Television

Channel 7's digital advantage

On the first night of the recent Topanga Fire, when Eyewitness News went off the air to make room for the network, ABC7 viewers were directed to the station's parallel digital channel ABC7Plus to keep watching fire updates. This week's L.A. Business Journal says it was a sign of progress in local TV.

“It’s something we’d been considering trying for a long time and this seemed like an appropriate opportunity,” said [Bill] Burton, vice president of programming, advertising and promotions. “That night the story had grown to the point where there was interest in covering it a while longer, but it wasn’t big enough that it warranted pre-empting the network news like we did the next night.”

In addition to the high-definition version of Channel 7, KABC programs two additional over-the-air digital channels – one providing local weather radar and the other offering a mix of rebroadcast local and network news shows, some syndicated programs and a few infomercials. But on a high-interest local story like the first major wildfire of the season, ABC7Plus, also known as Channel 7.2, can provide the station with the flexibility of a 24-hour news network.

Though ABC has been among the most aggressive in promoting its digital and broadband offerings, its L.A. station appears to be one of the first to use part of its share of the digital spectrum as an extension of the primary channel.

Either Channel 7 gave its website a new design or it has been a long time since I've been there. I found a digital TV FAQ page, as well as a broad array of news in Spanish.


More by Kevin Roderick:
Standing up to Harvey Weinstein
The Media
LA Times gets a top editor with nothing but questions
LA Observed Notes: Harvey Weinstein stripped bare
LA Observed Notes: Photos of the homeless, photos that found homes
Recent Television stories on LA Observed:
'SoCal Connected' gets new KCET season and exec producer
Cecilia Alvear, 77, trail blazing NBC News producer
Robert Osborne, 84, host on Turner Classic Movies
Midweek notes: Xavier Becerra, Jeff Michael, P-45 and more
Tony Valdez retires from Fox 11 news, last of a generation
Gwen Ifill, Washington journalist, 61
Vin Scully tribute to air live across SoCal
KTLA will air Vin Scully's final six games


 

LA Observed on Twitter