augusta pays the ticket for the entire CBS Masters broadcast, while CBS has an advertising partner for the rest of the HD PGA coverage. Augusta is known for its "spare no expenses" approach and they BUY the coverage. The last two years, they didn't even pull in corporate sponsors, so we got a commercial-free Masters.


Doc

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

Quote:

Originally posted by DrDon Too funny. But I have to give them some props. WKRC was carrying CBS-HD long before I got into the arena (3 years ago) and have operated 24/7 at full power. They pass the HD-One movie package. They pick up the early round Masters HD coverage and the Monday rain-delay rounds. The engineering staff responds to e-mails and monitors AVS threads. And I can't say too much... CC is one of my biggest clients! Not sure if that's a prop or not . Doc

The only reason WKRC was so far ahead was because Randy Michaels lived in town and is an Engineering FanAtic.


Now that he is gone from Clear Channel and San Antonio runs the show, don't expect the same cutting edge.