HD Channel not in HD

[torre39601]

Why do some HD Channels show movies and shows that could be in HD but are in SD?

[LarryFlowers]

Why do some HD Channels show movies and shows that could be in HD but are in SD?

Money and licensing.

[Msguy]

I've wondered this myself. In my market we just had 2 new Local HD Channels launch in Memphis WLMT 30 and the PBS Station also is now HD. WLMT Channel 30 looks aweful alot of times and they are supposed to now be in HD. So if we are paying for HD Service and the channel is supposed to be in "HD" Why in the HELL isn't the content looking any better?

[JoeTheDragon]

I've wondered this myself. In my market we just had 2 new Local HD Channels launch in Memphis WLMT 30 and the PBS Station also is now HD. WLMT Channel 30 looks aweful alot of times and they are supposed to now be in HD. So if we are paying for HD Service and the channel is supposed to be in "HD" Why in the HELL isn't the content looking any better?
PBS is OTA and not all local channels show local stuff in hd all the time.

[BattleZone]

Imagine you had $20,000,000 invested in equipment at your TV station in SD equipment, and your station made a profit of $500,000 a year. How easy is it going to be to replace all of that equipment with HD equipment all at once, along with upgrading all of your data connections as well? That exactly what is happening right now for lots of TV stations.

So if they've moved to HD, that means that they've been able to upgrade a portion of their equipment, but in many cases, a lot of their equipment is still SD-only, and in this difficult economy, it's going to be a while before all of that equipment is finally upgraded.

Then there are licensing fees. Content holders want to charge more money for HD content than for SD. That money has to come from somewhere, which is one of the reasons why so many local stations are/were recently trying to ask for large increases in retransmission fees from cable and sat providers. You *do* realize that ultimately it is YOU, the consumer, who is going to pay for those equipment upgrades, in the form of higher programming costs, right?

Anyway, HD is a *transition*, not a cut-over.

[mcrutland]

I've wondered this myself. In my market we just had 2 new Local HD Channels launch in Memphis WLMT 30 and the PBS Station also is now HD. WLMT Channel 30 looks aweful alot of times and they are supposed to now be in HD. So if we are paying for HD Service and the channel is supposed to be in "HD" Why in the HELL isn't the content looking any better?

WLMT's SD equipment is bad, when they switch over to HD, it looks real good.

[torre39601]

I was talking more about cable HD channels doing it. Showing a movie in SD that could be shown HD but isn't.

[bonscott87]

I was talking more about cable HD channels doing it. Showing a movie in SD that could be shown HD but isn't.

1) They don't have the rights to the HD version is the main reason.

2) Or they didn't pay for it in HD, only SD. Say they paid for the rights to the SD version many years ago before there was an HD version and they haven't paid more to get the rights to the HD version (assuming they even can, see #1).

3) They're idiots.

[mcbeevee]

3) They're idiots.

:thats: