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Dan Rather leaving CBS for HDNet?
Could happen, according to the New York Times. Dan Rather has been frustrated by his role on 60 Minutes as of late and is looking to leave CBS soon, enter our deep-pocketed friend Mark Cuban. He is apparently offering Rather his own hour long news show on HDNet, and the opportunity to be the first big name in high definition news. For his part, Rather says he hopes to take advantage of it. News programming in high-def has been very slow to roll out and such a big name jumping in could provide some needed attention to get the ball rolling. [Via Digital TV Facts]
HDNet coming to Canada
HDNet has been a long time staple of the American high definition landscape. We have good news though to our friends up north. HDNet is coming to Canada. Apparently there has been a three year battle to get the network in Canada and it just was resolved. Canadian cable and satellite operators can now offer the HDNet as part of their line-up. We haven't seen any news that the station is appearing yet, but we sure hope it is soon.
CustomFlix burns HD-DVD, Blu-ray on demand
So you're a small content producer who wants to release high definition video, but can't pick a format for fear of alienating half your customers? No problem. CustomFlix (who also just announced deals to provide DVDs of niche TV shows) will store a digital copy of your content, and burn it onto Blu-ray, HD DVD or WMV-HD disc whenever a customer wants to buy one. They also provide services for customers who choose their own set of clips from the database, and burn a DVD with whatever you want on it.You can already buy some HDNet programs from Amazon via this service, with the other two formats to be added "soon". Hopefully this type of service can alleviate the situation detailed in The Clicker, where smaller providers are locked out because they can't afford to support HDTVs.
Review: HD Downloads via Akimbo
Here at HDBeat we love to find new HD content and for some reason it seems more exciting when we can download it, this is partly because we can stream the HD content to our Xbox360. A few weeks ago there was a press release about Akimbo and HDNet working together to bring HD content to people via the Internet so I decided to check it out.
NASCAR Grand National racing coming back to HDNet
Love racing?Love high definition?Get happy, because more of both is coming your way. After inking a deal with NASA, HDNet has announced the broadcast schedule for their third season of NASCAR Grand National Series racing beginning April 20th from Phoenix. I haven't had a chance to see HDNet's NASCAR broadcast, are they up to the usual quality of Fox and NBC's high definition presentations?
NASA and HDNet team up to broadcast shuttle launches in HD
NASA and Mark Cuban have hooked up to make sure every shuttle launch and landing at Kennedy Space Center is filmed and broadcast in high definition through 2010. The press release doesn't mention if this is an exclusive agreement or not, but they will also be distributing the HD feed to other networks so whenever you do start getting your news in high definition (if you don't already), your shuttle clips should be that way also.Shuttle launches are still a pretty cool event to watch, and its only logical they'd be best to watch in high definition, finally we'll have some footage beyond whatever IMAX movies are on this week.
Watch Bubble in the theater, on DVD and on cable, but not if you live in New Jersey
Or any of the other dozen states where movie theaters have refused to show the movie, fighting like the Luddites they are to protect their antiquated way of doing business. Director Steven Soderbergh, in partnership with our friend Mark Cuban and others is releasing his new movie "Bubble" ("the weirdest goddamn movie ever released by a major American filmmaker.") in theater, on cable and on DVD on the same day, giving viewers the choice of how they want to experience it from the beginning, instead of artificial time delays between each step.Immediate (or close to it) digital distribution is the future, and these theaters are silly to fight it. If they had any sense, they'd sell copies o the DVD on the way out. if they had offered me a copy of The Island as I exited the theater, I would have gladly dropped $20 more on top of what I had just spent on a ticket and popcorn. Any HDBeat readers live in states that won't be getting a choice of how they want to see their movies?
U2's Vertigo tour on HDNet January 29th
If you didn't get a chance to catch U2's Vertigo tour live and in person (or even if you did) you'll probably want to check out the HD premiere of "Vertigo//2005 U2 Live from Chicago" on HDNet later this month. I'm going to grab my Irish flag and pretend to be Johnny Drama, anybody else plan on watching?
HDNet, HDTV and World Extreme Cagefighting?
Let's dispel the World Extreme Cagefighting myths right up front: this is not a sport where cages actually fight, got it? Now that we have that out of the way, you might want to clear your calendar this Friday night at 9:30 p.m. Since "Friday Night Fights" is so yesterday, HDNet is bringing World Extreme Cagefighting action to your home in 1080i. The good news is: this won't hurt a bit.WEC is actually Mixed Martial Arts and according to Scott Adams (no, not that one) it's the fastest growing sport in America. Adams is the WEC president and probably a highly skilled big dude, so we'll decline to argue with him. The 90-minute presentation on Friday night offers up four undercards followed by the main event: Justin "The Executioner" Levens against Capital City Fighting Alliance's Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith. Oh, if only Peter Sellers as "The Inspector" Jacques Clouseau were still around; he'd show these boys a karate chop or two.
Oh boy! Oh boy! Knight Rider in HD!
Universal HD has my number. They are showing "classic" shows in high definition. Sure HDNet has Hogans Hero's but now Universal HD has Knight Rider. Can you believe it? This started a few weeks ago and will be shown every Monday through Saturday throughout the day. But the classic programs do not stop there. Oh no. They also have added Quantum Leap to the lineup. Now this is what I was talking about a few months back. Networks have a huge library to pull from to provide us with quality HD programing. Sure, it will not be new programs, but at least it will be in high definition. There was a survey recently done that asked what their most missed show was. The "winner:" Star Trek. But don't stop there. On the same list was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Friends, The X-Files and the A-Team. Can you image the X-Files in HD? There is a lot of new HD stations on their way and lets hope one of them will be a high definition version of TV Land.UPDATE: My mistake.I did not know that TNT ran X-FIles in HD but they do!
HDNet closes the year with a bang!
Yes, it's the end of another year but that doesn't mean it has to be in standard definition, does it? HDNet has a slew of high-def programming specials on tap during the least week of 2005, so light up the Yule Log, put up your Festivus pole and settle down at your HDTV set.Kick it off at 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve for a 19-episode marathon of "Andy Richter Controls the Universe." Music is in the air on Christmas Day followed by "Family Night" on Monday. Other daily themes during the final days of the year include "See the World", "Danger and Drama", "Sports Night" and "Guys Night In."Check out all of the high-def details over at HDNet! We received the press release directly, but it's sure to be up on their site very soon.
Sept. 16: What's on HDTV today
What we're watching: Not much on HDTV tonight. HBO HD is showing the three episodes of Rome it has already aired, so you can catch up on that series if you want. Also, there's HDNet boxing at 9:30 p.m. with Jaidon "The Don" Codrington and Curtis "Showtime" Stevens. Over on ESPN 2-HD, there's NCAA Football: Houston at UTEP, but I'm afraid I can't tell you what UTEP stands for because I don't know. Here are some other HDTV programs showing on selected networks today:ABC: Hope & Faith (9 p.m.), Less than Perfect (9:30 p.m.)CBS: Threshold (9 p.m.), Late Show with David Letterman (11:35 p.m.)NBC: Crossing Jordan (10 p.m.), The Tonight Show (11:35 p.m.)Fox: Bernie Mac (8 and 8:30 p.m.), Reunion (9 p.m.)WB: What I Like About You (8 p.m.), Twins (8:30 p.m.), Reba (9 p.m.), ESPN-HD: NFL Live (3:30 p.m.), Baseball Tonight (10 p.m.), SportsCenter (11 p.m.)ESPN 2-HD: NCAA Football: Houston at UTEP (8 p.m.)
