| 23 March 2006 - The BBC has announced
today that it will broadcast its 2006 World Cup coverage and major Wimbledon matches
in high definition this summer. The BBC HD trial will kick off with the
BBC's share of World Cup matches up to and including the Friday 9 July final.
World Cup 2006 will be the first major sporting event to be broadcast in HD in
the UK. It will only be accessible to viewers who have all of the following:
HD Ready televisions, HD set top boxes and HD services from satellite or cable
providers. The BBC's HD trial will last for about 12 months. It will enable
the BBC to test technical delivery of HD and to understand how the audience values
a BBC HD service. Any ongoing BBC HD service will be subject to approval by the
BBC Trust. BBC HD will start broadcasting on Monday 15 May with a test stream
previewing forthcoming programmes. The first live HD programme will be the opening
World Cup match Germany Vs Costa Rica on Friday 9 June. BBC commentary and
studio coverage in HD will wrap up the HD feed from German host broadcasters Premiere.
Standard definition digital and analogue BBC ONE coverage will also draw on high
definition images, both for the World Cup and for Wimbledon where the BBC is the
host broadcaster. The BBC HD trial will run for about 12 months. It will
feature natural history series Planet Earth and Galapagos, drama documentary Hannibal
and some Proms concerts including the First and Last Nights, in HD quality. The
BBC said it will provide its HD trial stream on all technically capable platforms,
including satellite and cable, once available, from commercial providers. The
BBC also said that will run a simultaneous technical trial of HD on digital terrestrial
television (Freeview). That trial will be confined to few hundred trial households
in London, which will be chosen shortly. Acknowledgement (bbc.co.uk) Back
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