ESPN 3D will be launching in June of this year, as the premium sports channel moves in on that latest trend in home entertainment: 3D HDTV.
No carrier agreements have been announced yet, but DIRECTV, Dish Network, and all of the major cable TV players will no doubt be lining up to offer ESPN 3-D. ESPN announced that they will carry a minimum of 85 live sporting events in 2010, and will also broadcast the 2011 BCS National Championship Game in 3D. At this time, it does not look like ESPN 3D will be a 24 hour a day channel.
ESPN 3D is scheduled to debut at the World Cup soccer tournament, which is being held in South Africa starting later this year. The match between host country South Africa and Mexico will be the first live event broadcast on ESPN 3D, marking the kickoff of the World Cup on June 11th, 2010. Up to 25 World Cup matches will be shown on ESPN 3-D to get things rolling. Other events scheduled to be broadcast in 3D include the Summer X games and next season’s college football and basketball schedule. One hit with fans would be seeing NFL football in 3D, but ESPN made no mention of broadcasting the 2010 Monday Night Football season in 3D.
The announcement comes on the heels of DIRECTV’s rumored 3D HD channel. While DIRECTV has yet to confirm the launch of the 3D channel, internet blogs have pointed to the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show as the stage where 3-D news will be made. The satellite TV company recently launched DIRECTV 12 into orbit, which will allow them to significantly expand their HD capacity. ESPN 3D may be one of new options available to subscribers once the satellite becomes operational in the 2nd quarter of 2010.
This year’s Consumer Electronics Show, set to start on Thursday, January 7th is setting up to be dominated by 3D TV products. Manufacturers of new 3D ready TV’s such as Panasonic and Sony will follow in the steps of Mitsubishi, who already has 3D compatible HDTV’s on the market. If 3D TV hits big, cable and satellite companies alike will be scrambling to find the bandwidth needed to carry 3D HD signals to the consumer.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
So who is going to be carrying ESPN 3D? I have Comcast now, but I doubt they will, they dont have many HD channels where I live. But unfortunately Im in an apartment right now where there is no satellite TV access. Hopefully I will be moved out by the end of the year, Im sure Im going to have to go with Dish Network or Direct TV for 3D channels like this
Thats going to be really interesting. 3d football wow! That’ll probably attract the biggest global audience ever since it is pretty much the biggest event on the planet. I think these Bigpond guys might have some coverage on the world cup 2010 as well.
So who is going to be carrying ESPN 3D? I have Comcast now, but I doubt they will, they dont have many HD channels where I live. But unfortunately Im in an apartment right now where there is no satellite TV access. Hopefully I will be moved out by the end of the year, Im sure Im going to have to go with Dish Network or Direct TV for 3D channels like this
So who is going to be carrying ESPN 3D? I have Comcast now, but I doubt they will, they dont have many HD channels where I live. But unfortunately Im in an apartment right now where there is no satellite TV access. Hopefully I will be moved out by the end of the year, Im sure Im going to have to go with Dish Network or Direct TV for 3D channels like this
Thats going to be really interesting. 3d football wow! That’ll probably attract the biggest global audience ever since it is pretty much the biggest event on the planet. I think these Bigpond guys might have some coverage on the world cup 2010 as well.