Once again, yet another television show that is supposed to be in High Definition is not. Today is Saturday, September 20. at 11:30 pm I tuned to WCSH 6 to watch Saturday Night Live. While I realized the show was not being broadcast in HD, I gave it a few moments to see if it would kick in (in other words, maybe somebody would notice and "flip the switch", literally), but to no avail.
So once again I called the station and played the automated attendant guessing game trying to talk to someone. I noticed there was a new phone option (that shows how often I call) called the "Digital and HD Hotline Mailbox" or something like that, and "Press 5". Well I tried that, twice, and all I ever heard after pressing 5 was "I'm sorry I didn't hear your response" from the nice lady that does the voice overs for your telephone system. I also called and tried the news desk. Usually somebody is there since news happens all the time. I guess WCSH decided ahead of time there wouldn't be any news overnight so why have somebody there.
In any case after several phone calls and several attempts at the voice mail system, I never got a chance to tell anyone that Saturday Night Live, which should be in HD, was not HD. I know for a fact after touring another TV station in Portland that it is literally a flip of a switch - a monkey could it. I am assuming whoever was supposed to be manning the control room needed a Red Bull and a Kit Kat bar or something like that.
Frankly, I am exhausted. I am so fed up with calling WCSH and WMTW and WGME to inform them their HD programming isn't in HD. Each and every time I have made one of these phone calls and talked to someone, the problem was fixed immediately, most times while I was on the phone and before I even finished explaining the issue. Whoever would answer knew quite well what the problem was as soon as the words started coming out of my mouth.
But if there is no way to contact you, how will the problem ever get fixed. The hot line was installed to deal with people using digital converter boxes and people complaining about shows not being in HD, I assume. What other reason could there be?
For over two years, since the day I bought my HDTV and bought an antenna that would receive digital/HD programming over the air for free, this exact same issue has been haunting me. I don't understand. Why does it take an average consumer to oversee what is going on at the network affiliates in my area. And If I am overseeing it, why can't I get through to talk to somebody about the problem.
At this point isn't anybody at WCSH 6 ashamed of their own station? They can't seem to keep up with the most menial of tasks that come along with high definition, like flipping the switch. And is nobody watching their own TV station to ensure that the public is getting the HD they are entitled to?
I run a Blog about high definition TV and media in general. This, along with the pile of other situations just like this, will go on the blog and feed the fire that is already smoldering out there. The public is angry, the digital conversion is a mess. There are people out there who have bought and installed their digital converter boxes and have lost your signal. Digital is nowhere near as strong as analog so by these simple facts you are already losing thousand of viewers, which in turn leads to lower ratings, which in turn leads to fewer revenue dollars. I would think that you don't want to add more fuel to the fire for the people who are already disappointed and frustrated already.
Sincerely,
Ron Caron
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