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Tampa's WFLA upgrades newscast to HD
Just thirty days after the first local HD newscast in Tampa Florida, WFLA announces they too will make the switch. Starting with today's edition of the 5 o'clock news, HD fans will have a choice in HD news in the greater Tampa Bay area (#12 market in the US). WFTS was the first station in the area to go HD, but their pre-recorded segments and live on-location news is still upconverted. WFLA is expected to have about the same mix of SD and HD in their newscast, but we can certainly see where a little friendly competition could be a good thing for HD fans wanting to get as much HD as they can. The real question is, how long will the remaining two local broadcast news stations take to make the switch?
Engadget HD goes hands-on with the high def six o'clock news
The only thing better than watching HD is learning how it actually works. So we took a trip down to WFTS in Tampa Florida to get schooled on what it took for them to upgrade their daily newscast to HD. And yes, we took lots of pics.
What it takes to produce an HD newscast
We've all spent plenty of money on our HD gear and who wants to watch SD on their brand new HDTV? And if you think your wallet is hurting after buying your gear, that's nothing compared to what it costs to produce HD content -- not to mention the amount of work. We recently had the opportunity to tour a local ABC affiliate who's just spent the money to produce five hours of HDTV news per day in the Tampa Bay area (the other bay-area). The amount of time and money required is unbelievable and every single piece was considerably more than even the most expensive component in our HD setup. So, please follow us along as our new friend Jack Winter, the Director of Broadcast Operations and Engineering from WFTS ABC 28, shows us what it takes to produce HDTV.
