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Cuban on programming: what content is only suited for HD?
Sure, this question has been around the block a time or two before, and while the emergence of channels such as Discovery HD Theater, Mojo, and MHD certainly give us clues as to what works best in HD, Cuban has taken the inquiry a bit further. It's fairly obvious that live concerts, sporting events, and travel content are far superior when viewed in high-definition, but does content exist (or should it?) that plays well on an HDTV, but not at all on a vanilla SDTV? Cuban actually suggests that concerts fit the bill in his mind, and while we can't imagine the wide array of televised music awards suddenly vowing to become HD only, we will agree that it's (marginally) above a snorefest when heard in 5.1. Truth be told, it's hard to imagine any content only suitable for HD, unless glorified infomercials about luxury items (you know, to somewhat fit with the HD demographic) are considered valuable programming. Nevertheless, feel free to read Cuban's take on the whole ordeal, and don't be shy, sound off below with your best rebuttal.
Don't forget; the 24 hour Live Earth concert in HD starts at 4am
Consider this your reminder: the largest HD undertaking ever starts at 4am EST on Universal HD; there will also be a three-hour highlights show on NBC from 8pm to 11pm for those without Universal HD. This event will take place in different venues around the world, and also be covered on various channels as well as online. So check out the original post or head on over to the official site for more details.
Live Earth delivers 24 hours of HD concerts July 7th
Satellite heavyweight Intelsat is shaking up the summer programming schedule from its usual list of reruns and walking dead cancelled TV shows by sponsoring Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis. The 24 hour concert scheduled for July 7th, will be its largest HDTV undertaking ever, eclipsing even the World Cup, with uplinks from 8 stages around the world sending high definition feeds of artists including Snoop Dogg, Madonna, The Police and others to an estimated 2 billion viewers. The only channel with the full event in high def will be Universal HD starting at 4 a.m. on the 7th. We can't decide which is the better cause, environmental awareness, or something in HD to watch this summer, but with this we don't have to choose.[Via Multichannel News]
Tangerine Global launches five new HD channels for hotels
Travelers looking for only the finest amenities when globetrotting should phone up any prospective hotels and ask if they carry the Tangerine Global lineup, as it just got five channels deeper and a whole lot more enticing. Apparently aiming at five-star locales that sport high-definition televisions in the guest rooms, these new alternatives could potentially spruce up your late night viewing if you're interested in the less-than-mainstream. Tangerine Green HD, Alive HD, Palate HD, Drive HD, and Adorn HD each present unique, niche content that touch fancies such as technology, health, food, vehicles, and style. If those Independence Day plans are still up in the air, be sure you find yourself in a Mandarin Oriental or Peninsula hotel (among others) -- just make sure you leave the room every now and then, cool?
TBS's quasi HD network to launch September 1st
Ever since Turner (also a Time Warner company, like us) got in the HD game we've had a love-hate relationship with them; not only do they stretch all their SD content, but they make things worse by claiming it's HD in the guide data. If you were hoping they would stop doing this, think again, cause it's getting worse, now that they're adding a second channel. Sure TBS HD will have some good quality HD when it launches in September like original programming and MLB playoffs, but they are sure to have plenty of stretched content as well, and they brag about it to Multichannel news by saying shows like Friends will be presented in HD. Sure, anything is possible, but considering Friends wasn't produced in HD, they'd have to go back to the source and convert the entire series to HD from film -- like Sony did with Seinfeld -- to make it happen.
More College Football games in HD than ever before
Today's the first day of summer and now we can finally start looking forward to football season. First we learned that CBS is stepping up their NFL HD coverage, then the new Big Ten Network announced that they'd be delivering some HD coverage and now FSN has announced that they will also be producing 31 games this season in our favorite format. Ten of these games will also be carried by Versus to add to their eight HD games. While we're still a long way off from every college game being produced in HD, there is no doubt that we will have more HD football this season than ever before. Now all we have to do is wait...
HBO to go HD on all 26 of their channels
Currently only two of HBO's channels are available in HD: HBO and Cinemax (they count both East and West as one). But today HBO's CEO Bill Nelson announced that HBO will upgrade all 26 of their channels to HD. They would also like to upgrade their video-on-demand service, but cite "copy-protection concerns relating to older HDTV sets." We're guessing he's referring to concerns about using "selectable output control," which could cause component outputs to be downconverted. The next obvious question is, who's going to carry all these new HD channels? And once again DirecTV is the only provider who has already announced carriage, but unfortunately they will only carry 10 of them. The new channels will start to roll out later this year, and all 26 are due by the end of Q2 2008.Full list after the break.
Volvo Ocean Race takes HD to the high seas
> Yacht racing is a sport normally reserved for the wealthy. However, some people do enjoy following massive boats through life and death weather conditions - sounds better already. Even if that doesn't do it for you, high-def tends to make formerly unwatchable programs such as nature shows and golf, a treat, so maybe HD will do the same for the Volvo Ocean Race. The 2008-09 race sets sail next October and will be produced in HD thanks to special rugged - and we assume waterproof - cameras. No word on which station will carry this event but we have a good feeling that it will be Versus HD.
Discovery HD Theater isn't going anywhere
When we heard that Discovery was launching new HD channels our first thought was: What about Discovery HD Theater? It appears we weren't the only ones, and the executive vice president & general manager of Discovery, Clint Stinchcomb, said that it will still be the HDTV enthusiast's "home page." While we're not sure exactly what this means, we hope that it means they are only adding channels and will continue to use Discovery HD Theater to showcase the best of their HD programming 24x7.
Time Warner Cable will move ESPN's HD channels off the HD tier
The road to ESPN's HD channels for Time Warner Cable customers has been a long and somewhat painful one. First they had to wait a very long time to get the channel at all, and then when it was finally added, customers discovered that they had to pay an extra fee (typically $10) since the channel was added to the HD tier. Then when TWC finally added ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD came along and then again customers had to wait some time before they could enjoy all those college football games and drag racing in HD. Now with ESPNews HD just around the corner, TWC and ESPN got together and worked up a deal that will not only add ESPNews HD to the TWC lineup, but will also move all the ESPN HD channels off the HD tier, which means that all digital cable subscribers will now get the channel for no additional fee, -- assuming they have the proper equipment. This really makes us wonder how many people will pay $10 a month for four channels including HDNet, HDNet Movies, Mojo and Universal HD? They had better add some more channels if they want to make it worth our while.
More new HD channels on the way from Discovery, CNBC and Chiller
You know times are good when we are surprised when it is more than a week between new HD channel announcements. This week we have a few more channels for you, but not as many of details as we would like on any of them. Discovery will be launching what they are calling four new channels, but one of them is an HD simulcast of the Discovery channel. We're not sure if this will replace the Discovery HD Theater that we have all come to love, or just add even more HD content, but they will also be launching HD simulcast versions of TLC, Animal Planet and The Science Channel. These new channels from Discovery will be carried at launch by at least DirecTV this September. Also mentioned in the press release as coming this year is CNBC and Chiller (who?). While it is still questionable if DirecTV will carry 100 HD National channel this year, -- at least without counting sports packages -- this will certainly be remember as a big year in the transition of cable TV channels to HD. A full list of the channels announced to date after the break.
Comcast to add Food HD, HGTV HD and A&E HD
We received some tips from readers in the Boston area that Comcast has added Food HD, HGTV HD and A&E HD to the HD lineup. This is usually a good indicator that all Comcast customers will be enjoying these channels soon, but there is no official word. This is turning out to be the year for new HD channels, so we hope that these will be available to everyone, along with all the rest of the new channels announced for this year, that at least DirecTV will be carrying after their new birds are operational.[Thanks Bob!]**Update** According to Multi-channel news it is now official. They will add the new channels to every Comcast area that has the available bandwidth.
VeeSee TV brings programming to deaf via IPTV
After hearing that modern technology wasn't exactly doing the deaf any favors, quite a few attempts have sought to reverse the unfortunate trend. Most recently, a new web-based television service has launched in the UK that brings sign language content to IPTV viewers 'round the clock. Dubbed VeeSee TV, the BSL (British Sign Language) channel is currently available via the internet or a set-top-box, and also "includes an interactive forum and user-generated content." Moreover, the creator suggests that this venue will allow "deaf film-makers to show off their own work" while allowing deaf individuals to conveniently catch catered programming anytime during the day. Notably, the service is a part of the ViewTV portal of channels, and while basic content should be up and running right now, a host of new functionality (including webcam conferencing) is planned for the upcoming months.
TBN to go HD
As HD becomes more and more mainstream the variety of HD programming will be more diverse. The latest network to announce that they will add to the HD lineup is the Trinity Broadcasting Network, which claims to be the most popular faith based network. When the network launches this fall it will be a 24/7 HD network and will feature such shows in HD as Hour of Power. There has yet to be an carriage announcement from anyone, but we wouldn't be surprised if this was one of the 100 we expect to see on DirecTV carry after they get their new satellites in operation.
ABC.com to go HD
Here at Engaget HD there is one universal truth; more HD is a good thing. Now we have all seen what could possibly be the best Internet streaming video to date, which is available on ABC.com and while it looks good, it isn't HD. ABC is looking to change that by making real HD available on their site, and in the same resolution we are used to seeing on ABC. There is no word on what bit-rate the 1280x720p video will be delivered in, or even what codec will be used, but based on ABC's track record, you could say; we have our hopes up. Hey ABC while you're at it, why not get some of that HD content on our Apple TV, lord knows it needs it.
Got a great idea for a HD show?
HD's biggest fan and supporter Mark Cuban is looking for ideas for a new show on HDNet. He is soliciting comments on his blog, so if you have a good idea for a show, head over and make it happen. He does warn "If they have anything to with sports or a deck of cards", that they will be deleted, so keep those great ideas for your own HD network. Lets just hope that this actually leads to some more great content on HDNet.
The BigTen Network to launch in August in HD
2007 is shaping up to be the real year for HD, as more networks announce plans to launch HD channels than ever before. While DirecTV waits for it's new birds to launch, cable operators try to figure out a way to fit all the new channels in their lineup. This week the big news is for BigTen college sports fans, not only are they getting a new network that will exclusively cover their conference, but most of the programming will be presented in our favorite format. Programming highlights include 35+ football games per season, 105+ basketball games and Big Ten championship events. Now we just have to wait to see who will carry the new channel.[Via Multichannel News]
The Indy 500 will finally be presented in HD
In yet another installment of "it's about time that went HD", we are kinda excited to announce that for the first time ever, the Indianapolis 500 will be presented in HD this Memorial day. While NASCAR enjoys so much success, -- and HD coverage for almost four years -- the so called greatest spectacle in racing finally gets the HD treatment. The main race as well as shows on qualifing days will use 53 cameras, -- hopefully all HD -- and required a significant financial investment to make it happen.
The History Channel HD in September on DirecTV
While we all read the long list of new HD channels DirecTV will be bringing to us this fall, it is always good to get more details. We now know that the History Channel HD will launch -- on at least DirecTV -- this fall as a simulcasted version of the SD channel. This is certainly more exciting than the upconverted Weather channel we learned about last week, but we are still a long way from 100 HD channels this year. 100 HD channels or not, DirecTV is poised to be the provider to be reckonged with when it comes to HD, now if only they could work out all those bugs in the HR20.
The Weather Channel ramping up for HD
The Weather Channel is investing $50 Million to convert their on-screen graphics to HD and to build a new studio in Atlanta for HD. They will break ground on the new building on May 2nd and it should be completed by January. Interestingly, DirecTV will add the TWC in HD in September, but will upconvert everything until the new studio is complete -- there's another one of those 100 HD channels -- and eventually when all of their programming is HD, they will down-convert the HD feed for those who don't have HD by then. No word on cable carriage yet, but they say they are getting a "positive reaction" from the cable companies.
