Indy festival

A reader (Patrick Murray Chelmsford, MA) calls you on some false predictions and early season bumblings of YOURS - and you pout your way through your response, sarcastically "assuming" the reader is perfect in HIS picks? Hey Nick! You get PAID for this, pal. You earn a living following, studying, interviewing, and writing about the Pats. And you have the nerve to incorporate the predictions and foresight of a READER into your response? These are relevant?

Hey, no one can predict the future. But the difference is this: some people (GMs, head coaches) are actually held accountable for their flubs. You just get to whine to the readers who have the nerve highlight your mistakes, answer some mailbag questions and collect paychecks.

Anyway, I wanted to respond to the email about why WBZ doesn't carry an HD signal. I don't know firsthand the specifics of WBZ's situation, but I do know that some of the other broadcasters in Boston have been reluctant to invest in HD equipment mainly because it's so expensive. The national networks (CBS, NBC, etc.) have been slow to roll out HD signals except in their big-time ratings-grabbing shows, or for programs which reside in hotly contested time slots (like the late night talk shows.) Because they don't have many shows being distributed in HD, the local broadcasters like WBZ or WHDH don't see the need to upgrade their systems. (And because the networks themselves aren't fully supporting HDTV yet, they're not willing to help local stations offset the cost of HD broadcast equipment, even for major markets like Boston.)

Furthermore, part of the reason the networks aren't broadcasting more HD content is that there are relatively few HD sets on the market today, and the ones which are available cost several thousand dollars. The networks aren't going to make a major investment in HD broadcasting equipment when there isn't much demand to speak of.