ABC-HD:The Benefactor - Mark Cuban's reality series

[DarrellP]

I'll wait until HDNET airs it next year.

 

[tdillon]

After all the hype about a reality series in HD and finally getting my local (Los Angeles) affiliate to tune in properly, I switched over to KABC-DT 7.1 to watch Mark Cuban's HD reality series, The Benefactor. What a disappointment to realize that the local affiliate was broadcasting it in SD. A quick hop to the web to verify that ABC had claimed that this would be in HD. Sure enough, this series was shot in HD. So then, what gives? There is a link on the ABC site that shows which affiliates are HD capable, I know that KABC Los Angeles is on this list, because I HAVE seen shows transmitted in HD on this channel. Yep, sure enough KABC-DT is listed. Then why isn't The Benefactor being shown in HD? I also checked Zap2It's listing, and it doesn't show that the broadcast is HD. I read the credit's at the end of the show and they DID list a HD editor. Why is Mark Cuban allowing his show to be shown in SD?

 

[riffjim4069]

Maybe Cuban gets to show it in HD after the series plays-out on ABC?

 

[wbuffetta]

Mark Cuban Has Advertised The Show On HDNet. He Said It Would Be In HD On HDNet Later & SD On ABC. (It Was His Choice)

 

[rollerfink]

& SD On ABC. (It Was His Choice)

I don't think that's true. In this thread on AVS...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3834737#post3834737

...he said...

It will be converted to 720 for ABC, and then in the future shown in 1080i on HDNet.

All cameras, including the hidden cameras were HDCam. It looks amazing and it was fun to do as well

m

He may not give a crap what ABC does with it but it was originally supposed to be shown in HD.

 

[tdillon]

I sent emails to the ABC network and also KABC Los Angeles. I don't expect a reply. If they get tons of emails when they don't deliver on the HD promise maybe they will step up the effort on HD.

 

[tdillon]

My email to ABC Network:

From: TDillon [mailto:tdillon]
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 11:46 AM
To: ABC Audience Relations
Subject: The Benefactor, in HD where available


I was disappointed to see that The Benefactor, which was shot in HD is not being broadcast in HD. Why isn't ABC showing this series in High Definition? It seems that the network broadcast feed is at fault. My local affiliate, KABC Los Angeles 7.1 broadcast in digital at 53 Mhz just sent a standard definition feed for the show.

TDillon

Their canned reply to any topic containing the letters "HD":

Thank you for your request for information on the ABC TV network and HDTV programming.

Please be aware that even though the ABC TV network airs HDTV programming, it is important that you check with your local ABC affiliate, your cable provider or satellite provider to see if they are providing programming in HDTV.

The ABC TV Network provides HDTV programming for a large majority of our network programming. To check the specific shows that we air in this format:

· Go to ABC.com
· Go to the top bar and click on All Shows
· Click on the show you are interested in and you will see an HDTV symbol

SPORTS:
All “Monday Night Football” games will be broadcast in HDTV.

The BCS Championship Game (Orange Bowl) will be broadcast in HDTV.

You can also check at ABCSports.com

 

[tdillon]

I just checked again on the national ABC website for info about The Benefactor. They took off the "Simulcast in HDTV where available" icon for the show. They now are not admitting that the show was intended to be HD. This is not what I wanted them to do.

 

[wbuffetta]

Again I Saw It On HDNET! Mark Talking About The Benefactor, Promoting It & Saying After Its Run On ABC It Will Then Be Shown In HD On HDNet.

 

[tdillon]

Sean, please merge this with http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=28337, I didn't see your topic when I opened this thread. Thanks.

 

[Bruce]

Again I Saw It On HDNET! Mark Talking About The Benefactor, Promoting It & Saying After Its Run On ABC It Will Then Be Shown In HD On HDNet.

You are right about that part,it will be on HDNet in Jan/05,but he did say it would be in 720P on ABC then when on on HDNet it would be in 1080i,no one has said why ABC is not doing it,but it does not matter,the show sucks.

 

[BFG]

Abc.com has finally acknowledged that the show should be in HDTV tonight, so if you feel like checking back in at the show, give it a shot.

 

[Sean Mota]

No HD in NYC!

 

[BFG]

Oh well, scratch that then...

 

[DarrellP]

I sent an email to ABC and this is their reply:

Thank you for your request for information on the ABC TV network and HDTV programming.

Please be aware that even though the ABC TV network airs HDTV programming, it is important that you check with your local ABC affiliate, your cable provider or satellite provider to see if they are providing programming in HDTV.

The ABC TV Network provides HDTV programming for a large majority of our network programming. To check the specific shows that we air in this format:

· Go to ABC.com

· Go to the top bar and click on All Shows

· Click on the show you are interested in and you will see an HDTV symbol



SPORTS:

All “Monday Night Football” games will be broadcast in HDTV.

The BCS Championship Game (Orange Bowl) will be broadcast in HDTV.

You can also check at ABCSports.com

----------------------------------------------
WTF? So I replied to this message asking about The Benefactor and received this:

Go to ABC.com
· Go to the top bar and click on All Shows

· Click on the show you are interested in and you will see an HDTV symbol

Do these guys work as Dish CSR's? or what?

 

[DarrellP]

Here's the latest from ABC, it looks like we are getting it in HD, I guess we forgot to tell ourselves:

The Benefactor is being shown in HDTV!