Tonight, Jennifer Hedger goes HD

Mr. Ed has been a huge Jennifer Hedger fan since her obscure cable-television days in London, Ontario.

Tonight, the Jennifer Hedger Network (sometimes erroneously referred to as TSN by those utterly lacking in respect and good taste), will become the first newsroom in Canada to go high definition.

If watching Jennifer in HDTV isn't reason enough to go out and borrow thousands of dollars for a new plasma screen, we don't know what is.

Here's the official TSN/JENN-TV publicity bumph:

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Canadian first: TSN first to deliver news in HD

SportsCentre in high definition, beginning today

TORONTO, Sept. 25 - TSN will make Canadian television history today when it launches its flagship news program, SportsCentre, in High Definition at 6:30 p.m. ET.

When that happens, TSN will become the first Canadian
broadcaster to deliver a daily newscast in HD.

Transitioning SportsCentre to HD represents TSN's single biggest commitment to High Definition and the latest strategic move for parent company CTV in its overall HD progression.

Beginning tonight, the SportsCentre studio show will be delivered in HD, as well as select reports and highlights from the field.

A dedicated HD server will record and edit available HD sports events to be used as highlights throughout the show.

Over time, the entire SportsCentre production will hit
its target of 100 per cent HD.

With SportsCentre's evening, late, overnight and morning loop editions, TSN viewers are guaranteed nine hours of SportsCentre in HD weekdays, increasing to 15 hours on weekends.

With today's move, nearly 50 per cent of TSN's 24-hour broadcast day is now available in HD.

"After months of preparation and development, we are proud to declare SportsCentre the first fully equipped High Definition newsroom in Canada," said Phil King, President, TSN. "Sports is the driving force behind the rise in popularity of High Definition television, and we will continue to invest the necessary resources to ensure we maintain our HD leadership role."

To facilitate the transition to HD, TSN significantly reinvested in its news operation with the design and construction of a new set, studio and control room - all HD-ready.

In addition, a fresh animation package, along with new graphics, will be introduced to complement tonight's launch.

On October 2, TSN will also launch its daily 30-minute hockey magazine show, Molson That's Hockey in HD, providing a one-two punch of news and information programs in HD.

TSN, along with sister network Discovery Channel Canada, became the first Canadian specialty networks to launch dedicated HD channels in 2003.

TSN HD offers more sports coverage, hockey coverage, Canadian and internationally-produced sports events, and hours of HD sports action and news than any other broadcaster in Canada.

In 2006, TSN HD will feature more than 1,500 hours of coverage in High Definition from 775 national and international events and programs, including the NHL, World Junior Hockey Championship, NFL, CFL, MLB, NBA, Golf, NASCAR, Soccer, Tennis, U.S. College Football and the Degree Poker Championship.

TSN is Canada's Sports Leader.

Setting the Canadian sports broadcasting standard, TSN's flagship news program, SportsCentre, was voted the number-one source for sports news by sports fans from across the country.(*)

TSN's comprehensive broadcast schedule also features the NHL and first three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs; Toronto Maple Leafs hockey; International Hockey including the IIHF World Junior Championship; the Olympic Games through 2012; CFL including TSN Friday Night Football; NFL including Sunday and Monday Night Football; PGA TOUR and all four golf Majors; Season of Champions Curling; NASCAR including the Daytona 500; Formula One including the Canadian Grand Prix; IRL including the Indy 500; Blue Jays baseball; Raptors basketball and the NBA Finals; Tennis and all four Grand Slam events; UEFA Champions League Soccer; HBO World Championship boxing; and Figure Skating including the national championships. TSN HD offers more sports coverage, more hours and more events in High Definition than any other network in Canada, reinforcing TSN's position as Canada's Sports Leader in High Definition.

TSN is available in eight million households.

TSN's programming and news content is also available online at TSN.ca.

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