NAB scolds cable companies for downconverting HD locals
by Darren Murph 
posted Apr 23rd 2007 at 2:56AM
We've certainly seen the head honchos give the cable companies a piece of their mind before, but this time the carriers are receiving a fairly stiff scolding care of the National Association of Broadcasters. David Rehr made sure to make every moment of his speech segment count, as he ripped cable providers for "downconverting" the signals of local channels in order to boost the bandwidth available to "their own high-definition signals." Mr. Rehr even went so far as to call the process "broadcast discrimination," and we can only presume that certain providers -- such as Time Warner, who has ties to HBO and Comcast, which is strongly linked to Versus / Golf Channel -- are the targets of recent battles. Unsurprisingly, anonymous cable services have reportedly denied the claims of delusion, but how do the actual end-users see it? Let us know folks: is your cable company giving preferential treatment to channels it has vested interest in?[Via HiDefster]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bilbo @ Apr 23rd 2007 3:09AM
Ahhh. That is the National Australia Bank logo, not the National Association of Broadcasters.
chris @ Apr 23rd 2007 3:11AM
that picture is actually of the National Australia Bank, NOT of the National Association of Broadcasters.
you could have at least gotten that right. very poor effort
Artr @ Apr 23rd 2007 7:20AM
same as above, fix the picture.
djmattyb @ Apr 23rd 2007 7:57AM
This link may be helpful to Engadget in the future:
http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/search/?query_id=13250019&page=1&mtype=&brand_id=24941
Luke @ Apr 23rd 2007 8:34AM
I think the logo switch is rather clever...but I have TWC in Raleigh, NC and they provide full bandwidth for all the locals in HD. The actually go as far as to have a fiber link to several (if not all) of the stations
Tom @ Apr 23rd 2007 6:42PM
How would the average consumer go about testing this?
Is the same kind of shenanigans that some of the satellite providers are being accused of?
hawkeye @ Apr 23rd 2007 9:42AM
Comcast doesn't give preferential treatment...all their channels look like garbage around here (South Florida)
Richard @ Apr 23rd 2007 12:42PM
I pick up my local HD via unencrypted QAM because OTA is a bit unreliable and I can't have an external antenna in my apartment. Unfortunately the local provider crimps certain shows vs. OTA versions. For instance my Jeopardy comes in screaming Jeopardy HD! except over QAM its in standard def. OTA wasn't. Lovely. Thanks Cox!
Joe_T @ Apr 23rd 2007 12:16PM
Comcast in Alexandria, VA doesn't discriminate either. Their HD feeds look OK, but definitely not great -- although I have noticed that sports programming looks much better than network prime time series. Bottom line -- to my eye HD cable looks only marginally better than digital cable around here. And if you sit far enough away from the TV, you can't tell the difference at all.
Chicago Joe @ Apr 23rd 2007 6:00PM
TWC in the Dallas area does this to our locals. It used to not do it to CBS, because they had a partnership with them, but now every local via TWC looks like crap. Especially ABC and NBC. All 9 of the other HD channels that aren't local look fine.
MasterCKO @ Apr 23rd 2007 7:02PM
Comcast in the Cupertino (bay area, CA) largely doesn't do this. Most network shows come in clear and crisp HD. Once Jeopardy wasn't in HD and I was suitably indignant (read: not at all 8^P). Oddly enough, I've had the HD VS/Golf channel down-convert broadcasts of Stanley Cup games here and there. I really didn't get that.
Mikey @ Apr 30th 2007 1:52PM
The companies will do whatever they can to save money. If they don't think you'll notice/complain, they'll try to get away with it. Point is, there are standards to HD. Obviously, they aren't going to feed you 4:4:4 HDSDI. But they should be stating, in their literature, how much compression and what type they are using. In lieu of that, I'm sure most will offer some type of evaluation period... Still, I'd prefer a decent 720p downconvert to a 50:1 1080P picture.
Ryan @ Apr 30th 2007 3:42AM
The cable provider here where I live (Midcontinent Communications in Bismarck, ND) provides the local channels in both SD and HD....! The SD versions are offered as part of their basic cable service (which is analog), and the HD versions are with a bundle of other HD channels (such as ESPN HD, Discovery HD) which in included in their lineup of digital channels, and are receivable with an HD-enabled cable box (A Motorola DCT-series unit with DVR) issued by Midcontinent...