T N T to Present the 2004-05 N B A Season on T N T in H D

[Gregg Lengling]

Turner Network Television (TNT) announced today its production plans for the 2004-05 NBA season, highlighted by the network's decision to present all of its NBA coverage in high-definition on TNT in HD.  All of the cameras used for the network's coverage will be native HD, with a minimum of 10 per game site and a minimum of five for the studio shows.  In addition, the same production unit, whether at the game site or in the studio, will transmit two separate shows; one formatted for 4x3 standard-definition and the second formatted for 16x9 high-definition.  The NBA telecasts on TNT in HD will be broadcast in 1080i native HD using Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.  

"Our NBA coverage on TNT in HD will raise the bar across the industry," said Lenny Daniels, senior vice president and coordinating director of Turner Sports.  "We will utilize a technique that allows us to produce two different shows out of one production truck, thus making the quality of our NBA telecasts unmatched and will provide viewers with a crystal-clear picture that only HD can offer."

Viewers will be able to experience all 52 regular season NBA games on TNT in HD, beginning with the NBA's season opening doubleheader on Tuesday, Nov. 2, as the Houston Rockets visit the 2003-04 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons at 8 p.m. (ET), followed by the Denver Nuggets at the LA Lakers at 10:30 p.m.  Also, as part of NBA's "Premiere Week," TNT tips off its exclusive Thursday night doubleheader coverage on Nov. 4th featuring Shaquille O'Neal's first home game with the Miami Heat as they host the Cleveland Cavaliers at 8 p.m. (ET), followed by the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Denver Nuggets at 10:30 p.m.  The NBA on TNT will also be available in a Spanish-language feed for retransmission in the SAP format.  

Also new this season, TNT will feature graphics that will animate from the floor, providing a unique way to present statistics to the viewer. Using SportVision's virtual technology, the network will highlight various areas of the floor.  For example, TNT could highlight the three-point line, bring it off the floor and include field goal shooting percentages for a player, several players or an entire team.  In addition, TNT and SportVision will once again present a virtual starting lineup and halftime stats for every game.  

In addition, TNT's entire announcer lineup will return for the 2004-05 season, with the addition of NBA "insider" David Aldridge.  Aldridge will provide numerous reports throughout the year, including feature stories, breaking news and insight into trade rumors.  Veteran play-by-play announcer Marv Albert will call the action again with analysts Mike Fratello and Steve Kerr, and will be joined by reporter Craig Sager.  Kevin Harlan returns with analyst Doug Collins for the second consecutive year, along with reporter Cheryl Miller.  John Thompson will once again contribute bi-monthly in-depth personality-oriented features called "Time Out with Thompson," with some of the top names in sports and entertainment.  TNT's Emmy Award-winning studio team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Magic Johnson return for pre-game, halftime and the network's post-game show, Inside the NBA.  Finally, essayist Jim Huber returns this season to provide features throughout the season for TNT's studio shows.  

Turner Sports presents some of the best and most popular sporting events worldwide and is a leader in televised sports programming.  With events airing on three networks - TBS Superstation, TNT and Turner South - Turner Sports' line-up includes the NBA, NASCAR and NASCAR.com, Major League Baseball, Atlanta Thrashers hockey, Atlanta Hawks basketball, college football, professional golf and PGA.com.

Turner Network Television (TNT), television's destination for drama and one of cable's top-rated networks, offers award-caliber original films, such as the Johnson & Johnson Spotlight Presentation The Wool Cap and the adventure drama The Librarian: Quest for the Spear; highly anticipated original series, including the Steven Spielberg 12-hour series, Into the West; powerful one-hour dramas, such as Law & Order, Without a Trace, ER, NYPD Blue, Charmed, Judging Amy and Angel; broadcast premiere movies; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA.  TNT is also available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and a leading provider of programming for the television industry.

[gparris]

Since there is going to be all this HD programming on TNT-HD, will Directv HAVE this channel in time? :confused:

Looks like just a short while ago, the FOX HD problem occurred with DishNetwork battling with Directv for carriage of regular network programmes (or was it rumor?)

Did this mess up the TNT-HD channel being added to Directv or does anyone think Directv will just add it without much notice (initially, like they tend to do), just in time for Nov. 2nd?

I ask this not because I don't get it, I do, but since Dish, TWC and Voom carry it, TNT-HD shouldn't be a big deal to add for Directv subscribers...unless I am missing something (why I'm asking).:blush:

[Andrew Grall]

Like the rest of HD-TNT's programming, will they cut the sides to make it "full-screen" and then cut off the top and bottom to make it "widescreen"?

:bang:

[Hophead]

The article states that 10 native HD cameras will be used, so I imagine this will be as good as what we get for the NFL and Baseball.  No cutting or cropping...

[mhz40]

Yawn... it's basketball war time.  Wake me up for the Daytona 500.