This also got picked up in our local Green Bay paper today:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080118/GPG0101/801180708/1907

WLUK's spokesman says LIN TV expects retransmission agreements with all of its stations by "mid-year." They didn't say WHICH year, though. We've been hearing that kind of rhetoric every few months for the last few years now. Those of us around the area who have been watching this situation have pretty much given up hope a deal will be made. Green Bay got HD locals on DirecTV in November 2006, and WLUK was the only holdout. Since that time, we've heard "any day now" or very soon" every few months, but yet no deal has been struck. WLUK's GM has even told viewers who called him on the situation that they really don't care about making a deal with cable since they're going after satellite. They've supposedly struck a deal with AT&T for U-Verse, but the last we heard, it won't be in the Green Bay area until November 2008 at the earliest.

Meanwhile, WLUK pimps antennas like they're making commission on every unit sold. It's really a shame.

Ditto, Ian.

I currently have two dual-tuner Series 2 TiVos. I loved them to death, and I was seriously considering a Series 3 for HD. With the recent hikes in service fees without locking into long-term contracts, paired with the increasing amount of advertising forced upon TiVo menus, I really couldn't justify it anymore.

I ended up building a new Windows Vista PC specifically for use as a Media Center, with no monthly fees, four tuners (2 ATSC, 2 NTSC), choice of storage size and a lot of the same features as TiVo (plus a few TiVo doesn't offer). Amazon Unbox already works with it, as does Vongo. I've had it for about a week, and use an Xbox 360 as a Media Center extender for easier integration with my home theater. Works absolutely perfectly for me. Now I can't wait for my 1-year agreements with TiVo to expire in March.

I love TiVo but the rising fees and incessant advertising was getting ridiculous.

Now if Time Warner Green Bay would iron out things with Lin Television (FOX), Acme Communications (CW) and Journal Communications (MyNet), I'd be in business.

In the meantime, back to futzing around with antennas...

I've long felt that the Muppets lost their way after Jim Henson's death, and now with the sale to Disney. However, I was especially encouraged to catch "Jim Henson's Puppet Up! Uncensored" on TBS, the improv comedy special starring a new roster of puppeteer talent including Henson's son Brian. I think that's the closest the Henson Company has come to reinvigorating itself since Henson died. I don't remember off-hand if TBS has/will pick up "Puppet Up" for a full series or if it was just a special, but I would certainly love to see more of them.

Add LIN Television to that list. After they bought our formerly-Emmis FOX affiliate in Green Bay, I was hopeful we'd see FOX HD on Time Warner. No dice. They aren't even letting DirecTV have it and they just launched Green Bay's HD locals not too long ago.

And at least with our Time Warner branch, we get local HD without paying extra. Our HDTV's have QAM capable tuners so we don't need to lease the digital box. If we don't pay TWC extra, I don't want LIN charging me. (And no, we don't get decent enough reception where we live to use an antenna)

There's no way you could do Black Books on American TV. That show WAS Dylan Moran.

As far as Vicar of Dibley, I think the show they should have brought to American TV is Father Ted.

Update on WLUK Green Bay's situation...

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The game shows "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" may trumpet their broadcasting in high-definition as of today, but it will be a while before they're transmitted that way by WLUK.

"We need additional HD equipment to record syndicated programs," said Pat Krohlow, marketing director.

Fox network programming is fed directly to the station's HD transmitter, while syndicated shows need to be recorded and played back, Krohlow said."

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So they're running the ads saying it's in HD when in fact it isn't. Oh well. Supposedly there may also be a deal in the works for Fox HD in Green Bay according to the article:

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060911/GPG07/609110453/1273/GPGlife

Hell may be freezing over, folks...

WLUK in Green Bay started running TV spots for Wheel and Jeopardy advertising they were now in high def, though these looked like Sony Television-produced spots and it wouldn't surprise me if they would run these in error. I would like to be able to verify if they actually are broadcasting the shows in HD, but they won't allow Time Warner to provide their HD signal and their OTA HD signal still comes in lousy where I live.

WLUK-TV11, the FOX affiliate in Green Bay/Appleton Wisconsin not only refuses to let our local Time Warner Cable system carry FoxHD, but put a lengthy FAQ on their website, claiming THEY would be the victims by not getting paid to allow TWC to carry the HD signal! It's a very interesting read, especially passages like the following:

"It is customary for cable companies to compensate cable channel providers for their signal. The Weather Channel, ESPN, USA, Bravo, Cartoon Network, Lifetime, FX, CNN, Discovery, and virtually every other channel is compensated by the cable companies for their programming. ESPN receives over $2.00 per month per household. Cable companies refuse to compensate broadcasters for their signals even though cable subscribers watch FOX 11, CBS, NBC and ABC almost 70% of the time."

Read the rest here --> http://www.wluk.com/faq/

This was formerly an Emmis station, and from what I've heard on message boards, this is their standard M.O. They have since been bought by LIN Television, and while I don't know LIN's corporate response on the issue, I have a feeling the higher-ups in station management are still drinking the Emmis kool-aid.

To add insult to injury, their OTA digital signal comes in lousy at the last two places I've lived.

I was watching the Season 1 DVD of "Numb3rs" on my 360 last night, and when I selected an episode, it played the last episode I had already played. I let it play for a minute or so, then I went to the menu and selected a different episode, but it went back and played from the last episode at the spot I cut out to the menu. I haven't tried the disc on a standalone DVD player yet, but there seemed to be menu navigation problems in the 360's DVD player.