I know I am jumping ahead a week here, I have not posted the week 14 information yet, that will come later today. However, the NFL announced that the Washington vs. NY Giants game will remain in place for the week 15 SNF game. This means that every single game of the week 15 NFL schedule will be in HD. Never has there been a week when each game has been in HD, including bye weeks which have fewer games. Some bad news, however, there will be 9 games in the 1PM time slot so a game will be missing from the Superfan HD Sunday Ticket lineup.

NFL Network will start the week out with 2 games, one on Thursday and another on Saturday night. The Sunday slate of games will see both CBS and FOX having 6 games. FOX will be the doubleheader network. NBC and ESPN will round out the week with Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football.

The NFL in HD has come a long way in the little over 9 years since the first CBS HD broadcast. Below is the original press release of the first four CBS HD games.

CBS Unveils HDTV Programming Nov. 8 with the NFL ON CBS; Will Use Sony High Definition Production Equipment for Broadcast

NEW YORK, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- CBS Corporation today announced that
Nov. 8, 1998 will mark the CBS Television Network's first move into the high
definition television revolution. On that date, the NFL game between the
Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets will be the first NFL game to be broadcast
live in the HDTV format.
The announcement was made by Michael H. Jordan, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, CBS Corporation, along with Howard Stringer, Chairman of
Sony Electronics and President of Sony Corporation of America. The historic
telecast will be the first of four high definition NFL games presented by CBS
Sports this season.
To facilitate the broadcast, CBS will use a technically sophisticated HD
production vehicle outfitted with the necessary Sony HD gear. Equipment
includes: Sony HDCAM camcorders, high definition studio and field cameras,
HD VTRs, an HD video switcher and digital effects unit, HD video router and
AES audio facilities. Additionally, for consumers, Sony Electronics recently
announced its new FD Trinitron HDTV set, scheduled to be available in
November.
The live HDTV telecasts will be produced and transmitted independent of
the regularly scheduled CBS Sports National Football League coverage being
broadcast on the traditional analog network. All NFL ON CBS HDTV programming
will be broadcast in 1080i, the highest quality HDTV format.
The initial game, which will serve as a test of CBS's HDTV capabilities,
will be transmitted in high definition only from WCBS-TV New York. The three
subsequent high definition NFL matchups will be transmitted nationally to all
CBS Owned stations and affiliates with digital capability.
In addition, in markets where terrestrial HDTV broadcasts are not yet
available, consumers will be able to view the final three CBS HD broadcasts at
select retail locations via DIRECTV. These special NFL ON CBS broadcasts,
which can be received nationwide by HDTV sets enabled with DIRECTV reception
systems, are being made available by DIRECTV.

CBS Sports' full schedule of NFL games in HDTV format is as follows:
-- Nov. 8, 1998 -- Buffalo Bills at the New York Jets live from Giants
Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (WCBS-TV only)
-- Dec. 19, 1998 -- New York Jets at the Buffalo Bills, live from Rich
Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. (national)
-- Dec. 26, 1998 -- Kansas City Chiefs at the Oakland Raiders live from
Oakland-Alameda County Stadium in Oakland, Calif. (national)
-- Jan. 9, 1999 or Jan. 10, 1999 -- American Football Conference
Divisional Playoff game live (national)

"By taking on the challenge of broadcasting THE NFL ON CBS in high
definition, CBS is helping to jump start the transition to digital
television," said Jordan. "Sports programming will showcase the most sought
after qualities in digital television, and we are proud to work with Sony to
make this high-definition vision a reality."
"We are really pleased that CBS has chosen Sony's advance high-definition
production system for this historic HDTV broadcast," said Stringer. "From
broadcasts on radio to black-and-white to color, CBS has always delivered
quality coverage to the American sports fan. Sporting events, broadcast with
Sony in high definition systems, represent the next great step in the
evolution of the medium and will provide an exhilarating experience for the
viewer."
"CBS Sports has always sought to set the standard for innovative sports
production, and by being the first network to offer NFL programming in HDTV we
are living up to that tradition," said Sean McManus, President, CBS Sports.
"These groundbreaking HDTV NFL telecasts further our tradition of outstanding
technical achievements in sports television."
Additional announcements regarding HDTV programming plans on the CBS
Television Network will be forthcoming.


SOURCE CBS Corporation

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/10-01-1998/0000762602&EDATE=

And so it begins :)

Next year all games are in HD, correct?

But will DirecTV have the ability to air all of them, let alone have DEDICATED channels for each HD game, unlike the current setup?

But will DirecTV have the ability to air all of them, let alone have DEDICATED channels for each HD game, unlike the current setup?

If it is true that Sunday Ticket HD will be MPEG4 next year, then yes all games will be seen.

....However, the NFL announced that the Washington vs. NY Giants game will remain in place for the week 15 SNF game. This means that every single game of the week 15 NFL schedule will be in HD. Never has there been a week when each game has been in HD....Nice bit of research, and I agree this is another benchmark in HD history.

And yes, next year all HD all the time for the NFL.

If anyone here remembers those first four telecasts, I would love to hear your memories of those early HDTV games.

This means that every single game of the week 15 NFL schedule will be in HD.

What is peculiar about this particular week that allows this to happen?

What is peculiar about this particular week that allows this to happen?
A little company called the NFL Network takes a couple games out of the rotation this time of year. There's two HD games that Fox or CBS don't have, taxing the infrastructure a bit less.

If anyone here remembers those first four telecasts, I would love to hear your memories of those early HDTV games.
I didn't see my first NFL game in HD until January 2000, when CBS did one of the playoff games, and then ABC did the first Super Bowl in HD. That was really something else. I was hooked. The images were beautiful, the broadcasts pretty basic.

CBS did the entire HD broadcast discreet; everything was done parallel to the SD version. I remember not even knowing who the on air talent was. ABC on the other hand had the same audio (Michaels & Madden) but different cameras for the HD broadcast. It was a little weird listening to one thing being described and watching another at the same time.

What is peculiar about this particular week that allows this to happen?

A combination of the NFL Network having two games in week 15 and FOX having the doubleheader, allowing CBS to do 6 games in HD as the single game network.

After looking at the HD stats from last year, week 15 will also mark the week of surpassing last years HD total. Last year there was 192 HD games and after week 15 is complete there will be 204 games in HD so far this season.

Ken or homcom, what upgrades will CBS and Fox have to complete to be able to do all games in HD next season? Have you heard of any plans as to what will take place?

Ken or homcom, what upgrades will CBS and Fox have to complete to be able to do all games in HD next season? Have you heard of any plans as to what will take place?Yes, in general they will have to upgrade SD coordination rooms to HD, add additional outgoing networks, replace existing SD VTR operation with HD server operation, upgrade SD edit rooms to HD, and upgrade studio for DD5.1. That should about do it.

A combination of the NFL Network having two games in week 15 and FOX having the doubleheader, allowing CBS to do 6 games in HD as the single game network.

There are 12 games on CBS/Fox this weekend. That's the exact same number of Sunday games as have happened several times this season.

Week 1 also had 4 national games (a Thursday and 2 Mondays in addition to Sunday Night), and 12 CBS/Fox games.

Week 12 had 5 national games (Thanksgiving), leaving 11 CBS/Fox games.

And each of the bye weeks had at least 2 fewer games than this week, leaving 12 CBS/Fox games. In fact, weeks 6 and 8 had six teams on bye, meaning that CBS/Fox only aired 11 games that week.

Of those weeks, 1 and 8 were both CBS single header weeks (though it appears that CBS had 7 games on week 8, not 6).

So week 1 also had 6 CBS single header games. What else is different about week 15?

There are 12 games on CBS/Fox this weekend. That's the exact same number of Sunday games as have happened several times this season.

Week 1 also had 4 national games (a Thursday and 2 Mondays in addition to Sunday Night), and 12 CBS/Fox games.

Week 12 had 5 national games (Thanksgiving), leaving 11 CBS/Fox games.

And each of the bye weeks had at least 2 fewer games than this week, leaving 12 CBS/Fox games. In fact, weeks 6 and 8 had six teams on bye, meaning that CBS/Fox only aired 11 games that week.

Of those weeks, 1 and 8 were both CBS single header weeks (though it appears that CBS had 7 games on week 8, not 6).

So week 1 also had 6 CBS single header games. What else is different about week 15?
CBS only had early games in week 1 and had the US Open in HD instead of 4 PM games during week 1, that accounts for one of the 6 HD slots for CBS, thus only 5 HD NFL games from them during week 1.

Of the week in which FOX and CBS had 12 or fewer games:
Week 1: FOX 6/6 CBS 5/6 FOX Doubleheader, CBS only 5 HD games because of US Open as explained above.
Week 4: FOX 5/5 CBS 5/7 CBS Doubleheader
Week 5: FOX 6/6 CBS 5/6 CBS Doubleheader
Week 6: FOX 5/5 CBS 5/6 CBS Doubleheader
Week 7: FOX 6/7 CBS 5/5 FOX Doubleheader
Week 8: FOX 5/5 CBS 6/7 FOX Doubleheader
Week 9: FOX 6/6 CBS 5/6 CBS Doubleheader
Week 10: FOX 6/7 CBS 5/5 FOX Doubleheader
Week 12: Thanksgiving Weekend Sunday Totals: FOX 5/5 CBS 5/6 CBS Doubleheader
Week 15: FOX 6/6 CBS 6/6 CBS Doubleheader