WPTV Becomes 50th HD News Station
By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/6/2007 5:34:00 PM
WPTV, the NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach, Fla., launched high-definition newscasts on Saturday night, Aug. 4, becoming the 50th station in the U.S. to offer at least part of its newscast in HDTV.
It is the second Florida station in as many weeks to launch HDTV news, following the lead of Scripps sister station WFTS Tampa, which began its HD newscasts on July 28. WFTV, the Cox station and ABC affiliate in Orlando, became the first Florida station with HD news in June 2006.
Scripps, which recently tapped JVC's Pro HD high-definition camera format as its newsgathering format of the future, has also launched HD news at WXYZ Detroit and WEWS Cleveland.
"The planning and work behind the scenes to convert our newsroom studio and control room is an all-consuming task and we are proud our team of engineers and station staff are the first to serve South Florida viewers in HD," said WPTV director of engineering Dave McKinley in a statement. "This is a great culmination of months of hard work by our entire team."
