ESPN's 'Pardon the Interruption' and 'Around the Horn' to go HD - Fall 2010! - Page 3

Good start to the HD broadcasts today.

ATH does get a little "busy" with two ATH bars and the ESPN bottom line on the bottom. Honestly, I wish ESPN would stop running the bottom line for shows like this.

I've actually emailed ATH before about the irony of how many times they start a show and can't discuss the outcome of a game-in-progress... meanwhile the bottom line scroll posts news updates and the final score from that very game!

Was very impressed to see their remote feeds in HD too.

PTI looked the most familiar... less drastic changes. I would like a little smaller graphics too, but I do understand why they are so large even if I don't like it.

Because the actual show is only 2/3 the size of the screen, the rest is graphics. So you'd have to move about 3 feet further back when watching SportsCenter to compare. Smaller picture = harder to see issues/artifacts.

You do? Care to explain it to me then?

People who watch on 4:3 screens will get the show in letterboxed format, making it much smaller than you get on a 16x9 TV.

Not counting existing SDTV viewers, there were a lot of 4:3 HDTVs made and sold in the early years of HDTV, so they are trying to keep those folks as happy as they can for now.

Both shows look very nice and shiny to me.

Reali looks weird in HD though.

It was the new and improved sounds that got my interest. Whooshes and gongs and truck horns, pretty neat!

I miss the leg lamp from Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story that used to adorn the background behind Wilbon. A tribute to his Chicago roots was my guess.

I can understand technically why the texts are so large, but they simply dominate the screen in HD. The balance between visuals and text was much better in the SD version.

I thought ATH looked really great. I didn't think the graphics were obtrusive at all.

But I agree with others who thought PTI was a little too much. Obviously they decided to just frame the 16:9 picture inside a 14:9 window and leave the rest of the screen to graphics, a la the old ESPNEWS HD.

Still, it's a definite improvement.

The Leg Lamp has returned. It's behind Tony now.

+1 for formatting the PTI screen for 16:9.

I like when they say "Travelers Around the Horn... brought to you by Travelers"

Even Reali likes it, because at the end of the show today he said "Showdown... brought to you by Showdown"

I'm surprised you people care about the size of the graphics. The graphics ARE the show. Both of these programs are literally shows with talking heads (they constantly joke about not wearing pants), and we came to the show for the audio, the graphics, and the clips. Now in HD, the graphics are much improved and the clips are in HD which is a tremendous change. Getting to see the talking heads in high definition is just a bonus.

I for one like the changes.

The show would probably be better if they ran it like a radio show that had a power point accompaniment! I don't need to see Tony Kornheiser's face when he talks about how much he loves Brett Favre... just show me a video clip of Favre's most recent interception.

I love the look of PTI now. I can't stand ATH, so I'm not sure how it compares.

What's holding up Rome is Burning?

A couple of comments:

1) Both Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption look really good in terms of video because they really turned up the brightness of the set, which are essentially built on the soundstages at ABC News' operation in Washington, DC. And you can see it also on the remotes for ATH: the backgrounds are all new, and it's now so sharp you can almost make out the lettering on the bottom of the small blackboard behind Woody Paige!

2) I expect additional HD remote stages for ATH to be ready within the next week or so. This will allow for J. A. Adande to broadcast from ESPN's LA Live studios and from Boston for Jackie McMullan and Bob Ryan. Expect new HD remote stages for PTI in Phoenix (for when Wilbon operates from there) and Miami (to accommodate Dan LeBetard).

3) I'd wish they slightly reduce the size of the graphics on PTI. The new graphics hog WAY to much screen space.

4) As for Jim Jome is Burning, this show is NOT produced by ESPN, and as such is still in SD. If Rome wants the show to go HD they could build a new set at ESPN's LA Live operations for this purpose.

5) Kornheiser and Wilbon better be REALLY careful in the ties they wear--you can now clearly see the patterns on the ties. Tacky ties are now out of the question!

Bumped because Kornheiser's costume was just that good.

LOL! The best part was when during one of the segments(report cards?), whenever Wilbon was talking, K would stay in that pose

I thought for sure he'd go as the tiny Giraffe guy. I have no idea who this guy is, but it still looked funny.

Picture is from the Ryder cup. Cigar guy.

Jim Rome's hideous beard in HD.

No Thanks!

Ugh, I can't stand his show. His voice is irritating. No wonder Jim Everett punched him out.

I thought it was Chris?

It seems that Wilbon is in his talking head syndrome for the last two weeks. Rather than the "two guys at a bar talking about sports" banter we normally have that makes PTI so great. It seems he is being argumentative just to be argumentative. (or just to be a douche) Makes me wish for Bill Simmons squeaky voice instead.

The banter on PTI is noticeably different when both guys aren't in the studio. When they are face to face, it is a better show than when one of them is on the road and on via satellite.