January 25, 2008

Football on BBC HD - Update

A few folk have asked, so here's what I know...
The BBC have the rights this season to show live the England home games, a pick of games from each round of the FA Cup, and Euro 2008. All of the England games should be simulcast in HD however the first game under Capello has mysteriously been removed from the schedules. Bizarre. With the FA Cup, they plan to show the semis and the final (just like last year) and may show an earlier match in HD if they can schedule it. Euro 2008 was specifically mentioned by the Head of BBC Sport as being an HD showcase, but I guess with the lack of home sides that may slip down to just the bigger games being shown.
Next season, the FA Cup and home internationals move to ITV. They've also, of course, got the Champions League. ITV intends to launch its own HD channel by June (in time for Euro 2008) and it's most likely to be carried on VM as well as Sky and possibly FreeSat, especially given Michael Grade's current dispute with Sky and the current OFCOM inquiry; if ITV HD were to only be carried by Sky, OFCOM and Grade would have a fit.
Edit: Spoke too soon: ITV has announced this afternoon that they will not be covering the Final live of Euro 2008, suggesting the whole tournament's coverage is to be reduced (story here). What this means for ITV HD is anyone's guess...

No comments: