Bencredible

WCCO Good Question - Why don’t they broadcast in HD?

Jason DeRusha of WCCO has a nifty segment called "Good Question". I thought it would be funny to give him a hard time and ask why WCCO broadcasts some shows in HD but won't broadcast their news in HD. I didn't expect an answer and I certainly didn't expect WCCO to air any part of my question. To my surprise on 02/18/2008 on the 10:00pm news WCCO decided to explain exactly why they don't broadcast their news in HD. Here is that segment:

WCCO 4 news Good Question Segment on HDTV

You may have noticed a few edits in that segment where I came in. That's because my original question was a lot longer and clearly not designed to ever hit air. For fun here is the original I submitted to Jason in its entirety:

Original question for WCCO 4 News

Fun things I noticed:

• It looks like WCCO uses SlingBoxes as a confidence monitor to ensure that KCCO and KCCW are playing nice
• The shot as Jason watching me ask my question as he sits at his desk makes him look very Dr. Evil. I was expecting him to turn around and say "MWAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA"
• I submitted the segment in 720p h.264 HD and they decided to record it off the screen via a camera rather than bring it in to the NLE
• The VTRs look like DVCPRO decks, I would guess DVCPRO 25
• Even if KCCO and KCCW are not ready for HD today, so long as the metro area is ready it is possible to broadcast HD here then donconvert for the other markets
• If you look at my desk you can see a mixer which shows that yes, I actually do have wiring closets "in my house"
• While I am happy that Jason thinks I have the best looking home office ever, in fact that was my actual desk at the real office (with studio lights)
• WCCO's segment was a blast! Cariann and I laughed all the way though. Well done guys, well done indeed!