CBS Sports And RCA Team Up To Broadcast 2003 U.S. Open Tennis Championships In HDTV

27-Aug-03

CBS Sports and Thomson's RCA brand will team up to present CBS's entire coverage of the 2003 U.S. Open Tennis Championships in high-definition television (HDTV). This marks the second consecutive year CBS Sports' more than 40 hours of live broadcasts of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships--Saturday, August 30 through Sunday, September 7--will be simulcast in high-definition television. This also marks the fifth consecutive year that CBS has offered the U.S. Open in HDTV. In addition, this is the second year that the action on the Louis Armstrong Stadium's Court 2 will be added to the traditional coverage of Center Court in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Once again, a highlight of the broadcast will be the prime time women's final on Saturday evening, September 6. And for the first time this year, viewers of HD broadcasts also will be able to enjoy the action with the enhancement of DolbyÆ Digital 5.1-channel surround sound.""CBS is once again pleased to partner with RCA to present the U.S. Open in HDTV,"" said Sean McManus, President, CBS Sports. ""From the NFL to the Masters to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship and U.S. Open tennis, CBS continues to bring fans the highest-quality digital sports programming.""""As a recognized leader in HDTV product development and longtime sponsor of professional tennis, Thomson's RCA brand is excited to join CBS in providing U.S. Open viewers with the dazzling digital clarity of sports competition,"" said Thomson's Mike O'Hara, Executive Vice President, Consumer Products Marketing & Sales.CBS's more than 40 hours of U.S. Open coverage will be a single production so that viewers at home, whether watching in high- or standard-definition, will see the same camera angles and hear the same action. The coverage will be presented in 1080i. This is the same format CBS presently uses for all its primetime, daytime, and sports HDTV programming. To also further enhance the viewing experience, CBS will use the Boeing wireless HD camera for the first time to cover an HD event.