When is network news coming to HDTV?

A trend we have witnessed over the past few years is when a studio show gets a new studio that usually means they get HD. We saw it with Sportscenter, GMA and soon on the "Today" show. But this week we saw a new era of CBS news from arguably the HD leader, but no HD for Katie Couric and the CBS Evening news. Our friends over at HDTV Magazine had a chance to ask CBS's Vice President of Advanced Technology/Engineering, Robert Seidel what was up and he had a pretty good explanation. Basically he doesn't see the point of pouring all the resources into a 30 minute show with only 16 minutes a day of HD, so instead they are dedicating those resources to local news around the country which produce as much as 8 hours a day. Although there are a few people lucky enough to watch their local news in HD most of us are still living in the SD news world.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 8th 2006 5:14PM]

Should I keep quiet about keeping Katie Couric's rapidly aging face out of HD detail?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 8th 2006 7:00PM]

Not that I'm a fan of ABC local news in Philly, they just went HD. I'd rather see the NBC affiliate go high-def, but then again, nobody in Philly cares what I think. ;)

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 8th 2006 7:01PM]

Do you really want to see Katie Couric in hi-def? I can only imagine the amount of makeup she's wearing at her age.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 9th 2006 6:08AM]

Steve, I thought the same thing last night when I tuned into the CBS Evening News to see how it looked. Boy, was that pound cake we were seeing? No wonder they declined the HD approach. Maybe she can work out a face-haul (more than a lift?) and neckline dive before turning on the HD cameras.

I know, I know, its about the news, right? Even my local Channel 11 news channel in Atlanta is in HD!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 9th 2006 4:28PM]

Good to see everyone went with the "I don't want to see her" route.

The better reason is that a news program spends most of its time showing other clips. We have a local HD news in Minneapolis (I forget which), but all the footage from other networks are still HD. The studio looks nice, but it's a waste.