Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

From: Mike in Cleveland Q: Hi Frank...Love the Director's Cut Blog on wkyc.com. The old clips are great! Heard that the Indians were going all HD on STO, do you know if that's true? How come we see HD Indians games on channel 3, and an HD newscast, but all the Indians highlights within the HD newscast are seemingly SD, and really bad SD at that? Any way to record and edit HD highlights like they do on Sportscenter? A: I love these multiple part questions...Thanks for the comments. Glad you enjoy the blog. I'm always working on new ideas. Regarding STO - yes, all Indians games (home & away) this season will be done in high definition according to Pat Kilkenney, SportsTime Ohio Vice President of Program Acquisition/ Executive Producer. Viewers having been asking - and now you shall receive. Finally, the bad quality video is a result of us not having the capability "yet" to record massive amounts of video in high definition for our newscasts. This is coming, b...

From: Calvin in Akron Q: I just subscribed to high definition cable and the HD channels look great. But I notice a very thin line of static at the top of the screen on the SD (standard definition) channels, what is that? A: That "static" has been there for a long time. It's a data stream of information your TV reads for closed captioning and time codes transmitting by a broadcast TV station. In the analog TV days, this information was usually hidden by your TV set which didn't quite display every line, so you likely never noticed it. When SD programs are viewed on a HD set, you see the entire SD picture - and the line with the information. Check in your new HDTV's control setup for an overscan feature (sometimes called "zoom"). You can use this to crop your picture a bit and eliminate this "static" if it bothers you. Keep in mind, if you start watching a lot of HD programming afterwards, you may want to switch this back. Otherwise, you might lo...

From: Jim in Kent Q: I first want to commend you and WKYC for informing the public about HDTV and the changes in television that we are going through over the past months. I have some questions about how the switch to digital will affect WKYC and other television stations. Will the digital signal be any clearer/stronger when the analog signal is finished? Will it cost the station any less to broadcast digitally? What will you do with your analog transmitter? And with the recent rule change by the FCC, do you think any stations in the Cleveland/Akron area will drop their analog transmissions in 2008? A: Thanks for your letter. I'm glad the information has been helpful to you. Let's take a look at each of your questions - First, digital definitely offers better picture quality because the resolution is much higher than analog tv. Plus, most people forget about the audio. With digital, we can offer superior 5.1 (or higher) surround sound which is another attractive feature to many...

From: William in University Heights Q: I just purchased a new HD TV with a digital tuner. I also own several older sets and get excellent reception through a household antenna. However, despite using exactly the same antenna, the reception on my new digital TV is so poor that many stations can not be viewed. This includes both VHF stations, such as WKYC Channel 3, and UHF stations. Can you explain why? I will be very disappointed not to be able to view your station. Although it is often reported that viewers should be able to receive the same stations on digital or analog TVs using normal antennas, my experience shows this is not true. A: I turned to WKYC Engineer Dave Kushman who handles our transmitter facilities to answer this one - "The fact that you are not receiving any stations well VHF or UHF is telling me you have an antenna issue. DTV and analog reception are totally different. A weak, snowy signal or one with reflections (ghost) will be viewable on an analog set but a D...

From: Tim in Bainbridge Q: Thanks Frank for the cool web chats you are doing... will they be a regular part of your blog? A: You bet! I'll be doing this chats most weeks on Wednesday. Just look for the notice at the top of the blog as to date and time. These chats give me a unique opportunity for me to talk with you about television and you can ask all the questions you want - within reason, of course. I still can't divulge station secrets! Plus after the holidays, I'll be inviting various Channel 3 on-air personalities to join me in the chat room to talk about what goes on behind the scenes here at the Digital Broadcast Center. You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From: Herman in Cleveland Q: I noticed both Channel 3 and Channel 19 are running commercials that claim their newscasts are number 1 at 11 PM...How can both stations say that? A: It's a fair question. It all depends on which set of ratings you look at for the important month of November. WKYC was #1 at 11 PM in overall viewers age 12+ both Monday thru Friday and Monday through Sunday. So technically, Channel 3 had the most people watching the news at 11 PM. When you break down the individual demographic ratings into very specific age range, the other station can claim they had more viewers than we did in the Women 25-54 demo ONLY - though we were #1 in Adults 25-54 Monday through Sunday. You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From: Janice in Kirtland Q: Tom Meyer is one of my favorites. You mentioned on the blog that he was coming to WKYC awhile ago, but I haven't seen him on the air. Is he still coming? A: That would be a great big "YES". Tom had to wait out a non-compete agreement (a period of time where is not allowed to be on the air after leaving his past employer) before he can start on the air at Channel 3. Although, I don't have a Tom premiere date, it will be soon - probably next month. Tom is already hard at work behind the scenes working on some interesting investigations that you will see very soon. You can read our original blog posting about Tom from May 18th: CLICK HERE You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From: Bill in Cleveland Q: I never see Jim Donovan on your newscasts anymore...Why? A: Jimmy is around, but his duties have him spread between Channel 3 News, Sportstime Ohio and the Cleveland Browns Radio Network. Because many of these anchoring duties require him during the day or on the weekends, he's not on the weekday 11 pm newscast as much during Browns season. Plus the poor guy needs a day or two off to regroup - like the rest of us! In January, you'll be seeing more of him - that is, unless the Browns head to the Superbowl - then all bets are off. You can email your questions to me: fmacek@wkyc.com

From: Dustin in Akron Q: Seems that the re-branding to "Channel 3's Akron Canton Newscast" was short lived. Other than the open to the newscast the graphics were all back to the blue "Akron Canton News" graphics...Just curious if you knew anything about it? A: Well, it seems our rebranding may have been a little premature. Time Warner asked us to continue with the name of "Akron Canton News" with its own look, so they can present the show as a unique product for various reason$. However, we do plan further graphic changes to the broadcast including the set's background. We've just had to go back to the drawing board. It's not exactly how we hoped to make the transition - but it is what it is.

From: Beverly in Medina Q: I have a child who would like to be a Bus Stop Weather kid, how do I go out getting him on TV? A: WKYC's official "Bus Stop Department" offered up the following details: "There are two ways in which kids are selected for this popular segment of our newscasts. The first way is through a phone-in contest we run periodically during Channel 3 News Today, which airs weekday mornings from 5-7 a.m. The other way we get kids is through charity fundraisers. We occasionally give Bus Stop appearances to various groups to use at silent auctions to help raise money for their organization. If you have any questions feel free to call the station at (216) 344-3333 and ask to speak to someone in our Promotion Department."

From: Dawn in Parma Q: I noticed John Anderson is now longer on the morning crew? What happened to him? I miss him. A: John recently took a job as a morning anchor at the Fox affiliate, WTXF/29 in Philadelphia. This is the same station where former WKYC 6 & 11 PM anchor Dawn Stensland currently works. His last day was Friday, October 19th. His wife Kristin will be leaving to join him at some point once things settle down. For more about John, check out the following articles: *Get to Know Team 3" Director's Cut Feature: CLICK HERE *Newshutr's Views Farewell To John: - CLICK HERE Send us your emails on Facebook, Myspace or at: fmacek@wkyc.com

From: Mike in Elyria Q: Just an anxious WKYC fan, I can't get anything on [WKYC digital channel] 2 because of the low frequency, just wondering if you had any updates you could share with your viewers? A: Funny you ask...I was just talking to our project engineer on this, Rex Rickly, several days ago and he said it is not likely until near the February 2009 analog cut off date that we'll be able to move from our current digital Channel 2 to Channel 17. We are ready to go, but the Canton station (WDLI) on Channel 17 analog will not leave the channel until then...so we are kinda stuck waiting for them to move. An analog and digital channel can not broadcast on the same channel at the same time...I don't understand it all technically, but that's the deal. Have you tried getting an HD booster antennae?? I believe Radio Shack has them and it might help you receive our signal in the meantime - or get digital cable. If you would like to ask us a question, send your email to: f...

From: Doug in Cleveland Q: Hi Frank, I was driving past your building on my way to the Browns game on Sunday and noticed the sign has changed...a little remodeling going on? A: Actually yes - we are installing a new sign on the station to highlight the many programming channels we are now...including WKYC, Sportstime Ohio, WKYC.com and Weather Plus. I'll post a picture in the next few days after the electrical workers are done installing it. If you would like to ask us a question, send your email to: fmacek@wkyc.com