Why haven't morning talk shows gone high-def yet?
By Matt Burns 
posted Aug 4th 2006 12:35PM
posted Aug 4th 2006 12:35PM
Why have we yet to see any high-volume morning talk shows go high-def. It's not that we want to watch these shows but if a plasma really is more desired then a diamond, don't you think your wife/girlfriend would want to watch something she enjoys on your valentines gift. Live, The Martha Stewart Show, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show all seem like prime candidates for the high-def medium. They don't require many HD cams, all the sets are specular, and they garner huge followings. It would seem that shows like this would reach that un-touched women market. These three shows all take place in their own dedicated studio that features five to six different camera angles, max. All the backgrounds would be HD friendly plus, the sets being extra-wide already and these shows get such a large and dedicated audience. Plus, high-def will prove once and for all who colors their hair more -- Regis or Kelly.
Average people don't know the difference between HDTV and SDTV. I've met people who shelled out $$ for a huge TV and had to change their whole living room who think they watching HD when they're watching SD.
It's sad, but the business trend in television is to have more channels of cheaper content rather than to have fewer channels of expensive content. The digital revolution in TV is 800 channels of reruns, shopping, and documentaries about military airplanes.
Yes, some people might enjoy an HDTV morning show, but that burns up bandwidth that could host four SD channels.
Personally I can't stand "talking head" programming on commercial HD: I can't see anything but the MPEG 2 artifacts around people's ties. Uncompressed HD out of the camera... Now you're talking.
I think part of the reason for why the shows are not shot in HD has to do with the target audience of these shows. Most women (35-45 demographic), that watch these programs are most likely not to really care if the content is broadcast in HD and also own a TV capable viewing HD. I wouldn't mind seeing Live in HD or Marthastewart for that matter so we can get a good luck at Regis and Kelly. That's my 2 cents.
-R
Aren't most of these shows syndicated? I would think there's more of a barrier for airing syndicated shows in HD compared to shows the network actually produces.
On the topic of talk shows, I wonder why the Jimmy Kimmel show on ABC isn't in HD. Perhaps because it is live has something to do with it?
I agree with #1 about the regular consumer not knowing the slightest thing about HD. All of my friends parents have recently purchased an HDTV or have had one for over 4 years YET none of them have them hooked up to a HD source.
Public awareness and education is the most important factor here, they simply believe that having the set already means that everything they watch is HD. However since I purchased my HDTV my friends have come over to watch HD content on my HDTV and have been amazed with the difference.
And correct me if I'm wrong but HD content looks much better at home then I have ever seen at any store. If the regular consumer was exposed to better HD content then maybe they would demand these shows to be in HD. I'm sure we can all agree that once we go HD we have a hard time watching anything in SD wherever you go (i.e. your friends house).
A lot of people are at work when these shows are broadcast also. I'd be much happier if they focused on getting more Prime time and syndicated shows shown late in the afternoon in HD. And my mom would much rather upgrade to HD for Hidef Oprah than Hidef Regis.
Good Morning America is aired in HD
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" hasn't aired live for quite some time now. It is recorded a few hours before it airs.
And really people, does anyone need to see Regis Philbin in HD?