Mississippi State plans biggest HD scoreboard in the SEC this fall
[Via Busted Coverage]
Warrior football fans will need to watch their next QB to put up incredible college numbers and proceed to a career as practice squad NFL QB in standard def for the next season or two. Local station KFVE/KHNL just doesn't see it being feasible to put its PPV University of Hawaii games in HD yet (although the local cable channel on Oceanic already shows high school games in HD). The good news (we guess) is that HD is on the way, someday, unfortunately the cost of the necessary new facilities -- despite the Hula Bowl managing to go HD -- has put it on the back burner at the moment.
We first heard that ESPN believed it had the solution to the NFL Network's carriage problems last week, and today the analysts at SNL Kagan believe they may know what the two sports power houses have in mind. The theory goes that ESPN would take over the network and merge it with another mediocre success, ESPN Classic. Then the two could be offered to providers under a new name -- we're thinking ESPN 8, THE OCHO. Providers would be happy to kill two birds with one stone, since the viewership of ESPN Classic is so low and the NFL Network costs so much, and customers would finally have access to the rest of the NFL games. Makes sense to us.
Outside of the Planet Green HD addition, Cablevision subscribers haven't had a whole lot to applaud over recently. For fans of Golf / Versus, however, we reckon you all can stop moping around and point your remote to an all new video-on-demand outlet. Starting this week, the carrier will begin offering its iO TV digital cable customers free access to VOD content from Versus and Golf Channel, but sadly, none of it will be shown in high-definition. Maybe one day...
The NFL Network's strategy to gain carriage on the biggest cable company's most popular tiers, caused quite a ruckus last year when many subscribers almost missed the biggest game of the year, in what ended up being a reverse preview of the Super Bowl -- and a perfect setup for the biggest choke in NFL history. It appears now that with some help from ESPN, we may not be in store for a repeat this year. Although no details have been revealed, it is being reported -- by the journal that require a subscription -- that the four letter network is in talks that may lead to it helping resolve the fledgling network with its struggles to obtain carriage.
Not even a week after Time Warner Cable gifted subscribers in San Antonio with Disney HD and ABC Family HD, we've now learned that those very two have made their way over to the Austin system. Oh, but TWC threw in the totally enviable ESPNews HD while it was at it. Don't even think about griping SA -- even you know you're this carrier's favorite in the Lone Star State. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
Okay, so maybe this deal is going down a little later than we would have liked (considering the NHL season is over and all), but there's always next year, right? Not quite two months after the NFL Network landed on IP-PRIME's IPTV network, NHL Network has followed suit. For hardcore fans using this service, you can look forward to blowout coverage of the NHL Entry Draft on June 20 - 21, and better still, 75 games during the 2008 - 2009 season will be broadcast in high-definition. The recently inked agreement ensures that each and every IP-PRIME operator in the United States will have access to the SD and HD feeds, and it sounds like the channel should be live as we speak.
Well, wouldn't you know it? After assuming that Raycom would follow in the footsteps of the ESPN networks and FSN, along comes a tipster to show that said network already has upped its commitment to HD. This season, Raycom has promised to deliver every single one of its SEC football matchups in high-definition, while "most" of the SEC basketball tilts will also air in HD later this year. Granted, we haven't heard anything further about how it'll handle ACC battles, but we can only hope it treats both conferences similarly.
Good news, Spain. The president of the Radio Televisión Española has just announced that high-definition coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing will be available in your country. After a meetup with the Directors Board of the Association of Olympic Sports, Luis Fernandez asserted that details were being finalized for a TVE channel that will carry the events in HD and will likely be broadcast by Canal+ HD. Outside of that, details were scant, but considering the dearth of time before the Games get kicked off, you probably won't be waiting long to hear more.
Not like you couldn't piece this one together yourself, but NBC Universal isn't going to let this opportunity pass it by. Just like the run-up to the SuperBowl, it's planning on using the Olympics as a campaign platform for HD. Reportedly, affiliates will be "provided with on-air, direct mail and bill stuffers to promote HDTV content sales, as well as material designed to retain current HDTV subscribers." In other words, expect to see an onslaught of ads coaxing folks into making the jump to high-def if they haven't already. Gotta love those marketing gurus, eh?


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