Sky One ponies up the cash for HD drama

We Americans may think it's cute or quaint to read about "progammes" and "colours," but there's no laughing at the commitment Sky One is showing to producing more HD content. The company has opened up the shoppe coffers to the tune of eight-figures (that's in pounds sterling, so we Yankees can multiply by two). Right off the bat, adaptations of work from Chris Ryan, David Almond and Terry Pratchett are slated for production, and there's more material in the works to be spread out over 2008 and 2009. All this studio goodwill towards HD comes on the tail of a record of 2.86 million viewers who tuned in to the HD production of Terry Pratchett's "The Hogfather." More premium HD content is always a good thing, but you know the unhappy ending -- no news on if or when these dramas might make it to the US of A.