At least three local stations are in the midst of transitioning their local news to HD right now (and no doubt more), with KTVU-TV becoming the first broadcaster in the Bay Area DMA (including San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose) to make the leap last week.
The Fox affiliate ratcheted up its news to 720p and did what most other local stations do with such upgrades: It built a new set for the wider 16:9 aspect ratio and the unforgiving details picked up by HD cameras, and employed a new state-of-the-art HD graphics package. KTVU also began featuring its Live StormTracker 2 radar display and a Live Drive Time Traffic HD mapping computer with real-time traffic sensors, according to its Web site.
Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR will begin broadcasting its local news in HD (1080i) in November prior to the ratings sweeps, the station said. Another NBC affiliate, KPNX-TV in Phoenix, also plans to alleviate its local newscasts to 1080i starting with its 10 p.m. newscast on Nov. 2.
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