Quote:
Originally posted by Alan Dail
Why is it that CBS broadcasts college football games in HDTV, but not NFL football games? Does anyone know if they plan to start using HDTV in the NFL this year? It's crazy - on HDNet and CBS I can see college footbal and basketball games in HDTV for teams I don't care about watching, but I can't see any NBA or NFL games on HDTV anywhere (Fox's 480p widescreen doesn't really count). I don't understand why MNF isn't even in HDTV. College football is strange too. The SEC title game is in HDTV, but the fiesta bowl (with Ohio State going for the national championship) isn't. |
The explanation you seek has been discussed here many times in the past. In a nutshell, it all comes down to sponsorship and viewers. HDTV viewers probably represent less than 1% of the entire TV audience.
For the SEC college football games, CBS has a deal with Sears & Samsung and the assumption is that more shoppers will be in the stores to see the games on Saturday than on Sunday.
ABC did the 1999 season of MNF in HDTV in connection with Panasonic, but could not find another partner to help foot the bill.
Looking forward, it's been announced the 2003 Superbowl on ABC and next season's MNF will be in HDTV. ESPN will also carry some NFL in HDTV next season.
In 2000-2001 CBS did a number of NFL playoff games & the Superbowl in HDTV, so it's always possible they would do some of this years AFC playoff games in HD.
For the latest info on this subject, read the HDTV Programming Synopsis at the top of this page.