On Monday, the two duopolies , FCN and Action News, will premiere their newscasts in high definition. FCN (WTLV/WJXX) has been using a temporary set the past week as a new HD set is being constructed. Along with the set, comes a new HD graphics package. Action News (WTEV/WAWS) has had their HD ready set for a few months now, but have yet to begin broadcasting in true HD, unless you have DirecTV, which turned their feed into HD for their customers. They're set to begin broadcasting in HD on Monday as well. Once this is completed, all Jax news stations will be in HD.
Now, the next contest is to see which station gets a helicopter to report breaking news faster than ever. Helicopters are now the best weapon a station can have to report breaking news and traffic faster than ever, which equals bigger ratings.
http://jacksonville.com/business/2010-01-27/story/jacksonville_newscasts_going_hd
Back in the 70s and 80s, WTLV had a helicopter they used for traffic reports, and I think WJXT either had or rented one, too. Then one day, it crashed next to I-10/I-95 during a live report during the morning news, it crashed, killing at least one of the crew (which was pilot, photographer, reporter). Since then, there hasn't been much aerial presence for the local TV stations.
But you are right, after all of them are HD, that will likely be the next phase of news-tech wars.
We can only hope that helicopters are next, because most major markets have them. Hell, smaller markets than us have them, such as Oklahoma City and Louisville.
I'd love to see FCN broken back up and get a different station owner, like Hearst TV in the market.
Quote from: reednavy on January 30, 2010, 02:21:53 PM
We can only hope that helicopters are next, because most major markets have them. Hell, smaller markets than us have them, such as Oklahoma City and Louisville.
From a TV standpoint, those are both coimparably-sized markets to Jax.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-jan-the-jaguars-jacksonville-and-other-small-markets
Exactly, which is why if they have choppers for news, we should too. That said, in both those markets, the Big 3 stations have helicopters.
On a side note, I wish FCN would get a new music and graphics package. The current mandated package for all Gannett stations is too bland and sounds/looks very 80s-ish.
Quote from: reednavy on January 30, 2010, 03:54:07 PM
On a side note, I wish FCN would get a new music and graphics package. The current mandated package for all Gannett stations is too bland and sounds/looks very 80s-ish.
I believe they will have a new grahics setup starting Monday...not sure about the music
Top Ten Features of Local News in HD:
10. You can clearly see the idiots making hand gestures, etc. in the background during remote reports.
9. Jessica Clark.
8. When they show someone crying you can tell if there are actual tears flowing.
7. Dawn Lopez.
6. Clear view of tats and piercings during perp walks.
5. Monica Landeros.
4. Clear view of maps on which parts of town are mis-identified.
3. Casey Black.
2. You can see just how much make up each on air personality is wearing.
1. Paige Kelton.
The question is, will FCN be brodcasting a digital HD signal for those without cable?
Quote from: Jason on February 01, 2010, 09:37:39 AM
The question is, will FCN be brodcasting a digital HD signal for those without cable?
Yes.
Am I the only one that has noticed that Donna Deegan now has a pierced tongue, nice stud in it.
Well, WTEV/WAWS actually beat FCN last night with the premiere of their HD broadcast, a day ahead of what was scheduled.
Seems like a perfect timeline as it goes along with our market's news leaders in ratings. WJXT, WTEV/WAWS, and rolling in last WTLV/WJXX.
QuoteWe got approval to do it
Approval from whom?
Probably from Gannett.
Ugh, the set is horrible. That doesn't include Jeannie's red-orange rain coat looking outfit tonight, which makes me wanna puke.
Ch 12 used to have (or rent) a helicopter in the late 90's because Dan Hicken would chopper in to the high school football games and throw a few rubber footballs and tshirts to the crowd and then chopper off to the next game
I remember when the WTLV news helipcopter crashed back in the 1980s. If my memory serves me correctly, the crash happened on the Southside, right? I remember watching the news footage of their last moments; it was very jarring. It seemed that the local stations were snakebit after that.
I have to say, looking at action news (ch30) doesn't look like it's HD. It looks like they just zoomed in to get 16:9, the quality looks pretty low.
All of the stations may have HD sets and newscasts, but part of it still isn't. None of them seem to have HD camera crews out in the field. That needs to be changed, quickly.
Agreed reed. You can really tell on CH4 that the cameras out in the field aren't HD but zoom-o-vision. Does action news look HD at all (even the anchors in the studio?) or just zoomed?
They look HD, at least better than last week on Dish Network.
There are different levels of HD, so the stations here may be lower. Now, FCN appears to have the better studio quality.
However, to me, it is all fluff until we get helicopters in the air from these stations doing regualr reporting.
Im not sure I understand how a helicopter improves the quality of a newscast?
All local stations have access to the DOTs 30+ cameras, which cover almost the entire highway grid, and Im not sure a helicopter is needed to tell you JTB is jammed up at 530. It just is.
I think 20 years ago it may have helped, but now traffic reporting technology is such that even google has a traffic product. And lets be honest, we dont wan to end up like LA, with wall to wall coverage of high speed chases.
BTW, the WTLV copter crashed, killing the pilot and reporter on board. The photographer survived, only to die in another helicopter crash in Miami some years later.
Helicopters are mainly used now as a way to get to a local breaking story faster than competitors and to give it a different angle and/or perspective. They also get to locations of news where it is sometimes impossible to get closer to or are farther away from the city and aren't fast to get to on roads. When I go and visit back in Nashville, the biggest station, WTVF, uses it's chopper frequently and I like it.
In L.A., that is just part of the news competition out there, but am not a fan of them being covered, at all, see what happened in Phoenix in 2007.
Quote from: Dan B on February 01, 2010, 10:40:59 PM
Im not sure I understand how a helicopter improves the quality of a newscast?
All local stations have access to the DOTs 30+ cameras, which cover almost the entire highway grid, and Im not sure a helicopter is needed to tell you JTB is jammed up at 530. It just is.
I guess that we are in the minority. IMO the risks (costs, dangers etc.) outweigh the reward concerning news choppers esp. in a mid size city. People seem to be getting caught up with the "keepin' up with the Joneses'" a lil' to much. We aren't a city in a third world country just because we dont have a news chopper.
Quote from: I-10east on February 02, 2010, 05:49:30 AM
We aren't a city in a third world country just because we dont have a news chopper.
Yeah, it's our political leadership who put us in that category. ;)
I-10, about the only risk is a crash.
Coverage of the big story first equals bigger ratings, which equals more money for the station.
Where in the world did anyone make a reference that is remotely close to calling Jax a 3rd-world city? I'm calling out the fact many other markets our size have helicopters to help in news coverage, which I enjoy. It is a different perspective than a story from the ground, and you can get to a big story faster, which is basically referenced above.
^^^IMO choppers are effective in metros that have heavy traffic like LA, where crews can't get on the scene in time because of gridlock. Here in Jax, crews seem to arrive on scene fast enough via newsvan.
I was being sarcastic when I said "3rd world city" because people seem to act like we are so behind in times because we don't have a chopper.
Quote from: James on February 01, 2010, 07:31:29 PM
Ch 12 used to have (or rent) a helicopter in the late 90's because Dan Hicken would chopper in to the high school football games and throw a few rubber footballs and tshirts to the crowd and then chopper off to the next game
That was WJXX ch. 25 (before they combined with FCN)
Dan Hicken never worked for ABC25 pre-merger. Maybe he was thinking of Ric "The Hair" Renner.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-feb-first-coast-news-behind-the-scenes-on-a-new-set
Quote from: copperfiend on September 09, 2010, 11:03:55 AM
Dan Hicken never worked for ABC25 pre-merger. Maybe he was thinking of Ric "The Hair" Renner.
That's what I'm thinking