Todays News

The leading Sports Travel and Event Management company PrimeSport, based in Los Angeles has announced that they will celebrate the 79th Annual MLB All-Star Game with a ‘2008 MLB All-Star Game VIP Party’ on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at the G-Bar in the Bronx located at 575 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY. The historic event, solicited as the last MLB game ever to be played in Yankee Stadium will be participated by 150 baseball fans available nationwide organised between 4:00 - 6:30 PM EST to celebrate the rich tradition and join special MLB celebrity host, Tommy John.

MetroCast provides cable service and high speed internet service to launch six new high-definition channels in Starkville, Mississippi area. The cable operator will launch following new HD channels in its programming line-up :

Animal Planet HD

Discovery HD

HBO HD

Outdoor HD

Science HD and

TLC HD

Time Warner Cable has launched twelve new high-definition channels in Kansas City. Time Warner uses switched digital video or SDV platform to deliver all these channels to Kansas subscribers. The new HD channels available for the Time Warner’s Kansas City customers are :

Animal Planet HD

Biography HD

CNN HD

ESPN News HD

Fox News HD

Outdoor Channel

Planet Green HD

Science Channel

TBS HD

TLC HD

Travel Channel HD and

Versus/Golf HD

NBC Universal will broadcast 2008 Beijing Olympic Games coverage is to be the most ambitious single media project in history. This will surpass ABC’s Olympic coverage for the most Olympics broadcast by any network. NBC Universal will present 75 percent of its broadcast Live. NBC Universal coverage of 3,600 total hours of coverage From Aug. 8-24 will be on seven of NBC Universal networks like :

CNBC

MSNBC

Oxygen

Telemundo

Universal HD and

USA

Beyond this coverage, the first live online Olympic coverage in the United States will be provided on NBCOlympics.com. Olympic broadband video coverage will feature approximately 2,200 total hours of live streaming. NBC Universal networks coverage will start from the Opening Ceremony on Friday, Aug. 8, at 8 p.m. ET, which will be divided into three parts Afternoon Coverage, Primetime Coverage and Late Night
Coverage.

Primetime Coverage

The coverage during prime time will feature following events

32 Swimming gold medal finals

Four Men’s and Women’s Gymnastics team events led by gold medal finals

Women’s and Men’s Gymnastics individual gold medal finals and

Beach Volleyball Men’s and Women’s Marathons

MONDAY-FRIDAY SCHEDULE

A standard weekday schedule (times may vary from day to day)

By Network :

NBC: 10 AM - 1 PM (All time zones)

8 PM. - 11:30 PM.ET/PT

Midnight - 1:30 AM.ET/PT

MSNBC: 5 AM. - 5 PM ET

CNBC: Midnight - 4:30 AM ET

5:00 PM. - 8:00 PM ET

USA: 2 AM. - 12 PM ET

OXYGEN: 6:00 PM. - 8:00 PM ET/PT

TELEMUNDO: 2:00 AM.-6:00 AM ET

8:00 AM.-10:00 AM ET

Midnight - 1:00 AM ET

Arranged in the order of time:

CNBC: Midnight - 4:30 AM

TELEMUNDO: 2:00 AM - 6:00 AM

USA: 2 AM - 12 PM

MSNBC: 5 AM - 5 PM

TELEMUNDO: 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

NBC: 10 AM - 1 PM

CNBC: 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

OXYGEN: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

NBC: 8 PM - 11:30 PM

TELEMUNDO: Midnight - 1:00 AM

NBC: Midnight - 1:30 AM (late night)

NBCOlympics.com’s Olympics coverage of 2,200 hours of 25 different sports will be streamed live via broadband and the 25 different sports are listed below.

Archery, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball

Canoe/Kayak, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing

Field Hockey, Handball, Judo, Modern Pentathlon

Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Soccer

Softball, Synchronized Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo

Tennis, Triathlon, Water Polo, Weightlifting and Wrestling

NBC Universal’s Unprecedented Coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics

DISH Network has announced on Thursday that the satcaster will launch 17 high-definition channels on August 1 to reach 100 channels. DISH Network, during January this year announced that they would offer 100 national HD channels by year’s end. DirecTV is also gearing up to reach the 100 HD channel mark, it seems DISH will win the race as DirecTV will start its HD expansion with the help of DIRECTV 11 only from September and expected to deliver a minimum of 55 HD channels to reach 150 HD channels before the year end. Dish Network will launch following HD channels from August 1 :

ActionMax HD - Ch. 313

CBS College Sports HD - Ch. 152

Lifetime HD - Ch. 108

Lifetime Movie Network HD - Ch. 109

Planet Green HD - Ch. 194

Encore HD - Ch. 340

HBO 2 HD - Ch. 301

HBO Comedy HD - Ch. 307

HBO Family HD - Ch. 305

HBO Latino HD - Ch. 309

HBO Signature HD - Ch. 302

HBO West HD - Ch. 303

HBO Zone HD - Ch. 308

Starz Comedy HD - Ch. 354

Starz Edge HD - Ch. 352

Starz Kids & Family HD - Ch. 356 and

Starz West HD - Ch. 351

“In January, we promised our customers that DISH Network would boost our national HD channel lineup to 100 by year’s end. Today, we are proud to say that in less than one year, not only did we deliver on our commitment, but we exceeded it,” said Eric Sahl, senior vice president of Programming for DISH Network. “We continue our pledge to DISH Network subscribers to add more national channels and local HD markets, as well as offer the best sports and movies in HD.”
DISH Network is also planning to introduce only HD programming package called TurboHD and there will be three packages available.

TurboHD Gold - $39.99/month

TurboHD Silver - $32.99/month

TurboHD Bronze - $24.99/month

Subscribers have to pay $5 extra to avail local channels along with HD channels from any of the above TurboHD packages. Apart from these packages, TurboHD Platinum is also available. To add TurboHD Platinum to any qualifying package and receive HD channels that does not have corresponding SD channels with TurboHD Platinum at $10/month extra.

Jessica Insalaco, Chief Marketing Officer for DISH Network said “TurboHD is revolutionary to the industry; we’re changing the way people watch TV by offering them all of the top channels - in HD only - with the best high-definition systems on the market, When consumers add HD programming, their viewing habits change - they don’t like to go back to standard definition - so their viewing switches over to all-HD channels. TurboHD will provide the next-generation high-definition television experience by offering only the best in HD programming and award-winning HD technology at incredible prices.”

RCN also begins HD programming in its VOD Service

RCN Corporation, first American facilities-based competitive provider of bundled telephone, cable television and high speed Internet service based in Herndon, Virginia, has announced that it is adding seven new high-definition channels to its programming line-up and also will begin HD programming in its Video On (VOD) service. Following are new HD channels offered by RCN Corporation :

Animal Planet HD

Discovery Channel HD

Food Network HD

Lifetime Movie Network HD

The Learning Channel HD

The Science Channel HD and

Travel Channel HD

Randy Schwartzman, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing, RCN of Pennsylvania said “RCN is the first and only cable service provider in most areas of the Lehigh Valley to offer video ON DEMAND and the first to offer it in high definition.” Randy Schwartzman also said that VOD is available to customers with a digital converter box, allows the customer to use their cable remote control to order digital movies or shows from the RCN library of titles when they want to watch them.

Lehigh Valley Magazine subscribers have voted RCN Corporation as “Best in the Valley” for the services offered in the Pennsylvania market.

Time Warner Cable is also planning to deliver more high-definition channels to its customers. According to www.engadgethd.com, Cable operator is all set to deliver twelve HD channels in Southern California. Cox Communications, Verizon FiOS and Cablevision Systems Corp are all delivering new national and local HD channels and The leading satellite TV provider DirecTV is all set to deliver new HD channels starting from September. Time Warner will give customers another 12 HD channels as it faces stiffer competition from satellite TV providers and Cable operators. Following are the new HD channels lined up for Southern California subscribers :

A&E HD

ABC Family HD

CNN HD

Discovery HD

Disney Channel HD

ESPNews HD

Food Network HD

Golf / Versus HD

HGTV HD

History Channel HD

National Geographic HD and

TLC HD

DirecTV has launched ‘DIRECTV on Demand service’ to its subscribers across the country on 30 June. DirecTV has tested ‘on Demand service’ since October and the customers highly anticipated service. DirecTV subscribers with a DirecTV Plus HD DVR or R22 DVR receiver will have access to over 4,000 standard-definition and high-definition titles and is available at no additional charge. DIRECTV on Demand service allows subscribers to download the programming of their choice from the DIRECTV on Demand library to their DVRs. DirecTV offers one of the easiest-to-use on demand interfaces on television, with unique features that make navigating through titles simple and quick. The features include :

Customized Programmer Homepages

Internet Remote Scheduling

Expanded Pay Per View Titles and

Free Titles

Customized Programmer Homepages : Each programmer has its own on demand channel that highlights the latest shows and movies available from the network. Each programmer page consists of rich graphics and posters that highlight the most popular content. The customized home pages correspond to the programmer’s regular channel number with a “1” in front of it (i.e. The Discovery Channel is on 276, The Discovery Channel on Demand is at 1276.) Channel 1000 is the main home page for DIRECTV on Demand.

Internet Remote Scheduling :On demand customers have access to DVR Scheduler, which will allow them to remotely schedule on demand programming to their DVR from an internet-connected computer or mobile phone.
Expanded Pay Per View Titles : Expanded variety of pay per view titles is also available with on demand trailers.

Internet Remote Scheduling : On demand customers have access to DVR Scheduler, which will allow them to remotely schedule on demand programming to their DVR from an internet-connected computer or mobile phone.

Free Titles : Thousands of free titles (in both standard-definition and HD) always available, including movies, TV series, kid’s shows, specialty programming. “We couldn’t be happier with the DIRECTV on Demand service. The folks here have actually made the on demand experience fun and enjoyable,” said Eric Shanks, executive vice president, DIRECTV Entertainment. “We are continuing to not only level, but elevate the playing field among pay TV providers with a dynamic on demand service that truly answers the needs of our customers and provides them with a robust lineup of on demand programming.” To subscribe to DIRECTV on Demand service, subscribers can choose professional installation or request a self-installation kit and to have broadband high-speed internet access, a router or Internet gateway with an available Ethernet port, and equipment to network the HD DVR or R22 DVR.

Cox Communications added 10 new HD channels and three new digital channels in Santa Barbara, California. Now its time for Phoenix area subscribers to get more HD channels. Cox will be adding following high-definition channels from July 9 in Phoenix, Arizona.

CNBC HD

Lifetime HD and

USA Network HD

College World Series Coverage on ESPN and ESPN2 have scored well and the coverage is second most-viewed college baseball game ever and have reached double-digit audience. The high-lights of ESPN coverage of College World Series :
ESPN scored 1.1 rating for nine games that averaged 1,091,000 households with total viewers of households.
This marks a 27% increase from 859,000 and 22% in ratings from 0.9 over last year telecast.
This year coverage ties for the highest-rated with 2004 and 2006 coverage. ESPN’s coverage of best-of-three College World Series Finals (GAME 3) was the second-highest-rated college baseball telecast and second most-viewed ever.
The game, featuring Fresno State defeating Georgia for the Championship, averaged 1.9 million households and a 2.0 rating. ESPN’s top telecast averaged 2.0 million households and a 2.2 rating for North Carolina vs. Oregon State in a deciding third game on June 26, 2006.
ESPN2 scored 0.8 rating same as last year and averaged 771,000 households to 747,000 and 988,000 total viewers to 956,000 an increase of 3% to last year’s 10 games.