KGMB set to begin high-def broadcasts

KGMB-TV and its CBS network programming will appear in high definition on Oceanic Time Warner Cable starting tonight.

KGMB President and General Manager Rick Blangiardi and Oceanic President Nate Smith signed the agreement yesterday afternoon. Some HD test programming already might be viewable on Oceanic Channel 1007.

KGMB is the last local network affiliate to sign an HD carriage deal with Oceanic, and both sides felt increasing viewer pressure as HDTV-capable sets were purchased by more and more local households.

"Two years ago we stopped buying regular digital decoders; we just bought DVRs (digital video recorders)," said Smith. "Last year we stopped buying DVRs and have been buying HD DVRs. There's no demand for anything else," he said.

Sports seems the primary driver of HDTV purchases, but Blangiardi said "all of our prime-time and any other programming we receive in high def" will be broadcast in high definition.

"We're not taking a digital signal and changing it to high def. ... We capture, store and broadcast it in high def," he said.

The station's studio and field cameras for news gathering are HD-ready, and "our next big step will be to get the right equipment so everything we do locally will be in high def," Blangiardi said.