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KVUE News going HD soon!
Christine Haas and Tyler Sieswerda are about to get new makeup and a spiffy new look to their anchor perch on KVUE’s local newscasts.
Why? The Belo-owned station is switching its newscasts to HD. We’ve noticed for several weeks that the anchors aren’t in their usual set, and the lighting looks a bit harsh sometimes. Turns out that’s because KVUE is building a new deck for their old set to accommodate the transition.
We found this out, by the way, not from the station but from an article in Broadcast Engineering.
This morning we called for confirmation from KVUE’s long-time chief engineer Mike Wenglar. The specific date for the HD debut has not been released, but late May or early June look probable.
Look for a big promotional extravaganza closer to the premiere, when news, weather, sports and field reports all will be telecast in HD.
KEYE’s newscasts, you might remember, went HD last November — just in time for the important sweeps period. Ron Oliveira and Judy Maggio sailed through their ready-for-their-closeup makeovers.
KXAN and KTBC both have HD-ready news sets but no launch time for the high-def switch. Presumably, however, all local Austin news will be in HD by the end of this year.
J.Lo and the twins on reality TV
TLC has landed a deal with Jennifer Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony for a reality series that will focus on the glam life of J.Lo and the more down-and-dirty job of taking care of twins Emme and Max, born Feb. 22.
The series will be produced by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, another celebrity couple. No air date has been set — and no title either.
Suggestions? “Hot Mama?” “J.Lo & The Babes?”
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment Categories: Local news
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By austinights
May 5, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this
I read an article some time ago that the volume is up to 15% higher on purpose - kinda like an attention grabber. All it does for me is turn the channel to see what's on the news before I come back in two or three minutes.
It's gotten to the point on most shows already that you can watch, see commercials and also watch the popups that come out on the bottom of the screen at nearly take up 1/3 of the screen.
By Hutch
May 2, 2008 6:28 AM | Link to this
Now if they would just work on maintaining a constant sound level instead of turning up the volume on commercials!
HOLLOWAY responds: Boy, Amen to that, but not just KVUE. All the channels have sound levels that bounce like rubber ball. I've almost worn out my up-down audio button on the remote control!
By Brent
April 28, 2008 8:18 PM | Link to this
So right LJ... got my call letters mixed up! Oh well, at least I should finally be able to watch Friday Night Lights in HD in the fall, since it'll be on DTV's 101 channel. Stupid KXAN corporate ownership.
By David
April 28, 2008 6:49 PM | Link to this
i agree that some of the news readers should better prepare themselves.
I'm sure the producers and broadcasters stress this point to them - so why do they lack in finess?
I have this software from www.onlinetvportal.com where
I watch the news in Iran and the news presenters seem to have better comprehension than these US presenters.
Great article. Keen to see how they progress to the HD. Keep us posted!
By Tom Barry
April 28, 2008 4:59 PM | Link to this
Wouldn't they be better served if they spent the money on teaching their news readers to, well, read the news without stumbling over their tongues every other sentence?
By LJ
April 28, 2008 3:43 PM | Link to this
KVUE/ABC is in HD on DirecTV. It's KXAN/NBC that is not in HD on DirecTV. Who knows why.
KEYE has already updated its tagline to: First in HD.
By impressed
April 28, 2008 2:31 PM | Link to this
because the local news is SO much better in HD...
By Brent
April 28, 2008 12:52 PM | Link to this
That's great and all about KVUE, but I'd like to know when the station as a whole is going to be in HD on DirecTV.