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Consensus on best HDTV market?!

707 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Ken H, Jun 1, 2004

sportsrumormill

Discussion Starter · May 31, 2004

I've read that Orlando (where I live) currently has one of the best HDTV programming lineups in the country. I believe that we have (through "Brighthouse Cable Networks") approximately 15 HDTV channels. I did pick up on TNT HD this weeked and it is definitely a joy.

Watched "The Outlaw Josey Wales" today and honestly had never seen it before. You have to put up with commericials, but I find that I can distract myself on the Discovery HDTV channel at a moment's notice.

Is there a top ten list?! Sorry---I confess that I've not read all of the threads so if this has been posted 100 times, kindly point me to the thread. Thanks!

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deArgila

· #2 · May 31, 2004

I'll nominate Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill (Triangle, NC)

OTA

CBS (WRAL) - HD 24/7, including local news and proprietary HD programming

FOX (WRAZ) - broadcasts HDNet M-F 9-5 and on weekends before noon. Sister station of WRAL, so used to broadcast NCAA tournament games in HD while WRAL shows a multicast of all games. Uses the same local news crew as WRAL - also in HD (different time slots).

ABC - regular ABC HD line-up

NBC - regular NBC HD line-up

PBS - demo loop available 24/7 on TWC, 8pm-12:00 OTA

In addition, TWC also has

DiscoveryHD

TNT-HD

INHD

INHD2

HDNet

HDNet Movies

HBO-HD East

Show-HD West

And I have Voom - which adds the Voom exclusives + every other available HD channel.

ESPN-HD

BravoHD+

HBO-HDW

ShowHDW

CinemaxHDE&W

TMC-HD

StarzHD-E&W

EncoreHD

PlayboyHD

Voom Exclusives HD

And it's one of (I believe) 4 markets chosen by FoxSportsNet-HD when it goes live.

The only two channels I CAN'T get are WB-HD and UPN-HD = both Sinclair.

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CPanther95

· #3 · May 31, 2004

I second Raleigh. Not only were they first, but with local newscasts and other programming also provided in HD, they're still the model city for HD fans.

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swamphhh

· #4 · May 31, 2004

Hey CPanther95, don't short your home town. Charlotte has a pretty good line-up. In Charlotte, we have all the major OTA stations except one small ind. (Action 64).

OTA:

ABC- regular ABC HD line-up, plus radar

CBS- regular CBS HD line-up, plus radar and an a digital SD mirror

NBC- regular NBC HD line-up, plus radar

FOX- regular FOX HD line-up, plus radar

WB- regular WB HD line-up, plus Digital SD mirror

UPN- UPN HD shows repeat HDNet sports, usually college football, during slots where paid programing like infomercials is on the SD station. Otherwise its the standard UPN programing plus a digital HD mirror.

WTVI- PBS

WUNC- PBS

Both PBS stations have the HD feed, a SD feed, Kids feed, and a couple others.

And of course TWC has:

DiscoveryHD

TNT-HD

INHD

INHD2

HDNet

HDNet Movies

HBO-HD East

Show-HD West

If we can get ESPN and HD DVRs this summer I would have to think that Charlotte is pretty close to HD nirvana. At least as far as cable is concerned.

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CPanther95

· #5 · May 31, 2004

I guess I read the topic differently. Raleigh is the best market for local HD support and innovation. Simply looking at availability of channels, Voom has somewhat leveled the playing field among all the markets that have all their OTA channels available in HD.

I have no complaints about our local OTA offering (although last night it was the first time I can recall that someone got an HD network program that wasn't passed through locally for some reason - [Bond on CBS])

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CPanther95

· #6 · May 31, 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by swamphhh
Hey CPanther95, don't short your home town. Charlotte has a pretty good line-up. In Charlotte, we have all the major OTA stations except one small ind. (Action 64).

OTA:

ABC- regular ABC HD line-up, plus radar

CBS- regular CBS HD line-up, plus radar and an a digital SD mirror

NBC- regular NBC HD line-up, plus radar

FOX- regular FOX HD line-up, plus radar

WB- regular WB HD line-up, plus Digital SD mirror

UPN- UPN HD shows repeat HDNet sports, usually college football, during slots where paid programing like infomercials is on the SD station. Otherwise its the standard UPN programing plus a digital HD mirror.

WTVI- PBS

WUNC- PBS

Both PBS stations have the HD feed, a SD feed, Kids feed, and a couple others.

I would also add, as significant, that our local FOX affiliate is already upgraded to 720p.

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HDHTPC

· #7 · May 31, 2004

Even though I don't live there, Seattle has some good stuff.

KCTS produces some of the best HD programs on PBS.

They have locally produced HD news on multiple channels.

"KING" does some awesome local programming in HD like "Northwest Backroads" and "NW Evening Magazine"

Perhaps this topic should be best *OTA* HDTV market?

Cable and satellite do tend to level things out.

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Ken H

· #8 · May 31, 2004

Detroit has all 6 of the OTA networks providing HD at this time, and FOX with EDTV.

ABC WXYZ-DT (Scripps Howard)

CBS WWJ-DT (Viacom/CBS)

FOX WJBK-DT (Fox)

NBC WDIV-DT (Post Newsweek)

PBS WTVS-DT (PBS)

WB WDWB-DT (Grannite)

UPN WKBD-DT (Viacom/UPN)

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djs

· #9 · Jun 1, 2004

Nice thing about OTA in Boston is that the affiliates for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB, UPN and multiple PBS channels are all on the same tower, so I don't need multiple antennas or a rotor.

[WGBH (PBS) multicasts the HD and an SD channel; WGBX (WGBH's 2nd channel) multicasts 4 SD channels.]

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Ross in Toronto

· #10 · Jun 1, 2004

Toronto has but one OTA HD station (City-TV). Sad. Beams off the CN Tower, so you could probably pick it up in Orlando.. or Mars. I think CTV will launch OTA soon (unless it has already).

As HDHTPC points out, cable / satellite makes up for this. Over my cable, I get HD feeds from Detroit (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS) and Spokane (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS) as well as Canadian HD feeds from Sportsnet, TSN, CTV, and Discovery. Dunno when the other Canadian networks (Canwest / Global and CBC) will have HD.

We also have HD PPV and soon will have HD Video on Demand. Eases the pain of virtually no OTA HD.

Ross

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Ken H

· #11 · Jun 1, 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by sportsrumormill
Is there a top ten list?! Sorry---I confess that I've not read all of the threads so if this has been posted 100 times, kindly point me to the thread. Thanks!

Since the 3 available DBS services offer most of the existing national HD programming available (INHD is the cable exclusive exception), the primary way to evaluate local markets is available over-the-air DTV, or local only HD programming.

Here is a recent topic on local DTV station availability. I was surprised to find so many markets with at least the big 5 network affiliates on the digital air. Over 65% of the respondents receive 5 or more DTV stations.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=364492

For exclusive local programming, see the Local HDTV Programming of Note section, of the HDTV Programming Synopsis.

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