Fox to Air Most Live Events in High-Def

[Gregg Lengling]

John Consoli and Megan Larson

MARCH 17, 2004 -

Beginning in third quarter, Fox Sports will air a majority of its live events in 720p high-definition.

The complete schedule of events will be released at a later date, but it is expected that the premiere sporting events set to occur between July and next February, including NASCAR's Pepsi 400 from Daytona International Speedway and Major League Baseball's 75th anniversary All-Star Game from Houston, will be available in high-definition.

"Given the high-profile events that Fox Sports broadcasts later this year and beyond, the timing is perfect for us to begin our transition to the gold standard of high-definition television," said David Hill, Chairman, Fox Sports Television Group. "We were very pleased with Fox Widescreen, but after extensive research and testing, it became clear that we wanted our viewers to have access to the sharpest sports images in the world, and without question, the 720p format produces those images."

Fox first experimented with digital broadcasting in 2002 when it aired Super Bowl XXXVI in enhanced definition, which was coined Fox Widescreen, but decided to switch to 720p, which stands for progressive, because it takes more pictures per second and has better resolution for moving pictures.

In other Fox Sports news, The Miami Heat and Sunshine Network, a Fox-owned regional sports network, announced a long-term agreement beginning with the 2004-2005 season.

[Tom Snyder]

Hmmm... Does "a majority of its live events " include all their NFL games?

I did have to laugh out loud when I read:

We were very pleased with Fox Widescreen, but after extensive research and testing, it became clear that we wanted our viewers to have access to the sharpest sports images in the world, and without question, the 720p format produces those images."

Extensive research and testing!?!?!? That's like my kid getting a spanking from me and then saying "I was pleased with my previous behavior, but after 'extensive research and testing', it became clear that I wanted my behavior to be more in line with what you want from me."
:p

[louisd13]

Has anybody heard any new information on this?  The release says that information would be released shortly, but that was in March.  Now the release also says that one of the big sporting events that would start off Fox's 720p era would be the Pepsi 400 from Daytona, and I couldn't help but notice that the race is coming up in little over a week!  The MLB All star game was also mentioned and that is just over 2 weeks away.  Did Fox just drop the ball with this, or did I miss some big announcement that Fox was starting up with true HD in the beginning of July?

[Gregg Lengling]

I dropped a note to Ask Fox...we'll see if they answer.