Cable Channel TNT Going High-Definition in May

[Gregg Lengling]

A high-definition version of TNT will launch next May in time for the cable channel's coverage of the NBA Western Conference Finals, its parent company said Tuesday, the opening day of the Television Critics Assn. press tour.

TNT-HD will likely be the first of several high-definition offerings from Turner Entertainment, according to company president Mark Lazarus.

"We'll get this one up, learn from how we do it and then think about others," he said.

Other outlets in the stable of Time Warner's Turner Entertainment include TBS Superstation, the Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, Turner South and the WB broadcast network.

TNT-HD will simulcast the same mix of sports, series, movies and specials that appear on the top-rated channel. The launch consummates a multiyear rebuilding effort at Turner's production facilities in Atlanta. Turner has been digitizing its programming library and will shoot upcoming originals like the terrorism miniseries "The Grid" in HD.

TNT-HD has been granted carriage on HD tiers by major cable operators, according to Lazarus, who indicated that he would identify which operators have signed on in a separate announcement closer to launch. "We have attractive programming, and operators want that to push HD to consumers," he said.