Orlando's WESH switching on high-def local news

Orlando residents are going to have a choice when it comes to local high-def news when WESH flips the switch on November 1. Back in June of '06, ABC-affiliate WFTV switched on the high-def local feed but within a few days, NBC-affiliate expects to broadcast 35 hours a week of HD local goodness. We can't nail down their exact budget - tends to be in the millions - the station invested heavily into onscreen graphics. For now, Orlandians will have to wait for their other network stations, WKMG and WOFL, to nail down plans but with two networks in the local news biz, they have more choices than most Americans.

[brokenmonkey Posted Oct 18th 2007 12:39PM]

I get WESH here in Gainesville, and all I can say is that I'm really disappointed with them, because they use the HD feed for their SD station, and in doing so they chop off the sides of the image. This means that shows like The Office and Law and Order which are supposed to have the black bars don't, and you're missing out on half of the picture. Luckily I have an HDTV with a QAM tuner so I get their HD feed, but when I'm not watching HD it's hard to watch it at all.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 18th 2007 11:40PM]

KEYE 42 in Austin, TX is also going HD for local broadcasts on November 1.

http://www.keyetv.com/content/entertainment/hd/default.aspx

[Scoobarama Posted Oct 19th 2007 8:04AM]

Andrew, you beat me to it! I'm really torn over this too because I've been a loyal ABC News fan for decades and I greatly prefer KVUE over any of the alternatives for local news. Having the option of watching KEYE in HD will definitely sway me over for at least a couple of weeks I'm sure.

The thing I'm most pleased about however is the informational campaign that KEYE is running about HD. Not only are they touting how great the news is going to look in HD (so hurry out and buy one for the Holidays!) but I'm also seeing some proactive stuff about the coming upgrade from analog to digital. I certainly hope that more local stations get on the band wagon about this issue over the coming months. It's the only way they are going to avoid the mess once viewers can no longer watch OTA analog signals without a converter box or a new TV. IMHO, this is a great tactic, combining it with some general info about HD and getting an EARLY start on letting people know about it. Keep it up!