HD Local Programming

[P a u l]

Todd posted in another thread;
"Hey, Paul, perhaps this does belong in another thread, but what are the plans for HD local programming, especially news?"

For now we will continue to up-convert our local programming and news to 720p. From your perspective I can see why you are asking the question of "Why don't the stations just buy all of the necessary equipment to broadcast HDTV all of the time?"

1. Revenue. Commercials are how the broadcast industry makes its money and unfortunately no one has come knocking on our door with a High Definition commercial. I'm sure that you have noticed that even during the ABC HD programs when a commercial comes on it flips to Stereo. Ever wonder why?

2. Equipment. As you have noticed some of our network programs are transmitted in Dolby Digital 5.1. For us to upgrade our exisiting equipment to conform to the 5.1 audio would mean ripping out the studio and installing new equipment. Oh yes and then theres the HD side of things. I just ran a search on Panasonics web site and found this HD camera http://www.panasonic.com/PBDS/subcat/Products/cams_ccorders/f2_aj-hdc27v.html  notice under the little picture of the camera on the right side it says "Shown with options available from other manufacturers" I would assume thay mean the HD lens is not included. Oh and lets not forget the robotics for the studio cameras. This is just the beginning of the list of equipment we would have to purchace in order for us to air an HD News broadcast. Feel free to browse through this site and look at the cost of other equipment. http://www.panasonic.com/PBDS/  look at the price of an HD VTR, $27,000-$95,000. Ouch!!!!

Honestly I wish that tomorrow we could flip the switch and be broadcasting in HD 24x7, but I'm not the one who has to sign the checks for the equipment. Until clients start purchasing HD commercial air time, the transition will be a slow process.

For us the big challenge is integrating new HD equipment with the existing analog equipment. Remember it is digital, and when working in the digital realm everything has to be synchronized. One wrong bit and everything goes ka-put. I know this from my experience in working at a recording studio. We had 6 studios and all were gutted out and built new from the inside out. 2 of the rooms we upgraded to full digital studios. When we flipped the switch everything came up then went ka-put. We knew we had synchronization problems but it took us weeks of software and firmware upgrades by the manufactures to get things running smoothly. The design engineers try to anticipate every problem but you never know what is going to happen until you hit the switch.


[This message has been edited by P a u l (edited 10-30-2002).]

[This message has been edited by P a u l (edited 10-30-2002).]

[This message has been edited by P a u l (edited 10-30-2002).]

[Kevin Arnold]

Good points, Paul, but I'd love to see the various Milwaukee stations shed their helicopters and put that money into new equipment. Enough of the sunsets from the air and the birds eye view of fires. Time to move on. As the politicians say - my ideas, your money.

[mcq]

Boy, with all of those requirements for capital, it's a wonder how all of these stations ever got off the ground in the first place. I'll bet those original tube cameras were a king's ransom.....

Maybe...just maybe... they borrowed money and counted on a long term return on their investment. I know it sounds risky... I mean this digital thing might just be a fad!? Oh wait, I guess those federal mandates might make this investment a little less risky... How about this, with money being soooooo cheap right now, the right organization can invest in a future which even according to Mr. Cuprisin is inevitable.

I would agree that everything we expect (or want) cannot be delivered all in one night. I'll bet that TMJ-4 bought one camera...then another...then a third until they had enough tube cameras to do some real fancy studio work.

I guess our frustration comes from the fact that this timetable should come as no surprise to anyone. A lot of the feedback (if we even got any) over the last 8 months collectively, and prior to that individually, makes us wonder if the stations servicing our SMSA even have a clue. It seems that the stations who are using public airwaves for profit sometimes forget that their unique business model makes them accountable to their stockholders AND "We the People."

Paul, John, and Sean you should know that this very group and forum was created out of a high level of frustration from us-- early adopters (pioneers.) (I know Sean you were at the inaugural meeting!) I do believe that many of us have succumbed to the "give us an inch and we'll take a mile" disease.

Well, since this past Tuesday when I watched my second favorite program (behind the Sopranos)"NYPD Blue" in HDTV, I couldn't be more content. If those two shows were the only ones in HiDef, I could wait forever for any additional HiDef. (Well that's not entirely true, as NFL in HiDef would be the ultimate, I already love watching College football on CBS and HD Net.)
 
With that said, I am sick and tired of hearing the same old rationalizations. Some one on this board put it best when they accused the networks and stations of "need-it-now" ROI. In our quick-paced fast-food society, it's a wonder how businesses have the guts to make any long term commitment and investments at all.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Patrick K. McHugh MBA MCSE

[StarvingForHDTV]

 

Originally posted by mcq:
And that's all I have to say about that.

I don't think I have ever laughed that much from a closing remark.  Thank you!

Nice post,

Starving

[P a u l]

quote from mcq
"It seems that the stations who are using public airwaves for profit"

We do pay the FCC license fees....check here...WISN is listed on page 16: http://www.fcc.gov/fees/2001vhfuhf100.pdf  

And thats probably just our channel 12 fee. I'm not sure what the digital fee is. Also we have several other transmitters for things like weather, helicopter, ENG Trucks and cameras located around the city. We pay fees for all these transmitters too. My point being I have seen other posts stating that the airwaves are "free."

Check here also: http://www.fcc.gov/fees/
 http://ftp.fcc.gov/Bureaus/OMD/Orders/fcc01196.pdf  start at page 52 to see the fees

some application fees http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form1070/2001/1070.pdf

I'm not sure where anyone got the idea that the airwaves are "free" or "public." To me it looks like the FCC owns them. If you look up the FCC Act of 1934 you might find the origin of the fee schedule, but its like 700+ pages long.

As far as TMJ owning any HD cameras I dont know, maybe they could tell us.   I doubt they would anyway if they did.
You mentioned "tube cameras." If an HD camera used tube technology it would probably be the size if a Dodge Caravan.   I guess we would have to do all of our news casts from the parking lot. j/k

[oflaherty]

We don't have any HD cameras here at WTMJ.
But HD studio cameras would be the easy part.. there is a ton of other equipment that would need to be replaced (or upconverted) before we could do a true HD newscast.
---
Sean at TMJ

[Tom Snyder]

Curious, Sean or Paul...

How much do you think (ballpark) it would cost to outfit a news operation in HD... studio, control, as well as remote vans and cameras?  

That actually brings up another question... microwaving HD remote news feeds back to the station... does current microwave feed technology hold enough bandwidth, or will it require gear there as well?

[uplinkguy]

Lots of zeroes are needed to make HD  (and ones, that's how digital works.)

Consider the cost of the Core Digital SWTV production truck that provides 12 cameras for CBS's HD college football game.  That vehicle came in at I believe $8 million.

Most of the same equipment is used in a tv station in a different fashion.  A minimum of 3 cameras will be in the studio.  Milwaukee tv stations have probably up to 15 camera crews?

A microwave truck is capable of sending an HD signal.  Eventually the broadcast auxiliary band will be squeezed down enough that analog won't be possible any more in a tv market higher than 100.  (Too crowded in a bigger market.) Digital encoders are used already to send a live shot back to the studio.  WTMJ already has at least one that I know of.  It is upgradeable to send HD with a several thousand dollar upgrade.

The Japanese network NHK currently does everything with HD.  They have news bureaus in the US that shoot in HD.  Ocassionaly they show up in my satellite truck with a tape to feed.  It breaks my heart to have to downconvert straight from their camera to plain old NTSC to feed it.

Three years ago they showed up at my truck for an NFL playoff game in Jacksonville.  They gave me a HD field deck with serial number "0008"  Needless to say they are ahead of the US networks.  
  Another cool thing about them is they don't air commercials.  They are a government service.

[mcq]

Paul ... Thnax for the heads up on the FCC costs....

When I was speking about "tube" cameras I was talking about the original broadcast equipment TMJ used when they went live 50+ years ago. I wonder in today's dollars what the comparisons would be. I was merely inferring that it took time...lots of it to build the broadcasting infrastructure. I can only asuume that more time will be spent than dollars as our local tv enterprise "rebuild" their broadcasting entities.

[Pat]

 

Originally posted by uplinkguy:
Lots of zeroes are needed to make HD  (and ones, that's how digital works.)

A hex on you for saying that.  

[techguy1975]

The FCC mandated that stations merely provide a digital SIGNAL As far as I know, it said nothing of programming.

In the early days, stations NEEDED to spend the capial in order to put a product on the air.  The analog cameras and studio equipment they have will work fine, and will for years to come.  

So..unless you want to pay the bills....  Give the stations a chance to start generating ad revenue to purchase all the other stuff

[mcq]

   

Originally posted by techboywi:
The FCC mandated that stations merely provide a digital SIGNAL. As far as I know, it said nothing of programming.

Kinda like the couple that builds the big honkin' house and can't afford to furnish it....!?


   

In the early days, stations NEEDED to spend the capial in order to put a product on the air.  The analog cameras and studio equipment they have will work fine, and will for years to come.  

So..unless you want to pay the bills....  Give the stations a chance to start generating ad revenue to purchase all the other stuff

I think I said that......

 

"I was merely inferring that it took time...lots of it to build the broadcasting infrastructure. I can only asuume that more time will be spent than dollars as our local tv enterprise "rebuild" their broadcasting entities."

You know this used to be fun. When it gets to the point where you gotta repeat yourself or clarify points it becomes boring.

I live for sarcasm, and I appreciate it when other people "get it."

As always,

Patrick K. McHugh MCSE

[This message has been edited by mcq (edited 11-01-2002).]

[This message has been edited by mcq (edited 11-01-2002).]

[Tom Snyder]

I think we've finally arrived!

There are a few other forums I frequent... and the most popular ones all have something called trolls. These are the guys who represent the antithesis of what the forum is all about and they just pop in long enough to post something that they know will rile up the regular visitors.

Sometimes it engenders some good dialogue and discussion. Sometimes it's just a PITA that no one wants to deal with. If it's the latter, it isn't a problem for very long with Forums that require preauthorization to post (like this one).

Maybe we need to start another thread to see if we want to make Milwaukee HDTV a troll-free zone.

[mcq]

In a battle of wits... they're unarmed...

As Duke Nuk'em would say... "Bring 'em on!"


------------------
Be sincere, whether you mean it or not!

[P a u l]

 

Originally posted by Tom Snyder:
Curious, Sean or Paul...

That actually brings up another question... microwaving HD remote news feeds back to the station... does current microwave feed technology hold enough bandwidth, or will it require gear there as well?

The technology is currently available: http://www.mrcbroadcast.com/products/prd_indx.htm