WSYX Takes Plunge into HD Multicasting
By Tim Feran, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Jul. 14–WSYX-TV (Channel 6) owner Sinclair Broadcasting Group has signed an agreement with My Network TV to show the network’s programming on one of WSYX’s high-definition multicast channels.
Columbus viewers with high-definition TV sets will have access to the new network, which was created as a sister to Fox after the creation of the CW left some former WB and UPN stations without an affiliation.
Scheduled to launch Sept. 5, My Network is touted as the first all-high-definition broadcast network and is aimed at viewers ages 18 to 49.
The schedule will include the serialized hourlong primetime dramas Desire, which follows two brothers on the run from the mafia, at 8 p.m. Monday through Friday; and Fashion House, starring Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild, at 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Columbus viewers who subscribe to Time Warner Cable may see My Network TV via Cleveland affiliate WUAB.
Because of the continuing impasse in negotiations between Sinclair and Time Warner, the cable company has yet to carry WSYX’s HD offerings.
The move by WSYX is part of a broader trend as broadcast stations and networks plan for wider acceptance of the highdefinition format.
The HD format not only enables stations to broadcast high-quality widescreen video but also gives them the ability to split their signal and broadcast several offerings at the same time — multicasting.
Because growth in advertising has slowed, stations and networks are looking for ways to economically expand into multicasting.
WBNS-TV (Channel 10) has already used its multicasting capability during the past few years to simultaneously show multiple sports events.
WCMH-TV (Channel 4) had been in discussions to multicast offerings such as NBC WeatherPlus, but the station’s new owners are still getting a handle on the operation, so announcements about multicast offerings probably won’t be made until six months or a year from now, a WCMH official said.
At WSFJ-TV (Channel 51), “We think it’s going to be the future,” said John Schneider, vice president of business development. “We’re hoping to buy one or two multicast channels this winter and put them on the air within the next year.”
Other stations, such as WWHO-TV (Channel 53), are taking a wait-and-see approach to multicasting, citing cost considerations.
tferan@dispatch.com
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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