Interesting programming notes for fall season

[Gregg Lengling]

According to several press release we've received here at the Tech-Notes and a story by Ken Kerschbaumer of Broadcast & Cable, the WB network has announced that they will be carrying no less than five hours a week of HDTV programming this fall season.
 
CBS will also expand its HDTV coverage of the U.S. Open tennis tournament and is close to finalizing deals to bring other sports it previously covered in HD on the air more regularly this fall.
 
NBC has been the laggard among the "Big Networks," followed only by FOX, when it comes to prime time high-definition programming.  There are tentative plans to catch up this fall. Programs currently on the short list for HD broadcasts are Frasier, Crossing Jordan, In-Laws, Ed, American Dreams, Boomtown and Hidden Hills.
 
Insiders do find it curious that The West Wing and ER, two programs done in HD by Warner for foreign distribution, are not included).
 
ABC has more HD plans as well, including taking a hard look at an HD Super Bowl.
 
The other night, while watching Late Night With David Letterman, he walk over to one of their new Ikegami HDK-790E dual-mode HD/SD studio cameras and commented that although the equipment was HD, the show was not being aired that way. In addition to the four Ikegami HDK-790E studio cameras, CBS also bought eight HDK-79E hand-held cameras with Canon lenses. Insiders at CBS, who has this thing about anyone telling the press anything, say that this is more of a future-proofing than a sign of imminent HDTV broadcasts, but the capability for capturing HD images is in place.
 
Ira Goldstone, Tribune vice president, engineering and technology, says all the Tribune stations are being built to be capable of 1080i transmission. The missing links have been filled in with 19 KTech HD receivers to be installed at the stations to receive the HD content via satellite. "The KTech receivers are pretty flexible and are kind of the Swiss Army knife of receivers," he adds.
 
According to CBS Viacom boss, Marty Franks, UPN will be on in a timely fashion, but it won't be this fall. "We're hustling to get it done because we see it as a logical expansion of the business at CBS. As UPN came under the CBS umbrella, we began the process of getting it ready for HDTV."

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Gregg R. Lengling
RCA P61310 61" 16x9
glengling@ameritech.net

[kjnorman]

 

Originally posted by lummox:
Insiders do find it curious that The West Wing and ER, two programs done in HD by Warner for foreign distribution, are not included).

Some commentators have theorised that this may be due to the Neilsen rating system.  That fact that Neilsen can not currently count HDTV programming (only analog) may mean that some broadcasters may be reluctant to transmit their highest rated shows in HDTV.

Of course there are probably a multitude of other reasons as well...

Kerry