@ #3 Brian: West Wing ran on NBC, but Warner Bros. studio owns the rights, so Universal HD couldn't just slap it on, they would have to license it for that channel like they licensed it for Bravo. It's a similar situation for other shows "missing" from UHD.

Just get HD prints for all USA shows and make Universal HD into USA HD, already! It'll happen sooner or later.

CableCard tanked primarily due to the lack of support from cable companies because CC doesn't allow for PPV and VOD, which cablecos view as fat cash cows. After all, a small card must be a cheaper investment (and takes less warehouse space) than set top boxes. Plus, at least half of cable customers would much rather not have a set top box. Then there's the fact that when CableCard is available, the implementation is badly buggy and unreliable.

Cost is royalties, some of which Japan has agreed to waive, and (I guess) processing power. Brazil will have to subsidize mass-production of ISDB set top boxes, which they may not have to do if they went with ATSC or DVB.

Each station will get an extra 6 MHz chunk to broadcast digital TV. They have to use that entire 6 MHz or forfeit it completely. São Paulo, Rio, and Brasilia will start by then end of 2007. Then other state capitols, then smaller cities, then repeaters until July 2016 when the government takes analog back.

@ comment #8: "The reason why the on screen graphics obscure the action sometimes is that ABC/ESPN aren't in control of the cameras. Each network is given raw camera feeds from the 20 or so cameras around the stadium. They can switch between then at will, they can overlay scores, tickers and graphics."

Hmm... the reason why the on-screen graphics obscure the action MOST (not some) of the time is that ABC and ESPN use dark, opaque graphics and borders that go all the way across the screen. ESPN had time to plan all this. They knew that they weren't going to be in control of the cameras and should be doing a better job with these graphics. Instead, both HD and standard viewers are getting poor coverage. Take a look at the BBC screenshot above. Graphics are mostly translucent, no borders, very small, and it manages to tell you team shirt colors to boot!

Also, they cannot switch between the cameras at will as you wrote. There are about 10 isolated feeds from each game. Most of them are "supplemental" and not available in HD at the Int'l Broadcast Center in Munich, where the games are beamed back to ESPN in Bristol, CT. See http://www.hostbroadcastservices.com/06prodplan.php

HGTV is going HD next month, Food HD will come later this year. Both to start off on DISH Network's HD package.

Here's a question: how are most cable companies going to cope with the surge of HD subscription channels coming up in the next year? We have ESPN2HD, NatGeo, HGTV, Food, A&E, FXHD all getting in line, besides the 2 HDNets, Universal HD, and the 2 inHDs that are available from some cable. My cable provider already bitstarves HD where it can (as in three 1080i channels in one QAM). It looks like a lot of cable customers will go without these new HD channels for awhile.

From what I've read, ATSC has the least chance in Brazil because it's considered a technology that aims primarily for broadcasting HDTV and HDTV is not what most stations will put on the air in Brazil once they go digital, besides being too expensive for the vast majority of the population. ISDB is the frontrunner... apparently not only because of the Japanese investment, but because Globo has been pushing for it and they are Brazil's biggest media company and highest-rated broadcaster. They may not need to rely on existing economies of scale with tens of millions of TVs in the country.

Another huge factor is interactivity. They want to get a system that makes it easy to have interactive features over digital OTA and access to the internet, something most people in Brazil still don't have. Brazilians love online community, chatting, games, etc. Just look at how successful orkut has been there.

The article says they're out of HD sets in the UK...

In Germany people will be able to go to some public place in their town and watch World Cup 2006 in HD on some big screen.

In the UK the BBC will try to have their world cup games in HD on cable and satellite.

PS: what the heck? the link you have for "just this event" is pointing to some blog entry about March Madness!

I would guess that ESPN has no HD truck in Hawaii capable of doing the Pro Bowl live...

Cable networks will fight like crazy against this. They use their own established channels to leverage the launch of their newer channels on cable. ESPN has put a lot of effort into having ESPN2 right alongside ESPN on every cable/sat provider, for example. "I just can't justify spending an extra $10 or $15 a month to gain 50 more channels when I'm only going to watch one or two of them." I think they should offer both packages and a la carte. They could easily implement a la carte with digital cable, no? The thing is, you might end up paying $10/month for that couple of channels you do watch, anyway, like HBO is about $10-15, and not get the other 50. A la carte might reduce bandwidth use, though.

Yes, the sound is what involves you in the movie. You have to have WIDESCREEN, though. Widescreen and theater go hand in hand. So, if you're going to use your home theater to watch TV shows and sports, they are only available in widescreen on HD feed, then HD is must, in my opinion. But, if the main purpose is for movies, HD is not necessary... Maybe in 5-10 years when High-Def DVDs are available everywhere.