We went up to the Tampa area on Sunday and the hotel had a 42″ HDTV so I got to check out the local news stations’ HD offers.
What little I saw of the ABC and NBC affiliates it was mostly SD/HD hodgepodge, only the anchor shots from the studio were in HD. Even some of the pre-taped reports where the anchor is in the studio were 4:3 on the NBC station. They must have only 2 HD cameras.
Weather in HD was ok, you get to see more of the map with nice green color but the radar overlay, I think it was on the ABC affiliate, looked blocky, lots of little squares.
One thing is for sure though all the flaws on the anchors get multiplied by 100 on a 42″ TV. It’s a bit distracting at first as you keep noticing everything – yellow teeth, crooked teeth, scars, uneven make up…
We woke up while the morning news was on and my boyfriend grumbled how he couldn’t go back to napping after watching the TV. A bit overstated but true – from the gross crap that passes as news footage to anchor flaws you get a bit jarred and grossed out.
HDTV wasn’t kind to the morning guy on the NBC station, the woman – she was substituting I think – looked stunning in HD. Not a flaw at all and very pretty.
I think the ABC station’s morning team looked the best in HD.
The guy was hot and the female anchor looked flawless. The two-shot with the studio behind and all the vivid colors was great. The NBC station had an anchor desk with black marble top(!) – looked like a receptionist desk to me – with bland blue backdrop.
Some of the on-air talent clearly didn’t know what teeth whitening was. One of the sports guys looked like he ate mustard before he went on the air!!!
The FOX station was the trashiest. Bad imitation of WSVN. Their anchors sucked too. Nothing like waking up and watching full-zoom footage of a broken sewer pipe. On 42″ TV it’s like you’re there minus the smell. Really made me run out and get breakfast, not.
Whichever douche decided on this footage should be sent to that neighborhood and be made to eat their breakfast there. Thank you moron. I flipped the channel and forgot they exist.
I think it was the ABC station with video from their chopper in HD – those shots from it while flying over traffic were neato.
Visually I thought the stations are not much to brag about unless I’m too jarred from watching Miami stations. Exception to the FOX station but they weren’t all that anyway. The NBC station’s graphics, the open anyway, stood out the most to me. Overall not too crazy and over the top or too boring.
Overall I’d pick ABC Action News as my favorite. It had a really nice, fresh, vivid look overall.
It would be nice to have local stations in HD down here too just please no poop shot zoom-ins.
I wish WPLG Local 10 could be first to enter the HD dimension. Unfortunately, they won’t until 2009. 🙁 I had my money on Local 10, which I wish would use Bill Ratner for its vo.
I still can’t believe nobody down here’s gone local HD yet. Stations in other, smaller markets have been broadcasting locally in HD for quite a while, but so far nothing from the MIA/FTL outlets. Sad, indeed.
Don’t worry, none of the Miami anchors can look any worse than the WPB anchors in HD. You get used to seeing two-tone faces because of bad make-up after a while.
Its overrated— at least for now.
As admin said only the studio shots are in HD. Boston has one station doing it, and they don’t have any of the reporter cameras in HD. The weather is very nice in HD though, I love it, the studio does look nice because its new with bright colors. But stations might as well wait until they can get everything, at least the local stories in HD
I am a long time S. Fl resident that has (like many) moved to Central Florida. WFTV 9 in Orlando was the first in the state to broadcast all local news and programs in true HD. They are a bit more refined with over a year and a half (more)experience than what you described the newly converted HD stations in Tampa Bay are. West Palm channel WPTV 5 is now local HD in S. Fl. It does make a great difference in the weather presentation, and in general is more enjoyable to watch. Note that Directv has recently added several news channels in HD also. Having lived in S. Fl for 34 years, you are a bit “shell shocked” from the news there. Watching WFTV, for instance, I thought it was a very flat newscast when I first moved here, but now I get it-hard news no comments and no slant. What a change! So, I switch between WESH 2 (Martha’s new home) and WFTV. WPLG 10 and WKMG 6 here are owned by the same group, and 6 imitates S. Fl news the closest. The highest rated by almost 2 to 1 is low key WFTV in HD.
For your general information, WTVT Fox 13 in Tampa is regarded as the number 1 or best TV station for weather in the country.
They have stuff the S. Fl gang has never dreamed of. (Which includes the most powerful radar and wide coverage radar in the country-which is also the most powerful privately owned radar in the world!) Might want to look at their website and go into the weather section and look at the goodies.
Yep-things sure are different outside S. Fl as you observed.
I think it is disgraceful that WPTV went HD before any O&O stations in Miami. Not so much that WTVJ is not HD cause NBC seems to be taking forever with aLL their O&Os, but nearly all of CBS’s with the exception of WFOR are HD. Not sure why that hasent happened there yet.
Here in Phoenix we enjoy 3 stations delivering HD News content, NBC12 which was first, ABC15 which was next and 3TV (Indy). Both 3 and 15 ran live HD feeds from their copters up until the crash. None run ENG in HD, 15 has the most local HD content with an entire block in the morning originating in their studio that is all HD using JVC HDV cams purchased for them by Scripps Broadcasting.
Now, watching non HD news is painful, CBS 5 and FOX 10 are both almost impossible to watch knowing that there is a better picture just a click away.
Having grown up in SFla and working in media down there, I find it odd that such a large market has let technology slip past them.
I am not that shocked that WPTV Newschannel 5 was the first in S. Florida. WPTV was always the best news in S. Florida.