ESPN2HD, what a joke.

[Wiggin78]

Let me first say that I am happy D* added another HD channel to our meager lineup. With that said ESPN2HD is pretty lame. Was there really that much of an outcry from those of us with D* HD to add this channel? 95% of what is shown is SD. ESPNHD has a hard enough time broadcasting HD content and now we have ESPN2HD. Yes, the college games are nice but I would take TNTHD in a heartbeat over ESPN2HD. At least you get good movies and great sporting events on TNTHD. Not to mention the fact that TNTHD is 100% HD all the time. Wrong choice D*.

 

[ERNIE PAUL]

i agree with your opinion.bring on the TNTHD

 

[kermit24]

Let me first say that I am happy D* added another HD channel to our meager lineup. With that said ESPN2HD is pretty lame. Was there really that much of an outcry from those of us with D* HD to add this channel? 95% of what is shown is SD. ESPNHD has a hard enough time broadcasting HD content and now we have ESPN2HD. Yes, the college games are nice but I would take TNTHD in a heartbeat over ESPN2HD. At least you get good movies and great sporting events on TNTHD. Not to mention the fact that TNTHD is 100% HD all the time. Wrong choice D*.

Couldn't disagree with you more. Any increase in HD content is an improvement. I don't look at it as TNTHD VS. ESPN2HD. By the way, TNT HD is mostly upconverted content, not true HD anyway. I'm sure that TNT HD is will come along to us D* subscribers soon enough (probably before the NBA playoffs start next year) ESPN2HD will have plenty of content as the college football season and college basketball seasons start. The Sunday night Baseball game will now be available in HD, even though it has been pushed over to ESPN2. That's good news for HD fans. Expecting ESPN2HD to have 100% HD content out of the gate is unrealistic. ESPN is dedicated to HD programming, as they show HD highlights on Sportscenter whenever it is available.

 

[Chado]

No problems with ESPN2 HD. The more the better.

 

[vurbano]

So far the HD content are college games of NO interest. HDnet caliber IMO. WHat a waste of bandwidth. And TNTHD is still over 2 years late

 

[Sean Mota]

Well, all I can say is that so far I haven't tuned to this channel channel. I haven't had a reason to. Hopefully soon.

 

[FlyingJ]

Also couldn't disagree more with Vurbano. ESPN 2 HD is just as advertised. It is not a seperate channel, never claimed to be. It is in fact ESPN 2, and it is nice that we D* subs now have the ability to see HD content whenever it is being shown on the deuce. I don't watch to see HD. I watch what interests me and hey if it's on in HD great! Now I will get a bit more MLB and a buch more of College Football in HD that I may have had to watch in SD....Bravo!

 

[CRendall]

The people in the Dish Network forum have a bunch of posts asking for ESPN2 HD to be added, while they already have TNTHD. People in the DirecTV forum post that what they really want is TNTHD, and they have ESPN2 HD.

Eventually we'll all have both...

 

[ArtWIS]

The people in the Dish Network forum have a bunch of posts asking for ESPN2 HD to be added, while they already have TNTHD. People in the DirecTV forum post that what they really want is TNTHD, and they have ESPN2 HD.

Eventually we'll all have both...

Great post CRendall! We'll get it all in time. I will enjoy ESPN2HD but still hope we get TNTHD by mid summer next year so I can see the NASCAR races that NBC shuffles off to TNT in HD. The present NASCAR broadcast contract ends the end of 2006 and ESPN/ABC has stated they want it all which would be better than the present split contract with FOX and NBC. At the least I hope FOX would get the entire season just to get rid of Bill Weber and Benny Parsons as announcers. Sometimes I think those two aren't even at the same track as the race being broadcast. We get very good HD via OTA and D* and have the patience to wait for the improvments that are coming. No matter what though there will still be plenty of D* bashers even when we end up with lots of 100% pure HD. I think it brings them the attention they are lacking in their lives. LOL

 

[Plywodstatebum]

They changed the name of TNTHD to Law & Order HD. a waste of a channel

 

[jpn]

I see it as a mixed-bag.

Last night it was nice to have a choice between HD-MLB on ESPN2 (Cle/Min) and HD-NFL on ESPN (Phi/Atl). Beyond that... big deal. When there aren't (2) simultaneous significant events going on, ESPN2 is going to have 18+ hours/day of inconsequential programming.

TNT is mostly re-runs and movies watered-down for family-viewing (language/nudity removed); the NBA with its worthless regular season; and on weekends it's racing or golf (on occasion).

Don't get me wrong: more HD is definitely better. But IMO, neither ESPN2HD or TNT-HD is worth the enthusiasm, or rants, posted on the forums.

I'd much rather see the bandwidth going to STARZ-HD, HBOW-HD, and better use of event-specific RSN's in HD (just read how YES-HD is often unavailable lately).

I'd much rather see D* give SciFi a reason to launch SciFi-HD.

 

[colofan]

Okay so I will put in my two cents. Really I would prefer they change an sd change to an hd channel and remove the sd channel.

I mean down converting looks really good on a standard TV and the bandwidth isn't being used up by sd channels anymore. Oh an lose all the shopping channels

 

[carlosvic]

They changed the name of TNTHD to Law & Order HD. a waste of a channel

I said it before and Ill say it again. Nascar on TNT SD sucks. The picture makes it very difficult to enjoy. I would welcome TNTHD....especially now that we're down to the final ten!!

 

[jpn]

I said it before and Ill say it again. Nascar on TNT SD sucks. The picture makes it very difficult to enjoy. I would welcome TNTHD....especially now that we're down to the final ten!!

And that makes a whole 3+ hours/week of worthwhile programming, until the cup is over in November. After that TNT becomes HDNET-lite.

 

[uncrules]

I like ESPN2-HD not just for the HD. The improvement in SD picture quality of ESPN2-HD over SD ESPN2 is a big selling point for me, especially since it is for no extra money. This applies to ESPN too.

 

[carlosvic]

And that makes a whole 3+ hours/week of worthwhile programming, until the cup is over in November. After that TNT becomes HDNET-lite.

But then we can look forward to next June!!

 

[PMKS]

Guess I'll throw my 2 cents in...

Granted I'm somewhat of a sportsfan, I wish D* would have added Starz-HD or TNT-HD instead of ESPN2-HD.......

 

[JosephB]

What I don't understand is why everyone thinks ESPN/ESPN2 HD versions are supposed to be HD all the time. They're not separate channels, they're the same thing. Its like back when stereo TVs were new, and it said "Stereo Where Available" but not on all shows. Did you get mad when a show wasn't in stereo? Now its the same thing. Not every event can be in HD, thats way too expensive to buy all that equipment, but the HD ESPNs are giving you "HDTV Where Available". It'd probably work out better if they just replaced the regular channels with the HD channels and when you don't have an HD set, just downconvert..although no SD settops can handle that right now

 

[jpn]

What I don't understand is why everyone thinks ESPN/ESPN2 HD versions are supposed to be HD all the time. They're not separate channels, they're the same thing. Its like back when stereo TVs were new, and it said "Stereo Where Available" but not on all shows. Did you get mad when a show wasn't in stereo? Now its the same thing. Not every event can be in HD, thats way too expensive to buy all that equipment, but the HD ESPNs are giving you "HDTV Where Available". It'd probably work out better if they just replaced the regular channels with the HD channels and when you don't have an HD set, just downconvert..although no SD settops can handle that right now

My position is that rather than carry a station that has a very limited number of hours/week of significant programming, use the bandwidth to carry some other HD channel.

Aside from the NBA playoffs and 3 hours/week of racing, TNT-HD hasn't got anything compelling.

ESPN2 is only interesting when there are multiple simultaneous events, which is roughly twice a week at the absolute most.

The problem with killing-off the SD channel, and down-converting the HD feed, is that the vast majority of subscribers lack an HD stb. The basic SD stb used today won't tune the HD channels at all. I've got (2) in addition to my HD stb.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

My position is that rather than carry a station that has a very limited number of hours/week of significant programming, use the bandwidth to carry some other HD channel.

Aside from the NBA playoffs and 3 hours/week of racing, TNT-HD hasn't got anything compelling.

ESPN2 is only interesting when there are multiple simultaneous events, which is roughly twice a week at the absolute most.

The problem with killing-off the SD channel, and down-converting the HD feed, is that the vast majority of subscribers lack an HD stb. The basic SD stb used today won't tune the HD channels at all. I've got (2) in addition to my HD stb.

Granted I am not a big fan of TNTHD becos of all the upconverted material they show but they did have two good orgianl shows with "The Closer" and "Wanted" that were both HD.