NBC Nightly News Goes HD

'NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS' BECOMES THE FIRST NETWORK EVENING NEWSCAST TO BROADCAST IN HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION

PROGRAMMING BEGINS ON MARCH 26, 2007

NEW YORK -- March 20, 2007 -- NBC News will be the first news organization to offer its network evening newscast, "NBC Nightly News" in High Definition (HD) beginning on March 26, 2007, "Nightly News" executive producer Alexandra Wallace announced today. In addition, NBC News Special Reports, including breaking news and political coverage will also be offered in Hi-Def.

In making the announcement Wallace said, "This is a natural step in the evolution of our broadcast and we are delighted to offer this advance in technology to our viewers."By broadcasting "Nightly News," "Today," Special Reports and political coverage in HD, NBC News is making a significant investment in the future.


While the current "Nightly News" studio and set are HD-ready, new studio cameras, updated HD graphics and 5.1 surround sound will be added. "Nightly News" will also broadcast from NBC News' state-of-the-art control room 1A, which was recently redesigned and will continue to broadcast "Today."HD viewers will see "Nightly News" in a fully detailed 1080i picture in 16:9 ratio (widescreen), while field reports will continue in 4:3 ratio with wings, for now. NBC News expects to begin using HD gear in the field later this year. However, reporting from the White House lawn will be available in widescreen HD on March 26.


Standard Definition (SDTV) viewers will have a 4:3 picture as they do now, albeit with noticeably improved clarity and quality.Said Brett Holey, director, "NBC Nightly News," "We're proud to lead the way into HD for breaking-news programs. It is part of our forward-looking strategy to make 'Nightly News' and Brian Williams available to viewers of all technologies and on any platform."


"NBC Nightly News" broke new ground (my note; or wind as far as I am concerned) with Brian Williams' "Daily Nightly" blog and his video blog "Early Nightly" on www.dailynightly.msnbc.com, as well as the program's streaming video "Nightly News Netcast" (www.nightly.msnbc.com) and free audio and video podcasts.