Well, kudos to the Score. You did it!

This morning's 11:00 am "Game of The Week" between Man U and Reading was presented in HD as advertised.

The score ticker was present as always but was slightly reduced in size. I wish it could be eliminated altogether but that would've violated their arrangement with CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television commission -- for those outside Canada) -- I think.

Now I hate cheapskate American channels even more. If the Score can show HD from England, why can't NBC at Wimbledon/France, ESPN2 for UEFA Champions League, and many other examples?

Now I hate cheapskate American channels even more. If the Score can show HD from England, why can't NBC at Wimbledon/France, ESPN2 for UEFA Champions League, and many other examples?

The Wimbledon HD feed was only available from BBC HD, there was not a clean feed available for other networks to pick up. The French Open didn't have ANY HD feeds.

Only certain games are produced in HD in Europe. Its mostly in England's EPL by Sky HD. WorldSportHD does one game a week in HD from Spain. I believe the Bundesliga is getting more HD for this season.

However, there is no outlet in the US for an HD broadcast. ESPN does the Champions League, but doesn't garner enough ratings to justify the additional cost of getting an HD feed. ESPN said last year that their contractor didn't provide an HD feed option. Hopefully that will change, but don't hold your breath. Fox Soccer Channel and Setana do the weekly EPL games and neither have and HD channel. With Setana being 15.99/month (only available on D*) for an SD feed, I can't say they would have a huge subscriber base for an additional HD channel. FSC is a niche channel at best and it will be a few YEARS before they even consider an HD channel. Maybe when most of the MLS games are HD or if Sky is only feeding them HD for the EPL games, but don't hold your breath.

Finally, all sports in Canada draw better than in the US. They are just sports fans and the sports networks will fight to get those extra viewers. HD is a great carrot to dangle in front of viewers.

I'm quite jealous that The Score is showing EPL HD matches, but I also understand why.

There is no incremental on-site HD production by The Score. The host and 2 guys doing analysis are in a Toronto studio. The commentary are from Sky (I think). The pre-game, and half-time are all in SD, even the highlights are still SD. They only have to backhaul an HD feed from SkyHD to simulcast what's already on their SD channel.

The EPL package in Canada is carved up between 3 broadcasters. The Score initially had the whole package but sublet all but one of the weekend games to Sportsnet (last year's rights holder) and a new channel called Setanta. These 2 sublicenses only carry games in SD.

Well, kudos to the Score. You did it!

This morning's 11:00 am "Game of The Week" between Man U and Reading was presented in HD as advertised.

The score ticker was present as always but was slightly reduced in size. I wish it could be eliminated altogether but that would've violated their arrangement with CRTC (Canadian Radio and Television commission -- for those outside Canada) -- I think.

When is Starchoice going to get The Score HD? I am in the US, but have Starchoice for a Canadian DBS to supplement my Comcast cable. I'd love to see EPL live in HD! Thanks.

There is no incremental on-site HD production by The Score. The host and 2 guys doing analysis are in a Toronto studio. The commentary are from Sky (I think). The pre-game, and half-time are all in SD, even the highlights are still SD. They only have to backhaul an HD feed from SkyHD to simulcast what's already on their SD channel.

Thats the exact same thing that FSC does, but its just not HD

oh man

I wish ESPN would show some euro games, at least once a week...

MLS on HDNet looks great

Thats the exact same thing that FSC does, but its just not HD

FSC is actually a CanWest channel, not exactly adopters of HD as we all know. EPL "Game of the Week" on The Score is HD, 100%, with a ticker, and pre-game and half-time in SD. I don't think they have HD cameras in the studio, but who cares about the studio.

According to the papers, Sunday's game was the highest-rated soccer game in The Score's history.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070814.TRUTH14/TPStory/?query=william+houston

Saturday
Soccer. West Ham-Manchester C. Sportsnet 71,000 10 a.m. competition from Setanta.
Tennis. Rogers Cup semi-final. CBC 145,000 Roger Federer draws well.
Golf. PGA Championship. TSN 281,000 Good but not great.
Tennis. Rogers Cup semi-final. CBC 173,000 Good prime-time Rafael Nadal match.
Baseball. Jays-Royals. Sportsnet 326,000 Another good Jays audience.
Football. Ticats-Eskimos. CBC 417,000 Second largest CFL audience on CBC this season.
Sunday
Soccer. Manchester U.-Reading. Score 87,000 Record for a soccer telecast on the Score.
Golf. PGA Championship. TSN 461,000 Down 26 per cent from last year.
Tennis. Rogers Cup final. CBC 316,000 Excellent tennis audience.
Baseball. Jays-Royals. Sportsnet 386,000 In prime time, excellent Jays audience.