Next fall the Phoenix Suns of the NBA likely will become the first pro basketball franchise to air its entire regular season schedule in HD as part of its stated commitment a few years ago to always stay on the cutting edge of new technology for its fan base. The Suns also would become the first Arizona sports franchise of any kind to transition to HD full time, according to the Arizona Republic.
The team has been featured sporadically in HD over the past couple of years, but it said now that with equipment costs down and adequate production facilities in place, it was time to plan on wall-to-wall HD coverage. It also hasn’t hurt that the Suns have won a division title in the last three seasons and usually are a factor in the final championship rounds. (Season tickets for the 2007-08 season sold out two months go.)
The Suns, which produce their own telecasts with a 20-person crew, predict that HD will increase production costs by 25 to 30 percent per game, at least in the beginning. Locally, the HD telecasts will be shown on KUTP-TV and Fox Sports Net Arizona.
Nationally, ESPN-HD and TNT-HD televise many NBA contests in 720p.
