I'm interested in how people are distributing DVCPRO HD and 1080i content for broadcast. Current DVDs are much lower quality. DVCPRO decks start at $5K and go up from there. What are stations and networks asking for?

Very good question

D5. No station will take a DVCPRO HD master. You need to master to either D5 or HDCAM SR...for high def delivery. Digibeta for standard def.

Check with your local broadcaster(s) or whoever you intend to submit to. Shane pretty well sums it up, but some broadcasters are a little more open and some even work in DVCPRO[HD] format and will accept a DVCPRO tape. Some will accept SD material on DVD and/or DV too. All depends on who they are, what they want and what you may have that would interest them.

If you intend to submit your work to broadcasters regularly, you will probably have to invest in an HDCAM deck or other means of creating the proper format. As that will be cheaper in the long run than continuously handing your P2 cards or DLT tapes over to a service center that would output to HDCAM or other format for you.