Southwest Virginia’s WSLS News Goes HD

WSLS-TV said it has become the first local broadcaster in southwestern Virginia to transition its local news to HD. The NBC affiliate serves the Roanoke-Lynchburg market (Nielsen DMA no. 67).

A Media General station, WSLS began airing its local newscasts and news updates throughout the day and primetime in 1080i in late October.

The station said HD is among its latest “firsts” in the region; it claims to have been the first TV station to deploy live remote coverage, and to go color locally and network, albeit a few decades ago.

WSLS’s local HD news content now includes morning casts starting at 5:30 a.m., midday news at noon, a 90-minute evening news block starting at 5 p.m., and late-evening news at 11 p.m.