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It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about the upcoming DTV transition. The DTV coupon program is in full swing and converter boxes are widely available. I got my two $40 coupons a few weeks ago and bought my first box yesterday. Based on reviews at AVS Forum and the comparison on Wikipedia I chose to get the Zenith DTT901. Circuit City showed them in stock in their Harrisburg East store, so I picked it up from there. I already had a Radio Shack ATV 1000 combo VHF/UHF/FM indoor antenna, so I plugged that in to the DTT901. I was pleasantly surprised when I performed the first auto-scan and received all the local digital stations clearly except for WPMT-DT (Fox).
I haven’t yet tried to adjust my antenna and manually tune in Fox, but I’m not all that concerned since I’m setting this up mainly to give us TV access in the event our cable goes out. However, I like the ability to choose 16:9 or 4:3 for HD/widescreen shows and the 4:3 picture I get from the DTV is noticably cleaner than what we get over cable. Checking back in on my DTV post of over a year ago, I think Mark Cuban’s comment hits the mark. At the time I was convinced that the broadcast networks would go native widescreen and not worry about 4:3 protection. In the meantime, they’ve moved their corner bugs in and graphics are 4:3 safe. Our local stations (along with most others, I presume) aren’t producing any HD content. Even WGAL and WHTM switch their HD feed into SD mode to do graphics overlays for station ID or weather alerts. What remains to be seen is how cable providers will feed analog cable customers. Will they have a choice of aspect ratios or be force-fed 4:3?
I really like the DTT901. It’s small, has low operating heat, and its remote is small and simple. I like being able to quickly zoom/crop the HD channels to optimize viewing. I’ll probably buy another one with my second coupon.
I’ve got less time for TV these days, so shows that aren’t entertaining me are getting the boot. The first of this season is Heroes. It’s going absolutely nowhere and has too many characters. I’ve been checking out BBC America’s Torchwood, but it’s turning out to be more “fi” than “sci”. Might give it one more episode.
Why would a network affiliate bit-starve their flagship HD content to broadcast SD subchannels? That’s what WHP is doing. I used to chalk up macroblocking during CBS football games to the network’s transmission capabilities, but after years of following NFL HD discussion on AVS Forum I’m convinced that the games would look fine if WHP would either get rid of their SD subchannel (who’s watching it?) or bit-starve it and leave plenty of bandwidth for the HD content. I can forgive a little macroblocking during live fast-motion football shots, but when I see it in pre-recorded dramas like Numbers I think WHP (owned by Clear Channel) doesn’t really care what their programming looks like. On the forums, CBS is praised for their HD NFL coverage over NBC, Fox, and sometimes ESPN. However, the picture we’re getting in Harrisburg is being compromised by WHP.
I’m definitely interested in the over-the-air set-top-box (OTA STB) coupons that the government will be distributing to assist with the DTV transition. Namely, what kind of antenna and placement will be required for adequate reception with the boxes, and what kind of outputs will the boxes in the estimated price range have? The documentation is geared towards a box designed to connect to an analog standard-definition set via coax or composite video/audio, but I’m wondering if mid-tier (s-video, optical audio) and higher-end (component video, HDMI) options will be available and eligible for the coupon. With most of the HD programming we watch delivered by broadcast networks, I can’t help but think of investing in an over-the-air alternative to Comcast’s HD DVR service. Like other Comcast services, it never seems to get cheaper. Two HD OTA STBs connected to an HD Tivo or similar unit (or a carefully-crafted media PC) might seem like a lot of money in the short term, but after a year or two of Comcast bills are avoided, it would probably pay for itself.
Update (10/14): My post at AVS Forum: WHP Is Killing Cin @ KC
Update (10/19): I had thought WHP had two SD subchannels, one for weather and one for MyNetworkTV, but was mistaken. They have just one SD subchannel for MyNetworkTV. I’ve edited my previous comments.
Now that the 2007 NFL schedule is out and the doubleheader networks for each week are known, I figured I’d look at the schedule and attempt to determine what Sunday afternoon games will be shown by the Harrisburg area’s local CBS and FOX affiliates. I think it’s kind of pointless to predict all the 4pm games during the “flexible” portion of the schedule (weeks 11-17, starting Sunday, November 18th), so I’ll only attempt to predict the currently-scheduled 4pm games that involve regional teams.
For these predictions I’m assuming that we’re designated a secondary market for the following teams, in the following order: Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, and Pittsburgh Steelers. I’m also taking into account that traditionally our CBS affiliate (and presumably our FOX affiliate) will show a Steelers game in favor of a conflicting Ravens home game. (Reference.) There are surprisingly few Ravens/Steelers conflicts this season. Combine that with the fact that both local teams’ divisions are playing the AFC East, and you’ve got one happy Buffalo Bills fan here.
Here are my predictions (confirmed games in italics):
Week 1, Sunday, Sep. 9:
CBS: Pittsburgh at Cleveland, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Philadelphia at Green Bay, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Chicago at San Diego, 4:15pm (HD)
Week 2, Sunday, Sep. 16:
CBS: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 1:00pm (HD)
CBS: NY Jets at Baltimore, 4:15pm (HD)
FOX: Green Bay at NY Giants, 1:00pm (HD)
Week 3, Sunday, Sep. 23:
CBS: Miami at NY Jets, 1:00pm (HD, or Buffalo at New England, 1:00pm, HD) Cincinnati at Seattle, 4:15pm (HD)
FOX: Detroit at Philadelphia, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: NY Giants at Washington, 4:15pm (HD)
Week 4, Sunday, Sep. 30:
CBS: Baltimore at Cleveland, 1:00pm
CBS: Pittsburgh at Arizona, 4:15pm (HD) (or Denver at Indianapolis, 4:15pm)
FOX: St. Louis at Dallas, 1:00pm (HD)
Week 5, Sunday, Oct. 7:
CBS: Cleveland at New England, 1:00pm (or NY Jets at NY Giants, 1:00pm (HD))
CBS: Baltimore at San Francisco, 4:15pm (HD)
FOX: Seattle at Pittsburgh, 1:00pm (HD)
Week 6, Sunday, Oct. 14:
CBS: Miami at Cleveland, 1:00pm (or Cincinnati at Kansas City, 1:00pm (HD))
CBS: New England at Dallas, 4:15pm (HD)
FOX: Philadelphia at NY Jets, 1:00pm (HD)
Week 7, Sunday, Oct. 21:
CBS: Baltimore at Buffalo, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Arizona at Washington, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Chicago at Philadelphia, 4:15pm (HD)
Week 8, Sunday, Oct. 28:
CBS: Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Philadelphia at Minnesota, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Washington at New England, 4:15pm (HD)
Week 9, Sunday, Nov. 4:
CBS: Cincinnati at Buffalo, 1:00pm
CBS: New England at Indianapolis, 4:15pm (HD)
FOX: Washington at NY Jets, 1:00pm
Week 10, Sunday, Nov. 11:
CBS: Cleveland at Pittsburgh, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Philadelphia at Washington, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Dallas at NY Giants, 4:15pm (HD)
(Flexible scheduling begins now; predictions will be less accurate. (Ed. 10/25: I’ll try to guess these anyways… 
)
Week 11, Sunday, Nov. 18:
CBS: Pittsburgh at NY Jets, 1:00pm Pittsburgh at NY Jets, 4:05pm (HD) (time change) (eclipses Cleveland at Baltimore, 1:00pm and Miami at Philadelphia, 1:00pm)
FOX: Washington at Dallas, 1:00pm NY Giants at Detroit, 1:00 pm (HD) (Miami at Philadelphia, 1:00pm won’t be covered by FOX)
FOX Doubleheader FOX: Washington at Dallas, 4:15pm (HD) (time change)
Week 12, Sunday, Nov. 25:
CBS: Tennessee at Cincinnati, 1:00pm (or Houston at Cleveland, 1:00pm (HD)) (Ed: Makes sense - Cleveland’s doing much better than Cincinnati right now.)
FOX: Washington at Tampa Bay, 1:00pm (HD)
CBS Doubleheader CBS: Baltimore at San Diego, 4:15pm (HD)
Week 13, Sunday, Dec. 2:
CBS: Buffalo at Washington, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Seattle at Philadelphia, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Doubleheader FOX: NY Giants at Chicago, 4:15pm (HD)
Week 14, Sunday, Dec. 9:
CBS: Pittsburgh at New England, 1:00pm (flexed to 4:15pm) Oakland at Green Bay, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: NY Giants at Philadelphia, 1:00pm (HD)
CBS: Doubleheader CBS: Kansas City at Denver, 4:15pm Pittsburgh at New England, 4:15pm (HD)
Week 15, Sunday, Dec. 16:
CBS: Baltimore at Miami, 1:00pm (HD) (eclipses Jacksonville at Pittsburgh, 1:00pm)
FOX: Green Bay at St. Louis, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Philadelphia at Dallas, 4:15pm (HD) (unless it moves to Sunday evening)
Week 16, Sunday, Dec. 23:
CBS: Cleveland at Cincinnati, 1:00pm (HD)
FOX: Philadelphia at New Orleans, 1:00pm (HD)
CBS: Baltimore at Seattle, 4:15pm (HD) (unless it moves to Sunday evening)
Week 17, Sunday, Dec. 30:
CBS: Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 1:00pm
FOX: Dallas at Washington, 1:00pm (Buffalo at Philadelphia, 1:00pm won’t be covered by FOX, and Pit@Bal will probably trump. Possible reference.)
CBS: Doubleheader CBS: San Diego at Oakland, 4:15pm
(NOT even going to bother trying to fix this one. Both networks had doubleheaders, and games were moved around quite a bit since the schedule was first published.)
CBS: Buffalo at Philadelphia, 1pm (HD)
CBS: Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 4:15pm (HD)
FOX: New Orleans at Chicago, 1pm (HD)
FOX: Dallas at Washington, 4:15pm (HD)
8/20: I’m going to update this entry occasionally to keep track of my accuracy. I’m also going to note which games were available in HD.
Great to see a new Heroes episode tonight, but did anyone else get the huge Watchmen vibe during Nathan and Linderman’s conversation? Showing influences by giving nods to prior art is cool, but the plot Linderman revealed seemed to me to cross well into “imitation” territory.
I find it interesting that the Heroes wiki doesn’t currently have any references to “watchmen“. Here’s the earliest reference I could easily find in Google to someone that raises the same question. And here’s an article that would have spoiled it for me had I been looking for spoilers before watching this week’s episode.
…Because that night the Bills will be hosting Monday Night Football! They are scheduled to play Dallas to cap Week 5 of the 2007 NFL season, in their only non-1PM-Eastern game (so far).
I can’t believe I just found out about the airing of remastered ST: TOS episodes after visiting StarTrek.com last week, but that’s life. I checked out the my first one last night, “Space Seed“, one of the greatest Original Series episodes (it spawned Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan). I couldn’t tell from the FAQ whether we were going to be able to see it in HD or 16:9, so I recorded it from WLYH-DT. The episode was 4:3 windowboxed, and I couldn’t tell if it was HD. I assume it wasn’t.
However, the episode looked gorgeous, and the digitally-rendered space scenes and opening montage weren’t distracting at all. The credits had the same look and feel as the original. The cleaned-up filmstock was noticably colorful, and even the ending credits were faithful.
I’m recording WHP-DT’s showing late tonight to see if it’s in 16:9 just in case. After that, I’ll subscribe to one of the weekly showings so that I can re-enjoy all these great episodes. I just wished I’d noticed them sooner! They’ve been airing one per week since last September!
Update (3/5): WHP-DT showed last week’s episode, “The Paradise Syndrome”, in 4:3 last night, even though Comcast’s guide expected “Space Seed”. I just watched the beginning. I’ll watch the rest of it later and will subscribe to WLYH-DT’s weekly offering since they seem to be following the published schedule.
Blog Maverick: The Future of TV Programming - In High Def vs For High Def
Content shot for TV today is shot and protected for its biggest possible audience, which for today and at least the next 7 to 10 years is going to be an audience watching on a 4×3 TV. Even with the analog cutoff coming in Feb of 2009, most people who watch TV will watch on a regular, non HDTV.
[..]
Because TV Networks, whether broadcast or cable want to sell ads and reach the largest possible audience, they have to produce their content so that it is viable on the lowest common denominator of TV reception, the 20″ analog TV. The conventional wisdom is that dramas and high end shows are shot in film while comedies are shot on HD Tape, and reality shows are regular tape. But all are shot “protected” for regular 4×3 TVs.
I disagree with this assessment (and HDNet commercial), assuming that the analog TV shutdown happens as planned in 2009.
When only ATSC signals are available over the air (OTA), either standard-def (usually 4:3, sometimes letterboxed) or high-def (always 16:9, sometimes windowboxed) programming will be available though those channels. The major broadcast networks are committed to HD, and at this point I think it’s unlikely that HD ATSC broadcast stations won’t be the norm. As a result, we should be able to assume that through those pipes 16:9 content will flow. OTA ATSC set-top boxes (STBs) intended for 4:3 analog TVs may offer a zoomed crop for 16:9 programming, but I think it’s more likely that they’ll letterbox it, like a DVD player does for a 4:3 TV when it plays anamorphic widescreen content. That would mean that it’s a lot less likely that new programming, the majority of which should be broadcast 16:9, whether native widescreen or windowboxed, would be viewed on an analog 4:3 TV as native 4:3, This would negate the lowest common denominator that Mark Cuban describes.
I continue to wonder what the cable companies will do with their analog service once OTA NTSC goes away. I think that if they continue providing analog service, they’ll take the OTA HD ATSC channels and letterbox them as well. However, there’s the chance that they’ll stop offering analog cable service all together and customers with analog non-HD TVs will have to use a STB just like their OTA brethren.
And what will the satellite companies do? Who knows?
I have nothing against HDNet or Mr. Cuban, but I read that post as FUD-mongering and wanted to give it a little of my perspective.
Update: Apparently this article isn’t published on the Blog Maverick site right now. I was reading it through Bloglines’ cache and reacted to it based on reading it there. We’ll see if the article re-appears, although I have the content cached if it isn’t.
Update 2 (6:45am 2/25): The referenced article is public now. Reading it again this morning, I see he’s referring to both broadcast and cable networks. My points obviously apply to just the broadcast networks, who should pull the overall trend towards 16:9 programming (or at least, presentation) once the analog shutdown is complete.
Just watched tonight’s Heroes and loved the Star Trek reference they threw in. The car carrying Hiro’s father (played by George Takei) has a NY license plate, number NCC 1701. Saw it in real time and flipped back to re-watch to make sure. 
Update (2/6): It’s mentioned on the Heroes Wiki: Star Trek page.
HUGE Rush reference on “The Knights of Prosperity” tonight; they sang “Tom Sawyer”! OK, this show just became ultra-cool…
Update: They used “Tom Sawyer” in a training sequence and again in a barfight as well!
Who else besides Melissa and I like this show?
AVSForum: New Comcast/Tivo software announcement
As a former TiVo user and current Comcast DVR user I’m salivating at the pictures of the new Comcast/TiVo interface. I hope the charge for this upgrade isn’t too bad, because I think this interface is an order of magnitude better than the current one. I wouldn’t mind a box swap to get there if it meant I’d get a larger hard drive in the new box. We can always use more recording time; HD programs eat up a lot of hard disk space.
With tonight’s episode “Hiro’s”, Heroes has become a must-watch show for me. A more interesting implementation of the “six degrees” theme than Six Degrees, that’s for sure.
Update: Steve Gillmor likes Heroes, too.
It was great to have another Locke episode on “Lost” last night. He’s one of my favorite characters. The “sweat house” scene with his vision of Boone was well-produced. It’s a shame we’re only going to get three more new episodes until January.
We were very disappointed that Storm was let go tonight on Rock Star. We thought that at this phase of the competition, it was known that all 5 “rockers” were great singers. We thought “they’re now being tested on their musicianship”, writing original songs and collaborating with Gilby. I thought Dilana had failed that test, but apparently they still like her stage presence and ability enough to keep her on until next week’s finale.
Storm was the most gracious contestant. She supported everyone else during their performances, always being the first one to stand up and sing along when someone else was on the stage. Her song “Ladylike” kicked ass. She was never afraid of being in the Bottom Three.
At this point, I believe either Toby or Lukas should be picked. I think Toby’s going to go all the way.
Melissa and I are still greatly enjoying Rock Star: Supernova. The band chose last week to do the now-standard “double-boot” week, getting rid of two contestants, Josh and Jill. I enjoyed Josh’s performances, but his style and delivery were too clean for Supernova. I enjoyed a few of Jill’s performances, especially Heart’s “Alone”, but her occasional yell-singing and tendency to copy original artists’ visual performances (most notably Courtney Love and Tracy Bonham) didn’t appeal to me.
This week’s “unplugged” performances (three of which used electric guitars - shame!) really separated the final eight for me into the final four and those who won’t make it. The final four of Rock Star: Supernova will be:
- Dilana
- Lukas
- Magni
- Storm
I’m half-tempted to pick Zayra instead of Storm, but I have to think that after performing her Latin-feel original song last night the band has to know what they’re getting with her. I thought the performance was great and showed the type of music she’s most comfortable with & sounds best singing. I don’t think she would sound good as Supernova’s lead singer.
As to a final two prediction, let’s say Dilana and Lukas.
Melissa and I have really been enjoying Rock Star: Supernova together. We’ve even been watching the online episodes that show song selection, practice, and interactions between the “rockers”. Last night’s show had the third performance from the contestants, and it’s now becoming clearer to me who will make the final four.
Dana has a great voice. “Born to be mild” is a bit caustic, but she wouldn’t seem right singing for Supernova. Zayra is certainly sassy enough to have a chance, but she has too smooth a delivery. She performed a decent rendition of “Everybody Hurts”, but I like Ty’s cover of last season much better.
Speaking of the songs that are being covered, it seems like about 95% of them were ones used last season. That’s lame. Having some “classic rock” tracks (even repeats from last season) are OK, but if Supernova’s music is going to be metal/alternative that should be the genre that’s concentrated on. Of course, we haven’t been shown what kind of music to expect from Supernova yet, which is lame as well. It smacks of laziness on the part of the producers for the band and Dave Navarro to chide contestants for picking too “soft” a song when the every song on the board each week must be covered. I think the show saved licensing costs by re-using the rights to the songs they licensed for last season.
I was hoping we’d get to see a performance or two from Supernova by now, but instead we had Jason Newstead with the House Band, whom I dig lots, for a “White Rabbit” cover by Phil. That was an enjoyable performance; I was impressed with Phil’s delivery. He even “crushed it” a little at the end.
Dilana’s “Zombie” was a little rough, but she kept it together. Storm’s performances the last two weeks have had more “acting” than I think they should have. I think some of her antics take away from her pitch control to an annoying extent. Josh doesn’t have the voice that Supernova needs, but he’s a great singer. I don’t think Ryan or Lucas could sing the way they did for 2+ minutes last night for a 2-hour show five nights a week. It would be too rough on their voice.
My final four at this point of the competition: Dilana, Patrice, Toby, and Phil. I’m tempted to put Magni in there instead of Phil; his cover of STP’s “Plush” (which I haven’t heard in a while but love—Desert Ice used to play it) was quite enjoyable. Things will probably happen that’ll change my opinion, but there it is for now.
Who else is watching Rock Star? Comment.
OK, tonight was the premiere of Rock Star: Supernova (”The Tommy Lee Project?”) and I think most of the 15 contestants were entertaining. The bottom three that they flashed on the screen near the end (Phil, Chris, and Magni) were definitely our picks as well, although we also thought that Dilana wasn’t that appealing either.
The guys in the band, as well as their producer, seemed genuine but were more complementary than I think they should have been. It’ll be interesting to see how elimination works tomorrow, and if we’ll get to see Jason, Gilby, and Tommy take the stage.
Our early favorite is Toby.
I watch SNL off and on now that we have the DVR, but I had missed the December episode that featured “Lazy Sunday”. And when the Internet was abuzz about it originally, I hadn’t taken the time to watch it on YouTube. For some reason I was thinking about it today, and finally found & watched it. It is a classic. ThinkGeek meets The Beastie Boys meets Weird Al Yankovic. Check it out if you haven’t yet.
OK, Michael was back on last night’s Lost; if you even dreamed of the ending of that episode, I’d be amazed. I won’t spoil it here, but his action is probably the biggest kick in the pants the series has ever had. Can’t wait for next week.
Rock Star TV Show Returns With Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted
Who is Supernova, you may ask? It’s a new supergroup featuring drummer Tommy Lee, bassist Jason Newsted and one-time Guns ‘N Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke.[..]
“Friends of mine, like Slash, Macy Gray, Moby and Rob Zombie, will join us and throw in their two cents about who should stay and who should go,” said [host Dave] Navarro. Tommy Lee added, “[..]Starting a new band with old friends on worldwide television is going to be a blast, and we’re going to pull out all the stops to find the most charismatic and musically talented lead singer to front Supernova.”
I’m a sucker for Rock Star, so I will check this out. However, I expect a lot of performing from the current Supernova members alongside the contestants, since they’re not an established band. The house band, if there is one, should have a reduced role. If they keep the format exactly the same as Rock Star: INXS, I’m probably going to declare “shenanigans”.
Unfortunately for Lee, Newsted, and Clarke, there’s already a band called Supernova. Based on this forum post, it’s unclear whether they’ll try to protect their name.
The DVR box is working out very well. The stuttering I saw initially is gone. I have a feeling it was due to the initial guide data load after I hooked it up. I linkblogged a few of the resources I found; the Wikipedia page for the 6412 guided me to some good remote hacks. A little education on the implementation of the two tuners are helping to make operations smooth. We watched Lost in HD on delay and it was very smooth. The only thing that was goofy was that when the DVR was done recording the show (which was pre-programmed), the box turned off. Our playback location was saved, so it was only a temporary inconvenience, but one that should probably be corrected. I’m still very pleased with the box at this point.
We made the decision to go ahead with Comcast’s DVR service last weekend, so I called today and got some good news. The $5/month we pay for our HD box rental counts towards the $9.95/month DVR charge, since it’s an HD-capable box. Even better was the fact that I could take my current box (the Motorola DCT5100) in and trade up at the local Comcast office today. I did that and now have the new box online. The only change I had to make was to go back to using component video for the HD video stream; the new box (a Moto DCT3412) doesn’t have DVI out. HDMI is its only digital video out.
I haven’t watched it much yet, but I set up a few shows (The Amazing Race and Boston Legal) to record tonight to see how the DVR feature works. I already did a little pause-rewind-replay action to test it out. It worked OK. I think I might have seen a little bit of stuttering on HD content; presumably the effect of watching a high-bitrate stream through the recording buffer. I’ll have to make sure that’s not going to be a regular phenomenon. I have a feeling most of our HD watching will end up being time-shifted, so as long as playback doesn’t stutter, it shouldn’t be too annoying. I hope it’s something that Moto/Comcast are aware of and will fix.
Now I’ll have to go troll some AV forums to get the latest poop on the 3412…
With the signing of the bill that will push television stations off the frequencies they’re using for analog broadcasts in early 2009, several people I know have expressed concern about how non-digital TV sets will receive digital broadcasts. Usually, what I’m hearing is how one can future-proof themselves against the cable companies’ inevitable march towards all-digital service. Even though the “DTV bill” deals strictly with airwaves, I think a lot of people are assuming that the cablecos will use the bill to marginalize their analog offerings. They’re probably right.
I’ve noticed on our Comcast digital cable box that some of the analog stations we’re not subscribed to are available via the box, but not on our analog TVs. This indicates that Comcast has already started re-allocating bandwidth to digitized versions of their analog programming. One of my co-workers found out about QAM tuners (which pick up ATSC channels via the modulation used on cable networks) and asked Comcast what channels they could pick up without help from Comcast hardware. They grudgingly admitted the local HDTV stations would be available, but pointed out the lack of other stations and OnDemand, PPV, & DVR services if their hardware was not used.
However, one of my other co-workers has an HDTV set-top box that supports QAM tuning, and he reported to me that he received most, if not all, of the digital channels (including HDTV and the Music Choice stuff), unencrypted, from his Comcast cable service. As the amount of digital tuners (both in TVs and standalone boxes like the ones the government is promising to provide) increases, I have a feeling many others will find that they might not necessarily need an antenna or extra cable company hardware to get DTV. Of course, they will have to have an active cable subscription. It’ll be interesting to see how cable companies’ services and marketing deals with the next few years of change. I anticipate that as more and more of their programming is converted to digital, the cablecos will lock down as much of the content as they can manage to maximize control and profits.
Overheard on NBC while watching the Winter Olympics:
TV’s hottest show is moving to Fridays!
What’s even stupider about this statement was that it was about Las Vegas, which isn’t exactly in the Top 20…
CBS and NBC are with it. ABC and Fox are not. Did someone misplace a 1080i-to-720p converter?
Update: Looks like ABC switched to HD once the president came on. Switching it off now… I’ll read the transcript. Less applause.
I thought I might be able to check out Invasion or Threshold, but they really haven’t worked their way into my/our viewing schedule, even TiVo’d. Melissa and I are together watching Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, House (when it’s on), Lost, Alias, and The O.C. (when it’s on). She’s checking out The Amazing Race, America’s Next Top Model, and Reunion on her own, although I’m sometimes present. I’m watching Boston Legal, which Melissa might check out as well.
We watched CSI last night, which we’d neglected to watch for a while now. It was still quite good.
The TiVo I purchased is still activated, so I’ve continued to get schedule updates and use it with full functionality in the bedroom. It’s really cool.
I heard SNL was in HD this season and saw that the first show was letterboxed in SD. I’ll have to try and check it out in HD next weekend, at least until the fake news.
Between these shows and football, that’s enough TV for me. And until the baseball playoffs are over I’ll be watching even less because of the pre-empted Fox shows. More time for reading, coding, playing bass, and listening to new music. I may even seek out some hockey, though I don’t have OLN. The pickings are quite slim here.
I was sad to see Suzie let go last night on RockStar: INXS. I really dig her style, and she seemed like a great fit with INXS’s music. Of Marty, MiG, and J.D., I think I like MiG the most musically, but J.D.’s style and energy give him an advantage. Even after all his shenanigans, I think J.D. will win the gig.
One of the things about vacationing with a little one is that you’re in for the evening relatively early. So, of course, we’ve kept up with “RockStar: INXS“. I really dug Brandon’s rendition of “If You Can Only See” last night and was glad he (and Ty) didn’t get eliminated tonight. I’m really surprised that the name “Eddie Vedder” wasn’t invoked last night after Marty’s performance.
Of the nine contestants left, I think the final four should be Jordis, Brandon, Ty, and Mig. I think Mig can (and probably should) win it all.
James Doohan passed away today at 85, but Scotty will live forever. Rest in peace, Mr. Doohan.
James Doohan passed away today at 85, but Scotty will live forever. Rest in peace, Mr. Doohan.
I wasn’t going to check out the new show “Rock Star: INXS” on CBS, but it was on last night & my parents recommended it. Melissa mentioned her mom thought I’d like it as well. I did enjoy it. Think “American Idol” with a hard rock backing band (actually very talented) and contestants with (for the most part) 1000% more chutzpah. I didn’t care for a few of the performers, but most of the 14 I saw were entertaining.
Of course, it will be interesting if this catapults the resulting INXS project to a wider audience, for artistic reasons rather than television ratings. I think it would be interesting for a female contestant to win, however it might be difficult for them to sound good on the older material that Michael Hutchence sang in a lower register.
Back in the “Kick” days, I did listen to the hits but never bought the CD. That’s about the extent of my INXS knowledge.
A little late for me now that Enterprise has been cancelled, but our local UPN affiliate’s digital station is now carried in Comcast’s HD package on channel 236.
Lost’s two-hour finale last night was good, but Alias’s had a great ending.
Forgot to mention that we watched the finale of The Contender and enjoyed that as well. Who needs American Idol?
Lame. Depressing. If I didn’t like Jonathan Frakes and the Enterprise cast so much I probably would have turned it off.
[Light spoiler warning.]
You know the reason the finale had to end with “final” things (NX-01 getting mothballed after 10 years, Trip and T’Pol just being friends, a major character dying, etc.), right? So that any hope for reunion movie(s) are killed. I really don’t think the series had to end this way.
However, the 8PM episode, “Terra Prime”, was pretty darn good. The final scene with Trip and T’Pol was great. (Conner Trinnear, I will miss Trip.)
I only own two Star Trek (The Original Series) episodes, on VHS, and they’re my favorites. I just watched “Mirror, Mirror” for the first time in a while and I loved it all over again.
What’s your favorite Trek?
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Keeps Sunday Time Slot
I think ABC’s making the decision to keep Grey’s Anatomy in the 10PM Sunday time slot after just two episodes is a little short-sighted. I’ve enjoyed watching it so far, but I like Boston Legal more. I like the fact that Grey’s isn’t trying to be “ER” (right?), but there’s something about quick-witted legal antics that just get to me.
I suppose if Grey’s settles down to the same ratings that Legal was enjoying, it’ll have to find it’s own slot, right? Ehh…
I enjoyed the first episode of Blind Justice. With all those ads ABC ran, I felt like I’d already seen half the episode going in, but they managed to tell much of the backstory by reference. It opened the 40+ minutes up to a pretty decent plot for a pilot. I really thought Dunbar carrying a gun was going to bug me, but they (actor Ron Eldard and the writers) made it seem plausible enough to accept. The show is fiction, after all, but it’s based on an interesting concept.
I’ll definitely keep watching. I’m already trained to go to ABC on Tuesdays at 10.
As previously reported, the first of the Enterprise two-parter dealing with the two looks of the Klingons, “Affliction”, was last night’s episode. Good stuff.
Does anyone else but me think that Enterprise could live on as a direct-to-DVD movie series? I know I’d buy it.
TV’s Wil Wheaton is going to be guesting on CSI. Cool.
Congrats, Wil!
I’m disappointed to hear that this is the final season of Enterprise. Assuming there is no new Star Trek franchise on the air next season, 2005-2006 will be the first TV season since the premiere of ST:TNG in the fall of 1987 (when I was in high school!) that there hasn’t been new Trek on TV. I can still remember watching that first season with my family and enjoying it.
In my estimation, the Trek series have had many more ups than downs. I hope that we’ll at least get some decent Trek feature films in the future.
I neglected to mention that last week’s Enterprise episode, “Observer Effect“, was great. Gems like it are why I continue to stick with the show; besides the fact that I’m a trekkie.
An upcoming episode of Enterprise will reportedly address the issue of explaining how Klingons gained those turtle-like (I say that with the utmost respect!) foreheads and other features as the Star Trek universe aged and its budget grew. It’s always interesting to see how a franchise like this will fill in the gaps; I wouldn’t say midi-chlorians is a successful example of this. But I think this will be fun. If you don’t mind spoilers, check out the official StarTrek.com article.
Tonight is the first night ever that Melissa and I have stayed tuned into WHTM-DT for “Desperate Housewives” and “Boston Legal”. BL is particularly entertaining tonight. It’s nice to be able to finally enjoy ABC HD without the glitches I’d been seeing before. If MNF tomorrow is clean, I’ll be a happy guy.
Tonight is the first night ever that Melissa and I have stayed tuned into WHTM-DT for “Desperate Housewives” and “Boston Legal”. BL is particularly entertaining tonight. It’s nice to be able to finally enjoy ABC HD without the glitches I’d been seeing before. If MNF tomorrow is clean, I’ll be a happy guy.
Or, “Who Needs VCRs?”
We watched the current episode of “Lost” yesterday and I thought the exposition of the story about “Locke” was excellent. This is a fun show to watch.
After three episodes, I’ve got to say that I think “Lost” is one of the more finely-crafted shows I’ve seen in quite a while. I’ve been a fan of Matthew Fox’s since “Party Of Five” and wished “Haunted” had caught on despite being on UPN. Hopefully “Lost” will remain found by enough viewers to keep it on the air for a while.
I’m digging the flashbacks as a way to introduce us to secrets about the characters. I also like the fact that the show is serial rather than episodic.
I enjoyed the first episode of “Boston Legal” last night. It certainly seems like a hybrid of “The Practice” and “Ally McBeal”, but is trying to be edgier than either of them. From a technical perspective, the thing that stood out the most to me was the transition between scenes; four (? - didn’t record the show) quick close-up camera shots of the new scene synced with beats of the background music. I also thought the effects and text play in the opening sequence were fresh.
The plots were good, and not boring. David Kelley continues to pick interesting legal conundrums to explore; the plot about the little black girl who wanted to play “Little Orphan Annie” (and had the pipes for it) was fun. And the cameo by the Reverend Al Sharpton was HILARIOUS.
I’ll definitely continue to tune in. ABC is definitely upping the ante this season; “Lost” is a fun watch as well.
I’m looking forward to seeing if the upcoming Boston Legal series will be as entertaining as it’s “preview” during the final season of The Practice.
I’m enjoying the game so far, but I have to say I’m surprised at the number of video and audio burps I’m seeing on WHTM-DT. They’ve been averaging one every minute or two; it’s funny that the glitches don’t seem to occur during commercials.
I’m assuming the master ABC feed is without most of these problems based on this thread over on at AVSForum. I assume the fact that WHTM just brought up the digital station a few weeks ago might have something to do with it. Also, I’m not sure there are a lot of people watching it yet. Mark said he saw some breaking up on Drew Carey last night, and he’s getting the station over an antenna (I’m watching it on Comcast). I don’t see anything that makes me think it’s our gear that’s having problems.
Go Colts!
Mark Cuban has been interviewed over at PC World.
One nugget that I didn’t know yet is that The Benefactor was produced in HD, which would make it the first reality show that’s been done for.
We were pleased that John Heffron won LCS! I voted on the Internet for the “best three of six” show and Tuesday’s show; I was happy with the results since they agreed with my votes. We’ll definitely check out John’s appearance on Leno tomorrow night.
From the HarrisburgHDTV Yahoo Group I had heard that WHTM-DT (ABC27 HD) was on the air, and that Comcast would pick them up by the end of this month. I got official confirmation today as our new Comcast channel guide arrived in the mail. Both WHTM-DT and WPMT-DT (Fox43 HD) will be carried by Comcast. And just in time for football season!
Having been a Comcast Digital Cable customer for over a year now, I know the power of their addressable set-top boxes. Individual channels are either enabled or disabled, according to my subscribed services, and pay-per-view is achieved without calling someone. One of the things that bugs me is that to get some of the analog cable channels I’d actually watch (ESPN2, SpikeTV, TNT, etc.) I’d have to purchase the Standard Analog tier of service for something like $30 a month.
This Wired article speaks of the FCC grilling the cable companies as to why they don’t offer subscribers the ability to subscribe to channels of their choice. It’s a good read, but it says the cable companies cite advertising returns as a major reason for not wanting to unbundle channels. I’d have to think there are huge technical reasons as well. I’m not talking about the bitflipper (person or computer system) that would have to keep track of what channels I’m currently subscribed to and paying for. I’m talking about the fact that the analog portion of cable is still the main draw of the service, and until the channels served through analog are migrated to digital, the dream of “a la carte” cable probably won’t come to pass. The article mentions signal traps for analog channels that could be installed at customer locations, but I agree with the industry that that’s not a feasible solution.
Getting analog content moved to digital is going to be a huge hurdle because of the huge installed base of (analog-)cable-ready TVs. The industry may have to force another phase of mandatory set-top boxes to achieve their digital migration. Remember the late-70’s/early-80’s where you had the plastic cable box with the sliding channel-changer? Those days may come again, but current technology should allow a relatively feature-rich mandatory STB.
It’ll be interesting to see how this unfolds. Note that this issue is (as far as I can tell) currently completely unrelated to the FCC’s initiative to move analog broadcasters and over-the-air television receivers to digital.
It’s being reported that George Eads (”Nick Stokes”) and Jorja Fox (”Sara Sidle”) have been fired from CSI. Disappointing. I like all of the main CSI characters.
The article also mentions the other CSI flavors. I’m not a fan of CSI: Miami (besides, I watch MNF live, thank you), but I plan to check out the new CSI: NY.
I just noticed this weekend that ESPN HD was windowboxing its standard-def programming as opposed to stretching it. I first thought “finally, they listened to all the people who said they didn’t like the stretch.” I hadn’t followed its progress towards in-studio HD, so I was surprised to find that not only were they no stretching, but that shows like SportsCenter (on right now) are now in HD. Cool.
I finally got around to watching the last three Enterprise episodes of the season. They were great! I was actually impressed by all the fine acting (especially Randy Oglesby’s “Degra”). All until the last few scenes of the season-ender, with its Planet Of The Apes (reimagined) ending.
I haven’t visited any Internet-related Star Trek sites lately; I bet people are screaming for Berman and Braga’s scalps. Time to make the rounds.
Oh well, I thought they were about to jump the shark last season and it turned out quite well. Let’s hope they don’t screw this one up.
The final episode of The Practice last night was awful. I hope Fleet Street is good.
When we got our new TV almost a year ago, Sears threw in a JVC progressive-scan DVD player for free. At first, it seemed fine, but then on some movies I noticed stuttering during side-to-side panning scenes that bugged me occasionally. I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
Well, I was living with it, only occasionally seeing the problem. But that was before I watched LXG Friday night. I enjoyed the movie, but it showed off the bug in almost every chapter. That got me wanting a quick fix, so on Saturday I checked out the usual suspects and narrowed down my next DVD player to either a Sony or a Pioneer DV-563A. This thread on the AVS Forums provided many good testimonials for the Pioneer.
At Circuit City, they had the Sony disconnected on a shelf, but the Pioneer was connected to a Sony 34″ HDTV and had Finding Nemo loaded up. Being able to demo the Pioneer gave it an edge up, but the kicker was for that about $20 more it had DVD-Audio and SACD compatibility, neither of which the Sony can handle.
I bought it and confirmed that it played the problem scenes of LXG flawlessly, and it even cleaned up Monsters, Inc., where I noticed in a few scenes the JVC was susceptible to a chroma upsampling error.
Now, the JVC will be switched from “480p” to “480i” mode and do bedroom duty. And our venerable Sony from ‘99 will move to GeekCentral (my basement paradise).
Moral of the story: if you’re getting a DVD player for free, that probably means someone else didn’t want to buy it.
Update: Compatibility entry at DVDRHelp.com.
Melissa and I are hoping Bill wins over Kwame tonight. Kwame has not proven himself to be a good leader.
We’ve enjoyed the show. Our only problem with it (besides the smug, deceitful Amorosa) is that they don’t tell you much about the parameters of the challenges (particularly starting capital). However, Melissa says the show’s website has more info after the broadcasts.
Good luck, Bill!
Update: Bill won! Cool!
After having borrowed her signature line for this entry, I was amused to see Ernestine hawking WebEx on TV the other night.
I was amused by Shatner’s “Denny Crane” in last night’s The Practice, so I was happy to hear that he’ll be a regular in the spinoff I blogged about before. Also, it’s now confirmed that James Spader will star as “Alan Shore” in the new series.
ABC is billing this as an “evolution” of The Practice, but after last night’s episode, it seems like it’ll be a drama/comedy, kind of like when Ally McBeal and The Practice shared some cross-over episodes.
More articles about this can currently be found on this search page.
Bad news: The Practice will bow after eight seasons in May.
Good news: A new David E. Kelley show will spin-off from it, possibly starring James Spader (Alan Shore) and set in the “high-priced world of civil law”.
My wife and I enjoyed the first season of Last Comic Standing, but we wish Rich had won. According to this article, LCS producer Barry Katz has some conflicts of interest that are irking preliminary round celebrity judges Drew Carey and Brett Butler. If true, this does sound a little rigged to me.
Does anyone but me think this is cool?
My wife and I are annoyed that ABC is treating Alias (and with it The Practice) like a monthly series instead of a weekly one. Instead of temporarily moving it to another time slot while they use 9PM Sundays for other stuff, they pre-empt it for weeks on end. This message over on the official message board sums it up.
The networks really seem to be treating many of their filmed shows with contempt. I can only assume it’s because reality programming currently enjoys higher ratings. Who and where are the Neilsens? I’d like to talk to them about their viewing habits.
When I was at StarTrek.com checking out the schedule for Enterprise, I found this great page that has a link to a slideshow that gives the historical references for the images in the opening credits. I’m surprised at how many I knew already, but I didn’t know them all. Recommended.
CBS shows one game each Sunday (the one that Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms call) in HDTV. Four times so far this season, we’ve been lucky enough to have that game carried locally. Every time I’ve gone to watch this game, there’s been a delay between the time our local affiliate begins broadcasting the game and when they “flip the switch” to the HDTV feed of the game. It’s like someone’s asleep at the wheel; I’ve called the affiliate twice now to ask them to flip the switch.
We’re eight episodes in to the new season, and I have to say I’m starting to enjoy the show a lot more than last year. Giving the show the Xindi storyline and making it more serial (as opposed to episodic) has focused it in a good way. I’ve particularly enjoyed the last two episodes, “The Shipment” and “Twilight”. The guest character “Gralik” in “The Shipment” was one of just a few three-dimensional non-primary characters the show has had. John Cothran, Jr., the actor portraying Gralik, did a great job. “Twilight” was an enjoyable execution of the “alternate-reality” theme that has produced some of my favorite Trek episodes: TOS’s “Mirror, Mirror”, TNG’s “The Inner Light” & “Parallels”, and DS9’s “The Visitor”.
These and the other episodes this season (save for the season opener “The Xindi”) have been written by writers other than Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, and I’m glad for it. I think the changes in the show this season are working.
Did anyone else notice that they decided to change the name of the show to Star Trek: Enterprise this season? They had previously called it just Enterprise and the first credit was “Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry”. Also, they jazzed up the theme music this season. I thought it was more majestic the other way; the one saving grace of the prior song was the electric guitar work. (Particularly over the lyric “no one’s gonna bend or break me”.)
Is there any doubt that I’m at least a minor-order Trekkie?
I was looking forward to the season premiere of 24 last night, but I didn’t look around for previews and such. I watched the episode cold. I liked it. My thoughts on it follow.
My wife and I watched Simon Cowell’s Cupid on CBS this summer and I was pleasantly surprised at last night’s finale. The premise of the show was for the bouncy-walking Lisa Shannon to select 10 bachelors through auditions (with the help of two of her friends) and then have public voting determine who stays on the show, based on televised capsules of the dates Lisa had with the guys. The gimmick was that if Lisa and the winner agreed to wed on the show’s finale and remained married for a year, they would win $1 million.
The winner, Hank, was Lisa’s favorite and shocked producers (and I gather many viewers, this one included) by asking her to marry him in a private ceremony instead of last night’s show. She agreed and they forfeit the prize. That was a class act.
I’m really hoping the third season of Enterprise is good. I haven’t looked for much pre-season info about it, but I came across a link to this Cinescape article and it has a picture of T’pol’s new look. Well, the eye candy definitely isn’t going away…
I’ll be re-watching some of my Enterprise MPEGs to get me set for the season opener on Wednesday, September 10th.
According to this thread over at AVSForum, Comcast recently signed a deal with Disney (I presume) to carry the HD version of ESPN. Supposedly it will be added at no additional cost for current Comcast HDTV subscribers, and is scheduled to be available starting September 1st. I really hope this pans out, as ESPN’s Sunday Night NFL games will all be carried in high-def.
Update 25-Jul-2003@3:09PM: It’s been confirmed! -a
Update 31-Jul-2003@12:24PM: Here’s the official press release. -a
For One Actor, No More Chicken Parts
I’ve always loved Jason Alexander’s “George Costanza” on Seinfeld. But I didn’t particularly care for his KFC ads. This is an interesting read.
Saw this tidbit over at AVS Forum. The FOX Network appears to be committed to getting HDTV programming going by January 2004. It’ll be interesting to see how soon they have programming ready, what it will be (24 and NFL games are what I want), and when Comcast Harrisburg will begin providing the WPMT-DT feed.
Originally posted by Alex, on Thursday May 22, @08:45AM
I tuned into the Enterprise season finale, “The Expanse”, hoping to be
spun into excitement for next season. It didn’t happen. Rick Berman &
Brannon Braga (the producers of the show, and main writers for this and many
other episodes) appear to me to be determined to use time travel as the main
plot device of the show. This is disappointing. Two of my favorite Star
Trek shows and movies, “City on the Edge of Forever” (ST:TOS) and Star
Trek IV: The Voyage Home, used time travel to great effect. The difference
in those cases were that the time travel itself was an isolated incident and
took a backseat to the story. The whole notion of the “Temporal Cold War” story
arc in Enterprise has bugged me. I think “The Expanse” does set up some
interesting times for the crew next season, but I firmly believe B&B aren’t
really interested in keeping continuity with previous Trek works.I may
post a more detailed Season 2 analysis later.