Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart to go HD in 2010

[Neild]

I was in the states and the suite had directv... which is 1080p. The punchline was supposed to show the glaring gap between US and Canadian broadcasting. I'm back now, seems like CTV finally got their HD up.

Unlike shark's fawning over CTV, I'm not inclined to praise them for scrambling and taking over 2 weeks to do jobs they should have done last December.

Shark on the subject of lies, maybe consider the CTV guy who shined you over. Blaming Viacom holidays for this extended mess seems to be fiction. Maybe you could ask how Comedy Central was happily broadcasting HD, on schedule, with no issues, and no excuses. I'll reiterate that if CTV hadn't been asleep at the wheel again, Viacom's holidays - either real or imaginary - would never have been an issue.

[57]

directv... which is 1080p.

It's not 1080P. They have some programming that can be downloaded to the HDD of a certain PVR in 1080P, that is all. Regular HD TV programming is broadcast as 1080i or 720P and may then be upconverted by that PVR to 1080P.

I agree that CTV should have had these programmes in HD from day one availability, however, it was good to get some feedback and for CTV to get HD up in two weeks. Some channels never get the HD.

[shark]

Originally Posted by Neild

I was in the states and the suite had directv... which is 1080p. The punchline was supposed to show the glaring gap between US and Canadian broadcasting. I'm back now, seems like CTV finally got their HD up.

Unlike shark's fawning over CTV, I'm not inclined to praise them for scrambling and taking over 2 weeks to do jobs they should have done last December.

Shark on the subject of lies, maybe consider the CTV guy who shined you over. Blaming Viacom holidays for this extended mess seems to be fiction. Maybe you could ask how Comedy Central was happily broadcasting HD, on schedule, with no issues, and no excuses. I'll reiterate that if CTV hadn't been asleep at the wheel again, Viacom's holidays - either real or imaginary - would never have been an issue.

...yeah, what 57 said.

And "fawning"? No, you're right... Bitching all the time is a much better internet preoccupation.

You -are- aware that Viacomm owns Comedy Central, right? And that they're the ones in charge of signal distribution? And, sure, they could have arranged it ahead of time, but even according to the US forums the exact date was uncertain as to when they'd actually launch HD.

From what they told me, it's an entirely different methodology of signal distribution, and it was uncertain 'till very recently whether or not they'd be getting an HD signal in at all. They had to have an authorized, seperate satelite feed for the 12am show that's entirely separate from the feed they get directly from NYC via fiber. It's now twice the work to get the show up on the two different networks, and that took some time. I heard all this directy, and promptly, from the VP and the Director of ops, both of whom took time to ensure me that they were working on the technical back end, that they took our concerns seriously, and that they were doing everything possible to get us the show in HD. Rather than sitting on the info, I thought I'd share it in this forum, one that has often been the source for me in the past for all manner of info, from info about changing a HD on my cable box to how to build an antenna to watch Superbowl with American commercials (and thus, ironically, bypass the likes of CTV).

Was the station's behavioiur perfect? Well, no. But you -could- give them some props when they get things right. It wouldn't hurt, and spending a bit of time on a forum suggesting that a good thing was done while acknowledging, as you'll see in my previous posts, that we're still waiting for full HD for the 11pm main broadcast, and thus aren't completely satisfied.

But, yeah. You didn't see the show in 1080p (I wonder how big the hotel set was? Might have been 720p, no? If not, were you counting on the fact that every fixed pixel set necessarly scales all content, even SD, to 1920/1080 progressive? Did I just BLOW YOUR MIND?!)

But, I digress. Welcome home, enjoy the show... JS did a nice job on Olberman today, and I'm halfway through SC when I thought I'd drop in to respond to your note.

[Neild]

Originally Posted by shark

You -are- aware that Viacomm owns Comedy Central, right?

Of course, that's why I pointed out the hilarity of CTV blaming Viacom when the evidence dispelling that fable is so blatant. If Viacom were truly at fault, then the HD problem would have been evident in the US not just at CTV. It appears you now know the significance of who Viacom is, so hopefully that will give you the context to also see the folly of what CTV tried feeding you for an excuse.

Originally Posted by shark

And, sure, they could have arranged it ahead of time

If you know and believe this, why defend them so blindly?

Doing one's job as a professional often involves thinking ahead and planning. Racing around like beheaded chickens for weeks after sleeping through a key deadline isn't something to be praised. And rather than own up to the mistake, they apparently tried blaming an innocent party for being "on holidays". They probably figured you wouldn't know or wouldn't find out who Viacom is.

Being on time matters in life. Will you be so enamoured if CTV is only two weeks late getting HD working for the Olympics? Does Santa get full marks when he stumbles into your house on January 15th?

Not sure how you operate, but how I make sure big things are ready on time involves a certain amount of forecasting. What are some of the most significant and obvious things my clients are going ask me to do this year? How much notice will they probably give me and how much time do I need in order to be ready? What preparations should I make to be ready when they contact me with a short deadline?

This cutover should have been well planned for a year, maybe longer. When the word finally came down, it would have been a simple matter of confirming your plans and make any last minute adjustments.

Originally Posted by shark

they were doing everything possible to get us the show in HD

Actually doing *everything* possible would have included planning and preparation.... steps I explained are mandatory and crucial to providing professional service. What happened here was a post-dated goat rodeo fumble-fest.

Originally Posted by shark

Rather than sitting on the info, I thought I'd share it in this forum, one that has often been the source for me in the past for all manner of info, from info about changing a HD on my cable box to how to build an antenna to watch Superbowl with American commercials (and thus, ironically, bypass the likes of CTV).

Why are you being so defensive? Nobody's criticizing you. Unless you are one of the CTV guys trying to cover your tracks, there's no beef with you.

Originally Posted by shark

Was the station's behavioiur perfect? Well, no. But you -could- give them some props when they get things right.

When they do, I guess we could do that. But I'm not going to be their unpaid spin doctor trying to weave a tale of heroism out of a severed bungled implementation.

Did comet shards unexpectedly break a key satellite? Did a one-in-a-century storm knock out several critical tower links? Nope. CTV simply slept through a key event, and were also exposed for not having done any advance planning for a completely obvious and expected event.

You appear to know TV and you should then know the significance of these programs. As one* of the few top programs that have yet to make the HD conversion, this change was widely and highly anticipated. You'd have to really really really suck at your job to be a television executive and not know this was coming.

* I deliberately refer to the two separate programs as one for reasons I hope are obvious.

Originally Posted by shark

But, yeah. You didn't see the show in 1080p (I wonder how big the hotel set was? Might have been 720p, no? If not, were you counting on the fact that every fixed pixel set necessarly scales all content, even SD, to 1920/1080 progressive?

Yeah the point wasn't about the 1080p content. The hotel sets are way too old and small for it to matter and I'm under no illusion about how badly the hotel's distribution probably degrades all signals.

No the point was to illustrate that yet again by turning over our broadcasting to fat and lazy monopolies, Canadians continue to receive third rate service at premium cost. You disagree?

Originally Posted by shark

Did I just BLOW YOUR MIND?!)

Well a little bit, with the incredibly zealous support of CTV for *only* missing a key deadline by weeks.

[shark]

well, I hope that made you feel better...

I'm pleased they got the job done, was disapointed to see it wasn't done from the get go (hence my call to complain), and heartened to see my concerns were taken seriously and the situation rectified. I felt that it was worth a mention.

You, however, sound bitter about CTV. Or about monopolies. Or hotel television. I can't really tell anymore.

Anyhoo, enjoy the shows in HD!

[Neild]

Originally Posted by shark

I can't really tell anymore.

I think this sums it up. We're becoming conditioned to accept mediocre as the new baseline when there's no competition and there's no one upholding a standard of professionalism.

Visiting other countries gives a lot of perspective. If most Canadians knew the quality and cost of services like television and mobile phones in other countries, they'd be stunned at how ours compare to those of our peers.

Many Canadians couldn't tell good HD from bad, or good service from bad. Instead of expecting institutions to do their basic job, we're more inclined to praise them when they blow their deadlines by weeks or more.

You want positivity, look at how every network was able to feed HD version of the Haiti benefit concerts with little more than a week's notice. On the upside, it's great to see that kind of speed and capability does exist, and that it exists universally. (Of course it is additional evidence that the CTV person who communicated with you was full of malarkey.)

[hugh]

Post deleted and infraction issued. Digital Homes has a zero tolerance for flames and the hurling of personal insults.

If you have a beef with what another member has said then report a bad post and our mods will deal with it.

Anymore personal insults on this thread will result in the members post being deleted and an infraction issued.

[Arthur Dent]

Originally Posted by Neild

If most Canadians knew the quality and cost of services like television and mobile phones in other countries, ...

I apologize for my previous reply to this. But since I can't think of any possible answer to this statement that would be compliant with the rules of this forum, I will restrain from comment.

[downbeat]

Daily Show on CTV being shown in SD today ... At least on CFCN-DT Calgary.

[CHrisCHu]

In Vancouver, daily show was in HD (CTV) the full time. Colbert on the other hand started off in HD for a minute, then followed by some "fast-fowarding" screen scrambling (yes, like somebody FFwding a VHS tape) and then now switched to SD and still going!

Edit: OK, back to HD now after commercial break. Perhaps somebody doesd off in the control room and flipped a switch by mistake.

[downbeat]

Tuesday night, Stewart and Colbert back in HD on CFCN.

[Michael DeAbreu]

I sent them an e-mail thanking them for switching to the HD broadcast. I mentioned that I always prefer to watch OTA-HD rather than plain old cable. I hope each email they get helps convince them that there is a potentially huge audience of viewers who'd be blown away by their free HD services.

[downbeat]

That's an awesome idea. I should do that, too.

[polaris]

ITs been HD for me for 2-3 weeks now. Maybe a week after the shows started in HD in the USA, CTV came on board for me anyway.

[Neild]

Originally Posted by polaris

ITs been HD for me for 2-3 weeks now. Maybe a week after the shows started in HD in the USA, CTV came on board for me anyway.

CTV was three weeks late switching over...