How to get more HD Programming in Maine

First of all, if you live in Southern Maine, your cable company may carry the Boston network channels as well as the Portland network channels. Watch the Boston ones. Most are in High Definition for their local news broadcasts, some are producing their own HD programming locally, and some can record and playback High Definition programming apart from the Network Feed.

Not ONE Portland Network Channel can do any of this. In my dealings with the many network affiliates in Portland (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CW, MyNetwork, FOX), none of them are even close to the technical capabilities of the Boston channels and to make it worse, I have received communicates from some affiliates General Managers who have said things like "we are only mandated to switch to digital, we are not required to do anything more than that".

Translation: They will do the very least to be in compliance with the laws set forth by the FCC, no more, no less. So if you are waiting to put your new HDTV to the real test, don't look for it in Portland. If you can get the Boston stations, do that. If not, get Satellite and if you can, just try to get the national network feeds, not your local network feeds. You can use you PC or the newspaper to check the news if it's important to you. It's all about ratings which means it's all about revenue. Money talks. If nobody is watching their channels because they are not in HD, then they will have no choice but to change their attitude.

In a recent communication with the NBC affiliate in Portland, I was told that they don't have the capability to broadcast, for example, reruns of HD television shows, in HD. For example, WCSH airs reruns of Law and Order in the afternoon. Law and Order is (and was) originally produced in High Definition. But WCSH doesn't have the equipment to record it and play it back in High Definition. They can only air High Definition programming that is being fed to them from the network during prime time (8 - 11 pm). I was also told that they have no plans to change this through 2009 and beyond. It's not even on their radar screen.

These TV stations don't care about providing the public with an excellent product; they are trying to skate by, doing the least amount of work possible. And there you have it, the new American Dream. Do as little as possible to get by. No wonder we are failing in this global economy.

There are a few exception. My personal opinion is that WPME and WPXT, managed by the same people, are doing as much as possible within their budet constraints to provide an excellent product to the public. They are self-producing a television program aimed at visitors to the state of Maine. The program is broadcast to hotels in the Portland area but anyone with a Digital TV and an antenna (forget cable or satellite) can receive this programming as well. They are thinking outside the box and that's what you need to be successful.