CBS is indeed leading the way in providing HDTV prime-time programming. But, let's put this statement in perspective:
The only reason all of these shows are on in HD is that someone put a large sum of money on the table to make it happen. In this case, it was Panasonic, who is sponsoring 11 of the prime-time shows. Last year, it was Mitsubishi. The remaining 2000-2001 CBS prime-time shows are in effect subsidized by a large Hollywood post-production facility.
This sponsorship money could just have easily gone to another network. ABC is scheduling quite a few movies in 720p, plus several Disney movies and features. And, of course, there's NYPD Blue every Tuesday. No additional sponsorship money has been put on the table to make this happen - ABC is producing all of these HD-casts with their own money.
Don't forget - ABC is still the only network to support a surround-sound format (Dolby 5.1). Virtually every movie they produce is in 5.1, as well as NYPD Blue. CBS stations are set up to encode and transmit 5.1 - and my local affiliate does transmit such a presence - but the soundtracks are only available in stereo.
If you are wondering why more prime-time shows aren't on in HD, the impetus to make this happen doesn't come from the network as much as from the producers of the individual shows. Steven Bochco's production company wanted to do NYPD Blue in 720p. That's where the ball started rolling.
There is considerable interest in doing more prime-time shows in HD, provided the sponsorship money is available. I believe the reason NBC's "ER" is appearing in letterboxed 480i is to get the viewing public used to the format - that's how it will appear once the show is available in 1080i 16x9.
CBS, in contrast, crops in slightly on the 16x9 image to produce the 480i SDTV version of its prime-time shows.
It is not unreasonable to assume that the shows available in HDTV will be amog each network's top-rated programs. Shows to watch for possible HD-casts this coming fall would include "West Wing" and "The Practice", in addition to "ER".
Any advertiser who wants to sell HDTV equipment will naturally gravitate towards the top-rated shows, to ensure the largest possible audience out of the still-small group of HDTV viewers in this country.
Fox has stated from the beginning that they will support the 480p format for all network broadcasts. They have several good technical reasons for doing this. And, I must say, the 16x9 480p versions of shows like "X Files" and "Ally McBeal" are quite an improvement over 4x3 480i.
Once again, Fox is supporting 15 hours per week of 480p 16x9 at their own expense, with no additional advertiser money.
To recap, CBS is indeed leading the way, but how many shows do you think would be broadcast in 1080i on "The Big Eye" if there were no sponsorship dollars on the table?
KC
