WPME's Weeknight Schedule in HD

Portland, Maine's "MyNetwork" affiliate, WPME - Channel 35.1, has an impressive weeknight lineup during prime time.

While the 2010-2011 "Big 3" television season offers some good options like "The Whole Truth" (ABC) and "Hawaii Five-0"(CBS), I can't say, personally, that the new season is all that impressive. Even with Emmy winners like "Modern Family" on the Wednesday Night comedy block on ABC, I find that most of the time, there is still very little to watch on ABC, NBC, opr CBS.

In this economy many people (like me) have had to tighten the belt. HBO and Showtime are gone from my cable lineup (not that I"m missing much from them either).

I enjoy sitting down to a nice cop or law drama, in High Definition. I believe that MyNetwork has found the answer. Right now, WPME is running back-to-back episodes of shows like "Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Without a Trace, Burn Notice, and Monk, during the week in prime time. Each night is a different show - two episodes. Did I mention they are in High Definition. And like "Law & Order" on TNT-HD, these are good shows, well made and well acted. They are an enjoyable alternative to the Big 3 lineup and a much better option than reality and do-it-yourself TV shows in the HD tier of channels.

Give WPME a chance and take a look at their weeknight lineup. Support them if you can.

Thanks for stopping by.

New TV Station and More HD in Southern Maine

A My Network affiliate (WZMY) began operations as a sister station to WPME (My Network - Portland) and WPXT (CW Portland) in December of 2009. It took some time to get the station up and running with HD equipment but recently they ironed out some of the bugs. I live in Southern Maine, and while WZMY is not in my cable channel lineup, I can pick it up in HD off of the coax cable line if I switch my input to antenna rather than the cable box. The channel is 50.1. You can also pick up WZMY if you use a "rabbit ear" antenna and that will, of course, be in HD as well.



On another note, both WPME and WPXT in Portland have some new equipment and are able to broadcast network, syndicated and locally produced television shows in High Definition. You may have noticed lately that some of the the locally produced shows like "Our Maine" which used to be in standard definition, are now in high definition. Even the annoyingly ubiquitous (is that redundant?) Maine Auto King is in high definition.



It's great to see some Maine TV stations taking the lead and giving the consumer what they want, which is High Definition. Now 50% of US households have at least one HDTV. And now that consumers are learning how to get HD out of their TV and once they experience true HD, there's not going back.



It's a shame, to me, that the HDTV industry has not made it easy for consumers. A barrage of terms, technologies, and choices make it almost impossible for the average consumer to understand what they are getting for their money. And that's what this is all about; money. Isn't that what everything is about?



Recently, I had a friend who decided she was going to buy and HDTV and was going THAT DAY to Best Buy to purchase one. She knows I know what I'm talking about but I couldn't take time off from work to go with her. So I had about an hour to research what was available at Best Buy and what was the best deal for her budget. Of course, from her perspective, knowing nothing about current TVs, she "heard" she could get an HDTV for "around 200 bucks". I rolled my eyes at her, over the phone (luckily), and tried to explain to her that she could probably find something called an HDTV for a little over $200, but that wasn't the smart choice. I found myself explaining about screen sizes and proportions, Hertz, refresh rates, contrast ratio, etc. and I could tell she was rolling her eyes. In the end, she bought something respectable. At least it was a 120HZ. Now I have to explain to her how to get HD from her cable company. She thought all she had to to was buy the HDTV and plug it in and she'd be good to go. It's hard to believe but yes, we're still there.

More HD coming to Portland, Maine

I apologize to all for not writing in a while. To be honest I haven't had any good, bad, or indifferent news about high definition here in Maine, or anywhere else for that matter.

Latest news? 240HZ and sliver-thin LED screens. It's already been proven that the human eye can't distinguish between 120HZ and 240HZ so I wouldn't waste my money, but you can if you want, or if you just don't have the room for a 4 inch thick TV screen and really need to scale back on that.

And then there is the Sharp "Yellow" phenomenon. Did you see the TV commercial with Mr. Sulu from Star Trek? He was explaining that YOUR television can't see yellow, even though the yellow we can't see was yellow on our TV's when he was explaining it. Is there a different yellow and yellow? What a joke. I believe the intention is to confuse the consumer so much that they will think they need to buy anything the HDTV market has to sell.

OK that's enough of that. On to bigger and better things:

I received an email from Doug Finck, General Manager at WPME (MyNetwork) and WPXT (CW) in Portland. They got some brand spanking new HD equipment that will allow them to broadcast HD content - it's all part of the new syndicated TV distribution architecture. Both WPME and WPXT will be able to receive (over the Internet or physical media) HD content and store it on these devices. They can then play it back and broadcast it in HD. There are some third parties involved in the whole process but the bottom line is that for the consumer, this means more HD programming.

Doug went on to say: "Specifically, from here on, we will be creating all local elements in HD. That includes local commercials, local promotional announcements, local [Public Service Announcements], local public affairs programs and all local long-form programs that we produce. (from "The Maine Rundown" to "Local Discovery", [and] from "Buy Local" to "OurMaine Magazine. Over the next 90 days you'll find more and more local HD content being added".

By working with their vendors and partners, WPME and WPXT will be able to broadcast shows like Extra, TMZ, Everybody Loves Raymond and others in High Definition. This is a first for our part of the world. Even the big 3 network affiliates in Portland are not yet doing this.

While WPME and WPXT still can not YET take an HD satellite feed and record it onto a machine and play it back like they did with analog broadcasts, being able to store and record local HD content, and being able to store and rebroadcast HD content delivered to them in ways other than satellite is a HUGE STEP FORWARD for a television station in today's environment.

As Doug finished his email to me he said "Everyday you'll see more and more HD content". That is music to my ears. Doug is committed to being at the forefront of HD TV in the Portland/Lewiston/Auburn Market. I'm excited about this. He's excited about this. And I can't wait to see all of the upgrades really soon.

Many thanks to Doug Finck for supporting this blog site. He's been a supporter for a long time and picked the Maine HDTV Forum to spread the word when he was ready to release this news.

Let us know what you think.

Update: Maine Television's Transition to Digital - what's really going on

Although President Obama signed a bill to extend the drop dead date for Analog broadcasting from February 17, 2009 to June 12, 2009, it is NOT a mandate. Broadcast television stations CAN extend their analog broadcasting, but they don't HAVE TO. So what's happening here in Maine? And what's happens beyond the conversion?

The future of Maine's broadcast television stations is in some ways written in stone and in other ways is very "up in the air" so to speak (pun intended).

There is a lot going on that we know about, but as always I am more interested in what we are not being told.

As of February 17, 2009 the following TV stations in Maine will still cease Analog operations and be Digital only. Some listed below have already shut off their analog signal.

WGME - CBS 13
*WPXT - CW - 51
*WPME - MyNetwork - 35
*MPBN - PBS Maine- Channel 10 in most areas except 9 in Orono and 45 in Biddeford
**WPFO - Fox 23
NHPTV - NH Public TV - Several channels
WVII - ABC 7 - Bangor

* Station has already dropped analog signal
** Station will do a flash cut-over from analog to digital on 2/17/09

CONGRATULATIONS, and job well done. I am glad that these stations have a backbone and continue forward on the conversion. The supposed extension to June is plain silliness. Why sign an extension bill if it is non-binding and all it does is cost different people money. It's crazy and unnecessary. The Converter Box Coupon program is not broke. The FCC handed out millions of coupons that were requested, but not really needed by the people who ordered them. And they sent out millions to people who simply let them expire without ever using them. The FCC is accounting for all of these unused and unneeded coupons as if it's money out the door and then claiming they are in the red. It's a bunch of crap. I don't know the percentages because the won't tell me but there must be a huge number of coupons out there that have never and will never be used. So I'd like to see the FCCs books to see if they moved those dollars back into the "cash available" column.

Now these are the TV in Maine stations who don't have a backbone and are using this fake extension as an excuse to hide their sub-standard technological abilities.

WMTW - ABC - 8 - Portland
WCSH - NBC - 6 Portland
WLBZ- NBC - 2 Bangor - owned by WCSH
WABI - CBS - 5 Bangor
The CW - used to be 56 Bangor, now just digital and only standard definition as a sub channel of WABI - The WABI/CW partnership is the most confusing and screwed up setup I have ever seen. I don't even think this CW entity has its own channel number anymore.

So there you have it, the winners and losers. Or is that the whole story?

The real truth is that NOT ONE MAINE TV STATONS is producing any programming in High Definition or even Standard Definition in 16:9 widescreen format. Not ONE. In Boston all three of the big three local affiliates produce their local news in High Definition. And they use Standard Def widescreen cameras for many of the field shots. WCVB even produces the only New England based non-news programming in High Definition. It's called Chronicle and they do an unbelievable job with production values.

Now in my area, WCSH, WMTW, and WGME all produce their news in digital, but standard definition. So all of us with HD televisions have to put up with two black bars on the side of the picture (called pillars). Many HDTV can't streth the picture to fit the screen easily because said black pillars are broadcast as part of the picture. The pillars exists only to fill up the screen. You would think that the people at these TV stations would be EMBARRASSED at this point. Hell, even Oprah and Ellen are in High Definition now, but Maine's crack TV technical directors can't quite figure out how to broadcast these programs in HD to Maine viewers. If Boston can do it why can't Maine? Is it about the money?

Of course it is. But they will blame in on the "economic downturn" or "reduced advertising revenue". The bottom line is that these stations are all owned by some corporate conglomerate. So until Maine's population demands High Definition local programming and refuses to watch the existing, ridiculous 1980's-style "news", then our TV stations will continue to offer sub-standard programming. If they aren't losing viewers, they have not reason to change anything.

Isn't it time we spoke up? Haven't we had to deal with enough with the digital conversion? WE WANT OUR HDTV!!!

Here's the big picture. A lot of people in Maine rely on over-the-air TV broadcasting. They have been forced to buy a new digital TV (and maybe a new antenna) or a converter box (and maybe a new antenna). When they have completed this, and hook it all up, they most likely receive fewer channels than they did before, because digital signals aren't as strong. The FCC promised that consumers would receive the same stations they did before. THIS IS NOT TRUE. The FCC had NO IDEA what they were talking about and did not know how many consumers would be affected by a reduction in the number of channels received. Now add on top of this all of the public service announcements and TV crawlers and news articles that have been going on for almost 2 years. The whole thing has been a major production and in my opinion, since the government started this whole thing, it was bound to be a mess, and it is.

So after all this don't we deserve to have high definition programming all the time, not just digital. Digital TV by itself isn't "better" than high quality analog broadcasting, not to the human eye anyway. So if you're not going to make a real difference and go HD all the way, then why bother. It's like in the old days if they had started selling color TVs and then no programming was in color, wouldn't you be a bit upset after you spent the money on a new set?

The Maine TV stations who are so behind the curve should be ashamed of themselves; I am ashamed and embarrassed by them. Thank goodness I can get the Boston channels from my house.

Am I really ready for Digital TV?

Are you sure you know the Truth about Digital TV and High Definition with an Antenna?

Doug Finck, from WPXT in Portland, ME, said in an email to me "our biggest challenge is not in communicating to the public that we are switching to digital...but the issues about reception"

Doug has been a long time supporter and recently shared the following information which I found most helpful in explaining some of the basic truths about digital TV.

"1. It's all about the antenna. An outside antenna will probably be necessary for many people. The type of antenna, however, is an issue because of the fact that there will be a combination of UHF and VHF digital stations and the viewers will need an antenna capable of receiving both types of transmission (or two antennas).

2. The more powerful and antenna is, the more directional it is. The more directional it is, the more critical it is to point it toward the transmitting antenna for the station they want to watch. Someone living in Lewiston will have to point their antenna in three directions; north for WCBB and WPFO, southwest for WCSH, WMTW and WMEA, and southeast for WGME, WPME and WPXT.

3. Consumers have to understand the need to manually enter all channels WHEN THEIR ANTENNA IS POINTED TOWARD THAT CHANNEL'S TRANSMITTING ANTENNA. Auto-scan is a waste of time and should be ignored or defeated. In the real world, a viewer will have a powerful, directional antenna. They will have to point it toward a specific station's transmitting antenna then enter that station's digital frequency (not the station's analog/marketing channel) to save the station. Then they will go to the next station, move the antenna, enter the digital number and save it. This process will be the only way to get the digital tuner to "see" all of the channels (assuming the viewer can actually get enough of a signal from each station to actually get the picture).

4. Rotors will allow one antenna to be aimed at all of the channels. Multiple antennas (with each one pointed in a specific direction) will also accomplish the same goal (getting the maximum signal from each station). But remember, in this market you're going to need both VHF and UHF receiving capability to get all of the stations!

As far as the cheap converter boxes are concerned, they are designed to downconvert digital signals to be displayed on an analog TV. The tuners are fine for doing that and all of the converter boxes are of equal quality and value. If by more expensive, you're talking about a $150+ box, you're not talking about a converter box, you're describing a digital tuner. There's a huge difference in price, quality and functionality. If you're just looking to buy a digital converter box to be used with an analog TV, buy the cheapest one you can find."

I asked some additional questions regarding whether or not existing TV stations would use continue to use their temporary UHF channel numbers or go back to their regular numbers (the ones the public knows them by). Here was Doug's response:

"Our digital channel is and will remain, 43. Stations will continue to market and refer to themselves by their old analog channel numbers as a way to reduce confusion to viewers. Our move with WPME from digital channel 28 to 35 (our old analog channel) was done for technical reasons (to allow us use the existing channel 35 antenna which is mounted at the highest point on the tower).

Several of the other area stations will be moving back to their analog frequencies (primarily for lower electric power costs), but most will not. This is going to be a confusing issue as viewers try to tune into specific stations and don't know the "real" channel numbers.

WCSH - Analog channel 6...digital channel 44. They will not be moving and even though the digital tuners will tell you that you are watching channel 6, it will actually be receiving that signal on channel 44.

WMTW - Analog channel 8...currently digital channel 45 but they will be
moving back to channel 8 for their digital broadcasting on February 17th.

WGME - Analog channel 13...digital channel 38. They will
not be moving and even though the digital tuners will tell you that you are
watching channel 13, it will actually be receiving that signal on channel 38.

WCBB - Analog channel 10...currently digital channel 17 but they will be
moving back to channel 10 for their digital broadcasting next week.

WPFO - Analog channel 23...they will switch from analog to digital broadcasting on
February 17th, but will remain on channel 23.

WMEA - Analog channel 26...they will switch to digital channel 45 (the current WMTW channel) on February 17th so the tuner will tell you that you're watching channel 26 but it will actually be receiving channel 45.

As viewers have to manually add and delete channels they will need to understand this concept and know the real channel numbers for each station."

Many thanks to Doug for all of his input. We appreciate that he has always been as passionate about getting information out to the public as those at the Maine HDTV Forum.

WPXT and WPME have plans for their subchannels

By now you may know that digital TV stations can broadcast more than one signal. Depending on their configuration they can broadcast 2, 3, or 4 programs at the same time.

In Portland, Maine, the local ABC and NBC affiliates use one sub-channel for News and Weather. Nothing yet on CBS.

We also have a CW affiliate and a MyNetwork affiliate (WPXT and WPME respectively). WPXT, Channel 51 has reserved the right to broadcast RTN (Retro Television Network) on a sub-channel. They won't do so until they get a cable company to carry the channel as most viewers get their TV from cable, not by antenna. WPME, Channel 35, broadcasts special, locally-produced programming on a sub-channel called the "Maine Visitors Channel". If you use an antenna to pick up free digital/HD television, you can tune to 35.2 to view this channel. Primarily, it was produced for broadcast to Hotels and Motels in the Portland area so that visitors to Maine could find out about Events, Restaurants, and other points of interest in the area. The financial model works because the programming is essentially advertising for which businesses pay to get a piece produced and run on the network. Visitors see the many different mini-info-mercials which generate business. WPME doesn't need a cable or satellite company to broadcast this channel in order for WPME to make money. The target audience is staying in lodging facilities where the signal for channel 35.2 is beamed in.

WPME - Channel 35 changes its digital channel assignment

Up until now, Channel 35-WPME in Portland, ME, was using UHF Channel 28 for its digital broadcast and UHF Channel 35 for its analog broadcast. Channel 28 was assigned to WPME by the FCC specifically for this purpose.

Since WPME dropped its analog signal earlier than the proposed February 17, 2009 date, they took this opportunity to move their digital broadcast back to Channel 35. All of this happens under the covers of your digital converter box or digital TV. Most viewers will lose access to this channel until they take action.

To fix the problem and start seeing channel 35 again, go to the settings of your converter box or digital TV and rerun the channel scan. The scan will pick up the new channel 35.1 and 35.2 on UHF 35. It will also delete 35.1 and 35.2 from channel 28.

So the answer is rerun the scan. That's my final answer.

Let me know if you have any questions or trouble.

Digital Conversion happening early in Maine and other places

You've seen the advertisements and public service announcements. Digital TV is here. You have until 2/17/09 to get ready.

Well the truth is that 2/17/09 is the LAST DAY POSSIBLE, meaning TV stations have until that day to convert their analog signals to digital. That doesn't mean they can't broadcast in digital now. In fact, most TV stations are broadcasting in digital now as well as analog.

However, the FCC rules say that a broadcast station can cut off their analog signal as early as November 2008. That's 3 months from now. 2/17/09 is simply the day that all analog signals must be cut off.

But the FCC has figured out that they don't want the entire country to convert to digital at one time. (It's about time).

In Portland, Maine, both WPME and WPXT (MyNetwork and the CW) will be converting soon. WPXT may go as early as this week. WPME is slotted for next month.

So viewers using Antenna don't have as much time left as they thought.

I learned this information recently and wanted to make sure and share it with you as soon as I could.

Local Portland Broadcasters finally putting digital technology to good use

A while back, WPME launched the Maine Visitors Channel (on their digital sub channel), a separate, locally produced set of programs targeted at visitors to the Portland area.

Other than that, WCSH6 and WMTW have used their digital sub channels for replays and repackages of news and weather (yawn!).

Now, WCSH, during the Olympics, finally put their sub channel to good use, and in my mind, what sub channels are meant for; at least one of the the things they are meant for.

During the Olympics, if the NBC Network decides to broadcast right through the local 12:00 noon news hour, WCSH 6 will broadcast the news on its sub channel. That's Channel 6.2 to you and me, over the air. Some cable providers carry Channel 6.2 as part of their regular line-up, usually on channel 207.

So for those of us using over the air antennas to receive free digital and high definition broadcasts, it's easy, and WCSH actually announced they were going to do this. I saw something flash on the TV screen there at about 11:45 am today. On my TV I just have to surf one channel up from 6.1 to 6.2 and receive their Noon News Broadcast.

It's nice to see someone is finally thinking about this and leveraging the advantages of digital broadcasting.

What's going on with Subchannels in Portland, Maine

I recently received an email from Dave who asked the following:

"I was just wondering if there was any news out there of what the stations are gonna do. I heard about these DTV only networks like RTN and .2 and so on. Any news if any Maine stations are gonna pick those up or anything else?" After a few exchanges, I wrote the following (which has been aggregated) and thought it would be a great addition to this blog.

As far as I know there is not anything new official going on for subchannels with the exception of things I already know about like Weather Plus on NBC (Channel 6 Portland), and News Now on ABC (Channel 8 Portland) and the Maine Visitors Channel on MyNetowork (Channel 35 Portland - actually a pretty cool self-produced subchannel). Only Channel 13 (CBS Portland WGME) hasn't decided what to do. They were supposed to run a Music Channel on 13.2 but that deal fell through. They, along with Fox 23, and CW (Channel 51) would have space for a subchannel like RTN, but I haven't heard anything yet. I'm going to ask my contacts though, because I like the idea. It's better than those Maine Auto King infomercials which drive me CRAZY. Channels already using at least one subchannel won't have enough bandwidth to operate an a third channel. Thanks for bringing it to my attention as something I need to follow up on. I'm going to poke around and see if I can some up with any inside track "news".

I checked with one source I have at one of the network affiliate stations in Portland. He told me something that, after he said it, made perfect sense. The decision as to what is going to be done with their subchannel is dependent solely upon what their parent company and the network says. Due to issues of branding and making sure their affiliates are basically clones of each other, it would be in their best interest to decide on subchannel programming at the corporate level. For example, on WCSH Channel 6 they use Weather Plus on their subchannel. The same is true for Channel 7 in Boston, Channel 30 in Hartford, etc, All of the NBC affiliates are doing the same thing with their subchannel.

Keep in mind that most channels are using their primary channel for digital and/or high definition programming which, because of bandwidth issues, only leaves them with enough room for one other standard definition broadcast. Technically, each station could broadcast up to 4 programs simultaneously, but if they did, each would have to be in standard definition. There is one station I know in my area that is part of the ION network (see Wikipedia) that does this but very, very few Cable companies would even carry the primary channel let alone the subchannels. In addition, the same problem exists for all TV stations using subchannels; they still have to get the cable channels to carry it if they really want to get a return on their investment. Unless there is a revolution where consumers all convert back to "over the air" broadcasting (no cable or satellite), most of these subchannels will never be seen.

Now, when it comes to networks like the CW or MyNetwork, they operate more independently. As I mentioned Channel 35, part of the MyNetwork network, produces and broadcasts their own original programming on channel 35.2 called Maine Visitors Channel (MVC). RTN would be great for someone like the CW Channel 51 or even Fox 23 who may not have finalized plans yet for their subchannel(s). Or if MyNetwork Channel 35 doesn't get the revenue they expect from MVC. MVC was designed to be broadcast to all of the hotels in the Portland area. Channel 35 actually invested in, and installed, digital receivers in the hotels with whom they have agreements so that guests of the hotel could receive MVC in their rooms (which probably all have old analog sets).

So, that's my take on Subchannels in the Portland/Lewiston/Auburn television market. I'd love to hear from anyone who has more info or questions on this topic.

WPME, Portland Channel 35 launches Visitor's Channel

The digital age of television is finally doing what it was designed to do. And it is happening here in Portland, Maine, for the very first time in the country. Portland, Maine, has a new TV channel and I am so excited.

WPME, Channel 35, has two digital broadcasts. The first is channel 35.1 which is their regular WPME channel. The second, allowed now by the introduction of digital television, is channel 35.2, the Maine Visitors Channel.

The first of its kind in the country, WPME has an agreement with several hotels in Portland and more are being added. WPME put converter boxes in these hotels to ensure that each television in the guest rooms would be able to receive the channel 35.2 signal. This doesn't mean you can't receive the channel. Digital broadcasts by network affiliates (in the case MyNetwork) are free and over the air. Most hotels have not installed digital TVs in all of their room, ergo the reason why WPME had to provide the converter boxes.

If you have a Digital TV with an antenna, or an Analog TV with an antenna and a converter box, you will be able to pick up this channel. I get it at my house in Springvale, about 30 or so miles from Portland. Cable TV and Satellite TV don't carry the channel so over the air is the only way to get it.

Produced in Portland, Maine, by WPME, they have designed a new network for tourists or visitors, but it can be just as valuable to Mainers themselves. They highlight everything from current events like festivals, tours, art exhibits, and even the weather forecast; all kinds of things in that genre for people looking for things to do while they are in Portland, or looking for new things to do if you already live here. I just watched a segment on Portland Head Light in Casco Bay, a great destination for visitors and locals with a great view of the bay and classic Maine vistas. It is something that I have never done in the 8 years that I have lived here. Local businesses are also highlighted.

Having separate broadcasts on the same channel (or sub-channel) from one station is part of what digital TV is all about. Most broadcast television stations around the country use their primary channel for digital, high definition programming and their sub-channel for "something else". In this case, a first of its kind, and locally produced, a local visitors network. I think it is pretty cool and WPME is a trail blazer in this respect.

Channel 8, WMTW in Portland already use their sub-channel for an endless loop of news/sports/weather updates. WMTW updates this loop several times a day.

Channel 6, WCSH, was first to use its sub-channel for 24 hour Weather Plus, an NBC owned subsidiary. Weather Plus is carried by many, or most, NBC affiliates on their respective digital sub-channels.

While both WMTW and WCSH got there first, what they did wasn't special. Producing original programming for a niche market is new and different and I respect WPME for really showing what can be done in the new age of digital television. I wish them the best of luck.

WPME and WPXT get new High Definition equipment

In Portland, the MyNetwork and CW network channels, WPME and WPME respectively, recently purchased new equipment that will help them advance into the next phases of high definition broadcasting.

From Doug Finck, General Manager WPXT-TV (The CW), Station Manager WPME-TV (MyTV)

"We recently purchased two new pieces of equipment. One is a digital receiver that allows us to receive satellite signals that are being transmitted in digital and HD. The second box converts the signal from 720 to 1080 or from 1080 to 720. We have to have that converter box because we have two different transmissions systems here. WPME operates in 720P…because the My Network Television system uses that as their standard (they are a Fox Network and 720P is the official format of Fox channels). Our other station, WPXT operates in 1080i…because The CW uses that as their standard (they are owned by CBS and Warner Bros., and 1080i is the official format of CBS networks). So we have the ability to receive a signal in one format, convert to the other and broadcast it live. This equipment was purchased in order to pass through HD signals from the ACC sports network (we are carrying about 40 basketball games…12 of which will be in HD this spring, and about 20 football games…many of which are supposed to be in HD starting this fall)."

This is great news. With these developments, WPME and WPXT will be in first place in terms of HD technology in the Portland, Maine TV market. They have also purchased equipment and services that will allow them to record and playback HD programming. This is a major step considering nobody else in the Portland market (with the possible exception of Maine PBS) can do this and must rely on a satellite feed from their network (e.g. ABC, NBC, CBS) for direct relay broadcasting (meaning they can only broadcast to you High Definition programming that is coming through from the network in that format AT THAT EXACT TIME). They can't record it and play it back later.

I still have to call the other Portland affiliates on a regular basis to ask them to "flip the switch" so that HD programming from the networks in prime time is actually broadcast to me in high definition. It is that simple. The satellite feed comes to the affiliate who turn around and broadcasts it from their tower to you. If they forget to "flip the switch" the program will only come to in in standard definition. This happens quite often so I call the offending station to let them know that they are not broadcasting in HD. I've written about it several times on this site so I won't go into it here. Feel free to search this site for more info.

Congratulations to Doug, and his team at WPME and WPXT. Cutting edge technology comes with its pitfalls and learning curves but I'm sure they can handle it. I look forward to seeing how they put this new equipment to use.