Despite HDTV's growing popularity, many broadcasters, particularly those in small markets, may have to postpone making the transition to local HD news given the current economic woes, a panel of experts said Wednesday.

"The events of the last few weeks certainly have affected those of us in the over-the-air broadcast industry," said Delbert Parks, Sinclair Broadcasting Group's VP of operations/engineering. "We are faced with some challenging time ahead."

Parks was one of four top broadcast and cable engineers who addressed the challenges of going high definition as part of the HD World conference in New York.

Parks, who has overseen the high-def transformation at stations in markets including St. Louis, Baltimore and Nashville over the past few years, said HD rollouts planned for other Sinclair stations in 2009 are likely to be pushed off at least a year.

"I think it's going to be years instead of months," Parks said, adding that tough economic times, particularly for the car and retail industries, has cost broadcasters advertising dollars.

"It's pretty easy to make the case to do it in the larger markets," he said. "But for small market stations it becomes more of an exercise in financial justification, and you have to wonder in today's environment how many of the smaller market stations are really going to be able to borrow the money to convert their stations to HD."

The panel's other speakers — Marty Faubell, VP, engineering, Hearst-Argyle Television: Michael Koetter, VP of technology and planning, CNN; and Christopher Lane, VP of engineering and technology, WETA Washington — echoed Parks' sentiments.

"It's a much more compelling product," Faubell said. "But let's face it. No one is saying we're going to make a lot more money."

That hardly makes investing in going high def frivolous, however, he said.

Rather, broadcasters would be hard pressed not to make the transition given that HD programming is what a growing number of viewers want, Faubell said.

It's also true that some of the costs can be wrapped into routine upgrades (many broadcasters are making the HD transition in stages, replacing SD equipment with HD as the need arises) and that the prices of once-expensive HD tools have dropped significantly, he said.

And, he added, stations without HD content are simply not broadcast on high-definition cable tiers.

Broadcasters that have already made full-scale transitions, however, say doing so can be bumpy, as they are still learning the ups and downs of embracing the new technology, the panelists said.

While replacing existing infrastructures pose obvious obstacles, other issues also arise such as creating digital archive and management systems for years worth of old footage and adapting sets and graphics to HD standards, they said.

While a major cable player like CNN has the resources to create a digital HD archive, most TV stations do not.

"At any given station, there is no librarian," Faubell said. "There is a tape on a shelf for every day of every newscast."

Broadcasting in high definition is complicated by programming and commercials that are delivered to stations in a variety of HD formats.

That growing problem may ultimately abate as more stations gear up for HD and processes for handling the formats are developed.

But it's not going to be quick or easy, Faubell said. "You think files are the answer? Think again. You'll long for the day when you asked someone to give it to you on three-quarter inch."