ESPN Game Plan HD

[hdtvtechno]

Dont know if anyone saw it..

the other day while watching tv...
i noticed a commerical that Directv now offers ESPN Game Plan games in HD.. :up

 

[iceturkee]

all i remember reading from satelliteracer at dbstalk was that directv was in negotiations to televise some of game plan in hd but not all the games. however, i never read anything definitive.

 

[bases1616]

Hopefully, by next year the ESPN GamePlan will carry all the games available in HD. I dropped it this year because the last two years the games look like crap on a HD television.

 

[commodore_dude]

I expect this means the ABC regional games will be HD on Gameplan but I've seen nothing to indicate the ESPN+ or any of the locally produced games will be HD.

 

[ipodbill]

i would expect an HD surcharge from the world wide leader when this happens

 

[satjay]

i would expect an HD surcharge from the world wide leader when this happens

Like a "superfan" type deal?

 

[atp1313]

I expect this means the ABC regional games will be HD on Gameplan but I've seen nothing to indicate the ESPN+ or any of the locally produced games will be HD.

This is the big qualifier. D* or ESPN can't "force" a local/regional broadcaster to convert to HD, so the broadcast through Game Plan is really only as good as the source material. We know CBS is HD, NBC/Notre Dame is HD, FSN has a lot of HD, and ESPN is HD (or close to 100% anyway). But groups like Raycom/LincolnFinancial (RLF) is not always HD. RLF is moving towards HD, but I would be very surprised if every regional game from RLF was in HD this season. Considering they only did a couple HD basketball games this past season, and I don't recall seeing any HD football, they would have had to do a bunch of hardware/equipment upgrades this summer to meet the demand for 100% HD. They are moving that direction, for sure, but don't hold your breath.

And IIRC, one of the main stumbling blocks for outfits like RLF is that they are a syndicated provider and the local broadcasters that buy into RLF have different standards or receiving/retransmitting HD (720p/1080i).

 

[commodore_dude]

Every Raycom game is supposed to be in HD, I guess we'll see in a few weeks though

All I know is my local affiliates haven't had any trouble passing their HD broadcasts in the past, so I'm looking forward to it!

 

[atp1313]

My problem is we have two RLF affiliates in town. The primary one (WCSC) is the second largest affiliate for RLF behind Charlotte (their home base). This is normally fine. But when there is national CBS programming, it supercedes the RLF feed(s) in most cases and causes some games to either not be viewed, to be tape delayed, to be shown but cause an overlap with national CBS (SEC) coverage, or to be passed along to the secondary carrier, WMMP. The problem with WMMP is that they are just powerful enough to run a dish washer, forget about HD .

 

[iceturkee]

am now seeing the game plan promos but no mention of hd!

 

[satjay]

This sounds very tempting, dont know if I can commit though with having the ticket already sundays are gone. On Saturdays I typically watch the Michigan game during the early afternoon then ESPN it with the ABC night game, I might not ever leave the house if I add game plan.....

I know for some reading this post, they might see nothing wrong with that last statement...LOL

 

[aa9vi]

I hope the Vols drop the VIDEO SEAT (aka Inbred Blurvision). The video quality, production, and commentary are horrendous. The Crimson Tide and Big Blue network feeds are close to as bad. Sun Sports had horrible video last year, but at least they have a better production.

Raycom does a good job. Looking forward to the games in HD and the SEC network next fall!

Go Vols... we'll need all the help we can this year with the supurb coaching in the SEC