From the Mailbag: Issues with the new wkyc.com

From: Jonathan in Akron

Q: I love your new wkyc.com design. It's a little hard to find features we are used to from the old website...and I noticed sometimes it's very slow to load. Are you having problems with it?

A: We are glad you like the new design. As with any new toy, there are bound to be some issues. Part of the problem is that we are using new technology with the new site. Sometimes, this technology isn't compatible with older browsers that don't use the flash platform.

We are working on making some modifications that should help things out. However, it may take a few more weeks to work out the kinks.

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From the mailbag: Why does the 6 PM News start so early?

From: Brian via Facebook

Q: I have a question I've pondered for years and in which I think others might be interested: It seems every station in town starts their 6:00 pm newscasts not at 6:00 pm but at 5:57 or 5:58 pm. Why is that? Is it so the viewers don't have a chance to tune away from the previous show? When I got my DVR, it took a little practice to tell it to start recording 6:00 pm newscasts a few minutes early.

A: Brian.. you have answered your own question.. but let me elaborate a little bit on this. Speaking just about Channel 3, we try and start our newscast at 6 p.m. as soon as Dr. Phil says goodbye. Because we are up against other stations who are already doing news during the 5 p.m. hour we don't want to be at a disadvantage by having them beat us to the start line at 6. On the flip side, the others stations don't want us to be first - and them last. Thus, we all start at about the same time - around 5:58 p.m.

For folks who record our shows via DVRs...that has been a major complaint for the very reason you mention. They miss the first 2 minutes of our broadcast, which is always the big story of the day - and viewers who are tuning in live right at 6 also discover they have missed something important.

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From the mailbag: Talkin' Tribe

From: Ken in Barberton

Q: I used to watch your Monday night Indians program at 7...and now it's not on. What's going on?

A: "Talkin' Tribe" did not return this year as part of our Indians programming on Channel 3. Instead, we are presenting the "Tribe Report" with host Jim Donovan that airs on Sportstime Ohio on Monday nights at 6 p.m.

I believe this show repeats a couple of times as well, in case you miss it. You can always check the Program Guide for SportsTime Ohio: CLICK HERE

Thanks for the email.

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From the mailbag: Where's Scott Newell?

From: Chuck in Cleveland

Q: Did Scott Newell leave your station? Lydia said that Chris Tye is her new co-anchor on the weekend news...I loved Scott!

A: As we mentioned in an earlier posting (Chris Tye named weekend anchor), Chris Tye was recently named new weekend co-anchor replacing Scott.

Scott was offered a different position with WKYC, but decided his true love is freelancing and working for the networks as a producer which gives him the chance to travel. So, unfortunately, Scott's last day with us was last week. We'll all miss him greatly.

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From the mailbag: Closed captioning with DTV

From: Ruth in Akron

Q: I often use the closed captioning on my TV set to help me since I don't hear so well anymore...Will it still be available on the new digital TVs?

A: An excellent question... The answer is yes!

Analog TV has only one format for closed captions in which the captions are encoded invisibly in the analog TV signal.

However, Digital TV can support two formats. The second format is newer and offers more choices of font, color, and size, which can result in better visibility and ease of use. Digital TV carries captions of either format as data along with the digital audio and video content, but unlike analog TV, the captions are not embedded in the video signal.

Basically, it is up to the originator of the programming to provide the captions for any given program and to select the format. When the captions are decoded and displayed, the resulting text and symbols appear on the screen. The caption decoding function, by U.S. government mandate, is included in all digital TVs that have a screen size 13 inches or larger. It is also included in all separate, stand-alone digital TV tuners (e.g., set top boxes or "STBs").

In either case, the digital TV tuner reads the closed caption data, interprets it, and writes it into the video so it becomes visible when the video is displayed on a screen. (More specifically, the captions are written on top of the video images.)

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From the Mailbag: Digital TV coupons

From: Virginia in Cleveland

Q: Where do I find the application for these coupons?

A: We have a terrific section here on the blog with a ton of helpful information regarding the transition from analog to digital TV and how it will affect you. Plus there are direct links for the application process to get your coupons from the government for the converter boxes. (Up to 2 per household).

Check out the menu on the right hand side under "Digital TV Essentials" and the links to The Guide to Digital TV or Converter Box Coupons. Both articles offer great information for you as we near the February 17, 2009 cut-off date.

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From the Mailbag: What Happened to the Director's Blog Chat?

From: Jim in Willoughby

Q: What happened to your Director's Cut Blog Chats?

A: They haven't gone away! I promise. I just had to scale them back a bit after some additional responsibilities came my way here at WKYC that have required my attention recently.

As part of the ever changing realm of television broadcasting, I've been also learning how to switch newscasts as the job of Director and Technical Director becomes interchangeable at WKYC.

This wasn't a reduction of staffing, but an opportunity to work in a situation where both the directors and the technical directors have not ventured before at WKYC...doing both jobs at once on some shows. It's an equal opportunity for both our directors and TD's to work closer together, easing the burden of having two people do as many shows each day.

For those of us who like other new challenges, the situation permits us more time to work on the web and other parts of WKYC's Information Center.

As far as the blog chats, I plan on having these at least once a month. The next one will be scheduled soon. Check the blog for date and time.

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From the Mailbag: What's next for Blu Ray?

From: Don in Cleveland

Q: Frank, you mentioned some time ago in one of your articles on high definition about how you thought Blu Ray would beat HD DVD in the format race. It came to be true. What do you see happening next?

A: Even though Toshiba threw in the towel on HD DVD, the battle for Blu Ray is far from over.

Here's why.

Blu Ray is still going to be battling against regular DVD's for consumer loyalty. Keep in mind, Blu Ray and the equipment needed to watch them is still relatively expensive compared to a tradition DVD player. I think it will still take a few years before Blu Ray will gain any firm ground in that battle - even with the proliferation of HDTV.

Also I suspect in short order, Blu Ray itself may be on the verge of extinction. Other distribution platforms like Video on Demand (VOD) will become more common place as cable and Internet based systems, like AT&T's U-Verse, lay the infrastructure to deliver more products right into the living rooms of consumers without additional equipment purchases needed.

Why would you need to buy any DVD when you can just request it at any time on your remote. If you doubt this, think of how few CD's you went to the store and bought in the last several years since the Internet now offers such easy to download platforms as I-Tunes, for example. TV and movies are mere baby steps behind.

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From the Mailbag: Jim Donovan anchoring news?

From: Anonymous

Q: Jim Donovan did a nice job, but where was Tim White on election night?

A: Tim has a terrible cold and little voice.. So Jim Donovan agreed to pinch hit for Tim. This way, Romona didn't have to anchor our entire election coverage by herself.

By the way, Jimmy did do a great job. We were thrilled with his insight, knowledge and his humor during the evening.

BTW, WKYC was clearly the area's choice for election coverage last night with a very strong showing at 6, 7 & 11 PM. Our election special at 10 PM also beat WEWS's live coverage.

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From the Mailbag: HDTV Broadcasting

From: Bob in Canton

Q: Just looked at your website and saw that several people complained about not getting good reception on your HD TV broadcast channel. I live in Canton, Ohio and just got a new Panasonic TV a few days ago and was pleasantly surprised to find that not only could I get an excellent TV picture in HD, but also got your other news and weather channel.

As a matter of curiosity, what frequencies are your HDTV stations being broadcasted on? I can't seem to find a good reference to HD frequencies for the Cleveland area. Keep up the good work!

A: Hi Bob.. thanks for your comments. People have complaints mainly because they are receiving our signals via cable and sometimes the quality is being lost in the process. Others have been upset by our digital signal not getting out far enough to be received over the air. That's why we are working on an upgrade to move to digital channel 17 by February 17, 2009. This will greatly increase our coverage area.

As to you 2nd question, we are broadcasting our WKYC HD on digital 3.1 and Weather Plus on digital 3.2

I have a basic guide to Cleveland's local digital channel assignments at the following link: CLICK HERE

You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com