More Highlights for DTV
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Wilderness North Carolina
Capitol Broadcasting Company helped establish the first HD digital cinema in the country at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. WRAL, the first HD station in the country, commissioned Art Howard (former WRAL news photographer) to travel across North Carolina to gather images with a high definition camera showcasing the diverse wilderness of our state. WRAL News anchor Bill Leslie hosts this fabulous presentation produced in 2000.
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WRAL First HD Newscast from the news set 2001
January 28, 2001. WRAL-TV converted to an all-digital news operation starting with the 11:00 PM newscast. WRAL became the world’s 1st news operation to gather and present high-definition local news on a continuous basis.
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First LIVE HD Newscast from State Fair October 13 2000 (Short Version)
This is a short version showing behind the scenes activity of the first HD Newscast by WRAL, the leader in HD broadcasting. On October 13, 2000 WRAL made history by broadcasting the entire 5:00 PM newscast LIVE in HD from the State Fair. The historic newscast was broadcast from a special stage at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh. The broadcast came just days after WRAL announced it was purchasing equipment from Panasonic to allow the station to gather all of its news stories in the 1080i format. WRAL was the first in the country to convert its entire news operation into HD. This video documents the historic moment from a behind-the-scenes perspective.
In 1996, WRAL was the first station in the nation to start broadcasting in HD even though most viewers did not have an HD television set.
The complete 30 minute HD broadcast is available for viewing on this website.
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HD tower construction including interview with CBC vice president John Greene
July 13, 1999 marked a milestone in the construction of WRAL-TV’s HD Digital Tower. It is among the tallest towers in the country topping off at 2,000 feet and was built by Doty-Moore Tower Services.
The video starts with an interview with CBC senior vice president John Greene, talking about the significance of this particular moment in WRAL’s HD development. Later in the video is an interview with Pat Moore, co-owner of Doty Moore Tower Services, a recognized leader in television tower construction.
Part of the ceremony involved in setting the first section of the tower is placing a “lucky penny” on top of the pin that provides a pivot point for the tower at the foundation. You will hear John say “we lost one, but this one is forever,” which refers to WRAL’s tall analog tower that crumbled to the ground in 1989 due to heavy icing during a winter storm. The HD Tower includes a new technology that allows the tower to pivot on a pin at the base. -
Historic DTV transition on September 8, 2008 in Wilmington, NC
Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo and FCC Chairman Kevin Martin throw the symbolic switch making local TV stations the first in the country to go digital. WILM was the first CBC affiliate to make the change.