This whole big "conversion to digital TV" is convoluted. Television stations must change their signal from analog to digital by 2/17/09. All that really means is they are changing the way they deliver their signal. "High Definition" has nothing to do with the digital conversion. It is just a by-product of it. If HD didn't exist, television stations would still go through this conversion to free up some of the airwaves (as dictated by the FCC). Once a TV station converts to a digital signal, they then have the capability, or option I guess, to further expand their capabilities to be able to transmit high definition. Most TV stations have not yet made the full leap to be able to record HD television shows transmitted to them via satellite and then replay them in HD. The equipment needed to do this is very expensive. So most TV stations can only relay programs in HD directly from the network back out over their tower. It is just a passthrough. Even if they wanted to, they could not capture that program in HD and replay it later.
A few TV stations in larger television markets have made the HD investment. In my area, WCVB (ABC Boston) has made the jump. Their local news is in high definition as well as other programs that they produce themselves. WHDH (NBC Boston) has also just recently made the transition to local HD. In my area of the country, which includes all of central and northern New England, that is about it.
That was an awfully long introduction to tell you that the "Ellen" show is now in HD on WCVB Boston at 9:00 AM. Ellen comes on again on WMTW (ABC Portland, ME) at 4:00 PM but since that TV station has not converted to full HD mode, poor Ellen will be in regular old standard definition. So which would you rather watch if you had the choice? Which one would you record on your DVR or TIVO if you had the choice? Well, the High Definition version, of course.
I saw the new Bonnie Hunt show which was in wide screen on WCVB but not in HD. I don't know if the show is produced in HD but even if it were, it is not being sent to WCVB in HD. I would think that any new TV show would be produced in HD and if it is in wide screen, I really have to assume the Bonnie Hunt show is. So that means that somewhere between production and delivery, there is somebody in that mix that doesn't have HD capabilities yet.
Now comes the "cart before the horse" argument. TV stations that broadcast these syndicated TV shows in HD will have a higher viewership. Bigger ratings mean bigger revenue. Bigger revenue means TV stations can recoup their investment in HD much quicker. But smaller stations don't have the capital to invest in HD equipment. But if they don't convert, they will miss out on revenue. Also, since there are not a lot of syndicated shows in High Definition, why would a station spend the money to convert to full HD if they don't have the programming to take advantage of it. Do you see the chicken/egg problem?
This is the first TV season that will overlap the final conversion date to digital in February 2009. Since stations have that deadline, some will choose to take the leap to full HD at the same time and some will not. We'll just have to see how this plays out and who wins the ratings and revenue game.
Right now, "Ellen" is the only syndicated how I have seen that has changed to HD. But it's a new season and all of the new shows have not debuted yet. I'm keeping my eyes and ears open. If anyone sees some HD stuff out there, let me know, I'd love to hear about it.
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