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2009 British Open broadcast confirmed in standard def on TNT & ABC

by Richard Lawler, posted Jun 30th 2009 at 12:53PM

Bad news golf fans, HDSportsGuide has confirmed that yet again, this year's British Open will be in standard definition on ABC and TNT. At least it will be in native widescreen and the event will be covered thoroughly, including shots from ABC's Segway-mounted Steadicam and X-MO super slow motion camera, but we still can't get over living in a world where the WNBA draft is in 720p and one of golf's major championships and F1 racing aren't.

2009 NBA Draft is the first broadcast in HD

by Richard Lawler, posted Jun 24th 2009 at 11:11PM


There's less than 24 hours to go before the 63rd Annual NBA Draft, and as NBA fans watch a procession of incredibly tall human beings walk across the stage and shake the commissioner's hand on their way to becoming multimillionaires, they'll be doing it for the first time in high definition (though the WNBA beat them to it.) ESPN HD will also have all the draft info filling up side columns on both sides of the screen, among the rest of the coverage planned. Of course, high definition can't keep your team from blowing a pick, but at least when your squad drafts yet another skinny, soft Euro big that will probably never come over, you'll be doing it in HD.

DirecTV's HD Mix extended to cover the entire U.S. Open weekend

by Richard Lawler, posted Jun 17th 2009 at 3:34PM


The U.S. Open gets started tomorrow from Bethpage State Park, and beyond the ESPN & NBC coverage, DirecTV is extending its HD Mix channel for all four days for the first time. That should help keep an eye on the leaderboard, main broadcast and whatever combination of specific areas of the course, interviews, or particular golfers one wants to follow, all available in high definition of course. After the Mediate/Woods showdown last year, we hope they're not locked in to doing only four days of broadcasts.

ESPN adds Rose Bowl, to go along with the rest of the BCS games starting in 2011

by Richard Lawler, posted Jun 12th 2009 at 7:03PM

Hope you like ESPN's bowl presentation, as it's going to be the home for all the BCS games beginning in 2011, now that its added the Rose Bowl in a new multiyear deal. That probably won't make the NAB happy, considering the group's protests when ESPN locked up the other bowls earlier this year, for the rest of us, it just makes it a little bit tougher to go all OTA if college football in January is a must watch.

Mark Cuban promises the first 1080 NHL & NBA arena next season

by Richard Lawler, posted Jun 9th 2009 at 9:16PM


It should be no wonder Mark Cuban (got some Jerry Jones envy?) is promising the first NHL & NBA arena with 1080-line digital scoreboards. While 1080p has been well entrenched in scoreboards for the outdoor sports (like the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees) it appears the winter brethren has been slacking, but with the Mavericks and Stars not competing in tonight's finals action, plans to upgrade American Airlines Center ahead of the 2009-10 seasons are already underway, with four 18- by 30-foot video scoreboards coming to the center display and two 24- by 72-foot video walls at the north and south ends. If that's not enough, the sounds are getting a makeover too, with a "state-of-the-art concert quality sound system" bring a digital six speaker linear system to next years attendees, though we should all get a (3D?) look during the 2010 NBA All-Star Game next February.

[Via Dallas Observer & Mark Cuban]

NBA TV follows NFL Network to Comcast's digital classic tier

by Richard Lawler, posted Jun 4th 2009 at 10:56AM

It doesn't appear to be coming in time for everyone to enjoy C-Webb and The Glove's studio antics during the NBA Finals, but now that Comcast closed a deal to bring NFL Network to its many digital classic subscribers, working out an agreement to add NBA TV (home of the pioneering all-SkyCam broadcasts & silent game) as well was the only logical followup. No word on exactly when the switch will happen, but hoops fans should keep an eye on their (soon to change drastically) channel lineup with the long term deal slated to shift the channel off the sports tier and into mass availability ahead of the 2009-10 season, bringing along plenty of VOD and streaming content to Comcast.net. Unfortunately, NBA League Pass is still a pay add-on, but we guess that would be asking for just a bit too much, right?

ESPN2 and ABC bringing 2009 WNBA season home entirely in HD

by Richard Lawler, posted May 22nd 2009 at 3:18AM

The NBA season is winding down, with the conference finals finally under way, but for the first time there will be plenty of high definition basketball all summer thanks to the WNBA. every regular and postseason game broadcast on ABC and ESPN2 will be in HD, starting with the Shock vs. Sparks, June 6. Not close to your HDTV, or in the U.S.? No problem, the games will be on ESPN360.com, ESPN Australia HD and ESPN Brazil HD (there is a ESPN Brazil HD?) Things got kicked off with the HD WNBA draft and while there might still not be much dunking, the league is at least ready to provide the high quality broadcasts enjoyed by the NBA.

NFL & Comcast reach agreement: NFL Network switches to digital classic by August 1

by Richard Lawler, posted May 19th 2009 at 12:34PM


Forget all the fights and accusations, the NFL Network and Comcast have reached an agreement that will see the channel moved from the sports tier to its Digital Classic level by August 1, available to almost 2/3 of the company's subscribers. Also coming to cable bound NFL fans? Video on-demand content and Comcast will have the "ability" to offer the no longer exclusive NFL Redzone Channel when it launches. No word on what this means for any other operators but we wouldn't be surprised if this deal is just the first of several providing wider access to NFL Network. Now, just to see how much our cable bill jumps in the fall to know the real cost of this addition.

TSN2 coming to Rogers Cable lineup

by Richard Lawler, posted May 18th 2009 at 11:08AM

Congratulations, Canada, finally TSN2 HD is available for the masses, now that it's completed a deal with Rogers Cable. Expect the new channel to show up tomorrow ahead of a Blue Jays / Red Sox three game series. Sure it wasn't in time to catch the NBA season, but given the Raptors' struggles last season, that may have been for the best.

NFL Network & Comcast could be close to a deal, moving channel to digital basic

by Richard Lawler, posted May 17th 2009 at 9:23PM


Not that we usually put much stock in Peter King's NFL rumors, but word is the NFL Network and Comcast are close to working out a deal that will put the channel right where the NFL wanted it all along, on the regular digital cable package instead of the added-price sports tier. Since the channel didn't disappear May 1 as threatened, it would seem an agreement on pricing has been reached and according to King things were nearly finished on Thursday and Friday but the two have been hammering out final details even today. We'll see if this really happens, and not a moment too soon negotiations also under way with Fox, CBS and NBC and labor talks due to get under way with the Players Association.

Yankee Stadium's HD scoreboard already having problems?

by Richard Lawler, posted May 11th 2009 at 3:49AM


As if things weren't bad enough at the new Yankee Stadium, the latest high priced acquisition to experience issues seems to be the new HD scoreboard -- check out those odd equalizer-looking white bars New Stadium Insider spotted all over the screen during a game Thursday. We're not going to get into the Daktronics vs. Diamond Vision debate, but hopefully it's nothing a few triple A rehab starts can't fix.

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics set for (only?) an HD broadcast

by Richard Lawler, posted May 5th 2009 at 10:33AM

Don't get us wrong, the news that Russia's first Winter Games will be in HD is great, obviously, but frankly we've become a bit spoiled as of late. We were figuring by 2014 they'd be moving beyond 3D, 1080p live broadcasts to straight 4K Silverlight streaming, or holograms, or something. Still, as high definition still spreads throughout Russia, for the moment at least, we'll pencil it in as "just" an HD Olympics, and be glad it's not the muddled mess of HDTV and widescreen SD we endured during the Torino Games in 2006.

DirecTV's ScoreGuide tool makes catching the quickest boxing matches even easier

by Richard Lawler, posted May 4th 2009 at 11:08PM


DirecTV subs may not notice the company has been spun off, but they might have peeped the new ScoreGuide, letting sports fans watch one channel while keeping scores and start times of live events posted on screen, then letting viewers switch to the appropriate channel easily. Accessed by tuning into any one of DirecTV's sports channels then punching the red button on your remote, it can collapse to show just one game or stay open to show all daily events. Want to avoid clicking over only to find the boxing match is already over two rounds in or you missed a great Kentucky Derby comeback, or yet another triple overtime thriller? We can see how this could be useful.

NFL Network remaining on Comcast, for the time being

by Richard Lawler, posted Apr 30th 2009 at 10:08PM


As you already know, the NFL Network's contract with Comcast expires tonight, and while the two fight it out over where the channel belongs, on basic cable or a sports tier, it's been threatening to leave the cable company's lineup altogether. Not quite at the 11th hour however, comes word from the Comcast Voices blog that the two are still trying to work things our and due to currently "productive discussions" NFL Network will stay on Comcast systems for now. It'll still be some time be some time before their court case has a ruling, but we're sure your voice on the matter has already been heard.

ESPN prepping its first HD NFL draft coverage

by Richard Lawler, posted Apr 23rd 2009 at 4:36PM


Sure, ESPN's been taking advantage of widescreen to cover the NFL Draft, but it's still a bit surprising that the 2009 Draft Weekend is the first one ready for HDTV, getting beaten to the punch by the WNBA. Check out the picture above for a quick comparison of the 2008 screen (bottom) to the new 2009 compression format (top), shot in HD and better able to take advantage of the 16x9 frame. Also new for '09? If you haven't noticed already, Todd McShay's gone all CNN on us with a "perceptive pixel touch screen" to swipe around player stats and draft possibilities, along with 21 remote cameras following potential draftees on both days. Check the gallery for bigger versions, then resume your 5th mock draft of the day, unfortunately for us, it probably won't include the Detroit Lions doing the smart thing and picking an offensive lineman first.

Gallery: ESPN 2009 NFL Draft

  • 2009 NFL Draft Presentation
  • 2008 NFL Draft presentation
  • Todd McShay's




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