KLAS is redefining itself

Monday, Sept. 18, 2006 | 7:13 a.m.

Starting this morning , KLAS Channel 8 will broadcast all of its news and weather programming in high definition, making it the first station in the valley to do so and the 11th in the nation.

The station feels comfortable spending over a $1 million on new cameras, lenses, editing equipment and repainting and cleaning its sets because of Las Vegans' love of high-tech toys. Nielsen Media Research says Las Vegas is the second largest market in the nation in terms of owning HDTVs, plasma screen televisions, DVRs or ordering video on demand. Research by KLAS and others suggest there may be some 200,000 HDTV sets in the valley - and growing.

KLAS is gambling that by jumping in now, its newscast can be far ahead before competitors have even dipped their toes.

"We need to be there, we need to be there first and we need to be learning how to do this while the other guys are still sitting around," Vice President of News Bob Stoldal told his staff on the news stage last Wednesday.

"This is on the scale of going from black-and-white to color television."

That difference, of course, will be noticeable only to viewers who can afford HD sets, the cheapest of which have only recently dropped below $1,000. And only if they're watching the local news. Channel 8 has, like other Las Vegas stations, been broadcasting HD national programming for years.

Robert Thompson, who studies popular television at Syracuse University, only recently purchased an HD set but he says the "beautiful" and "cinematic" images have changed his television-viewing experience.

"I really enjoy watching 'Hope and Faith' now. It's broadcast in my market on a high-definition ABC affiliate. It looks just gorgeous," Thompson said. "And any technology that can make a stupid show like 'Hope and Faith' enjoyable is an important technology."

Even viewers with regular television, though, may notice a slight improvement in their KLAS newscast. They won't be receiving an HD signal, of course, but the expensive new camera lenses being used should make even the analog broadcast a little sharper and a little cleaner.

As HD broadcasting becomes more common, on-air talent around the nation has worried (off the record and in The New York Times, no less) that the eagle-eyed cameras would expose every pore, zit and blackhead. But Gary Waddell, who has anchored news broadcasts at KLAS for more than 20 years, said he's not concerned.

"Once when I was done putting my makeup on and about to go on air, someone said, 'Boy, you look great,' " Waddell said. "Well, at my age, I'm happy just to look presentable."

Waddell, for the record, says he uses very little makeup, only enough to even out his skin tone and a little powder for moisture control.