BBC To Screen World Cup And Wimbledon In HD

The BBC is to broadcast its coverage of this summer’s World Cup and Wimbledon tournaments in high definition, allowing viewers with the appropriate equipment crystal clear reception of the championships.

The broadcasts will form part of the BBC’s high definition trials, which will air across cable and satellite towards the middle of the year. A trial of the new technology on the Freeview platform is also planned by the Corporation, although this will only take place in the London area (see BBC To Launch HDTV Trial On All Platforms Next Year).

The first World Cup game to receive the HD treatment will be between Germany and Costa Rica on 9 June. The video feed for the match will be provided by Premiere, Germany’s host broadcasters for the competition.

Transmissions of the Wimbledon Championships will be provided end to end in high definition by the BBC, which will undertake the filming of matches, as well as their transmission.

The BBC’s trials will see other content broadcast in increased quality outside the sporting coverage, with programmes including Planet Earth and Galapagos also being screened in HD.

Rival broadcasters are gearing up their own high definition services, with Sky expected to launch its operations within months (see Sky Gears Up For High Definition Launch), and cable firm Telewest widening its roll out across the country (see Telewest Tackles Sky With Increased HD Service).

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk