January 25, 2011

AUGUSTA---WRDW-TV/CBS News12 is Augusta’s first television station to broadcast its local news in High Definition (HD). “We are leading the way for news viewers throughout the CSRA with the most significant advancement of viewing technology since color TV,” said WRDW-TV President and General Manager John Ray, who also serves as project manager. “I am proud we are the first to serve Augusta’s news viewers in HD; we are committed to bringing our viewers the quality only high definition television can offer.”

Beginning today, all News12 newscasts are now being produced and transmitted in HD. This allows viewers to see a sharper and clearer picture. Coupled with enhanced audio, the viewing experience is improved dramatically, regardless of what type of television set (High Definition or standard) is being watched.

WRDW-TV’s parent company, Gray Television, has made a significant investment to broadcast local news in high definition. The News12 studio has been redesigned for the HD environment with state-of-the-art new digital core, HD control room, HD cameras, specialized editing technology plus custom HD graphics to enhance the HD news experience.

"Many people in and around Augusta have made the investment in High Definition televisions, and while we have been broadcasting network and syndicated programming in High Definition, today we begin a new era by presenting our local news in true High Definition as well," Mr. Ray stated. “In the coming months all of our syndicated programming and commercial advertising will follow.”

HD newscasts will have more than double the resolution of standard definition (SD) broadcasts, providing the most detailed and clear images ever seen on local news in the CSRA. Consumers can get HDTV programming with digital TV sets or digital converter boxes hooked up to analog TV sets. They may also access the HD programming through cable and satellite services.

News12 was Augusta’s first TV station to broadcast in color, one of the first in the United States to broadcast a High Definition digital signal in 2000, the first to broadcast in 16 x 9 and now News12 leads the way once again as the first station with local news in true, full High Definition.

WRDW-TV News12 HD channel is carried on channel 21 on Comcast and Knology, and channel 7 on Atlantic Broadband. It is also carried by both Dish and DirecTV satellite providers. Over the air, the channel is 12.1. WRDW is online at www.wrdw.com

Gray Television, Inc. is a television broadcast company headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Gray currently operates 36 television stations serving 30 markets. Each of the stations are affiliated with either CBS (17 stations), NBC (10 stations), ABC (8 stations) or FOX (1 station). In addition, Gray currently operates 39 digital second channels including 1 ABC, 4 Fox, 7 CW, 18 MyNetworkTV, 2 Universal Sports Network, plus 7 local news/weather channels in certain markets.

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