TORONTO – The HDTV war is heating up as Bell ExpressVu and Rogers Cable both announce they’re adding more sports programming in high definition.
Bell is adding NCAA basketball and football, as well as sports cinematographer Warren Miller’s latest extreme skiing adventure “Higher Ground” in HD. Bell says it now offers the most HD content of any distributor in Canada, and is the only digital distributor to offer the Miller show.
"Higher Ground," part action and part documentary shot on the slopes of Alaska, Colorado, Switzerland, and British Columbia, is available as a pay per view purchase on channels 830 and 831 for $6.99 and is also available in standard digital definition on channel 352 for $4.99.
"ExpressVu is a leader in high definition programming in Canada. In addition to Warren Miller’s special feature, the first ever shot in HD, ExpressVu delivers Canada’s favourite sports in HD: hockey, football and basketball," said Pat Button, VP Marketing, Bell ExpressVu. "Our leading sports content, combined with the functionality of the 9200 dual-tuner HD PVR, with up to 25 hours of HD recording available means our customers are enjoying the best HD content in Canada–when they want to see it."
Rogers Cable, meanwhile, has added three new HD channels to its Super Sports Pak, with the addition of NCAA basketball and football games in HD, as well as HD games to its NHL Centre Ice and Super Sports Pak offering. All the NHL games involve American teams, mostly the Boston Bruins.
Rogers says it now offers up to 31 HDTV channels, offering the widest selection in Canada. It also boasts having the most HD subscribers in Canada, with 100,000 subscribers to the service. That number has doubled since January 2005, the cableco says.
“Sports is one of the genres of programming that works really well in HD because the improved clarity of the high definition image allows them to get a superior experience from every channel," said David Purdy, Vice President and General Manager, Television Services for Rogers Cable Inc. "Now Rogers makes life more exciting for its Super Sports Pak customers by adding sports programming in high definition to already extensive football and basketball lineup. No other provider in Canada offers this powerhouse combination of racing action, basketball, baseball, hockey, and football game coverage."
The Rogers Super Sports Pak is available for $26.95 a month (with a four-month minimum commitment).
