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PBS-HD showing the same shows every night....

537 Views 10 Replies 9 Participants Last post by VicF, Oct 16, 2001

Randy Boecker

Discussion Starter · Oct 15, 2001

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night at 9:00pm, I flipped over to my local PBS-DT station to see what I might be able to catch in HD. I was able to get an HD show, but it was the exact same show all three nights. I don't know the title, but it was the Bob Ballard expedition in the Black Sea looking for the perfectly preserved ship and also finding evidence of the great flood. It was a great show, but three nights in a row?

I'm all for repeats, but how about once a week instead of three days in a row? I know PBS has other HD shows, and these days, my PBS station only flips over to the HD national feed at 8:00pm on weekdays and all day on weekends. Surely they can mix it up a little??

Don't get me wrong, it's great to have HD every night. But "Little Women" (groan) would be better than watching the same show three nights in a row.

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TerryB

· #2 · Oct 15, 2001

My PBS contact here in Houston says they have no 'switch', the HD content is direct from national. They will insert a fresh HD program whenever it is available/scheduled. I whined about them not showing NOVA in HD and he said the locals can't screw up and miss an HD show, 'cause the HD broadcast is always hooked up to national. According to the schedule he pointed me to the next HD event is 10:30 EDT 21 Oct. Mattise and Picasso....

TerryB

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Randy Boecker

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 15, 2001

The next "first run" HD event is the 21st. But turn your tuner over to PBS-DT any night of the week between 8 and 11 ET and your chances of seeing an HD presentation are good. But they're all repeats. PBS advertises their first run presentations on their schedule, but not the repeats. It's hit or miss on what you'll see, kind of an "HD grab bag."

My local PBS shows plenty of HD. I just wish they wouldn't show the same program several nights in a row.

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Pete Putman

· #4 · Oct 15, 2001

The PBS HD programming is fed as a loop from a hard drive. That's why you see so many repeats. I actually think it is a good idea, in case you miss a particular episode. Then you have more chances to see it.

The PBS paradigm is to broadcast 4 channels of SDTV during the daytime, and switch to 1 SD and 1 HD channel at night. They just don't have enough HD content to feed out every night - not with 3 or 4 programs a month available in HD.

Pete

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shawn123

· #5 · Oct 15, 2001

At least you get some HD. In Milwaukee they only "flip the switch" when a first run show is on. The rest of the time we get 4 channels of the same shows (Dragontales and Teletubbies) in staggerred schedules.

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DeanS

· #6 · Oct 15, 2001

Does anyone know of a consolidated schedule of PBS HD programming that's on the web? I would guess that you might have to get this information from your local PBS affiliate. I have just started receiving KCET digital here in L.A. and am trying to "catch up" on the Africa series, and the SmartTravels series (truly wonderful HD)but have no guide as to when these are presented....

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Randy Boecker

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 15, 2001

I asked the engineering director at WLVI about a national schedule, and he said all they have to go on is what's on the PBS-DT web page. Someone at the main transmission station must spin a wheel or simply chooses their favorites, because there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the shows they do put on, and since they don't publish what the shows are in advance, it almost seems like a day to day decision-making process.

I had heard that PBS was planning on getting a more comprehensive schedule together, but so far, that doesn't seem to have happened just yet.

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Larry Hutchinson

· #8 · Oct 15, 2001

An engineer at my local PBS station (KOPB) said that they have the right to replay material for up to one week from the first broadcast.

Given the general paucity of HDTV recording options, I think it is good that they replay the material often.

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TomF

· #9 · Oct 15, 2001

Our PBS station is still not on the air in HD, with delay after delay for several months. The current estimate is sometime in November, but as of September, there was some equipment that hadn't even been ordered yet. A local HD enthusiasts group had a tour of the facilities in May that was conducted by the Station Manager, Chief Engineer and several of the engineer and technicians, so I know that they're trying hard, but bureaucracy is a horrible thing.

I put an antenna in my attic so that I could get KCET, the PBS station from LA, which broadcasts a digital/HD signal. Because of the ongoing energy crisis in California (mostly caused by poor planning) they only broadcast in HD from 3:00 PM until 11:00 PM each day. Their HD schedule is completely different than their regular schedule and up until recently, they didn't have an HD schedule posted. The HD schedule is not linked from their regular schedule and the only way to find it is to click on a tiny link at the bottom of the screen that says "DTV". Now they have a schedule for the PBS national feed, but no schedule for all of the HD programming that they show in between the national feed, such as the Rudy Maxa Smart Travels series. It'd be nice to know which days and times they're going to show what city, but as it is, it's just hit and miss.

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