WSYX-TV in Columbus, Ohio (DMA no. 32), a Sinclair ABC affiliate, transitioned to 720p newscasts last weekend (May 10) with its early evening newscast, using a new HD set geared for 16:9.
Sinclair has selected the Devlin Design Group to create the HD sets for its 14 news outlets around the nation. The set in Columbus features an anchor desk that rotates, two backdrops and with more than two dozen monitors—as well as HD studio cameras, a new graphics package, and enhanced weather facilities and software (“First Warning Forecast Center”).
Unlike some local stations (and networks) that initially transition to HD news, WSYX-TV (along with co-managed Fox outlet WTTE-TV) is shooting a lot of its field content and live remotes with HD cameras in 16:9, too. Consequently, the stations say they’ll be offering most of their eight hours of daily local news content in widescreen.
The total number of stations that have made the transition to local HD is thought to be around 90.
