WISN 12 News... new set, no HD

[Tom Snyder]

http://twitter.com/#!/TheDudekAbides/status/62947815952887808

[LoadStar]

Disappointing, but not surprising. As I've complained about in the past, WISN has a hard enough time just getting aspect ratios right. HD would be a whole other challenge for them.

I'll bet they make an attempt at HD sometime in the next 6 months though.

[REVM1M]

I will refuse to watch ch12 & 58 as long as their news cast is not HD. Why would you have a new set but not HD broadcast:bang:

[trev57]

I'm disappointed, but I emailed Duane and he said that he was told HD would be on the way later this year. I guess we'll just have to wait some more while we enjoy the new set in stunning 16x9 SD

[Xizer]

Wow. How dumb is this affiliate?

No one cares about the background as long as the overall pictures continue to look like arse.

Even if they bought a few cheapo $200 1080p consumer-grade digital camcorders off Amazon and hooked that in to their feed it would look leagues better than whatever "professional" expensive SD studio cameras they're using now for their newscasts. :rolleyes:

[Nels Harvey]

Switching to HD in the studio is a whole lot more than "hooking up a couple of cheap cameras".  The entire process includes replacing the entire routing system, studio video switcher, character generator, and monitoring system.

The above improvements are very expensive, and take a great deal of time to implement.  The on air talent acknowledged the back hall was full of engineering equipment.  All of this needs to be installed, and old, outdated equipment needs to be uninstalled to make room.  All of this while staying on the air!

All of the stations are throwing tons of money at the problem, while their ad income suffers with the economy.  Don't forget the huge expenses for new transmitters, antennas, and feedline that all of the stations were forced to endure with the digital changeover.

I'm sure the planners at Ch. 12, and probably Ch. 58, are doing what they can to engineer the switch to full HD capabilities, including making expensive decisions on which equipment is the best value, how, and when to install it, coordinate delivery of the needed items, and pull their engineering staff from their everyday jobs to accomplish this monumental job.  It actually is pretty much a complete rebuild of their facilities.

The important thing to remember, it is the quality of the news, and programming that counts.  HD isn't going to redeem a lousy show.  It isn't going to make the news any better, or worse.  The News director is charged with his/her job to bring you the news you want.  That is what drives ratings, and can be sold to the advertisers.  I'd rather have excellent content to the stories than the most sparkling picture.

Let's give them a chance to complete their very extensive upgrades.

[REVM1M]

""I'm sure the planners at Ch. 12, and probably Ch. 58, are doing what they can to engineer the switch to full HD ""





Nels:

You have to be kidding me:huh?::huh?:

[Xizer]

Excellent content is worthless if your eyes are getting molested the entire time. When the picture quality isn't up to par I consider the quality of the content to be greatly degraded.

At this point, it's just not worth my time to watch anything that's still in standard definition. I don't care how "good" the content is. There is far too much great stuff in high definition these days to watch in a lifetime.

So The Wire, earlier seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and local SD newscasts - pass.

[WPXE ION]

There is far too much great stuff in high definition these days to watch in a lifetime.

Like CNN??

[WPXE ION]

""I'm sure the planners at Ch. 12, and probably Ch. 58, are doing what they can to engineer the switch to full HD ""





Nels:

You have to be kidding me:huh?::huh?:

What is he kidding about? Made sense to me.

[WITI6fan]

I'm sure the planners at Ch. 12, and probably Ch. 58, are doing what they can to engineer the switch to full HD capabilities...

WDJT's production control room is already HD.... Hardly Digital.
 
Speaking of, has anyone seen what Weigel's new news operation is up to? https://www.facebook.com/abc57 has a bunch of pictures. They even have a live truck that is (presumably) HD-capable (and a bunch of stupid internet stream backpacks but that's another story). Hopefully they'll get to WDJT next...

[REVM1M]

What is he kidding about? Made sense to me.

"are doing what they can". This is what.

This forum is for people who care about HD """ Milwaukee HDTV""", NOT ""Milwaukee SD"".

[trev57]

Did everyone miss the part of Dudek's article that said there are plans for WISN to go HD this year? Just give them time, it will come.

As far as the new set goes, I'm starting to like it the more I see it. I'm just surprised there's no stand up are for sports or anything.

[techguy1975]

"are doing what they can". This is what.

This forum is for people who care about HD """ Milwaukee HDTV""", NOT ""Milwaukee SD"".

If they don't have the money to make the capital investment, then how do you expect them to do it? Hearst/Argyle owns many other stations across the country as well, that they need to upgrade.  While you may not agree with it, they have their plans and implement what they can when they can based on the financial restrains and keeping shareholders happy.

[foxeng]

Some people I know at the Hearst station in my market is telling me that Hearst is in no hurry to go HD. Their big push is the net. They are spending like crazy on all kinds of streaming equipment so they can be anywhere, anytime, and go on live with just a 3G phone. They feel that is the future, not HD.

The Hearst station in my market is making no moves toward HD at all. They did go 16:9 last year, the last one in the market. 6 months later we went HD having been 16:9 SD for a full year beating the other stations by months.