chrisih8u

from www.businesswire.com





( BW)(CT-ESPN) ESPN Announces ESPN HD; Plans Significantly Bolster Affiliates' Efforts to Roll Out HDTV

Business Editors & Technology Writers

BRISTOL, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2002--ESPN President George Bodenheimer announced today "a new chapter in ESPN's history and the future of sports television" with plans to provide a high-definition simulcast service of its premier network ESPN to be launched in April of 2003.
ESPN HD will include in its first year 100 live telecasts - featuring Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL) - produced and distributed in high-definition television (HDTV).
"ESPN is making a significant commitment to spur the growth of high-definition television," said Bodenheimer. "Sports will be a key driver of HDTV, and it is only fitting, that ESPN plays a leadership role in serving our fans, affiliates, advertisers and rights holders in advancing the adoption of digital technology."
Sean Bratches, ESPN executive vice president affiliate sales and marketing, said, "We were among the first to support our distribution partners with content for their digital rollouts, and today we're thrilled to be extending that effort to high-definition television. ESPN has led the way in marrying the highest quality content with revolutionary technology, and we're pleased to provide our distribution partners with what we believe to be the most compelling HDTV content -- sports."

Telecasts to be produced in high-definition television in 2003 and 2004 include:


- Select games from Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NFL and the NHL
- A variety of ESPN Original Entertainment proprietary programming including the X Games, the world's premier action sports event, Great Outdoor Games programming and the ESPY Awards
- Live college championship events including the Women's Final Four and the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament

In addition to the programming mentioned above, most studio shows, including SportsCenter, will be added in 2004 providing an additional 3,700 hours of originally produced HDTV programming.
All high-definition programming on ESPN HD will be delivered to cable systems and satellite providers in 720p high-definition format. ESPN will digitally convert the rest of the existing ESPN signal to 720p for viewing on high-definition television sets.
ESPN HD will be managed by ESPN vice president Bryan Burns and will report to Rick Alessandri, vice president, ESPN Enterprises.

das Monkey

das

kevin75

das,
you took the drool right outta my mouth.

huzefa

I'm betting Mark Cuban had something to do with this. His HDNET has been clamoring for HD games to show on his upcoming 2 HD channels. Great news.

Geofferson

JaxComet

Too bad it wil probably be a "select area" only thing........

bmello

I would imagine DISH and DirecTV will definitely pick this up!

skar

Just stopped by to say

I've said before that 2003 will be a banner year for HDTV.

huzefa

That's all I need. Now if only Faux would jump on the bandwagon, we'd be set.

Iron_Giant

No how am I going to get a 36inch HDTV?

I need about 2500 to get a really good one with a HD reciever.

Looks like I will have to wait another few years.