Fox going all-HD in 2009, with help from Motorola
by Richard Lawler 
posted Dec 9th 2008 at 2:38PM
We knew Fox was getting serious about high definition next year for sports production, now comes word it's switching all program distribution to HD: the Fox broadcast network, national cable channels, regional sports networks, Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. Starting in the first quarter they'll use Motorola MPEG-2 HD equipment exclusively, converting in real time to SD when necessary. All the new equipment should mean higher quality broadcasts, although as we've recently heard, they may be switching again before too long. Remember the old days when a lack of capacity held back HD NFL action, and we were happy to hear about college football coming to FSN HD?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Fuzz 53 @ Dec 9th 2008 3:02PM
Hopefully Directv can fix the stuttering video issue on my local Fox 5 NY HD channel during football games. Let's get that straightened out before getting real crazy here.
Wryker @ Dec 9th 2008 3:13PM
FOX has the WORST HD broadcast out of the three major networks and ESPN. Watching the NFL on FOX compared to CBS isn't even close: FOX is horrible. If they are broadcasting in the same quality as CBS they should mandate the cable carriers to not compress their signal. I am appalled at the quality. In order: ABC has the BEST NFL HD picture, followed by CBS, then ESPN and .....someone else somewhere...and THEN FOX.
The Fuzz 53 @ Dec 9th 2008 3:27PM
I don't think ABC has had an NFL game in 3 years.
Wryker @ Dec 9th 2008 3:54PM
Oops - I meant NBC!
Prey521 @ Dec 9th 2008 3:34PM
Fox Sports "HD" is an absolute JOKE!!!! I hate watching games on their. Grainy and unfocused...it's just ridiculous. Fox should be ashamed of themselves for putting such piss poor PQ on TV and then calling it HD. Fox should pay attention to feeds such as CBSHD! Their quality is great.
StealthMonkey @ Dec 9th 2008 3:53PM
Does this mean the NFL on Fox will start looking less like a pile of shit? After watching an early game on CBS, I can barely stand watching a late game on Fox.
rendezvous65 @ Dec 9th 2008 4:52PM
PQ is sometimes depends on the affiliate. KFMB our CBS affiliate tends to have problems when showing football due to their encoder. They may not have configured it properly. KNSD-DT is fed at 12.5 mbps due to a few sub channels. KSWB broadcasts at the Fox bitrate. KFMB uses the maximum bitrate while KGTV has dropped slightly to have their temporary Azteca America subchannel. KNSD has 2 subchannels in addition to the HD channel.
Paul R @ Dec 9th 2008 7:34PM
Does anyone know whether this means Fox Soccer Channel is going HD as part of this??
The Angry Intern @ Dec 10th 2008 12:35PM
@Paul: I'm wondering this as well. Although, TWC will need to get me my damn Tuning Adapter so my TivoHD can get FSC so I won't have to use the crappy TWC DVR.
Box_Turtle @ Dec 10th 2008 8:16AM
At least Fox broadcasts all their games in HD. CBS has 1 NFL game every week in SD. When they switch to college BB many games are in SD. The quality of the broadcasts must be a region thing. NFL on Fox looks so much better than the crap I get on NBC. ESPN cranks out the best for football and basketball. Plus their on-screen info is the best. Hey Fox and CBS how many time-out?
Galley @ Dec 10th 2008 8:36AM
MPEG-2? What is this, 1996?
Foxstinks @ Jan 8th 2009 9:34PM
Watching football on Fox is like sitting in the cheap seats while listening to old men who can't actually see the game. And apparently they have religious objections to showing any replays in a timely manner. But they do love to show shots from the blimp, which is very helpful on 4th and goal.