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1/20/2008
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The more people that this problem gets out to, the more pressure will fall on LIN TV and WLUK.
The more people that this problem gets out to, the more pressure will fall on LIN TV and WLUK.
More on WLUK
There has been uproar all over the Internet the past week about how WLUK isn't letting Time Warner broadcast their HD signal. I thought I'd make another post linking to some of the other websites talking about it.
Also, I've found out by reading some websites that WLUK is owned by LIN Television. Apparently, LIN TV does this same greed tactic in many of their TV markets. There is bad publicity all over online about this company and WLUK.
Engadet HD - Green Bay FOX affiliate refusing to give HD to TWC
AVS Forum complaints
TVPredictions.com
Green Bay Press-Gazette article
Fox Cities HD website with TONS of complaints
Fox Cities thread suggesting a boycott on WLUK advertisers
Jay Zollar's blog entry with complaints in comments
I hope LIN TV and WLUK are enjoying their bad publicity.
Also, I've found out by reading some websites that WLUK is owned by LIN Television. Apparently, LIN TV does this same greed tactic in many of their TV markets. There is bad publicity all over online about this company and WLUK.
Engadet HD - Green Bay FOX affiliate refusing to give HD to TWC
AVS Forum complaints
TVPredictions.com
Green Bay Press-Gazette article
Fox Cities HD website with TONS of complaints
Fox Cities thread suggesting a boycott on WLUK advertisers
Jay Zollar's blog entry with complaints in comments
I hope LIN TV and WLUK are enjoying their bad publicity.
WLUK Green Bay - Why they are wrong
1/17/2008
This Sunday is going to be big in Green Bay as the Packers are in the NFC Championship game after one of the best seasons in team history. If you're like me, you love football in high definition. Unfortunately, if you live in the WLUK market you will not be receiving the game in HD over cable. This may seem absurd to you since every other Green Bay network affiliate is broadcast in HD and you would not be alone in thinking this way.
WLUK has a whole page on their website devoted to answering common HD questions including why they aren't broadcasting on cable. Here is their answer to this question:
They make a somewhat convincing argument, but I really don't think it stands up very well. Fox 11 is available in HD over the air in Green Bay and they do not charge a cent to receive the signal. As the quote suggests, they want to be compensated since the cable companies charge a little bit extra to get HD stations. I'm not going to pretend like I know anything about the cable system, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say that broadcasting HD stations takes up quite a bit more of the cable company's bandwidth than standard definition stations. If you ask me, the cable companies have very good reason to charge a little extra for HD stations. Cable companies help expand the reach of a station since the over the air signals really don't reach that far. Cable companies are actually doing Fox 11 a favor to broadcast their station, since it's reaching many people who would normally not get the station, such as many people in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
If you send the station an e-mail about your frustrations about this situation, you'll most likely get a canned response from Jay Zollar's e-mail address, who is the General Manager and VP of the station. This response mentions pretty much everything their website says about their HD content, but also mentions that they want about 2 cents for each digital household from the cable companies. Just 2 cents might seem like a pretty small number, but imagine if all the network stations started demanding payment like this. This canned e-mail concludes by suggesting the purchase of an over the air antenna to receive the WLUK signal. Apparently, they have some "deal" with Suess TV and Electronics in Appleton to help the customer find a good way to receive the HD signal over the air. I don't know about you, but I am definitely not willing to pay for a HD antenna just for a single station. This presents even bigger problems for people outside of the station's HD signal range. I go to school in the U.P. of Michigan and receive Fox 11 over cable but there's no way I can receive the HD signal over the air. Search around online about this and I guarantee you will find people that live in their market that cannot receive the HD signal over the air without significant expenses.
There has been a lot of debate the past few months about the whole NFL Network vs. cable companies story, but in my opinion problems like what we are having to deal with to get WLUK need to be addressed before we can even consider premium stations like the NFL Network. The digital era of television is going to bring a lot better sound, picture, and programming to our homes but if situations like this keep up then I doubt that WLUK will be the last station consumed by greed.
If you're frustrated by this as well, I'd encourage you to e-mail Jay Zollar, General Manager and VP of WLUK, at Jay.Zollar@wluk.com as well as comment on this blog post he made regarding the issue. It would also be a good idea to read some of the comments which have already been made.
WLUK has a whole page on their website devoted to answering common HD questions including why they aren't broadcasting on cable. Here is their answer to this question:
"In a nutshell, here's the issue. Cable companies want FOX 11 to give them our digital programming, including HD programs, for free. They in turn want to charge their subscribers for our programming. If you currently subscribe and receive a digital package from a cable company, you know about the significant additional charge. Cable companies keep 100% of that fee."
They make a somewhat convincing argument, but I really don't think it stands up very well. Fox 11 is available in HD over the air in Green Bay and they do not charge a cent to receive the signal. As the quote suggests, they want to be compensated since the cable companies charge a little bit extra to get HD stations. I'm not going to pretend like I know anything about the cable system, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say that broadcasting HD stations takes up quite a bit more of the cable company's bandwidth than standard definition stations. If you ask me, the cable companies have very good reason to charge a little extra for HD stations. Cable companies help expand the reach of a station since the over the air signals really don't reach that far. Cable companies are actually doing Fox 11 a favor to broadcast their station, since it's reaching many people who would normally not get the station, such as many people in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
If you send the station an e-mail about your frustrations about this situation, you'll most likely get a canned response from Jay Zollar's e-mail address, who is the General Manager and VP of the station. This response mentions pretty much everything their website says about their HD content, but also mentions that they want about 2 cents for each digital household from the cable companies. Just 2 cents might seem like a pretty small number, but imagine if all the network stations started demanding payment like this. This canned e-mail concludes by suggesting the purchase of an over the air antenna to receive the WLUK signal. Apparently, they have some "deal" with Suess TV and Electronics in Appleton to help the customer find a good way to receive the HD signal over the air. I don't know about you, but I am definitely not willing to pay for a HD antenna just for a single station. This presents even bigger problems for people outside of the station's HD signal range. I go to school in the U.P. of Michigan and receive Fox 11 over cable but there's no way I can receive the HD signal over the air. Search around online about this and I guarantee you will find people that live in their market that cannot receive the HD signal over the air without significant expenses.
There has been a lot of debate the past few months about the whole NFL Network vs. cable companies story, but in my opinion problems like what we are having to deal with to get WLUK need to be addressed before we can even consider premium stations like the NFL Network. The digital era of television is going to bring a lot better sound, picture, and programming to our homes but if situations like this keep up then I doubt that WLUK will be the last station consumed by greed.
If you're frustrated by this as well, I'd encourage you to e-mail Jay Zollar, General Manager and VP of WLUK, at Jay.Zollar@wluk.com as well as comment on this blog post he made regarding the issue. It would also be a good idea to read some of the comments which have already been made.
Labels: fox