[link|http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/222682328&ticker=|ESPN Announces ESPN HD]

BRISTOL, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2002--ESPN President George Bodenheimer announced today "a new chapter in ESPN's history and the future of sports television" with plans to provide a high-definition simulcast service of its premier network ESPN to be launched in April of 2003.

ESPN HD will include in its first year 100 live telecasts - featuring Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL) - produced and distributed in high-definition television (HDTV).

[link|http://espn.go.com/abcsports/pressreleases/s/2002/0925/1436510.html|ABC to broadcast Super Bowl and NBA Finals in HDTV]

ABC Television Network president Alex Wallau announced on Sept. 25 that the most-watched and highest-profile sporting events of the year, including the Super Bowl, games of the National Basketball Association finals and the Stanley Cup, will be broadcast in HDTV on ABC this season. In addition ABC announced that it will broadcast the 2003-2004 season of "Monday Night Football" in HDTV.

For the benefit of HDTV compare CBS's [link|http://www.feldoncentral.com/hdtv/CBSFootball-10-27-01-544.jpg|HDTV football game] with FOX's [link|http://www.feldoncentral.com/hdtv/FOXSuperbowl.jpg|"Fox High Resolution Television" Superbowl image]
You can find more HDTV sample images [link|http://www.feldoncentral.com/hdtv/|here]. CBS uses a 1080i HDTV signal while FOX uses a 480p SDTV signal. Also note that the CBS screen capture is only showing 1/4th the actual detail(image is 960x544 while the broadcast signal is 1920x1080) while FOX's image is the real thing.