Nothing Finer than Sports in HD

By Dina Gerdeman

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Some say after you watch a sports game come to life in high definition, you can never go back to watching games in plain old analog.

"HD provides so many more details, it takes you to another level and brings you closer to the game," DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said. "You see the grit on the player's uniform, the beads of sweat on the forehead. If you're not able to sit in the stands or behind home plate, it's the next best thing."

High definition viewing has skyrocketed in recent years. It is estimated that about a quarter, or 28 percent, of all households in the United States have at least one HDTV set, research shows. Many consumers seem spurred to buy HDTV sets specifically to watch sports, since there have been spikes in sales prior to Super Bowl games.

At least half of new DirecTV subscribers are purchasing advanced services, which often include HD, Mercer said. And as of June 2008, 7 million digital Comcast cable subscribers – about 43 percent – had advance services, such as HDTV and DVR services. That's a sharp increase over the 5.7 million who subscribed for those services in 2007.

Sports appears to be a primary driving force behind the desire for HD. "People purchase HDTV for concerts and movies, but sports is the number one reason people choose HD," said Erin Lambremont, spokeswoman for Cox Communications.

"When sports fans sit on the sofa during the weekend and watch sports, they want the best viewing experience they can get," Mercer said. "HD and sports is the perfect marriage between programming and technology."

Cable and satellite providers are responding to the public's thirst for high definition by beefing up content available in HD. Comcast, for example now offers 1,000 HD choices – five times more than last year, spokesman John Demming said. And Cox offers more than 275 football games in HD from all the major networks, including NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, ESPN and NFL Network.
  
This year ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD are delivering more than 12,000 hours in high definition, including all of ESPN's NASCAR coverage, NBA telecasts, MLS telecasts, MLB telecasts, college football telecasts, National Hot Rod Association races and coverage of NFL Monday Night Football. The Big Ten Network – which is included in many satellite and cable packages – provides 35 regular season college football games and all the games are in high definition.
  
Providers also offer special sports packages, including DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket package, which gives people up to 14 football games every week at a cost of $290 for the regular season. If people add the "Super Fan Pack" to that for $99 extra for the season, they will get up to 12 games in high definition each week.

Other DirecTV packages include one for major league baseball that provides up to 40 games a week in HD; a hockey package that gives viewers up to 12 games per week in HD; a college basketball package that gives viewers up to 37 games during the course of the NCAA tournament in HD; and an NBA package that provides up to 40 out-of-market games in HD.
  
Companies are bound to increase their HD offerings in years to come, especially since studies predict that in the next three years the total number of households receiving HD service is expected to increase by 90 percent, Demming said.

"In baseball, HD allows you to see the rotation of a pitch," said Vince Wladika, former head of public relations for Fox Sports, who now works as a cable industry consultant. "We're getting to the point where you are duplicating the stadium experience in your home via HD. If you watch sports on normal analog and then watch it on HD, the difference is staggering. It's like having a wrong prescription on your glasses and finally being given the right prescription."