What is going on with High Definition at WMTW?

Since I don't have cable or satellite, I look forward to sitting down and watching a high definition broadcast with my HDTV and my antenna. It's free, and it works (read other articles on this blog if you want to learn how to get HD for free).

On Sunday night, February 3, 2008, I was one of the few not watching the super bowl. So when the movie "Meet the Fokkers" came on on my local ABC affiliate, I thougth, what the heck.

So I turned it on and it wasn't in high definition. I'm used to this. I called the station to let them know to flip the switch (read other articles on this site about how many times I have to call my local affilates to let them know they forgot to flip the switch and allow the broadcast in high definition). The person who answered the phone, Adam, told me that the network "for some reason" did not give them this particular program in high definition.

Hmm. I thought, well, it could be true I guess. So I called an ABC station in New Hampshire and I called an ABC station in Connecticut. Both of them were broadcasting this same movie at the same time slot, from the same network, in High Definition. Now my alarms were going off; something was amiss.

I called back and spoke to "Adam". I told him that other ABC stations were broadcasting "Meet the Fokkers" in high definition. He told me that the network "did not offer this particular movie to WMTW in high definition". I told him that this did not make sense to me and asked how could they be the only station in the area not "allowed" or "offered" one particular program in High Definition????. That makes no sense at all.

I asked Adam who I could talk to to get move information. I identified myself as someone from the Maine HDTV Forum who wrote about HD issues in Maine. He told me there was no one on a Sunday night I could speak to. I told him that I meant in the morning or next week. He understood but wasn't sure who I could talk to. He referred me to someone in Programming or Engineering. I will certainly do that and let you know what happens.