The man who is simply the best in the late night arena, Craig Ferguson, will no longer be able to be the butt of his own jokes about being the only late night show not in High Definition.
Conan O'Brien (Late Night with....) was in HD back when he was still in the 12:30 time slot. His replacement, Jimmy Fallon, continues in High Definition. Jay Leno, David Letterman, and even Nightline on ABC (although it hasn't been that long for Nightline) have all been broadcasting in High Definition for a while. And when Jimmy Kimmel on ABC went high def earlier this year, that left Craig Ferguson on CBS as the only late night show NOT in high definition.
Ferguson made it known, sometimes subtly, sometimes not so subtly, that he didn't appreciate it very much. His self-deprecating humor took pot shots and the bad lighting, second-rate stage, and lack of support from CBS.
Starting this past Monday, August 31, 2009, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is now in high definition. And it's about time. With 53% of American Households having at least one HD television, my predication are coming true.
I predicted that when the viewing public got used to high definition, they would demand it. And it would show in the ratings. The bottom line is - if a TV show is not in HD, it has a lesser chance of being watched. HD buffs, and regular TV viewers with an HD TV, will easily channel surf right past a show that is not in HD and will land on one (and stay there) that is in HD. Viewership equals ratings. Ratings equals advertising dollars.
The same is happening with local news broadcasts. In Southern Maine, where we can receive both local Maine news AND Boston news, the ratings tell the story. Viewers would much rather watch High Definition. So with a choice, viewers are tuning in to WCVB, WBZ, and WHDH (the big three out of Boston), for news. Some data suggests that viewers may check their local (non-HD) channels for weather. But Southern Maine and Southeastern New Hampshire are close enough to being far out suburbs of Boston, so why not watch the Boston news. Most of what Boston has on the news is centered around New England, not just Boston. And since New England is really one big state, it makes sense that viewers who spent a lot of money on an HD TV want to get all of the benefits having one.
Again, not one Maine TV station produces its newscast in HD. The ABC affiliate out of Portland, WMTW, even tries to fake it. They bought some equipment that allows them to cram the entire bottom on an HD picture with weather information, but above that is the standard black bars and second-rate picture quality. They want you to think "HD" because they are partially using the expanse of an HD picture, but it's not really HD.
WCSH, channel 6, our NBC affiliate bought some equipment that would make the on-air transition from non-HD to HD programming less jolting. All they have really been able to accomplish in HD is a 3 to 4 second promo for their on-air talent. Example: "Watch Lee Nelson and the Newscenter Morning Report". A picture of Lee Nelson flashes on the screen, there are background graphics and such, and it's all in HD. But it only lasts 3 seconds. That's all they can do.
Then there is our CBS affiliate, WGME. They call their weather computer "Doppler HD". There is nothing HD about it. This is nothing more than a marketing ploy. Do they think people won't notice that their weather broadcast, and the rest of their news broadcast isn't in HD? Do they think we are that stupid.
This is what we are dealing with in Maine. These TV stations need to man up, or woman up, and invest in an HD infrastructure. Otherwise they will continually lose viewership. I've been saying this for as long as I can remember. Whichever Maine TV station beats the rest to doing the local news in HD will win the ratings war. It's that simple.
4 comments:
I live in Randolph. When I turned on my tv this morning, I had a message to rescan. Once the full scan was completed, I began receiving channels from the Boston area. I have never received any of these before. After about 1/2 hour of checking out the new local HD broadcast of these Boston channels, the signal was lost. Any answers to why I would all of sudden receive and then lose these signals?
Has anyone told WGME that Craig Ferguson is in HD?. Watched it last night and it sure looked like SD, with black bars on the left and right side. I guess they didn't get the memo.
It happens ALL THE TIME and not just on WGME. I have spent many nights in the last two years calling TV stations in the evenings and late nights, to ask them to FLIP THE SWITCH to HD. I actually toured the WGME sutdios about a year ago. I had called so many times that the General Manager invited me to take a tour of the studio. I believe he tried to pacify me and prove how hard they work. In the end, all I noticed was that it is pure incompetence that an HD show is not broadcast in HD. They just need to flip the switch. Seach this blog, it's all documented.
So if you would like to take a turn calling the station when an HD program is NOT in HD, I would be thrilled to get some help.
WGME's phone number is 207-797-1313
WCSH is 207-828-6666
WMTW is 207-782-1800
You need to ask to speak to the control room since it will be after hours. Hit Zero, or keep calling back, whatever it takes to talk to someone there. If that doesn't work, get the email address for the General Manager from their web site.
Again, if you could help, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH. Because I am sick of calling.
By the way, when you do call and talk to someone, it takes about 3 seconds for them to fix it.
There is a chance that Craig Ferguson was in reruns and therefore not in HD. Ferguson only began broadcasting new shows in HD on August 31, 2009.
Andy, why you got those channels is because of weather conditions.
Sometimes depending on the weather currents the signal down in Boston might all of a sudden be a weak signal and you might get a strong signal and it goes as quick as you got it.
Weather can be strange at times, it depends on the tropospheric ducting of the signals. you might want to google tropo ducting and it will tell you much better in words than I can.
I'm a ham operator and it happens all the time with us when we talk to repeaters instate of Maine or accross seas or just accross the U.S. .... I love trying to receive distance signals weather it be ham radio or TV signals. I also have an outside antenna and I'm told by my tv to rescan quite often...
Have fun.
Harold
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