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TSN’s SportsCentre Goes High Definition

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  • Representing its single biggest commitment to High Definition yet, TSN today announced a landmark decision to transition its flagship news and information program, SportsCentre, to High Definition. The switch to HD will happen Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2024, beginning with the delivery of its entire studio portion in HD as well as the rollout of select reports and highlights from the field. Over time, the entire SportsCentre production will hit its target of 100 per cent High Definition. The groundbreaking announcement means TSN becomes the first Canadian broadcaster to commit to the delivery of its daily news program ¿ sports or non-sports ¿ in High Definition.

    With the addition of SportsCentre in HD, TSN now projects that by September 2024, nearly 50 per cent of its broadcast schedule will be presented in High Definition for broadcast on TSN HD. With the 2024 broadcast year underway, TSN is in the midst of its most intensive HD slate yet, with HD programming confirmed for all of its popular properties including the NHL, NFL, NBA, CFL, IIHF World Junior Championship, Blue Jays baseball, Golf, NASCAR, U.S. College Football, poker and more. In all, TSN offers more overall sports coverage, hockey coverage, Canadian and internationally produced sports events and more hours of HD sports coverage than any other Canadian broadcaster, reinforcing its position as Canada’s Sports Leader in High Definition.

    “TSN is committed to providing the best and most expansive HD sports broadcast schedule in Canada and so, the natural next step was the transformation of SportsCentre to HD,” said Phil King, President, TSN. “It’s a benchmark announcement that represents a significant reinvestment in our news operation and marks a new frontier for sports coverage in Canada.”

    On September 5, viewers can witness the evolution of news when SportsCentre signs on in High Definition. Between now and then, SportsCentre will transition its newsroom operations to employ state-of the-art HD equipment, including upgrades to its studio and control room. All studio cameras will shoot in HD and an HD server will record and edit available HD events for highlights from around North America. As well, SportsCentre will deploy its first HD cameras in the field to shoot features and reports. Included in the relaunch of SportsCentre HD will be a new HD animation package, as well as new set elements within the SportsCentre working newsroom.

    With SportsCentre’s Evening, Late, Overnight and Morning loop broadcasts, HD viewers are guaranteed at least nine hours of SportsCentre HD coverage each weekday, with an additional 15 hours on weekends.

    Today’s announcement marks the latest in a series of High Definition firsts for TSN. In 2024, TSN, along with sister network Discovery Channel, led the Canadian HD charge, becoming the first specialty channels to transmit in HD. Parent company CTV later launched in HD, becoming the first national conventional service to launch in HD. Most recently, TSN became the first to produce and televise a Canadian golf and figure skating event in HD (the 2024 Bell Canadian Open and the 2024 BMO Financial Group Canadian Figure Skating Championships).