WLWT Goes Widescreen But Not True HD

It’s not true HDTV — like Channels 9, 12 & 19 — but Channel 5 has started broadcasting news in a widescreen format, to fill up your HD screen like the other guys. Here’s how Richard Dyer, WLWT-TV president and general manager, explains it:

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2010/01/21/channel-5-goes-widescreen-but-not-true-hdtv/

WBNS Extends HD Footprint

Since February 2007, WBNS-TV, the Dispatch Broadcast Group-owned CBS affiliate in Columbus, OH, has broadcast its local newscasts in HD. But lately, the HD footprint around the building has gotten a little bigger.

http://broadcastengineering.com/hdtv/wbns-tv-extends-infrastructure-0119/

WBNS Rolls Out Central Ohio's First HD Newscast with Snell Kahuna

Snell today announced that the Dispatch Broadcast Group's CBS affiliate, WBNS-TV, has rolled out central Ohio's first HD newscast thanks to the company's Kahuna multiformat SD/HD production switcher. In addition, the Dispatch Broadcast Group has deployed a second Kahuna to power the recent HD upgrade for its 10TV Productions division and the Ohio News Network (ONN), a 24-hour news channel co-located at the WBNS studios in Columbus. By seamlessly incorporating SD sources into HD transmissions, the two Kahuna systems have given Dispatch a smooth and cost-effective path to native HD broadcasting.

http://hd.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=953755&afterinter=true

WVUT Receives Grant for HD Transition

PBS member station WVUT-TV in Southwest Indiana is the third public station in recent weeks to receive federal monies for digital broadcasting. WVUT, owned by Vincennes University, received $596,000 from the Department of Agriculture’s public station DTV transition grant program, Inside Indiana Business reports.

The two-year grant will fund new studio cameras and other digital production equipment that allows the station to create local programming in hi-def.

http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/article/88832

WOUB Receives Grant for HD Upgrade

PBS member station WOUB-TV received a $255,283 federal grant for its high-definition upgrade. The matching-fund grant will be used by the WOUB Center for Public Media at Ohio University for digital television gear for producing local high-definition content for the primary HD channels of public television stations WOUB in Athens and WOUC-TV in Cambridge. WOUB obtained the other half of the money for the project from the state of Ohio’s eTech program. The federal funding came through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration Public Telecommunications Facilities Program.

http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/article/88632

Local HD News Coming to Evansville

Last week, I mentioned that 14WFIE-NBC intends at some point to broadcast its newscasts in high definition. That would make WFIE the first station here to broadcast local news in HD.

However, when it comes to network and syndicated programming in HD, the fine folks at 44 Main St. took up the task of converting their station to "all-HD, all the time" just about a year ago — and they did a fantastic job.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/oct/08/wfie-taking-first-leap-into-high-definition-news/

WSTR Gets New Antenna

WSTR-TV 64/Cincinnati, which rebranded last week with the old/new moniker of "Star 64", just upped their power to 60 kW, and installed a new antenna custom built for the terrain of the Tri-State.


John Kiesewetter reported Monday that the new antenna is about 72 feet taller, at 902 feet vs. 830 feet. However, the antenna is still located on what's known in local media geek circles as "STAR Tower", aka WSTR's broadcast tower in College Hill on Winton Road. It was custom built for WSTR, so that it can cover the hilly terrain of the area, says John Lawhead, WSTR General Manager.

http://ohkyintristatemedia.blogspot.com/2009/09/churning-out-one-more-item.html

WKRC HD Debut Review

We said we would review Local 12 WKRC-TV/Cincinnati's HD launch - and so we are now with this post.


First off, it wasn't without its technical glitches - which we think will be fixed for tonight's 5 PM newscast in 35 minutes. Sometimes the picture broke up - but that's to be expected for the first broadcast. There weren't audio troubles which is good.

http://ohkyintristatemedia.blogspot.com/2009/09/local-12-in-high-definition-review.html

Stations Moving HD News Off the Backburner

In 2006 and 2007, TV stations seemed to be introducing local news in HD at the same rapid pace that consumers were snapping up big flat-screen TVs. But as the economy started slowing last year, capital budgets tightened and stations began putting HD news upgrades on hold.

The hope now is that the pace of the HD rollout will accelerate next year when stations expect revenue to grow once again.

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/articles/2009/10/01/daily.3/

DISH Network Offers Local HDTV in Columbus

WHAT: DISH Network® today expanded its local lineup of high definition (HD) channels in six DMAs, fortifying the company's HD leadership.
WHERE: New HD channels include WTVC (ABC) Ch. 9 in Chattanooga, Tenn.; WBNS (CBS) Ch. 10 in Columbus, Ohio; WICU (NBC) Ch. 12 in Erie, Pa.; WWMT (CBS) Ch. 3 in Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich.; WTHR (NBC) Ch. 13 in Indianapolis, Ind.; and WPEC (CBS) Ch. 12 in West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Fla.
WHEN: WBNS, WICU and WTHR will become available to DISH Network subscribers at approximately 7 p.m. ET on Sept. 16, 2009. WTVC, WWMT and WPEC will become available Sept. 17, 2009.
WHY: No one offers more HD local channels in more markets than DISH Network; currently DISH Network provides HD local channels in 152 markets covering more than 93 percent of U.S. TV households.
HOW: DISH Network customers with an HD receiver who subscribe to HD programming and locals will receive HD feeds of their broadcasts at no additional charge. For more information about DISH Network's HD offerings, please visit www.dishnetwork.com or call 1-800-333-DISH (3474) or talk to us on Twitter (@dishnetwork).

http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/news/2009/09/dish_network_expands_local_hd_offerings_in_six_markets.php

DirecTV Adds Local HD Stations to Lineup

Lexington, KY becomes the 129th market where DirecTV is offering local broadcast TV signals in HD. The nation’s largest satellite TV company says it is now offering local-to-local HD to more than 90% of US television households.All four major network affiliates are included in DirecTV’s HD offering for Nielsen market #62. Now available to satellite subscribers are WTVQ (ABC), WKYT (CBS), WDKY (Fox) and WLEX (NBC).

Time Warner Announces 3 New HD Channels in Cincinnati

Time Warner cable has announced the launch of three new high-definition channels in Cincinnati. The cable operator has added following HD channels:

WXIX-TV

Chiller and

The MLB Network

Time Warner has added WXIX-TV’s “This TV,” which will bring programming like ‘The Outer Limits,’ ‘Mister Ed,’ ‘Patty Duke’ and ‘Burke’s Law.’

The cable operator has added NBC Universal’s Chiller on Channel 179 and the sports network on Channel 178.

http://direct-sat.com/?p=181

WEVV Rolling Out HD

Looks like CBS44 WEVV tried to sneak this one in under the radar, but the sharp eyes over at the AVS forum caught them… and it’s a good thing!

Best that we can tell, WEVV is the first station in the market to air non-network HD programming. Up until now, the only HD on the air has just been network pass-through. But now we have syndicated HiDef in the form of Ellen, Entertainment Tonight, and Two and a Half Men.

Other programs, like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune have been available to stations since last year, but they apparently haven’t been able to take advantage of it.

One would assume that WEVV is now capable of airing HD commercials.

Kudos to the kids at 44 Main for being the first to overcome this HD hurdle.


http://www.evansvillemedia.com/em/2008/11/18/rolling-out-local-hdtv/

WXIX Gears Up for HD News

Cincinnati's Fox 19 has come a long way over the years, but it's still lagging behind in one huge area: HD newscasts. Thankfully for residents of the Ohio city, all that's about to change... at least, according to news director Steve Ackermann. Reportedly, WXIX will move this week into its high-def-ready news set, and if all goes as planned, it could become the second station in the area to broadcast local news in HDTV within "a couple of weeks." We'll be watching.

http://thelivecentral.in/forum/showthread.php?t=4237

Updates on Cincinnati HD Progress

Get ready for a couple new sets in Cincinnati. WKRC and WXIX are ready to launch their sets Thursday morning for November sweeps.

WKRC has been conducting practice runs on their set for a week. The new set is HD ready, but the station still has to upgrade equipment in order to flip to HD newscasts. Don't expect that to happen for at least a month. The new news and weather set should air Thursday morning for Good Morning Tri-State. The biggest change will be the weather office which will also be used for traffic reports. Also, expect to see roughly three dozen plasma screens on the set.

WXIX completed their set this past Sunday. The station has been running rehearsals on the set since then. FOX19 will also be switching to HD within the next week, but it could happen as early as Thursday as well (with the launch of the set).

-WLWT is sending out the pink slips to a couple workers due to the poor economic conditions. WLWT GM Richard Dyer told employees today that a production supervisor and an assignment editor were let go.

DirecTV Offers Local HD Programming From Dayton

DirecTV Wednesday began offering local high-definition programming in Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Colo., Davenport, Iowa-Rock Island/Moline, Ill. and Dayton, Ohio.

The nation’s largest satellite provider now offers local HD programming to nearly 85% of U.S. TV households.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6607770.html

Cincinnati's Channel 5 to Bradcast Labor Day Fireworks in HD

Sandra Ali and Sheree Paolello will co-anchor WLWT-TV's live broadcast of the Cincinnati Bell/WEBN-FM Fireworks beginning 8 p.m. Sunday on Channel 5. The 30-minute commercial-free fireworks start at 9:05 p.m.



http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080828/ENT/808290301

Stations Need to Focus on HD Ads

These days, station sales departments are struggling to maintain spending levels with existing clients, and working overtime to generate new business. Yet once they make that sale, a lot of stations are letting some of that hard-won revenue drift away.

http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2008/08/21/daily.2/

Time Warner Cable Takes WLEX Hi-Def

Time Warner Cable on Friday announced the launch WLEX NBC High Definition to their digital lineups in the following counties: Anderson, Bath, Bourbon, Boyle, Clark, Fleming, Franklin, Garrard, Harrison, Jessamine, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Mercer, Montgomery, Rowan, Scott and Woodford.

http://www.lex18.com/Global/story.asp?S=8811598&nav=menu203_2

WBKI - Hi Def Video Glitches?

I'm hoping someone else here watches WBKI in Louisville, KY. Particularly their HD programing. If you do, have you seen this glitch? For months I have noticed a stutter or slight pause in video.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=399819