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U-verse TV subscribers score interactive college basketball app

by Darren Murph posted Mar 18th 2009 at 6:58PM


Make no mistake -- legions of cube-dwellers will be tuning into March Madness On Demand this Thursday, but those lucky / unlucky enough to be sitting at home in front of their U-verse TV DVR can enjoy one other luxury: an interactive application. AT&T has partnered up with Yahoo! Sports in order to add in a free college basketball U-bar app that will give March Madness fans the ability to view tournament brackets, their personalized completed bracket, game summaries and box scores, and video clips of game analysis / commentary with a simple remote click. Nah, it's no DirecTV-like four-screens-in-one, but it's definitely better than anything offered up on cable. Check out a simple video demonstration here.

Microsoft's Silverlight to deliver NCAA March Madness on Demand in HD

by Darren Murph posted Feb 17th 2009 at 8:21PM


Fantastic news, cube dwellers -- you can finally put that office T1 to use this year, as CBSSports.com has inked an agreement with Microsoft that will enable it to provide a 1.5 megabits per second stream of March Madness. In other words, you'll be able to watch the 64 most deserved teams scrap it out online in HD for that all important National Championship. Employers, hear this: just go ahead and give your folks a few days off. It's not like they'll be even remotely productive with MMoD coming at 'em in high-def.

[Via ZatzNotFunny]

College Basketball Invitational signs up with HDNet

by Steven Kim posted Jan 30th 2009 at 8:18AM

HDNet and CBI logosThe Super Bowl isn't even underway, and our HD gluttony is already warming up for March college basketball. Only a couple of years old, the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) has agreed to bring its 16 team bracket to HDNet in March. Normal folks might think that three basketball tournaments running simultaneously from the second half of March to the beginning of April -- the NCAA, NIT and CBI -- might be too much, but serious fans (or those unfortunate enough to have favorite teams spread across tournaments) know better. For those people, we suggest getting a hold of as many tuners as you can and buying Visine in bulk.

College football refs get a taste of HD instant replay tomorrow

by Richard Lawler posted Sep 24th 2008 at 4:33PM

A season after instant replay met the NFL, the Pac-10 is trying out high definition instant replay equipment from XOS Replay Systems during Thursday's USC vs. Oregon State game. The reason for the scoreboard packing higher res than the replay hood? After investing six figures in SD equipment four years ago, colleges are reluctant to spend the money all over again, but the All Things Trojan blog reports Oregon State's larger-than-normal replay room will give officials a chance to check SD & HD systems side by side, at which time the choice should become clear. Now, about that call during the Washington/BYU game...

Big Ten Network coming to TWC in the Carolinas, Raleigh / Durham included

by Darren Murph posted Sep 23rd 2008 at 6:12PM


It's with a heart full of enthusiasm and a mind full of frustration that we share with you Time Warner Cable's latest addition to its Carolinas lineup. After landing a deal with Big Ten Network late last month, the carrier has announced that it will soon be launching BTN in Raleigh / Durham, Greensboro, Charlotte, Statesville / Iredell, Wilmington and South Carolina. The station will be available in both SD and HD flavors on different slots based on location (details are in the read link), and we're told to expect it on the air this Thursday. Sure, we'll take any high-def station we can get here in the Tar Heel Wolfpack state, but we still feel the operator owes us a few more given the absurd prices it feels fine with charging. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Thanks, Justin]

Big Ten Networks lands on Bright House Michigan

by Darren Murph posted Sep 8th 2008 at 9:17AM


Comcast, Charter and Time Warner Cable already wrapped up deals in at least some locales to get Big Ten Network out to its subscribers. Now, we've got Bright House Networks in Michigan doing the same. You all know the details by now -- more Big 10 in high-def -- but we're wondering if any other BHN markets got gifted as well. Chime in either way, will you?

[Thanks, Dean]

Big Ten Network goes live on Comcast tomorrow

by Darren Murph posted Aug 14th 2008 at 9:30AM


After what felt like an endless battle, Comcast and the Big Ten Network were finally able to hammer out broadcast details earlier this year. Right on schedule, the channel is expected to go live in the Big Ten region tomorrow, August 15th, on its expanded basic level of service. Of course, the HD feed will be included as well, and fanatics in the footprint can get set as the action begins with Indiana taking on Western Kentucky on August 30th. Are you ready for some football?

Fresno State Bulldogs to see lots of HD play on KAIL-TV

by Darren Murph posted Aug 14th 2008 at 5:47AM


Hopes are high for Fresno State, and with the expectation of greatness inevitably comes an HDTV deal. Okay, so maybe that's not a given per se, but the upcoming Bulldogs basketball / football seasons will indeed be aired to locals in high-definition. New for this year, MyNetworkTV affiliate KAIL-TV will serve as the flagship station for the institution and will broadcast every single game in its entirety. Better still, the tilts can be seen in HD on MD Digital 7.1 in and around Fresno, California. Congrats, Fresno State fans -- just don't gloat too much over there, cool?

[Image courtesy of Bulldog Village]

Big Ten Network and Comcast nearing a deal

by Darren Murph posted Jun 17th 2008 at 11:57AM


Could it finally be happening? The bigwigs at Comcast and Big Ten Network are actually closing in on a deal? According to a recent writeup originating in the Chicago Tribune, a long-awaited partnership between the carrier and station is expected to become official at any moment. A BTN spokesperson told the Star Tribune that "while the deal between the sides is close, there is nothing to report at this point." However, the individual did admit that the two parties "remain close to reaching an agreement." Needless to say, quite a few individuals (hundreds of thousands, actually) in the Big Ten footprint would be elated to have their upcoming football season around and in HD, but considering just how long this bickering has been going on, we aren't jotting this one in stone quite yet.

All live 2008 NCAA Football games on ABC / ESPN networks to air in HD

by Darren Murph posted Jun 10th 2008 at 5:51PM


Not that we're trying to rush the summer away or anything, but August can't get here soon enough. Shortly after hearing that CBS would be producing every single NFL game in high-definition, in flies word that all live 2008 NCAA College Football games shown on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN U will also be available in glorious HD. Granted, there's a shot you won't even have those four networks in HD before the season begins, but at least your local watering hole will. For a look at the current schedule (which is far from complete), check out the goods in the read link. Rest assured, we'll be geared up for the network opener (August 28, 8:00PM on ESPN HD) as NC State shows South Carolina how it's done down at Williams-Brice Stadium.

MountainWest Sports Network comes to DirecTV on August 27th

by Darren Murph posted Jun 8th 2008 at 1:04AM


We already knew the MountainWest Sports Network was destined to land on DirecTV eventually, and while we had heard that September was looking like a good candidate for a launch month, fans of the conference will be delighted to know that it'll be going live on the satcaster this August. Beginning on Wednesday, August 27th -- just in time for the BYU opener against Northern Iowa on August 30th -- The Mtn. will go live on channel 616. Notably, it'll be available on DirecTV CHOICE (and higher packages) for Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Dallas / Fort Worth / San Diego, though customers outside of these regions will be required to subscribe to DirecTV's Sportspack. For more on what to expect from the network this football season, head southwest to the read link.

March Madness to drum up demand for nearly one million HDTVs

by Darren Murph posted Mar 19th 2008 at 8:29PM

Sure, this year's Super Bowl was said to be responsible for some two million HDTV purchases, but driving another million just a month later isn't anything to sneeze at. According to a new release from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament "will help inspire the purchase of nearly 1 million HDTVs (934,000), which represents slightly more than $1 billion in retail sales." Beyond that, the data also found that over half of existing HDTV-owning sports fans would end up turning their attention to the internet in order to fetch highlights and statistics. Of course, it also discovered that the amount of fans viewing whole games online is on the rise, and considering that The Man will likely have you right where he wants you tomorrow (read: nowhere near a TV), we don't find that surprising at all.

Time Warner Cable signs up for March Madness VOD

by Darren Murph posted Mar 19th 2008 at 5:43PM


Following Comcast's footsteps, Time Warner Cable has just made it official: it will also be offering its subscribers CBS Sports' March Madness on demand content free of charge. In case you weren't already aware, this will allow customers to access game highlights and historical NCAA March Madness vignettes via video-on-demand, but unfortunately, only users in North Texas will see said programming in high-definition. Now, more than ever, the rest of the TWC nation could really use HD VOD, eh? [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Phoenix's KPHO multicasting NCAA Men's Tournament over-the-air

by Darren Murph posted Mar 19th 2008 at 4:39PM


Granted, many CBS affiliates -- Raleigh's WRAL and Indianapolis' WISH, just to name a couple -- have been multicasting the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament OTA for years now, but after seeing a breakdown of the schedule over at KPHO, we felt it prudent to remind sports fanatics that busting out the antenna may not be such a bad idea tomorrow. Phoenix -- which just had seven HD channels flipped on by Cox -- is one area in which the local CBS affiliate is multicasting every remaining March Madness game on its array of digital OTA channels, and five other carriers in the heart of Arizona are also providing ways to see every matchup. Granted, we doubt each of these will be seen everywhere in high-def, but feel free to check with your local CBS affiliate to see if you'll be left out of any of the Madness.

[Thanks, Steven]

March Madness queues up HDTV / projector rentals

by Darren Murph posted Mar 18th 2008 at 2:15PM

Buy a new HDTV / projector for the big game(s)? Pssh. Why do that when you can just rent your way to impressing those fair-weather friends of yours? Hot on the heels of Selection Sunday comes fresh PR from Projector123, which is hopping on the rental bandwagon in hopes that jazzed up fans will want something more than they've got right now in order to enjoy the upcoming March Madness. Best of all, the bulk of these games will be broadcast in HD over the air, so picking up an HDTV with a built-in tuner or a projector with a standalone tuner would enable you to catch most of the action without forking out for HD service (or going into debt for a swank new display). 'Course, we'd suggest putting the cash you'd spend on a rental into an entirely new set -- after all, how will you honestly ever look at that 19-inch CRT after watching the Final Four on an 82-inch projection screen?




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