KCNC-TV in Denver has become the third broadcaster in its market (DMA no. 18) to begin airing its local news in HD with its recently built digital facilities, including the city’s new tower.
KCNC-TV, a CBS affiliate, took nearly four years ago to grow its digital infrastructure and HD presence (1080i) as a way to spread out its capital costs well beyond one annual budget cycle—expenditures that came in at about $10 million to $12 million, according to published reports. The station follows KUSA and KTVD into the local HD news race, just in time for the May ratings sweeps.
As a way to get a jump on the competition, KCNC-TV is using a large rear-projection screen (12 by 7 feet) that it hopes will expands its use of HD and the new 16:9 aspect ratio in compelling ways that will please viewers. And while other stations (and networks, for that matter) continue to use mostly SD footage when it comes to remotes, KCNC-TV (marketed as “CBS4”) already has an HD-equipped truck for live HD feeds.
New cameras and support equipment come from Sony, Utah Scientific and WSI, among other vendors.
