Actually, it's Indianapolis that's lucky to have WTHR, Channel 13, as one of the premier US leaders in providing local HDTV programming. WTHR is at this time the only Indiana station producing HDTV local news and other local programming in this 25th largest market in the US - in which it has been consistently Number 1. This narration is not to be considered a "commercial" for WTHR, (but it would not be judged an affront if so assumed). Rather it is a salute to all those local digital broadcasting pioneers who have had the foresight to fully embraced the technology and adjust their business plans to exploit all the benefits to their customers that can be provided - including, most specifically, locally produced HDTV programming.

It is no secret that the old over-the-air (OTA) TV broadcast business model is in trouble at both the major network and local levels. And it has been struggling for some time, long before digital TV was on the horizon. The "disruptive" technology and associated business model that altered the entire broadcasting landscape was Cable. Since the advent of Cable and all the other alternate sources of TV programming generation and delivery, the percentage of eyeballs focusing on traditional network and local programming has been declining at an ever increasingly faster rate, regardless of how it is delivered. Traditional OTA broadcasting is certainly not the "cash cow" of the past.

But a few broadcast pioneers like Dispatch Broadcasting Group of Columbus, Ohio, owners of both Indianapolis' WTHR and sister station, WBNS in Columbus, OH, realized the opportunities presented by digital television. They also realized their winning business objective must be to deliver the best area news, weather and local content with the highest production and technical values possible over as many delivery platforms possible. This is not to say that WTHR's NBC affiliate mission would be ignored or subordinated in any manner. Indeed, even though traditional network affiliate viewership is decreasing nationally, more viewers watch network programming in the aggregate than any other programming, including all the exclusive cable networks combined. But to survive and flourish as a media entity, local broadcasters cannot rely on network marketing "pull-through." Indeed, in many instances the reverse is occurring, with traditional networks depending on the strengths of the local broadcasters to maintain financial viability.

So, with aforementioned new business objectives in mind, WTHR embarked on a multi-year, multi-million dollar digital transformation project spurred by those opportunities presented by digital television. Starting in 1997 with the installation of a "first generation" ATSC digital encoder to generate an HDTV signal from one of the very few pieces of HDTV video tape material available, the journey began. At that time there were no DTV receivers in existence as the tuner and decoding chips had not yet been developed. So the first "receiver" was a spectrum analyzer confirming that some kind of digital signal, roughly resembling that of the printed ATSC specifications, was indeed being transmitted. That pioneering WTHR DTV signal was very instrumental in the initial stages of the development of the first US commercially available HDTV receivers designed at the RCA (Thomson) labs in Indianapolis.

Under the able guidance of Al Grossniklaus, WTHR's Director of Engineering and Operations, the station has successfully navigated through the myriad of digital transformation acquisition and installation phases. Here is a sample of these phases, roughly listed in chronological order but many occurring simultaneously:

Digital RF Chain (Transmitter and Antenna); ATSC Encoder; Network Digital Acquisition; Studio/Transmitter Link; Master Control Switching; HDTV Camera Acquisition; Fiber-Optic Infrastructure; HDTV Studio Switching; Non-linear Editing; Server Network; Real-Time HDTV Graphics; HDTV Weather Graphics; HD/SD Eng Cameras; New HDTV Studio Sets; Automated Switching, etc.

And, all of those tasks have been accomplished while maintaining the analog (NTSC) signal infrastructure in the same physical plant!

WTHR, in November, 2006, became the first, and remains the only, station in Indiana to produce local HDTV programming. Tasks remaining to be accomplished within the next several months include switching to full HDTV electronic news gathering (ENG), producing in 5.1 channel audio and transitioning to a complete end-to-end file-based production format. It is indeed a "work-in-progress."

The Other Transition

There is another digital transition taking place in the TV broadcast industry not well known by the "receiving" community. It is called the Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) transition. Essentially, this is an FCC mandated shift in local broadcast microwave link frequencies to a new band higher in the 2 GHz spectrum space. The BAS shift is a rather convoluted technical and regulatory arrangement in which Sprint-Nextel is obtaining the vacated BAS spectrum in exchange for providing the broadcasters with new BAS equipment. There have been many changes and alterations in this program, but as of now, the ongoing transition is due to be completed in March, 2009, just a month after the ATSC transition in February.

The significance of the 2 GHz BAS transition to WTHR and other broadcasters is that the all-digital structure and increased BAS spectrum space will greatly facilitate full HDTV ENG live production. At this time WTHR is able to take advantage is some local fiber cable infrastructure to originate HDTV in a few key Indianapolis remote locations, but full ENG live capability awaits their BAS transition.

The Future

As a programming service, WTHR is, as are many forward-thinking stations, expanding their offerings to as many distribution outlets as possible to serve several different customer segments. The transition to a full file-based (IP) infrastructure will greatly facilitate their ability to edit, re-purpose and customize their products for these media segments without the quality compromises associated with multiple format conversions. WTHR is also eagerly looking forward to the opportunities that may be provided by the upcoming ATSC Mobile/Handheld (M/H) standard. This technology may provide another powerful outlet for their products, enabling such services as on-demand "hyper-local" (precisely pinpointed) news and weather as well as various interactive information and entertainment programs.

Indeed, it is a brave new world for the TV broadcasting industry. But will WTHR and OTA broadcasting in general survive and flourish? Don't know, but one thing is for sure: the lead dog always has the best view.

Ed