TNT to Air All-Stars in High-Def

[Gregg Lengling]

JANUARY 30, 2003 -

TNT on Thursday said it will air the 2003 NBA All-Star Game and its companion feature All-Star Saturday Night in high-definition on Feb. 8-9.

The All-Star presentation marks Turner Broadcasting System's first foray into high-definition television and its the first time that the mid-season event will be telecast in prime time in HDTV.

The presentation is co-produced by TNT and NBA TV, the league's digital cable channel, and will be distributed by iN Demand.

Both telecasts will be presented in 1080i. format and will be available on a high-definition channel for subscribers that have the equipment to access the enhanced picture quality. DirecTV and and Echostar's Dish Network will also carry the programming

[Randy Spaulding]

How will Directv handle the broadcast? HD over TNT's normal channel on 245? Or as another channel?

[Gregg Lengling]

Actually it's supposed to be on channel 198 (pay per view HD movies) and will be run as a FreeView.

[amfoeckler]

Any word on whether TWC will be making the game available?

[tjjws]

Tonight when I switch to TWC 503, the info shows "All Star Game in HD Sun Feb 9 - All Day".

[gparris]

Great game so far and terrific picture-even the commercials look great! Only once so far the sound faded out and the thing is not in DD 5.1-maybe they forgot to flip a switch....