Johnstown / Altoona DMA in HD on 4/22 ??

[bhelms]

Hi all! I have seen the subject DMA mentioned recently as launching in HD on 4/22, can't recall where. And this was also on a Dish list for launching "sometime in spring". (BTW, which comes first - spring or "soon"...??)

Any truth / speculation / anticipation / ultimate disappointment to that rumor?

I would expect the eventual launch to include WJAC (NBC - 6), WWCP (FOX - 8), WTAJ (CBS - 10), WATM (ABC- 23), and maybe even WPSU (PBS - 3).

Any discussion ??

I need to decide whether or not to schedule a party for Wed...!

 

[Laddyboy]

Announced for 4/22 on the last retailer chat.

 

[bhelms]

Great - That musta been where I "heard" it.

I'll be watching the uplink activity.

Now all I need is a reason to watch "network" TV again...!

 

[andrewj0781]

Did Pittsburgh get their hd yet? I was wondering if we'd ever get cw (channel19) in hd. If cw even broadcast in hd

 

[bhelms]

I can't answer that question, but it's interesting to me that Pgh. CW is part of our "locals" package in SD as our DMA does not have a CW affiliate of its own, so if/when there is a "broadcast" HD version of WPCW perhaps it will be included in the HD LiL package ??. Here's the latest I could find:

TV Q&A with Rob Owen

Q: When is the CW in HD coming to Pittsburgh? I remember you mentioned it months ago in the Q&A, yet still nothing from Comcast?

-- Mike, Pittsburgh

Rob: As far as over-the-air goes, as we noted in September, that probably won't happen until February 2009.

Comcast announced in December (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07347/841207-42.stm) that WPCW-HD would air as a cable channel, but it turns out that announcement was premature and the HD version of WPCW on Comcast won't launch until later this year.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08095/870271-238.stm (near the bottom of the article)

However, Wikipedia says that WPCW-HD is available to Comcast and Verizon FiOS customers.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPCW"]WPCW - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:WPCW-TV.JPG" class="image"><img alt="WPCW-TV.JPG" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1e/WPCW-TV.JPG"@@AMEPARAM@@en/1/1e/WPCW-TV.JPG[/ame]

Our DMA also includes the religious channel 47 WKBS but I am unaware of any HD plans for that channel...