Standard def reruns aired on HD [was Re: Todd Gross let Go??]

[marklaurence@mac.com]

On Dec 5, 2005, at 5:45 PM, Larry Weil wrote:

> At 05:16 PM 12/5/2005, John Francini wrote:
>> It might help HD acceptance to
>> accelerate from people _wanting_ to have it rather than _needing_  
>> to have
>> it, as they will from 2009 onward.
>
> The broadcasters are not looking for HD acceptance, to them HD is  
> an expense item and not a source of profit.

I don't disagree, but it's a shortsighted view.  Once you get HDTV,  
you never want to watch anything in SD if you don't have to.  I've  
always had a preference for Letterman, but before he switched to HD,  
I was watching a lot more of the Tonight Show.

This is the way it will be in the future as the price comes down and  
HDTV becomes the norm.  Eventually broadcasters will realize that HD  
is not only a source of profit, it is a key to their survival.  They  
have a big bandwidth advantage over cable channel 291, so if they're  
smart, they'll make use of it.  I wonder which Boston station will be  
the first to do their local news in HD?

Mark