How long until network TV shows movies in HD?
 

I was just thinking about this the other night. Say The Matrix or March of the Penguins is going to be aired as a Sunday night movie on ABC (not a stretch considering there is no new programming). Would they air the movie in HD on their HD affliates? While I understand it would only by 1080i, I would watch it because I'm still unwilling to invest in one format or the other knowing one will fail (usually the one I pick!).

So what do you think? Would they broadcast an SD on SD channels and HD on HD channels like they do with their normal programming?

My cable company shows the network stations in HD, so they already show movies in HD that are on those stations.

Yeah, networks have been showing movies in HD for years now.

ABC has been pretty good at showing movies in HD. NBC and CBS, however, still haven't followed suit, at least in my area.

Well thanks! That's good to know. I rarely check on anything outside my TiVo Season Passes so I guess I will have to start checking to see what movies are on network TV!!!

What type of TiVo do you have? If it's a Series 3 or TiVoHD, they added the ability to search for HD programs (and movies) in a software update this year sometime. Just search by title and then select the HD category and then the movie category. :)

They show them in HD. But they still crop 2.35:1 films to 16:9 which is annoying.

I think that's starting to change a bit. Incredibles on NBC a few weeks back was in the correct aspect ratio.

Thanks for that suggestion. That will make it much easier to find stuff. Oh boy! Lemony Snicket is on this weekend! :D

They're in HD but they're still cropped, cut up, constantly interrupted by commercials, edited for content, and covered up by promotional overlays.

I can't even begin to imagine trying to watch a movie on network TV.

Incredibles was on ABC (Disney) I thought? But it looked incredible either way.

Nope... It was NBC.

I was stunned at that one.

fitprod

I'll just blip through them on my TiVo until the format war is over.

I think the fact that you say that it would ONLY be 1080i is a little odd (as if it's a bad thing?)... some networks air 720p, some air 1080i, and HD-DVD's are sometimes played in 1080p if you have the right player and tv... but i dont think 1080i should really be considered a step down. 1080p wasn't really standard until recently and the majority of HD sets are either 720p or 1080i native.... or maybe im just bitter that i can't afford a 1080p set right now lol.

and yes, i remember watching The Ring and The Lion King both in HD on ABC. I think the fact that there aren't many movies on network TV anymore might be the reason why you haven't seen any yet. commercials and logos are a pain in the ass, but if you have a tivo or dvr, the commercials at least can kind of be dealt with.

With the writer's strike still going strong, it would be nice if the networks started playing more movies (instead of reality shows).

Ditto. I'm still annoyed at NBC because I scheduled a DVR recording of 30 Rock on NBC-HD ahead of time last Saturday but instead NBC-HD aired their finale of Clash of the Choirs over that time slot yesterday.

Theatrical movies don't get good ratings on the broadcast networks, which is why they don't show them often. And when they do show them, they're usually on Fridays, Saturdays or holidays when viewership is down anyway.

Most of the HD movies I've seen on TNT have been OAR. I think they wised up after the Lord of the Rings butchering.

According to Dave Vaughn, the HBO HD/BR sets (Sopranos) sold so bad they don't plan on re-visiting HDM anytime soon. A huge show like Lost on Blu-ray only sold a little more then 4,000 copies last week as well.

It's still better (for us) than endless repeats and reality shows. :p

My NBC affiliate in the Raleigh area showed The Incredibles on their HD channel in 4x3. Is there even a "full-screen" version of that movie? It looked all distorted to me. I was pissed because I wanted to see it in HD. I kept waiting for them to flip the switch or whatever it is they do with HD content. I've noticed that with football in the past, the first 5 minutes are letterboxed and then bam the black bars go away and it's full blown HD.

When Nemo came on HD (on ABC I think), it looked spectacular.

Even though you haven't picked up either format you seem to be falling for the marketing hype in the way you think 1080i or 720p is a lesser form of HD.

At an MSRP of $130 for about 10 episodes, how could it not sell like hotcakes? Seriously, they're going to have to consider not marking up their shows so much for HD.

That's too bad about Lost though. I hope they'll still go back and start with season 1.

Well, what do they expect. Inflated prices and a consumer base which is still in its infancy, they need to be a little more supportive. HD titles are selling rather well. Apparently, HBO just isn't on the HD Consumer's wishlist this year, but if HBO can get their act together and not expect some kind of miraculous profit pile overnight, they can woo their potential HD consumer. I know I'd buy The Wire on HD, Band of Brothers, Dexter, and a few others. But if the only choice I have is Sopranos, I'm gonna fucking vomit. If you look at HBO's history of releasing HD titles, they haven't really done much to even justify a statement of "not visiting HD anytime soon..."

HBO, how can you say you're not visiting the HD format anytime soon when you haven't even shown up on the goddamn doorstep. Curbside comments don't help us HD folk much.

Dexter is from Showtime.

Speaking of Showtime, compare the bloated Sopranos prices to Weeds, which lists for $30-40 (with street prices of $20-28) depending on the season. Granted, with half-hour episodes it's half the content, but it's still in that impulse buy territory, like many movies.