'Jeopardy!,' 'Wheel' Get HD Makeover

[Gregg Lengling]

Syndication stalwarts "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" will be distributed in high definition starting Sept. 11.
King World Productions and Sony Pictures Television are spending more than $4 million to upgrade the shows, which have been shooting in HD for weeks in preparation for their new seasons. Standard-definition broadcasts will continue to air in a full-screen format.

"We thought it would be a way to demonstrate in a meaningful way the company's commitment to keeping the shows of the highest production quality and in a leadership position," said "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel" executive producer Harry Friedman. "Wheel" is the top-rated show in syndication and "Jeopardy!" is No. 2.

The Culver City, Calif., sets of the two shows have been completely redesigned to accommodate the change. The sets are now wider, with more detailed backgrounds and a more HD-vibrant color palette. The familiar "Jeopardy!" board of square monitors has been replaced by a seamless projection video wall. The control room and post-production facility were also upgraded.

About 49 of the 210 stations carrying the programs have made the upgrade to HD, Mr. Friedman said. But that figure is growing rapidly, partly in preparation for the switch. As recently as couple of months ago only 20 markets had made the leap.

Sports, movies, dramas, news programs and documentaries constitute the bulk of HD content. "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" will be the first U.S. syndicated series-and the first game shows-to take the leap into HD.

Though the audience for the game shows skews older than audiences for most HD content, Mr. Friedman said the upgrade makes sense for any series.

"I don't think making the show a more entertaining viewing experience knows any demographic," he said.

[Todd Wiedemann]

Sure.

Will WDJT be carrying the HD versions ?

[Tom Snyder]

Good question.. Probably based on how it's delivered, and whether 58 has the facilities to store and rebroadcast HD or if they can only pass HD through.

[Todd Wiedemann]

Good question.. Probably based on how it's delivered, and whether 58 has the facilities to store and rebroadcast HD or if they can only pass HD through.

Exactly.

How much do you want to bet the answer is no.

[Bluto]

Exactly.

How much do you want to bet the answer is no.

Well, I sent them that question on Friday morning.  No response yet....

[John L]

Well, I sent them that question on Friday morning.  No response yet....

Its been a week now and I take it "still no response"?

-John L.

[Bluto]

No response. :rolleyes:

I sent another inquiry to their "station programming" email address.  Here is the email address I sent to, in case you want to join in:  dpalecek@cbs58.com

[Bluto]

My latest update - there is no update.  Never heard back from CBS58.  Mighty nice of them. :mad:

[John L]

My latest update - there is no update.  Never heard back from CBS58.  Mighty nice of them. :mad:

Since we are dealing with WDJT-DT, I wouldn't hold my breath!

-John L.

[Bluto]

It's been a few months - has anyone heard any updates about Channel 58 carrying these fine programs in HD?

[MrVideo]

It's been a few months - has anyone heard any updates about Channel 58 carrying these fine programs in HD?

While I can't provide any updates regarding the station, I can provide a little bit of other background regarding delivery.

The ultimate goal for CBS Distribution is to use the Pathfire system.  It is currently being used for the SD version.  But, the system does not handle HD material.  They are working on it, but I've not seen a date as to when it will go live (after the beta tests).  They can easily ship out MPEG-2 HD files, but none of the current software handles working with those files and I suspect that the major problem lies in the hardware.

In any event, until Pathfire is ready (there are those who say that Pathfire will never be ready, even for the current SD delivery ), CBS Distribution is feeding the stations via DVB-S C-Band (1080i) [Dolby-E, DD2.0 and MPEG audio].  That means the stations need the ability to receive the feed (I don't know of any who can't) and the ability to get the bits onto a server. My local NBC affiliate airs both shows and they do not have the ability to but the feeds on a server (no budget for the server).  Then of course, they have to have the ability to get the server output on air.  The odds are if you can get it recorded onto a server, you can get it off.  The tricky part is the playout of both the SD and HD versions at the same time.  If they are using Pathfire correctly, the playout is from there (otherwise they transferred it to tape first for playout).  Rolling two sources at the same time, one SD and one HD and putting in the appropriate commercials/promos is probably a master control nightmare.  That was the other reason the mocal station isn't doing it.  They can't do that.

BTW, the shows are fed two days in advance (SD/HD), which gives them pleny of time to do what they need before air.

Watch out for those pesky little insects

[Tom Snyder]

Welcome, MrVideo!  Thanks for the info... you're apparently not from this market.  What's your background, and where are you from?

[MrVideo]

Welcome, MrVideo!  Thanks for the info... you're apparently not from this market.  What's your background, and where are you from?

Yep, next market to the west, Madison.

I'm a Unix programmer/administrator, who has been dabbling in video for many a year.  a BUDhead with a 10' C and 12' C/Ku set of dishes in my yard, with digital gear to go with them

The Pathfire info was reported in the trades when it was released that the shows were going HD.  BTW, the Jeopardy! episodes are shot about two months in advance.  The 5000th show special week in NY was hundreds of shows after the real 5000th (no I don't know the actual air date, since it was before HD).  The other info about the show is first hand viewing experience.

While the show does look great in HD, unfortunately they have to frame for HD, so when there is a 3-shot of all the contestants, you get a letterbox/pillarbox effect from the background set.  The 3-shot would look great if they could zoom in and fill the left and right.

So, not only doesn't Milwaukee get to see these shows in HD, neither does Madison.