ESPN To Launch ESPN HD

26-Sep-02

ESPN President George Bodenheimer announced ""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 of 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 Outdoors Games programming, and the ESPY Awards- Live college championship events, including the Women's Final Four and the ACC Men's Basketball TournamentIn 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.