Channel 5-Bulletin in HD

[Shawn Mamros]

Larry wrote:
>At 1:43 AM -0500 2/1/07, Garrett Wollman wrote:
>>A good number of stations (in other markets) are already doing their
>>news in HD.  I believe we saw one on the northwest trip last year,
>>although I don't recall which market.
>
>And I have no idea why?  Given the expenses involved, I can't see 
>this contributing to the bottom line.

The studio equipment (cameras, monitors, switching systems, etc.) has
to be replaced every X number of years anyways.  If the HD-capable stuff
isn't that much more expensive than the SD-only stuff, and you're going
to be buying new stuff anyways, then why not go for HD?  Especially if
you can use it for bragging rights against your competition, at least
until the next time the competition's capital equipment cycle comes
around.

In Channel 5's specific case, they may be taking advantage of the HD
gear they already bought for Chronicle (part of which may have been
funded by Hearst's cable arm, which I believe still airs Chronicle
on one of their cable channels).

-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros -at- mit dot edu