Versus and Golf HD get their own channel, and E! HD on the way
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Jun 19th 2008 10:53PM
posted Jun 19th 2008 10:53PM
Versus and the Golf Channel have been sharing an HD channel for some time and both have evidently graduated to the point that they're getting their own channel. This seemed like a pretty good combo to us, as we don't see much golf on at night, but we suppose some want to watch bicycle races during the day. What isn't very clear is if the current carriage deals will need to be reworked, of if everyone who has the combo now will automatically get the two dedicated channels when launched. On a who cares note -- E! is getting the HD treatment which we'll file right up there with Lifetime HD, but hey, at least maybe it'll help some poor sap talk his wife into a new HDTV.
tv_thumbnail.jpg)
great. now i can actually watch a playoff hockey game in hd instead of having it bumped from the vs/golf hd channel for some golf tournament. but best of all, the soup in hd!!!!!! (it's reality show clip time!)
About time for the Versus/Golf HD split. During the NHL playoffs, I missed seeing Sharks-Stars game 5 in HD because that night Golf Channel programming was being shown.
E in high def, now we can see the awards....oops sorry the fashion shows promoting expensive dresses in all their glory lol.
"On the who cares note" about E!...Now wait a minute...The Soup's half-hour more than makes up for the week's other 167.5 other hours of atrocious shows about True Hollywood, Elder Lohan and FatButt Kardashian. Long live, Talk Soup/The Soup!!
According to an article at broadcastingcable.com, anyone with VS/Golf HD will get Versus HD going forward and operators will have to work out separate agreements for GolfHD and E! HD.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6571489.html
E! HD will likely be another bandwidth wasting placeholder "upconvert" channel. Are any of its shows in HD now?
With Golf and Versus splitting, will they remain 720p or go to 1080i?
Versus ought to remain 720p, but it would probably make sense for the golf channel to go to 1080i.
I'm one of those that wants to watch bike racing :) The analog version of VS is almost unwatchable at my location. The Tour De France is also being to be shot in HD this year (yeah!).
Wake me up when John Henson returns to Talk Soup.
E! HD would only be good for The Soup. However, mostly it would waste bandwidth. instead, I suggest the Soup in HD on VOD instead.
My wife will really appreciate E!HD because of the aforementioned awards shows pre-shows stuff. And, I mean, I am an HD snob (like most everyone here), so the more channels in HD the better as I barely watch any SD anymore. And, if I am gonna have to watch those pre-shows anyway, they might as well be in HD.
And, I love The Soup too, so having it in HD is even better (well, is better when they get around to upgrading their cameras and don't stretch it, which will hopefully be by the time E!HD arrives or soon after).