TMJ4 Going HD... like in hours?

[WITI6fan]

That's being unrealistically pessimistic. There are many reasons that they would go HD sooner rather than later:
- They were one of two stations that announced a year ago that they had firm plans to go HD (the other was WISN)
- They are the only station that has a main news set that was semi-recently remodeled with HD in mind (WITI's morning news set is clearly HD-ready, but their evening news set is clearly NOT, despite the paint and patch job they just put on it.)
- They are the flagship station for Journal Communications
- Their newcasts serve not one, but two television stations (they provide morning and noon newscasts to WGBA Green Bay)

Now, I don't know if they in fact will go HD imminently as this thread suggests, but they are definitely not the LAST station to go HD (that would be either FOX 6 or CBS58).

WITI's primary set is reportedly HD-ready (unfortunately), because of it's size. Apparently set design companies have been designing most sets with 16:9 in mind since the late 90's. FTSG did the same thing in Chicago that they did here, updating WFLD's old set (built around the same time WITI got theirs) and now they're close to going HD on the remodeled set.

WISN said that they'd replace their set before they go HD, Likely with the new Hearst-Argyle HD set from FX Group (Similar to WTAE and WCVB).

I'm not sure about WDJT. Their newsroom setup seems to be designed for very tight shots where if the camera operator is off just a little the anchor ends up with a door behind them or a pole coming out of their head.

[REVM1M]

Only reason TMJ4 would go HD is that they could show SNOW in HD.

[LoadStar]

WITI's primary set is reportedly HD-ready (unfortunately), because of it's size. Apparently set design companies have been designing most sets with 16:9 in mind since the late 90's. FTSG did the same thing in Chicago that they did here, updating WFLD's old set (built around the same time WITI got theirs) and now they're close to going HD on the remodeled set.

WISN said that they'd replace their set before they go HD, Likely with the new Hearst-Argyle HD set from FX Group (Similar to WTAE and WCVB).

I'm not sure about WDJT. Their newsroom setup seems to be designed for very tight shots where if the camera operator is off just a little the anchor ends up with a door behind them or a pole coming out of their head.

Size and lighting-wise, studio A at WITI is HD ready; I just think that HD would expose just how dated and worn (despite the carpet being replaced) the set is. (IMHO, it was already quite dated when they went live with it in 1998.) Style-wise, it is almost totally lacking in all the elements you find in sets designed specifically with HD in mind - dramatic lighting effects, translucent glass elements, bolder colors, lots of use of textured elements on the walls, etc. (It might work for now if WITI went with a 480p widescreen SD broadcast, though.) Of course, this discussion is moot, I think - I don't get the impression that Local TV is remotely interested in HD broadcasts.

And lets not kid ourselves about WDJT - it is one step removed from a college station newscast. It only barely edges out the former Sinclair NewsCentral (WB18) newscast in terms of budget and production value.

[WITI6fan]

Size and lighting-wise, studio A at WITI is HD ready; I just think that HD would expose just how dated and worn (despite the carpet being replaced) the set is. (IMHO, it was already quite dated when they went live with it in 1998.) Style-wise, it is almost totally lacking in all the elements you find in sets designed specifically with HD in mind - dramatic lighting effects, translucent glass elements, bolder colors, lots of use of textured elements on the walls, etc.

I totally agree. However, I can't wait for them to go HD on that set so we can see the burn-in and fade of the CRT monitors around the set.

I don't understand why WITI did what they did when they built the WakeUp set. They could have done a lot of stuff to the primary set to make it look O&O-like (such as paint the faded blue panels above the sports desk to match the blue panels around the top of the WakeUp set), but instead they decided to just install the O&O desk, which pretty much rules out them getting the actual O&O set without looking dumb by keeping that desk.

And lets not kid ourselves about WDJT - it is one step removed from a college station newscast. It only barely edges out the former Sinclair NewsCentral (WB18) newscast in terms of budget and production value.

Eh, NewsCentral had nice graphics and a actual news music package though. They also had a set.

[BK7725]

That's being unrealistically pessimistic. There are many reasons that they would go HD sooner rather than later:
- They were one of two stations that announced a year ago that they had firm plans to go HD (the other was WISN)
- They are the only station that has a main news set that was semi-recently remodeled with HD in mind (WITI's morning news set is clearly HD-ready, but their evening news set is clearly NOT, despite the paint and patch job they just put on it.)
- They are the flagship station for Journal Communications
- Their newcasts serve not one, but two television stations (they provide morning and noon newscasts to WGBA Green Bay)

Now, I don't know if they in fact will go HD imminently as this thread suggests, but they are definitely not the LAST station to go HD (that would be either FOX 6 or CBS58).

Yeah. maybe I should've said "very soon." Oh well. :huh?: But it brought our hopes up even more. If only WTMJ had a studio cam like WITI.

And I looked at those sites for the potential WISN studios, they both would look very nice for WISN, especially in HD.

And I also agree that WITI should've added more to their main set. That one CRT TV on the left side of the set looks so outdated. I understand why they remodeled their Wake-Up set. They wanted to keep competing with the national shows GMA and Today by refreshing their WakeUp look.

But the one station that definately needs a new set is WDJT. :eek: Their relatively new graphics do not match their set, and its image does not set a good mood.

[LoadStar]

Yeah. maybe I should've said "very soon." Oh well. :huh?: But it brought our hopes up even more. If only WTMJ had a studio cam like WITI.

And I looked at those sites for the potential WISN studios, they both would look very nice for WISN, especially in HD.

And I also agree that WITI should've added more to their main set. That one CRT TV on the left side of the set looks so outdated. I understand why they remodeled their Wake-Up set. They wanted to keep competing with the national shows GMA and Today by refreshing their WakeUp look.

But the one station that definately needs a new set is WDJT. :eek: Their relatively new graphics do not match their set, and its image does not set a good mood.

I definitely think that WISN needs a new set as badly as WDJT, possibly more. No, not their main set - their Upfront set. The current set is a muddled mess of the old WISN news set, with so much frosted glass tacked up all over that you would think it was a window showroom. It so does not work for the type of show it is.

As for WISN's main set, WTAE's FX designed set is just a refresh of the WISN set. Same set sections in the same places even. The question is - would they do a dramatic revamp of the set, something closer to WCVB, or would they settle for the mild refresh?

I laugh every time I see that one CRT on the WITI set - because I _have_ that same set here, so I know exactly how old it is.

But to bring this topic back around... has anyone seen the Journal graphics package in HD? I imagine it has to be a quite attractive package in HD. Hopefully we'll find out soon.

[mindmess]

Wait, we have news here? In Milwaukee? When?
All it is is snow/rain/wind/heat....., or how the Sucks,Brewers,Packers are doing, and the obligatory Geraldo style report.
And I won't even comment on the happy pill poppers in the morning.
58 might be low end, but they aren't obnoxious p@#*^$ that the other stations serve up.
I'll wait till one of the stations starts to interrupt regular programming to tell us they are working on their HD sets and programming. Or is that not big enough news for them?
:eek:

[morning traffic]

It seems as if they're upgrading their master control. I've noticed a lot of problems during primetime... nothing too serious. They're having trouble rolling commercials which results in the viewer seeing this animation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aCEISgtWxg which is fed down on the NBC network feed during breaks.

I've also noticed shows that are on tape suddenly rewinding while you're watching... a particular issue during Law and Order SVU last night comes to mind.

Also, there have been plenty of technical errors during their news... some maybe the average viewer might not really notice unless they have some kind of background in broadcasting or a good eye. Possibly a switch to more automation? I know they've been having some internal issues with their technical staff...

So hopefully this potential switch to high definition news doesn't screw them up too much. I personally was hoping WISN would flip first, the quality of their newscasts are top notch... Oh well, someday!

[Tom Snyder]

Now that you mention it, I noticed some issues, as well. Twice during the Pro Bowl yesterday, commercials just started playing in the middle of a play.  So maybe they ARE close.

[PatM]

Something was screwed up today with the audio.
Sounds like everything has a echo.
Very disturbing to listen to.
Changed to another channel now.

[morning traffic]

But to bring this topic back around... has anyone seen the Journal graphics package in HD? I imagine it has to be a quite attractive package in HD. Hopefully we'll find out soon.

I'm fairly sure these graphics were not designed in widescreen for high def news. The Journal station in Las Vegas which has news in HD has an in-house design which is likely what we will see on TMJ. Not nearly as spectacular as the glossy blue graphics we see now... which is a shame.

Unless they do decide to purchase another high def graphics package from the design firm that did it... I suppose possibly not entirely out of the question...

[Talos4]

Now that you mention it, I noticed some issues, as well. Twice during the Pro Bowl yesterday, commercials just started playing in the middle of a play.  So maybe they ARE close.

You actually watched the Pro Bowl?

[Stanley Kritzik]

What I really, really like to see are the reporters and weather prophets "on location" for photo ops.  Such as: standing outside a hospital for whatever, standing in an inch of slush. standing outside a factory gate, etc.  Those scenes sure add a lot to the information content of the stories.

So, a lady has triplets, and we're treated to a wall shot of St. Joes and Sylvia Acevito.  Adds to the drama of a non-story.

Stan

[morning traffic]

What I really, really like to see are the reporters and weather prophets "on location" for photo ops.  Such as: standing outside a hospital for whatever, standing in an inch of slush. standing outside a factory gate, etc.  Those scenes sure add a lot to the information content of the stories.

So, a lady has triplets, and we're treated to a wall shot of St. Joes and Sylvia Acevito.  Adds to the drama of a non-story.

Stan

Unfortunately we have to take a good look at ourselves before we judge the stations for what they cover. The reasons they go with these stories is because it's what people, maybe not you, but it's what others want to see now.

Sadly this is now what we call "the news".

[Stanley Kritzik]

Unfortunately we have to take a good look at ourselves before we judge the stations for what they cover. The reasons they go with these stories is because it's what people, maybe not you, but it's what others want to see now.

Sadly this is now what we call "the news".

Sure, people love to hear about everyone else's misery, but to me, the "frosting" on the cake are these "on location" shots.  What a picture of the outside of a hospital adds to a baby or health care story escapes me.  Sometimes, the picture IS worth "1000 words", but often, in local news, it adds nothing.

Stan