here's some good sports news

[Gregg Lengling]

Unique Marketing Agreement Provides HDTV Programming and Increased Profile for HDTV Through In-Store Promotion

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Samsung Electronics America, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and CBS Television announced today an expanded partnership that will again allow consumers to enjoy a full season of college sports broadcast in HDTV (high definition digital television). Following the success of the very first full season of college football games broadcast in HDTV in 2001, football broadcasts will expand from 12 to 15 games, and, for the first time, two regular season college basketball games will be added to the lineup. This programming is in addition to CBS' recently announced primetime HDTV programming schedule, sponsored in part by Samsung.

Samsung, a leader in DTV (digital television) solutions, and Sears have also partnered to produce the "HDTV Game Day" promotion in which Sears' full- line stores across the U.S. will show a high level game each week during the regular season on a Samsung HDTV. The in-store broadcasts will be shown in a setting that allows consumers to compare the experience of a HDTV broadcast with that of regular television, better understand the benefits and build acceptance for the transition to DTV.

The HDTV college sports broadcast schedule kicks off on Sept. 7, 2002 with live coverage of the Miami vs. Florida football match-up and culminates on Dec. 21, 2002 with a HD broadcast of the basketball showdown between UCLA and Kansas. In between, weekly broadcasts of CBS' college football coverage will air in HDTV. Other marquee football games include Florida vs. Tennessee on Sept. 21, 2002; Miami vs. Tennessee on Nov. 9, 2002; the SEC Championship game from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Dec. 7, 2002; and the Florida vs. Maryland basketball contest on Dec. 14, 2002.

"Samsung is leading the transition to DTV and we are pleased to once again team up with CBS and Sears to deliver exciting HD content for general consumers," said John Garrison, Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Samsung Electronics America. "The HDTV Game Day' event makes Sears stores the destination every Saturday for many consumers' first exposure to DTV. We're confident that once they experience Samsung's HDTV, they'll make the decision to take the experience home."

"HDTV is here to stay and Sears intends to be the best destination for consumers who are shopping for a home theater system," said Ray Brown, Vice President of Consumer Electronics for Sears. "Sears' introduction of the largest selection of thin-screen plasma and LCD TV brands combined with this type of HDTV programming, make Sears THE place to come for your home theater needs."

"Joining with Samsung and Sears to broadcast a second consecutive season of high definition college football to our audience is yet another major step in CBS' on-going, industry-leading efforts to bring the extraordinary HD viewing experience to America's television viewers," said Sean McManus, President, CBS Sports. "Over the 16 consecutive weekends of this schedule, viewers will have an unparalleled opportunity to partake of the transforming viewing experience that is HDTV."

HDTV fulfils the full promise of digital television, with six times the resolution of current analog television. CBS will be using the highest form of HDTV, which is composed of 1080 lines and 1920 picture elements per line, and which creates a picture with 2.0 million picture elements. This season CBS will also be adding HDTV slow motion instant replay to the broadcast. This will further enhance the HD viewing experience by providing super sharp images during stop action and slow motion scenes.

Samsung has been making cutting-edge digital entertainment technology an affordable reality for today's consumer by offering a broad selection of HDTV monitors to meet a variety of tastes, needs and budgets. Starting as low as $699 (after manufacturer's rebate) Samsung's current HDTV lineup includes models that support the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio and that are based on advanced DTV display platforms such as direct view, DLP (Digital Light Processing), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and PDP (Plasma Display Panel) technologies.

Samsung's direct view DynaFlat HDTV line offers the smartest, most affordable step to digital television with the breakthrough 27" HD model for $699 (with manufacturers rebate) and the first 30" widescreen HD model available for under $1,000. Samsung is the first to market with HDTV monitors enhanced by Texas Instrument's revolutionary second-generation DLP chip, offering improved brightness and contrast at a fraction of the cost, depth and weight of current rear projection sets. The 43" and 50" DLP models offer slim (15.7" and 18" deep respectively) and light (75lbs and 85lbs respectively) tabletop HDTV designs for under $4,500. Samsung breaks open the budding LCD flat-panel TV market with 15" and 17" models in both standard 4:3 and widescreen 16:9 aspect ratios. Engineered as a TV with PC monitor functionality, Samsung's LCD TVs boast the highest brightness in the category. These flat-panel TV models convert all signals to progressive scan for a picture that smoothly handles the fast motion action of sports and start at an MSRP of $1,499. Samsung also has on offer two (42" and 50") PDP based HDTV monitors designed for the consumer market. Samsung's ultra-thin PDPs measure 3.5" deep and employ a unique fan-less design for a more enjoyable noise-free operation. Prices for Samsung's plasmas start at an MSRP of $6,999.

Whether an HDTV broadcast source comes via an over-the-air signal (ATSC), satellite or a cable source, Samsung's monitors are ready to unleash the full potential of HDTV content with the addition of a set top box. Samsung currently offers two ATSC set top box models based on its award winning technology, the SIR-T151 ($499 MSRP), and the SIR-T165 ($799 MSRP). In addition, Samsung offers the SIR-S70 ($99 MSRP) and SIR-S75 ($199 MSRP) direct to home satellite receivers plus the SIR-TS160 ($699 MSRP), which tunes ATSC, NTSC and digital satellite programming from DIRECTV.

Samsung is well noted for being in the vanguard of DTV development having introduced the world's first professional DTV receiver with the Harris Corporation, having launched the first fully integrated HDTV set in 1998, and for its early datacasting demonstrations including the first pre-paid music download service and e-coupon demonstrations at NAB 2000 and DASE-based demonstrations at NAB 2002.

The in-store Sears broadcasts will be possible via satellite broadcasters EchoStar Communications Corporation who will provide CBS's HDTV signal exclusively to a Samsung HDTV unit in every Sears store.



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Gregg R. Lengling
RCA P61310 61" 16x9
glengling@ameritech.net