HD Feed Streams

Los Angeles’ news car chases are going hi-definition. KABC-TV, ABC’s owned-and-operated TV station became the first station in Los Angeles to have a portion of its local newscast broadcast in high-definition by debuting Monday the market’s first high-def news helicopter from Helinet Aviation services.

While KABC’s copter is the first in Los Angeles, it’s the second hi-def copter in the nation. Helinet, the company that developed the specially-equipped copters, leased the nation’s first hi-def helicopter about a year ago to KUSA-TV, Gannett’s NBC affiliate in Denver.

“You can almost read lips” from the copter’s hi-def feed, said J.T. Alpaugh, chief technology officer for Helinet.

KABC, the news leader in the market, sees the hi-def bird as a way to solidify its position in a geographically-dispersed market known for congested freeways and lots of car chases. “We are known for our breaking news and the helicopter is the single most important level of response for most stories. We expect it will help us do a better job of covering the news,” said Cheryl Fair, news director for KABC, which three years ago was the first station in the market to put in a doppler radar system for weather.

For KABC, the hi-def helicopter was the station’s first big step on its way to transition all its local newscasts to hi-def. “This is the first piece in a very big puzzle,” added Bill Burton, vp of programming, advertising and promotion for KABC. “It will be an ongoing transition.”

So far, only five TV stations broadcast local news in HDTV, including KUSA; KOMO-TV, Fisher Broadcasting’s ABC affiliate in Seattle; WJW-TV, Fox Television’s O&O station in Cleveland; WRAL-TV, Capitol Broadcasting’s CBS affiliate in Raleigh, N.C.; and just last week, WUSA-TV, Gannett’s CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C. made the transition.